McGraw Ranch
About this property
The McGraw Ranch, also known as the Indian Head Ranch, the =Y Ranch (Double Bar-Y) and the =X Ranch (Double Bar-X), was established in the Cow Creek valley near Estes Park, Colorado by Peter J. Pauley, Jr., who built a barn at his 160-acre (0.65 km2) =Y Ranch in 1884, running 2500 head of cattle on the land. The land was sold in 1897 to Hugo S. Miller, who worked with Henry C. Rouse to expand the property to a thousand acres (4 km²). In 1907 Miller and his wife inherited the lands from Rouse and were visited by Joh J. and Irene McGraw, who leased the property the next summer and purchased it in 1909, changing the brand to =X. The McGraws ranched the land unprofitably until John died in 1917. Irene continued ranching, but in 1935-36 converted to guest ranching. The McGraw family built several cabins, and under the motto "Ranching with Ease" the family operated the guest ranch until 1973. From 1973 to 1988 the property changed hands several times, until the National Park Service bought it with the intention to restore the landscape to its natural state as part of Rocky Mountain National Park. Opposition from local communities convinced the Park Service to convert the ranch to a research facility. It is the only intact dude ranch in Rocky Mountain National Park. The ranch was used in 1936 by U.S. presidential candidate Alf Landon as a campaign headquarters, giving the ranch valuable publicity as it was being converted to a dude ranch.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was McGraw Ranch listed on the National Register?
McGraw Ranch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 16, 1998.
What type of historic resource is McGraw Ranch?
McGraw Ranch is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for McGraw Ranch?
The period of significance for McGraw Ranch is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near McGraw Ranch?
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