Raber Cow Camp - Whitewater, CO - Colorado Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The main plaque reads:

In 1881, after the Northern Utes were forced onto a reservation in Utah, homesteaders rushed into the valleys surrounding Grand Mesa and established cattle ranches. In early summer, many ranchers herded their cattle up the hill to the top of Grand Mesa where there was excellent grass and kept the cows up here all summer. In those days, the cowpunchers built cabins (even in mid-summer the nights can be pretty cool at 10,000’ in elevation) and stayed up here. These days, the roads are much better and most cowboys just get back in the pick-up and drive home every night.

The Forest Service thought that most of these abandoned cow camps would become hazardous so they tore them down. Somehow the Raber Cow Camp was spared and was actually renovated in 1993 as an example of what life here was like in the 1940’s and 1950’s, the heydays of cow camp life on Grand Mesa.

"Raber Cow Camp was used by the Raber family from the 1930s until 1966. The cow camp was occupied during the summers when the family moved cattle from the nearby lowlands to the well-watered grasslands ontop of Grand Mesa. The cabin did not offer the cowboys and family electricity, natural gas, running water, or flushing toilets, but food refrigeration was available in a nearby creek. The cow camps on Grand Mesa were largely abandoned after the advent of better roads and modern transportation that allowed grazing permittees to travel up and down the mesa in a single day. Winifred Raber, who stayed at the cow camp every summer from the 1930s until 1966, has helped document the history of the camp. Some of her recollections and photographs are presented along a short interpretive trail that visitors can walk to learn about the cow camp’s history. The cabins were preserved in 1998 in partnership with the Colorado State Historic fund." (from (visit link) )

"Raber Cow Camp is a 0.2 mile loop trail with interpretive signs around old cabins and corral." (from (visit link) )

Group or Groups Responsible for Placement: History Colorado, USFS, Grand Mesa, CDOT County or City: Mesa County Date Dedicated: 1993 Check here for Web link(s) for additional information: Not listed

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