The Tom Currier Ranch....Homestead in the high country....

The Eight Kids On a Horse (7 on and 2 on the ground) would never have happened had our grandfather, Thomas Carroll Currier, not come west in 1892 from Iowa as a boy of 8 years, settling in the Grand Junction area with his parents and four brothers. 

In around 1902, as a young man, Tom took advantage of the 1862 Homestead Act and made  his first claim in the Colorado high country north and east of Grand Mesa as did his brother Lucius and with the help of a friend.  The 1862 U.S. Homestead Act generally allowed a homesteader in Colorado to claim up to 640 acres in designated areas. Following that, the homesteader had to live on and improve the claim for period of three to five years to "prove" it as a viable homestead and then be granted a "patent" by the President of the U.S. which then recorded ownership.  He also bought properties available through the Homestead Act.

Tom was very prudent in his first selections, gaining beautiful acreage bordering National Forest Land with water rights that allowed not only grazing but also cultivation and farming.  In 1903 he took his first herd of cattle to the homestead property.  The three men spent the first three years in an old dirt-roofed, windowless "dungeon" and built the first log cabin in 1906.  The pictures below show his covered wagon in the winter and the first cabin built for his wife and two little boys. 

As other homesteaders left due to hardship and other reasons, Tom bought up their claims and eventually expanded the Ranch to approximately 8,000 acres where he raised both registered purebred Hereford cattle and a herd of commercial Hereford cattle.

Tom had only an 8th grade education (which is probably more than equivalent to a high school diploma in today's schools!) but was a natural and talented businessman and cattleman who never borrowed money.  He was active in the Mesa County Farm Bureau, was President of the Plateau Valley Stockgrowers Association, the Colorado Cattleman's Association and was elected to the first advisory board of the Bureau of Land Management.  He held that position until his death.  He was also a member of the Grand Mesa National Forest and was a Director in the Grand Valley Water Users Association.  A staunch Baptist, he was on the Board of Trustees for the First Baptist Church in Grand Junction.  His registered Hereford stock was well-known throughout Colorado.  My recollection is that he imported one or two bulls from England who sired many beautiful animals.  Cattlemen from all over Colorado came to the ranch to buy bulls for their own herds.

The story goes that our grandmother, Chastine Elizabeth Harris, spotted Tom as he rode into Grand Junction on his horse and proclaimed "I'm going to marry that man!"  They were married in November 1916.  She was raised in town, and I'm sure that the primitive homesteading was a real challenge for her, especially as they soon had two little boys born, Thomas Franklin (co-author Carol's father) in 1918 and Robert Carleton (my dad) in 1921.  She was a tough woman and managed to meet the challenges, improving their living quarters a bit at a time.  Tom was oft heard exclaiming about something she had done "Great Scot, Chas!."

Together they built the Ranch which was/is bordered by National Forest and ranch properties homesteaded by Granddad's brothers.  Carol's Dad, Franklin, and my Dad, Carleton, worked closely with their dad and after college for both and WWII in the Pacific for Franklin, they joined in the ranching operation and continued it until retirement. 

They each married in the mid-1940's, Carleton to Joy Fitzgerald and Franklin to Marian Quist.  Beginning in 1945, there was a new Currier baby almost every year.  The co-authors of this blog were the first Ranch babies-Marcia then Carol.  Carol had two sisters and one brother;  Marcia, three brothers and one sister.

The ranch no longer owns any cattle or horses, but grows hay and sometimes leases pastureland to others as well as offering private big game hunting.  It is a place filled with memories, incredible beauty, ghosts, abundant wildlife and an aura of healing quiet and calm.  Those of us who grew up there have an intense longing to go back, especially in the spring. 

We "kids on a horse" were so fortunate to have grown up in such a free and wonderful way.  Our adventures continue in future blogs as Carol and I recall our childhood.

Note to siblings and cousins who may read this....please let me know if I have erred in my recollections or if you have any information/stories that might be shared.