The SLW Ranch, formerly known as the Percheron-Norman Horse Ranch, is an historic ranch located approximately east of
Greeley, Colorado
Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...
, near the confluence of the
Platte River
The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...
and
Crow Creek. In 1998 it was honored by the Colorado Historical Society as a
Centennial Ranch.
It was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1991. The listing included 17
contributing buildings
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
, 12
contributing structures
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
, and a
contributing site
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
on .
[
]John Studebaker
John Mohler Studebaker (10 October 1833 – 16 March 1917) was the Pennsylvania Dutch co-founder and later executive of what would become the Studebaker Corporation automobile company. He was the third son of the founding Studebaker family, and pl ...
of wagon and automotive manufacturing fame, ''L'' for Lafayette Lamb, a lumber company executive and ''W'' for Harvey E Witwer, former manager of the Percheron-Norman Horse Ranch and nephew of Studebaker.
History
Studebaker and Lamb established the Percheron-Norman Horse Ranch in the 1880s on property purchased from “Lord” Lyulph Ogilvy, second son of the seventh Earl of Airlie
Earl of Airlie is a title of the peerage in Scotland created on 2 April 1639 for James Ogilvy, 7th Lord Ogilvy of Airlie, along with the title “Lord Ogilvy of Alith and Lintrathen.” The title “Lord Ogilvy of Airlie” was then created o ...
. At one time the ranch was one of the largest horse operations in America, spanning with 2,600 brood mares. In 1899 the SLW Ranch partnership was formed. In addition to the draft horses, the ranch was home to a small herd of white-faced cattle. Witwer continued to purchase Hereford cattle
The Hereford is a British breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands of England. It has spread to many countries – there are more than five million purebred Hereford cattle in over fifty nations worldwide. The bre ...
from ranches back East until the herd was 1,500 head. In order to promote strong healthy cattle with desirable traits, the herd was registered and began breeding operations.
In 1909 Witwer approached his partners with the idea of purchasing their shares in the ranch. The sale was completed in 1913, and over the course of the next few years the SLW Ranch operation switched exclusively to a cattle operation. The ranch is home to one of the oldest, continuously operating Hereford ranches in the country and the oldest registered Hereford herd in Colorado. Harvey Witwer and his wife Bertha had two sons, Stow Lathrop and Harvey E. Jr. and a daughter, Mary Frances. The sons became actively involved with operating the ranch and looked for ways to increase the stability and profitability of a somewhat volatile business.
In the 1920s, at Stow's urging, the ranch became a dude ranch
A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism.
History
Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...
. Visitors would come from all over for a taste of the western life on a real working ranch. The original 12 room Ogilvy home was converted to accommodations for guests, who by the 1930s were paying $35 a week for room, board and activities. The income from the dudes provided money when the cattle operation took a bad turn and the ranch faced foreclosure
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mortg ...
. Stow and Harvey Jr. worked with Federal Land Bank
The Farm Credit System (FCS) in the United States is a nationwide network of borrower-owned lending institutions and specialized service organizations. The Farm Credit System provides more than $304 billion in loans, leases, and related services t ...
and were able to retain approximately . The ranch continued taking dudes until 1942 and is still operating cattle in 2008.
Witwer family
As the sons became more active in the cattle operations, Harvey Witwer Sr. retired from ranching and entered politics in Weld County
Weld County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 328,981. The county seat is Greeley, Colorado, Greeley.
Weld County comprises the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Stati ...
. In 1933 he was elected County Treasurer, an office he held until his death in 1942.
Stow married Clara Steele in 1926. They raised three children on the ranch, Joy (Witwer) Thomson, Carol (Witwer) Worth and Stow Witwer Jr.. Stow Sr and his family operated the ranch until his death in 1991.
Harvey Jr. married Marion Giddings and they had two daughters, Julie (Witwer) Shade and Linda (Witwer) Bonnett.
Mary Frances married Alexander McLeish and they had twin sons, Doug and Don McLeish.
Opening in 2022 and located within the Hutchison Family Stockyards Event Center, the Stow L. Witwer Memorial Show Arena will honor the Witwer family’s legendary history with the National Western Stock Show.
See also
*
References
*Johnson, Edwin R. (May 1938). “H.E. Witwer and the SLW”. ''The Westerner'', pp. 12, 13, 23.
*Spohn, Donna (November 1983). “Stow Witwer: A Chat With An Old Cowhand”. '' Choice Magazine of the Front Range'', pp. 8–11, 19.
*Kisling, Jack (July 27, 1986). “A Cattleman’s History: Stow Witwer at 83”. ''Empire, A magazine of the West'', pp. 14, 16.
External links
Colorado Centennial Farms
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Slw Ranch
Buildings and structures in Weld County, Colorado
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
Ranches on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
National Register of Historic Places in Weld County, Colorado