Northern Larimer County History Notes
The Cattle King of Northern Colorado
Cryus B. Mendenhall
Mendenhall Park
also known as
Surprise Valley
also known as
Surprise Valley
Photo by Scott Burnworth http://www.runningdogphotography.com
Surprise Valley is located at the confluence of Dale Creek and Deadman Creek in northern Larimer county. This valley extends towards the southwest several miles.
Turkey Roost ,which is shown in the above picture on the top left hand side, forms the southwest end of this valley. The predominate mountain on the skyline is Black Mountain.
Turkey Roost ,which is shown in the above picture on the top left hand side, forms the southwest end of this valley. The predominate mountain on the skyline is Black Mountain.
Surprise Valley
The old timers were surprised to find this valley hence they named it Surprise Valley.
The old timers were surprised to find this valley hence they named it Surprise Valley.
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From Fort Collins Standard 1879
"Mr. C.B. Mendenhall, of this county, the “Cattle King of northern Colorado", sold on Tuesday, May 27th, to Thomas Swan, of Cheyenne, the remainder of his entire herd of cattle – about 4,000 head – for $18.00 per head. What he realized from this sale and those he sold a few weeks ago to J.A. Brown, amounts to nearly $75,000.00. Mr. Mendenhall has had remarkable success in the cattle business since coming to Colorado four years ago. His entire investments in cattle in that limited time have not, we are told, exceeded $25,000.00; from which he has realized a profit of nearly $50,000.00 – a pretty fair four year's business. " Cryus B. Mendenhall was born at Zanesville, Ohio in 1830. His parents were Thomas Griswold Mendenhall and Elisabeth Hollenback. He passed away on November 11, 1921 in Livingston, Montana. Fort Collins Standard April 29, 1874: "Mr. Mendenhall who recently moved from Iowa, has located his stock ranch at the head of Surprise Valley, two mile southeast of Paradise Valley, where he intends to go into the cattle business on quite a large scale. He purposes purchasing about 1,500 Texas cattle and a large number of bloods. Surprise Valley is not suited for agricultural purposes but affords splendid pastoral advantages. It lies near the north fork of the Poudre and therefore is well supplied with water and timber. " Mr. Mendenhall married Emiline Dean. They had seven children: Ida - born March 2, 1860 in Iowa Hattie born November 14, 1862 in Iowa Conway born May 5, 1865 in Iowa James born January 11, 1866 in Iowa Alfred born August 13, 1868 Virginia Dale Colorado Charles born May 7, 1875 Virginia Dale Colorado Inez born August 1, 1876 Virginia Dale Colorado Emeline died in 1880, she is buried in Greenhill Cemetery Laramie Wyoming with her infant daughter. While in Surprise Valley Cyrus hired Susan A. Cooley to teach his children he built a large school, for her to teach in. ( I assume neighbor children also attended this school ) On September 22, 1881 Cyrus married Susan Cooley. Latter the Mendenhall family moved to North Park for a few years then to Montana. In 1879 Cyrus paid $800.00 to Larimer County for his taxes, this amount was the highest paid to the county by one person for this year. In 1880 Cryus contracted for 3,500 head of Texas cattle. During this era the majority of north Colorado was open range, very little fencing, cattle roamed miles in search of good grass and water. |
In 1834 the federal government of the United States fixed the price of gold to $20.67 per ounce. So if you were to convert the $50,000.00 that Cyrus netted into gold, he would have 2,419 ounces of gold. On November 15, 2013 gold was valued at $1,288.30 per ounce. In today's money Cryus netted $3,116,397.70. " a pretty fair four year's business"..
Paradise Valley also known as Sunrise Valley is the current home of the Abbey of Saint Walburga, a small community of Benedictine contemplative nuns of the Roman Catholic Church. This valley is south the old post office/gas station/ cafe along the northern side of US 287 about 1/2 mile east of Dale Creek. Sunrise Valley was homesteaded and ranched by the family of Andrew Boyd. Good soil, exposure and water allowed this valley to have apple, peach, and pear orchids. The Boyd family had a great truck garden (vegetable garden) and sold the produce to travelers on the Overland Trail. |
Thomas Swan and his brother Alexander founded The Swan Land and Cattle Company in the 1870's. The ranch headquarters was in Chugwater, Wyoming. At its peak the brothers claimed 100,000 head of cattle that ranged from Ogallala, Nebraska to Rawlins, Wyoming, a stomping grounds of several million acres.
After the Civil War the market for Texas beef vanished. The ranchers were left holding several million head which they gladly sold at a very cheap price ~$4.00 per head. Large herds, around 3,500 head, were drove north. Some of these herds were marketed at Abilene Kansas. Other herds were sold to starting up ranchers. Such as Cryus who could afford the purchase of large numbers of these cheap Texas Cattle, to build up their herd.
The Texas cattle would be cross bred with European imported cattle such as Hereford. This cross bred stock could and did thrive on the vast prairies of the west.
In the three winters from December 1885 to March 1888, the west suffered a series of tragic blizzards.
Theodore Roosevelt believed that "stock raising on the plains is doomed". The end of Open Ranging and these blizzards did change the operation of the western ranches.
After the Civil War the market for Texas beef vanished. The ranchers were left holding several million head which they gladly sold at a very cheap price ~$4.00 per head. Large herds, around 3,500 head, were drove north. Some of these herds were marketed at Abilene Kansas. Other herds were sold to starting up ranchers. Such as Cryus who could afford the purchase of large numbers of these cheap Texas Cattle, to build up their herd.
The Texas cattle would be cross bred with European imported cattle such as Hereford. This cross bred stock could and did thrive on the vast prairies of the west.
In the three winters from December 1885 to March 1888, the west suffered a series of tragic blizzards.
Theodore Roosevelt believed that "stock raising on the plains is doomed". The end of Open Ranging and these blizzards did change the operation of the western ranches.
