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History of the Ranch
The history of Ruby Ranch goes
back 150 years, but the Ranch as
we know it, was founded just
three decades ago by combining
the two major ranches of the
Lowe and Emore families. To
learn about their individual
histories, it’s recommended that
you read their personal books
“Reflections of Ruby” by Ruby
Lowe and “Dillon the Blue River
Wonderland” by Annie Emore, both
available at the Summit
Historical Society. The major
influx of white men into the
County came in the 1860’s as
gold and silver were discovered,
starting in Breckenridge. By the
1880’s they followed the gold
down the Blue River to here,
establishing placer mines (open
pits as opposed to lodes which
tunnel into the ground).
Continuing into the mid-1890’s
their claims covered the whole
valley. Placer mines require
lots of lumber for cribbing to
stabilize their dirt walls and
boards for flumes to carry the
water used in hydraulic mining.
That’s why so many of our
existing pine trees started
growing after all of that clear
cutting and are now at the end
of their life span and so
vulnerable to the bark beetle.
Unfortunately the mining was not
that productive and most of the
mines were abandoned after the
turn of the century.
As
the mining petered out, ranching
became more attractive. In 1895
William Graff homesteaded what
would become Ruby and Charlie’s
ranch (arriving in 1930) after
changing hands about five times
before them. Annie and Lansing
Emore homesteaded their quarter
section (160 acres) in 1916,
building a 307 square foot house
for themselves and their two
children. In 1930 they expanded
it to its present configuration,
hand digging out the basement
and adding additions on both
ends. The boundary between these
two ranches was at the top of
the hill south of the wetlands
along Ruby Road as you enter the
main gate (now Lots 15, 16, 17,
18). The water rights for our
irrigation ditches coincide with
this evolution—Ruth ditch
(1908), Sawmill ditch (1918),
and Ruby ditch (1938), except
where is the sawmill? That ditch
was probably dug in the 1880’s
to run a sawmill for the placer
mines and then abandoned, so
when Annie and Lansing (having
grown up here and knowing its
history) claimed it for their
irrigation, they kept the
original name of “Sawmill.”
There are several historical
maps and 1955/66 aerial photos
hanging in the Gate House. |
About Ruby Ranch