Salt Works Ranch
Dreaming of gold and success, Charles Hall ventured to Colorado alongside other prospectors. Failing to realize his goals, Hall turned to salt manufacturing and he erected the Colorado Salt Works and Ranch in 1862.[1]
Hall’s salt enterprise took water from the salt springs near Fairplay and boiled it down to dry crystals. For a few years, Hall ran a successful business on his ranch land, with his product in demand for the processing of mineral ores, but the railroads soon imported much cheaper salt from the East.[2]
Hall and his descendants focused on cattle ranching as salt sale profits decreased. The ranch became headquarters for Tom McQuaid, Hall’s son in law, and his “vast cattle empire.”[3] McQuaid was well known in the Fairplay area for managing thousands of cattle on 100,000 acres of ranchland.
Much of the Salt Works ranch land was sold off after McQuaid’s death, but a couple of thousand acres of the 135-year-old ranch remain. Charles Hall’s descendants continue to ranch and raise cattle on the land today, and they are committed to keeping the scenic fields protected from commercial development.[4]