PERMFILE47875 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

• The decide of the 19"'Os witnessed something of a return [o the static peood before World War I. Ivfarket pressures and anover-supply kept beef prices stable to slightly lower through the decade. However, by the end of the 1930s, as the United States slipped into the Great Depression, the Western Slope's stock raisers found themselves faced with severely depressed markets and a debt structure that would force manv of them out of business. For the area's ranchers the 1930s initially held li[tle hope of improvement. However, the erection of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the sweeping changes his ascendancy to the Presidency meant led to beaer times for ranchers and farmers all over Colorado. Among the changes, Congress established a system of Federal credit for agriculnttslists. Also, Congress regularized grazing on the remaining lands of the Public Domain through the Taylor G3zin; Act and Grazing Service, predecessor to the Bureau of Land Management. Since the 1930s the Western Slope's ranchers have faced a more or less continuous cycle of peaks and valleys in livestock prices and demand. This has resulted in the continued consolidation of smaller ranches into larger units. Further pressures, such as growing demands on local water, continue to mazk the rancher's life in western Colorado. REGISTRATION REQL'IRE.~g.~ITS Property Twe: Cattle and Livestock Ranches and Associated Features (1881-1944) Description: A distinct pattern in the rural built environment has been identified in and around • the study area associated with the theme of ranching after 1881. It is based on a scheme briefly outlined by Husband in the Plateau Country RP3 and Mehls in the Ivfountains RP3 and confirmed by field observation. The pattern's stages are discussed below. Pioneer Stage, 1881-1910 The pioneer stage of development proved short lived, but repetitive. Some building techniques, such as log construction, were well adapted to the pioneering periods, whether it was during the early 1880s or the early 1900s. Building techniques typical of the stage depended on readily available building materials, such as log or stone. Buildings associated with this property type may exhibit additions and use of more modern materials, such as asphalt shingle roofing for maintenance, or concrete for replacement of deteriorated foundations. With the exception of the barns, the buildings are typically one or one and one-hall stories tall. Stylistically the pioneer stage buildings could be categorized as folk or vernacular in the truest sense. Outbuildings on these pioneer homesteads were few and tended to be multi-functional of log, pole and mud, mud and stone, or dugout construction. Construction dates for this property type range between 1881 and 1920. i After approximately 18901oca1 builders had available, and used milled lumber, premanufactured pare and millwork and non-native stone. Because of that, the pioneer lean-tos and log cabins along timbered drainages either disappeared from the landscape or took on a different function as those who prospered replaced their first houses and buildings. The railroads also made 11