Buffalo Peaks Ranch
Adolphe and Marie Guiraud homesteaded in South Park between Hartsel and Fairplay. Adolphe also had worked as a merchant, running a store in Fairplay before his death in 1875. After her husband Adolphe’s death, Marie Guiraud was left to care for their 640 acres of ranching property.[1] The ranch remained in the Guiraud family until the mid-1900s and focused on the cattle business.
Marie continued to work hard as head of the Guiraud household, even settling the town of Garo. The small town included a “population of twenty…a ticket agent, school teacher, postmaster, livery and feed, and a hotel.”[2] Marie was quick to understand the value of the railroad that was being built and is upheld for her responsibility in earning her hometown of Garo recognition on the railroad’s list of destinations.[3] The railway’s presence allowed the little town to flourish as it turned into a key railway supply hub.
Marie Guiraud and her children grew their ranch land and adapted to the changes in ranching techniques from open range to fenced-in herds. By the time Marie passed in 1909, the Buffalo Peaks/Guiraud Ranch was 5,000 acres.[4] The ranch passed through the hands of Marie’s children and grandchildren, and managed to weather through the Great Depression. Eventually, ownership passed to James McDowell, who invested in the land and updated the structures. Cattle ranching boomed during World War II, and the McDowells ran a successful cattle operation until the 1960s, but ultimately decided to sell the land and water rights.[5]
Today, the city of Aurora owns the Buffalo Peaks/Guiraud Ranch and leases the land to the Rocky Mountain Land Library, which is building a residential library for the area. They plan to renovate the historical buildings and keep 30,000 volumes of books focused on Western US history within the collection.[6] Even today, of the many ranches in the history of Park County, it is the Buffalo Peaks ranch that holds unique prominance due to Marie's decisive intuition that made her one of the most remarkable women ranchers.