Crawford Colorado

A little info on the "Dobes"
Cattlemen at the time had never heard of "range management" or "herd improvement." They all had a simple creed: get as many cattle as possible out on the grass to convert as much grass as possible into as much cash as possible. It took just over a decade for the cattlemen operating under that system to turn that large lake of stirrup-high bluestem grass into what we know today as "the Dobes." The last big open-range roundup in Crawford country was in 1893.

Needle Rock
Needle Rock towers 800 feet above the floor of the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River valley. It
originated as the throat of a large volcano about 28 million years ago (Miocene epoch) when
molten rock intruded between existing sedimentary formations. As the surrounding country rocks
eroded over millions of years, the resistant igneous core was exposed.

A little info on Gould Reservoir
By 1900, most of the easy work in the greening of the dry lands of Crawford country was done. Yet there was still an equally limitless demand for arable land. Two projects began in the Gunnison River Basin. Down in the bottom of the Black Canyon workers began hammering at the dark walls to drive a tunnel through to the Bostwick Park area just above the growing town of Montrose. In Crawford country the Gould brothers organized the Fruitland Land, Water and Livestock Company. They planned to develope enough water for 20,000 acres and the Gould Dam and Reservoir began.

The Fruitland Highline Ditch was built in 1903. This provided the water for a unique method of building the Gould dam. A heavy stream of water was directed at the hillside, washing dirt and rocks down into a flume that carried it to the damsite. The Fruitland Highline Ditch was only full during spring runoff, therefore they could only work a couple months out of the year. It took three years to build the dam to its original 45-foot height and was completed in 1910. It has since been raised another 18 feet.