COLORADO HISTORY
John Iliff · Greatest Cattle king/founder of scientific breeding. · Born in Ohio 1831. · Came to Pikes Peak gold rush in 1859. · Opened butchers shop in Denver. · Noticed area would be good for cattle. · Invested in Long horn cattle 2 yrs. later. · Small herds due to Indian trouble. · Introduced blooded bulls to improve herd. · Federal government supplied him with all ranching supplies except branding irons. · When UP reached hi plains in northern co—Iliff got a contract to supply beef to construction crews. · By 1878 owned 15,000 acres of range, much of it bordered waters of S. Platte river. · Range stretched from Greeley to Julesburg. · Used R.R to transport beef. · Switched to Herford and angus—shipped easier than longhorns · Used barbed wire to prevent longhorns from breeding with his cattle. · Sold beef to Indians, R.R., towns, butchers Ø Saw potential overcrowding problem with ranching. § Eventually problem lead to range wars. § Iliff fell in love with sewing machine girl and got married. § Died in 1877.