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Winkler Ranch 1 of 7 'Centennial Farms' found in Douglas County

Editor's note: The News-Press will profile Douglas County's seven official Colorado Centennial Farms. The weekly series leading up to the Douglas County Fair in August is being written in conjunction with the Douglas County commissioners, fair board and Douglas Public Library District recognition of the historic properties at this year's fair. The ranches represent the foundation of Douglas County's past economy and way of life.

Published: 07.18.01

A recent phone call one afternoon to the Winkler Ranch near Franktown went unanswered; 73-year-old Joe Winkler was out slopping the pigs. Such an occurrence has become rare in one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, where housing subdivisions are sometimes named after the ranches they replace.

The Winkler Ranch in Lake Gulch Valley is one of Douglas County's seven registered Colorado Centennial Farms. Winkler and his family are lifelong Douglas County ranchers, having worked the property for more than 140 years. On Aug. 4, all seven registered Centennial Farms will be recognized by the Douglas Board of County Commissioners at the Douglas County Fair grand opening.

It was early in the 1860s when Winkler's grandparents seized the opportunity to move here from Ohio to take advantage of the federal government's Homestead Act.

The Homestead Act, passed by Congress to encourage people to move west, deeded 160 acres of public land to any settler who agreed to stay five years, build a cabin and pay fees. Winkler's ancestors arrived before Colorado statehood in 1876. They were some of Franktown's earliest settlers, said Johanna Harden, local archivist with the Douglas Public Library District.

Although some settlers did not fare well out in the unsettled "Great American Desert," the George Engel family thrived because of their entrepreneurial spirit, Winkler said. In addition to running the ranch, Louisa Engel catered meals, did laundry and doctored those who built the Castlewood Canyon Dam south of Franktown. As neighboring settlers died or moved away, the family bought their properties.

Winkler said his fondest memories of the ranch are fishing in or skating on the reservoir with his six siblings.

The historic Castlewood Canyon Dam was built nearby in 1890 as an irrigation project, just south of Franktown. Reservoir developers wanted to make the surrounding land more attractive to farmers and ranchers. Part of the Engel property was flooded for the reservoir.

When the dam broke during a summer rain storm in 1933, sending a large flood down Cherry Creek into Denver, the Engel property became farmland again, Harden said.

Native grass hay and purebred Shorthorn beef cattle are produced on the ranch.

Several historic buildings survive on the Winkler Ranch. Most notable is the two-story log barn from 1859, used for livestock and hay, and two cabins from 1860. A barn and a shed, which were built just before the turn of the century, are still used for livestock. The structures earned the Winkler Ranch a Historic Structures Award from the Colorado Historical Society.

After George Engel's death, Louisa Engel managed the ranch. Her nephew, Josef Winkler, emigrated from Austria to help.

Josef Winkler inherited the property when Louisa Engel died. He continued the Shorthorn cattle operations and was named "Man of the Year in Livestock" by the Record Stockman in 1947.

Today, Josef Winkler's children operate the Winkler Cattle Company Inc. as a beef cattle ranch. Today about 800 cattle roam on the 5,000-acre ranch. Relative James Mullins had the grand champion steer at the Douglas County Fair last year.

Joe Winkler and his family were honored along with nine other Colorado Centennial Farms from around the state last summer at the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo. There are about 250 centennial farms and ranches across the state.