by Bob Kennemer
HUERFANO — Just a few miles east of La Veta, along Valley Road, one can spot a ranch with a blend of historic structures interspersed with a few more modern, recently constructed, buildings. That juxtaposition, which is taking place on top of the soil, is a perfect match for what is taking place beneath the soil.
The Great Escape
“We were living in Golden, Colorado looking for a more rural lifestyle. We made a large circle on a map that included parts of Idaho, New Mexico, and Colorado. We had decided that we didn’t want to go more than three hours away from our present location as I had family in Denver,” said Sue Williams, as she described how she and her husband Mark were taking their first steps towards escaping the Denver metro area.
Williams grew up in New Jersey, while Mark’s formative years were in Salt Lake City, Utah. The couple met skiing in Colorado. She had a career in nursing, but went on to gain a degree in music becoming a piano teacher. Mark was a geologist. The couple have two adult children, Ethan and Jessica, who both now live out of state.
More recent history
In visiting La Veta, the couple ended up working with the now late realtor, Eric Bachman. They purchased their first property in 2010, west of La Veta along Indian Creek road, where they built a solar powered home. But the land up Indian Creek wasn’t exactly what the couple was looking after. “He [Eric] knew we were interested in a ranch property, but the Ritter Ranch hadn’t hit the market,” explained Sue. The couple still own the Indian Creek property. At that time they still had a place in the Denver area, splitting their time between the two locations.
Then, in 2012, Bachman told them the Ritter Ranch, covering 300 acres on the south side of the Cuchara River, was coming onto the market. Sue said, “We came down and looked at it and I really fell in love with it. I just had a gut feeling about it. For Mark it was the bottom land and water rights on the Cuchara River and Wahatoya Creek.” In fact, it was that confluence of the two waterways that would give way to the ranch’s new name, “Wacharas Ranch.”
A step back in time
Although the ranch is home to modern dwellings put up by the Williamses, the couple quickly learned that they had purchased a piece of local history with structures reaching back to a time before La Veta even existed as a town. The ranch included several historic structures such as the two oldest known schoolhouses in the area. The first one was built on the ranch out of hand hewn logs in 1876. It currently resides on the grounds of the Francisco Fort Museum, where it was moved in 1960, as a donation to the museum. The second larger schoolhouse was made from adobe and still sits on the ranch.
Fortunately, members of the extended Ritter family maintained a comprehensive history of not only the family and ranch, but the family’s role in local history. The last member of the Ritter family to own and reside on the ranch was Gail Ritter Frick, or just Gail Ritter. She passed away in 2008. Having outlived all other family, Ritter willed the ranch to a childhood friend, Delores Woodson. The Williamses purchased the ranch from the 3R3 trust of which Woodson was the executor.
Ritter and other family members kept an accurate history booklet, which came with the ranch andwas passed on to the Williamses. The Ritter chronology begins in 1836 with the birth of John Ritter, in Pennsylvania. The story continues to 1865, when Ritter during the Civil War, volunteered and fought in the Battle of Gettysburg. Then, as a soldier with the Cavalry, he came to Ft. Lyons Territory in Colorado. The soldiers had been sent west to protect the settlers.
By 1871 John Ritter had established his first homestead in the Cuchara Canyon, 10 miles east of Walsenburg. The Ritter family history continued in Huerfano County to a crucial time for this story, that being, his purchase of land four miles east of La Veta in 1888, that would soon be known as the Ritter Ranch.
Preserving history,
with an eye on the future
In turn, the Williamses are maintaining the historical chronology with 12 milestone events of theirs, which have taken place since the time of their ownership in 2012. The Williamses are noting events like weddings on the ranch, new construction, and significant improvements to old structures. As of this writing the entire chronology includes 48 key historical Ritter Ranch related events with dates from 1836 to 2022. Aside from maintaining the written chronicle of the ranch, the Williams have also painstakingly been preserving the various historic structures on site.
The ranch came with two homes, which have served various purposes over the years, but often one was used for the ranch owners and the other for a ranch manager. In addition, the original 1889 log home still stands on the ranch. According to the ranch historical documents a one armed man named Lafe Bigelow hewed the logs, which had been hauled from the mountains by John Ritter. Unfortunately, that log home now has a very large branch from an adjacent and aging cottonwood “standing” on its roof. The result of a recent windstorm. However, the cabin is, indeed, still standing. Sue noted, “These buildings have strong bones.”
Williams said, “It became pretty clear early on, this was a fixer upper restoration project.” There is a turn of the century blacksmith shop on the ranch, with a still functioning hand cranked bellows. The 1889 adobe barn was still standing when the Williamses bought the ranch. It needed a new foundation, which they provided. An old horse barn still stands after some recent improvements, although there currently are no horses on the ranch, being replaced by ATVs.
The extended Ritter family included the Capps and Walker families. Evelyn Walker lived in the main ranch house until the early 1990s. Her niece, Claudia Capps, lived in the second home. Both women lived into their 90s. Williams noted the Walker house is under renovation and the Capps home now houses their ranch manager and his family.
Williams was quick to point out that none of the old buildings have air conditioning but stay cool on hot summer days. The old adobe school house went on to be used as a branding barn. It has been renovated with efforts made to maintain its historic qualities. Williams stated that all of the adobe buildings have been re-stuccoed and new roofs added.
The Williams have added a new home for themselves along with a new barn. Williams said, “It is not a livestock barn. It is “work central.” The facility includes: a workshop, a metal shop and a greenhouse.
“We’re not cowboys, but we are learning from our ranch hands and reading”
Sue Williams
Part of the “future” mentioned above, is the desire by the Williamses to utilize innovative soil enhancing methods developed in part by Gabe Brown, author of Dirt to Soil. The couple no longer grows hay as feed for their cows. They have changed from growing hay for cattle feed to a rotation method that allows their cattle to forage all winter (except for just a few days) on the grass that grows on the ranch. “After we changed from growing hay to rotation, we found that we produced two times as much hay on the same land,” explained Williams. She noted that this regenerative process returns carbon to the soil, which is a primary goal for the couple.
Mark Williams provided a ranch document that states, “Our primary goal: Return carbon to the soil where it belongs.” Specifically, the Williams are realigning ranch operations to increase the agricultural property value by enhancing the percentage of soil organic carbon to ≥5%. To date, this included the following techniques:
• A soil coring program to monitor their progress.
• Optimize grazing technique to minimize soil disturbance, while maximizing natural fertilization
• Increase plant abundance and diversity
• Optimize pasture water exposure and retention
• Increase livestock health and conformation profitability
The Williams herd is small, averaging about 40 head of a breed called Irish Black and Irish Red cattle. The cattle were bred for Colorado’s, and other western states, climate and conditions, as they tolerate drought and cold well. “All of the cattle we sell were born and raised on our ranch, grazing on brome grass, alfalfa, native grasses and cover crops,” explained Williams. The Williams proudly sell most of their grass fed/grass finished beef directly to the public. They have the butchering done by a USDA certified facility in Westcliffe.
Williams said, “It is our goal to sell all of our meat directly to the public and not go to auction. We want to be good for the community, to be part of the community. We want to be stewards.”
For more information on the Wacharas Ranch, regenerative ranching, or to order meat, visit their website at: https://www.wacharasranch.com
