Crossing Fenceposts An Oral History of Ranch Women in Gunnison County, 1965-Present

An Environmental Perspective. 

Gunnison County’s rural and remote landscapes span 3,260 square miles, shaping a rich and diverse history tied to its geology, waterways, and natural resources. The region boasts abundant water resources and a diverse topography, with mountain peaks reaching up to 13,000 feet. The Ute people, the earliest known inhabitants of the area, maintained a deep, reciprocal relationship with the land, rooted in hunting and gathering.

Within the Gunnison Valley, the Parianuches, also known as the “Elk People,” lived north of the Gunnison River, while the Tabeguache, later referred to as the Uncompahgre, resided in the western region. Their stewardship of the land long predated the arrival of white settlers, who sought gold, silver, coal, and other minerals, leading to complex and often fraught interactions between the two groups. Eventually, the Ute were forcibly removed, sometimes violently, through a series of treaties—many of which were broken.

As mining boomed, ranchers in Gunnison County cleared sagebrush and dug irrigation ditches to bring water to remote ranges. By the 1870s, these efforts marked the beginning of open-range cattle ranching, which supported miners with beef and hay. The arrival of railroads, such as the Denver Rio Grande and the South Park Pacific, in the 1880s opened new markets for local ranchers, further transforming the physical landscape as ranches expanded throughout the valley, marking the boom of the cattle industry.

 

The land shapes the animals that roam it and the people who work it. Women in this project highlight the challenges of high-altitude ranching, with elevations in the Gunnison Valley ranging from under 6,000 to over 14,000 feet. Lower areas, such as Quartz Creek and Tomichi Valley, support early-season grazing, while ranchers move their cattle higher as the season progresses.

Altitude inevitably affects cattle, and many women in this project raise and manage Hereford-Angus crossbreeds, a breed known for its resilience to high elevations and extreme weather conditions. These women discuss how altitude affects livestock, particularly brisket disease (bovine high mountain disease), which is caused by low oxygen levels and pulmonary hypertension when cattle are moved into high-altitude pastures, such as those north of Crested Butte or near Taylor Park. Managing this risk requires selective breeding, with the Hereford-Angus mix proving exceptionally resistant. This challenge is just one example of how ranchers have adapted to the environment over the past 160 years.

By the 20th century, ranching had become a vital component of the valley’s economy. The area endured tough times, including the Great Depression, two world wars, and severe droughts, but significant changes were on the horizon. The opening of Crested Butte Mountain Resort in 1961 marked the beginning of a new era in the region, dominated by recreational tourism. This development drew new visitors, contributed to the area’s growth, and posed new challenges for the open-range cattle operators. 

At the same time, advances in ranching technology modernized the industry, rapidly transforming the landscape. The introduction of tractors mechanized hay production, increasing yields and reducing the need for manual labor.

While women had always contributed to ranch work, their roles often depended on circumstance—some participated in open-range activities. In contrast, others were relegated to domestic duties, and some did both. By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, however, an increasing number of women held leadership positions in the industry. The founding of the Gunnison Valley Cattlewomen in 1951 marked a significant shift in the social landscape, challenging the notion that ranching was a solely male domain.

Despite their deep ties to the land, women’s contributions to ranching have often been overlooked. Since the 1860s, ranching history has largely been told through the experiences of male ranchers, with women’s roles either sidelined or minimized. However, women have not only shaped the land but have also been shaped by it. Their labor, knowledge, and adaptability were crucial to the endurance of ranching. Living in this environment, they faced a different set of challenges and opportunities compared to their urban counterparts, which influenced how they saw themselves and navigated the world. While their stories have often gone untold, these women played an integral role in shaping the landscape, and their impact continues to resonate, even if it hasn’t yet been fully recognized.

This project showcases women ranchers across regions that are shaped by environmental and economic challenges, including tourism, development, and rising costs. The areas covered include Cochetope, Quartz Creek, Gunnison, North Gunnison, Ohio Creek, Taylor Park, Jacks Cabin/Crested Butte South, Crested Butte, North Valley, and Powderhorn.

For this exhibit, these regions are divided because they are ecologically and climatically distinct, each producing different variations of hay with varying access to water and other resources. Each woman is shaped by the environment in which she works.

 

The Women. Their Stories.

Below, please click on the edited oral history snippets to listen to the women of this project share their deep connection to the land. Their stories reveal how the environment has shaped their lives—and how, in turn, they have left their mark on it. For those who are hearing impaired, text transcripts are available below each audio clip.

 

LaDonna McClain

_{Audio Transcript: When we bought the ranch, we put ear tags on our cows. We preg checked all those cows, made sure they were, there’s several different ways, but what we did was hire a vet to go in with the mom, gloves, to feel around, to see if there’s a baby there. And sometimes he’d come up and say, you got a set of twins in this one, you might write down the number. And of course I was involved. I was out there pushing cows around to get this done. But my father-in-law wasn’t into putting ear tags on and we had some trouble in the neighborhood because funny thing, our calves had disappeared and they might be on the other side. And if you weren’t watching and they were calling their momma, somebody had stalled them, very important. And that was, we knew when we vaccinated calves and I was in on there, we vaccinated from a truck before we branded. That was very important in our lifestyle. And that way we could eliminate the cows that weren’t going to have calves. We could sell as heiferettes, steers. And then you try to, when we bought the ranch, the cows were about 14 years old and we brought them down to 10. We kept eliminating and eliminating because we had to go to high altitude and they get older, they don’t take the altitude.}