Growing out west: Colorado’s early homesteaders, ranchers lay the foundation for High Country communities

Growing out west: Colorado’s early homesteaders, ranchers lay the foundation for High Country communities

From open space, a Western way of life to modern-day agriculture and events such as Glenwood Springs’ Strawberry Days and Steamboat Springs’ Winter Carnival, the impacts of Colorado’s early homesteaders and ranchers exist across today’s mountain communities.  “We haven’t always been a resort community,” said Kathy Heicher, president of the Eagle County Historical Society. “We were a community of really hardworking and homesteading ranchers who w…