Gunnison news-champion and tribune., 1905-08-04
a LOVELY VALLEY
kA2snul O. Cssck Ani - Pso,
pcseus ho<ncs

creek Ne thlns a the rrett.e-i. :"
was the reply. aud II was witA cpa
sesass pride tha, al residents IT she
valley spoke af the -HlIsng streseh
Of grass and graia thai WINDS like
an emerald nver through the brown
tinted h,ofhIll-
Settlers broke ground on Ohio
creek as early a. 1876 and Bo Isar-
ton 0i cur commonwealth has had
more agricultural improvements
since that date or retarned more tons
OF hay, more gram or more fat cattle
J.. ii t.aSterlv, who seems bv con-
sent Of everyone % be historian af
the valley, has consented o. write ilr
tins series 81 ARTICLES In the News
Champion, some accoant Of the early
settlers. their camings and their e.
mgs This viii appear later and
VIII be mighty interesting reading
10 all Of Us.
J u. Miller a Bro now own she
Philip Vidal ranch located at the
mouth oi the creek and fronting
along the tiunnison They have
ll3 acres. all IN hay aud pasture
The hay land usually cuts 325 tons.
bat an added meadow graDbed out
this wear will make 31j as next
season crop. Ninty per cent Of the
hay Is native wire grass. This Mr.
j. u. Miller believes is the best fat
tening hay on the market. Its seed
has the oil qualities Of linseed and
its stalk a pith fall of sacharriue
matter like the sugar cane This Is
a new idea to your reporter, although
undoubtedly well known 20 many
ranchmen 1t explains the remark
able fattening qualities Of Colorado
hay. For the Elk Horn market at
Gunnison, Miller Bios fatten about
l25 steers and 3J hogs every winter.
Their feed pens are 3nlX3O0 feet
with 300 foot shed along the north
side. They have FIVE ton Fair
banks scale and carefully test the
steers in feeding experiments which
will be interesting to write about in
a special article later in the fall
ON native wire grass hay alone some
steers have gained 2J0 pounds in
four months. At the Elk Horn
ranch they have in II acres Of barley
which looks well and raise many
chickens and turkeys. Nm. Swig
art Is manager Of the ranch but j.
u. Miller spends great deal Of his
time there looking after the feeding
experiments. 1t is their intention
this fall 10 plant s acres OF bronze
grass, AN experiment which neigh
boring ranchmen viii watch with
interest
The Vidal sisters, Dollie, Annette,
Bertha, Sophia. Pearl, Josie, Lena
and Tillie, successfully operate the
homestead originally settled bv
Regis Vidal in 1880. These young
ladies have lately become world
famous as Ranch hands their pic
lures being published and articles
appearing about them in even the
London Times. Indeed, few better
examples of pluck can be found.
Left in charge of the ranch by the
sudden death of their parents, it was
discovered over $4,000 in debt.
In four years the undaunted girls
have paid off two thirds of the in
debtedness and Miss Dollie. who is
manager, tells us that good luck for
another two years will see the bur
den cleared. This Is good news TO
all their friends and well wishers.
OF the 125 acres owned by the es-
tate, 2l0 are under cultivation the
rest being mesa land lying west on
the slope The meadow is level and
highly improved, some of it cutting
three tons to the acre. The usual
crop Is 800 TO 400 tons, and this
year promises the full amount. As
little girls they were expected to
pick every stone from the meadow
and clear it of brush and other OBJ
structions. That hard work Is now
repaid by the pretty stretch Of
smooth hay land easy to NOV and
take care Of The young ladies
speak highly Of the hired man
who does the heavy work and has
recently built a new barn and put
up considerable fencing. They
make some 20 pounds Of butter a
week. As soon as the debt is clear
ed they expect to repair and build
new houses and bring under culti-
walton the 500 acres Of fertile mesa
land
Twelve years7 ago 5. c. Fisher
took up considerable ranch land
along the foothill slopes north Of the
Palisades, land that looked barren
and worthless. bnt by the careful
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