Cooper Property

Boots and Hinton Ditch

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Wesley and Keith Cooper, two brothers whose family originally homesteaded near Coaldale, own property along the Arkansas River in Salida. The farmhouse on their property was built over 100 years ago and bought by their parents in 1948. They used to produce alfalfa as a crop and there were a number of neighboring properties that also produced alfalfa. Several adjacent and nearby properties, including where the new Two Rivers development is located, used to be small farms and gardens. The Cooper’s irrigation water is delivered to their property via the Boots and Hinton Ditch, which diverts water from the South Arkansas River and goes through town to their property on Illinois Ave. The Cooper brothers, who are in their 80s, no longer have lands in agricultural production, but cleaning their ditch each spring is an important part of maintaining their water rights. They use the water for the fruit trees and landscaping at their property. While visiting the Cooper Property, you’ll get the feel for Salida’s agricultural heritage and how the town's historical small farms have been surrounded by growth or have disappeared altogether. You will also learn about some of Salida’s history from the Coopers. 

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Hutchinson Ranch

Del Monte Ditch

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The Hutchinson Ranch is a 7th generation family ranch located between Salida and Poncha Springs. This ranch provides incredible values to our community including scenic beauty, deer and elk habitat and opportunities for our children to get out on the land and learn about agriculture through educational programs at the Hutchinson Homestead. The ditch starts all the way up by the disc golf course in Poncha Springs and runs 4 miles to the Hutchinson Ranch. It runs through piñons, as well as two subdivisions and feeds two center pivots that irrigate alfalfa. This family does a lot for our community, and we’re eager to give back!  

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Frenchman’s Creek Ranch

Dryfield Ditch

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Francois Mayol homesteaded Frenchman’s Creek in 1863.  He was a Frenchman that had served in the Army before finding this place. He grew crops and animals to feed the miners in the area.  He brought his wife and two brothers over from France.  A daughter was born but died of croup as a baby.  His wife died in childbirth, but their 2nd daughter survived.  He married Nancy Boon from Poncha (a relative of Hutchinson's) and they had another daughter but soon after she was born, Frank died of pneumonia.  He, his 1st wife and his 1st daughter are buried on the ranch in a small cemetery. Nancy married Sam Hartsell and that is a whole history of its own. The Hartsell's sold the place to George Leonhardy and he and his family had a go at ranching here for a while.  He also was the postmaster here at Riverside, sold charcoal and mined.  He constructed the Leonhardy cutoff from Chubb park. Belinda’s mother's family moved to the place in the late 40's and she inherited it from her parents. They were both born and raised around BV. The ranch has been actively used as a productive property since 1863 even though it is small and not well known. The property consists of 408 acres, 40 of which are irrigated, north of Buena Vista where they run a small herd of Highland Cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens. The ditch is the Dryfield which is shared with the town of Buena Vista.  

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Kelly Ranch

Cottonwood-Maxwell Ditch 

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The Kelly Ranch, located south and west of Buena Vista, has been in the Kelly family for five generations. This gorgeous ranch is along Maxwell Creek and has several natural springs and roughly 40 acres of wetlands, providing important habitat. A unique type of wetland called a fen exists on the property. Fens are peat forming wetlands that depend on groundwater inputs. They are excellent water purifiers and the fen on the Kelly Ranch provides nesting habitat for water birds. A large population of lesser bladderwort, a tiny, carnivorous plant thrive in the fen and is considered one of the largest known occurrences of the plant in Colorado. 

Dave Kelly is a former water commissioner who understands the ins and outs of water in Chaffee County and also knows the work it takes to irrigate a ranch. He also helped with a local agriculture needs assessment that was conducted to better understand irrigation infrastructure and water rights needs in the Upper Arkansas Watershed. Dave was instrumental in helping the Conservancy create the Hands for Lands program, knowing how helpful this work would be to local ranchers.