First Dolores Postmaster
homesteaded local landmark
By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
The Ritter Ranch was a well-known landmark around Dolores and for many years, locals crossing the steel bridge nearby called the incline on the Old Dolores Highway "Ritter Hill," as you climbed out of the Dolores River Valley and up on to the ridge.
Anybody from Dolores, about my age, or several years older, almost certainly has a memory of Blue Robinson, his horse, and perhaps his almost daily rides from his place out on the Old Dolores Highway, into town.
I can't remember for sure if one of the 'hosses' above is Blue Robinson's, (we often encountered his hitch there in proximity to one of the bars,) but the young 'fella' in this picture is my friend, Andy Pleasant. His brother, Tim Pleasant took the photo.
"He had a sorrel mare he rode to town but not very often back home. Us kid would have to walk to town and then pick her up behind the Hollywood or Del Rio to ride her home. Poor thing," writes Carol Harris Brown.
"Don't forget the store next to Akin's. My earliest memory was of Froede's Rexall Drugstore where Charles Lee [Chuck] was the "king" of soda jerks in Dolores. Blue Robinson would come in and order a Bromo-Sletzer and Chuck would pour is back and forth between two tall glasses until the foam settled and he would hand it to Blue and say "this should help..." They had a S & S Nut machine that kept the nuts warm and a tray that rotated all the time. Later when it closed it became Shaw's Department Store, then I went off to college in 1958 ..." notes Joe A. Bowden, in a related online post.
Blue Robinson's place was known as the Ritter Ranch and had been been around since before the formation of Dolores, Colorado. It could well have been named after the first Postmaster of Dolores, William May, who homesteaded it first, built an early cabin, and later sold it to the Ritter brothers in 1908.
Also, Navie Sophia Sagrillo Johnson Ritter, lived accross North Seventh Street from me, near the Catholic Church, and I had the great pleasure to mow her lawn for years. Still not sure what relationship she had to early Ritters, but I think the 91-year-old woman might have set a record for carrying Dolores pioneer family names to the grave, upon her death in 1989.
Significance:
"The Ritter Ranch is historically significant as the most technologically progressive ranch within the Lower DoloresValley. The extensive outbuildings and their mechanical devices, including manure tracks for the barn and chicken house, prompted local residents to call this operation a
"model farm." The Ritters owned the ranch from 1908 until 1947, raising registered Hereford cattle, Suffolk and Hampshire sheep, and up to 250 chickens.," according to the Historic American Buildings Survey.
Historical Context:
"Settlement of this land began in the mid-1870's with William May later receiving a patent for 160 acres in 1890. The delay between patent application and settlement was common during this early homesteading period. William May was a prominent local pioneer serving as the first Postmaster of Dolores," the survey found.
Early cowboy Erastus Thompson later remembered May.
"I was born in Iowa in March 1858, and I first came to Denver about 1862. My father furnished government horses for the “Colorado First and Second.” He also had freight outfits. He owned six four-mule teams."
"In 1879, the range over there was eaten out, and I started to the Blue Mountains in Utah with the cattle. When I arrived and had turned the cattle loose, the Indians told me to get out. The men had left me, so the Indians helped me to round them up and bring the cattle out again. I met a couple of men from the San Luis Valley with cattle and told them of the situation out west. We turned all the cattle loose here on the Dolores, and I have been here ever since,"
"It was very dry that year of
1879. There was a little water out at Cross Canon and enough in Dove
Creek to wet a few doves. You could walk across the Dolores on the
ripple, but there was water standing in holes. It was the last of July
or the first of August when I brought those cattle back here," says Erastus Thompson historical account.
"At that time, Billy May had the place where William Ritter now lives.
When I was working for F.B. King over on LaVeta Pass, I met Billy May.
He was a surveyor but had no instruments to speak of. He wanted this
country out here subdivided. The government would not put up any money
but told him he could do the subdividing and take his pay in land. He
paid his own men and took land as directed. Billy ran the lines for this
township. "
"May and his brothers were early settlers to the Lower DoloresValley, patenting adjacent tracts along the river where they grazed large herds of cattle. Also, May, in partnership with Charlie Johnson, established a flour mill in Dolores."
"The ranch was purchased in 1908 by William and Frank Ritter from the William May estate. The Ritter brothers were prominent ranchers from the Lakeview District south of Dolores, before bringing their herds and expertise to the Lower Dolores Valley.
"In 1904, Frank Ritter became a local celebrity when his wheat entry won a silver medal at the St. Louis World's Fair. William Ritter moved with his family to the ranch while his brother remained at the Lakeview farm lands. The original May log cabin was incorporated into the structure that is now
the main house."
Interior Sheep Shed, South side, Jet Lowe, photographer.
"The Ritter Ranch derives architectural significance from the varied and relatively intact outbuildings which comprise the complex. The barn, originally with an attached octagonal silo, was constructed in 1918 with wood from nearby Lost Canyon. The sheep sheds were added to the south elevation of the barn in 1924-25.
Other buildings constructed in the Ritter Ranch in 1920's included the ice house, storage shed, and garage.
"A delco battery electrical system was located in the garage, providing electricity for the entire compound. Built in 1930, the chicken house incorporated the manure tracts into its original design, and the barn manure tracts were probably added in the 1930's. The bunk house, implement shed, and potato shed were added in the 1930's. The second house was built by John Ritter, who inherited the ranch from his father, William. This house was constructed of wood salvaged when the octagonal silo was torn down.
The Ritter Ranch was fairly self-sufficient with its large collection of livestock and variety of cultivated crops," the survey says.
Barn, Interior, second floor, west side, Jet Lowe, photographer
"They raised registered Hereford cattle as well as registered Hampshire and Suffolk sheep. Goats were kept to herd the sheep into railroad cars. Poultry included turkeys, guinea fowl, and peacocks in addition to a chicken population of usually 250. The Ritters sold the peacock feathers to local Indians for 25 cents. Wild hay, alfalfa, small grains, and potatoes were grown on the 70 acres of Valley land and pinto beans and wheat cultivated on the West Valley wall.
"The Ritter Ranch exemplifies the constant adaptation to circumstances in the local ranching lifestyle. Equipped with prime land and registered herds of livestock, the Ritterswere able to survive times of economic depression. They wereoften the first to incorporate "modern" agricultural practices
and technologies leading the way for surrounding ranchers."
Ritter Ranch, Main House. Jet Lowe, photographer
Historic American Buildings Survey -HABS No. CO-38
Old Dolores Highway, Dolores Vicinity, Montezuma County,
Colorado
At the the time of the report, the owner was Connie Robinson, Route 1, Box 711, Colby, Kansas, and the resent use was listed as residence
Physical History:
1. Date of erection: mid-1880s until late 1930's
2. Architect: unknown
3. Original and subsequent owners: References to the chain
of title to the land upon which the structures stand are
in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, Montezuma County
Courthouse, Cortez, Colorado.
1886 - Patent, April 10, 1886, recorded in Book 2, page
164. U. S. Government to William May.
1905 - Will, 1905, recorded in Book 36, page 171, William
May to Taylor May.
1908 - Deed, January 19, 1908, recorded in Book 34, page341, Taylor H. May to Frank Ritter.
1913 - Deed, June 24, 1913, Book 52, page 22, Frank
Ritter to William Ritter.
1914 - Deed, July 6, 1914, Book 52, page 189, William
Ritter to Edith Ritter.
1917 - Quit Claim Deed, August 2, 1917, Book 56, page 145,
Edith Ritter to William Ritter.
1934 - Deed, September 19, 1934, Book 101, page 450,
John William Ritter to Edith Ritter.
1942 - Deed, April 5, 1942, Book 116, page 289, Edith
M. Robinson to John Ritter.
1946 - Deed, April 26, 1946, Book 112, page 332, John
Ritter to Blue Robinson.
1976 - Release of Inheritance Tax, November 13, 1976,
Book 470, pages 672-3, Blue Robinson to Connie
Robinson.
Builders: Unknown for barn and main house; Ritter family
for various outbuildings.
Original plans and construction: No plans exist, and is wood
framed.
Alterations and additions:
a. House: Livingroom and bedroom added approximately
1908; second floor added approximately 1915-17.
b. Barn: Sheep sheds added 1924-25.
c. Potato Shed: Metal room overlaid on sod roof in 1940.
Interviews:
1. Ritter, John. Interview, 18 August 1981. Transcript
in Bureau of Reclamation Archeological Program file,
Cortez, Colorado.
2. Ritter, John; Ritter, Maurice; and Tibbits, Irene,
Mancos, Colorado. Interview by Susan Goulding,
8 September 1980. Transcript in Bureau of Reclamation
Dolores Archeological Program files, Cortez, Colorado.
Bibliography:
Dolores Star, 9 December 1904, p. 1, c. 2.
Notes prepared by: John P. White
Project Supervisor
HABS, National Park Service
July 1980
PROJECT INFORMATION:
This project was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service's National Architectural and Engineering Record, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, in cooperation with the Salt Lake City Region Bureau of Reclamation. Under the direction of Katherine Cole, Chief, Division of Cultural Resources, this project was completed during the summer of 1981 at the Historic American Buildings Survey Field Office, Cortez, Colorado, by John P. White, Project Supervisor (Associate Professor of Architecture,Texas Tech University); Steven M. Wiesenthal, Project Foreman (University of Maryland); Project Historians, Linda Dishman (University of California, Davis), Maureen L. Gerhold (Pennsylvania State University), and Lisa B. Mausolf (Wellesley College); Architects, Debra J. Brown (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), David J. Insinga (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University); and Student Architect, Deborah Rehn Hurst (Washington University, St. Louis).
South and east side of Ritter Barn. Jet Lowe, photographer
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