the STORY
Where the land tells the story.
A handful of homesites above the Yampa river, open meadow, and elevated ground with the long valley views. Each one is its own piece of the ranch with shared access and no fences between you and the best fishing for miles.
The settlers
Five families have held this ground.
It began with a single cabin at the confluence of the Yampa and the Elk. William Denison, an orphan from Vermont sent West in search of his future, filed the homestead in 1886 and worked it until his death three years later. The books he carried over the mountains became the first library in the valley.
After him came a poker-playing Frenchman, a hellfire preacher who served as mayor, and finally our forebearer, a cattle foreman named Frank Squire, who proved a family farm could survive by running cattle and sheep on the same range.
Red Angus wintering below the home range · Steamboat Springs
THE EARLY HANDS · 1886–1914
William Denison
1889
A Vermont orphan sent West to outrun consumption; the books he carried over the mountains became the valley’s first library.
Horatio Duquette
1889
A poker-playing Frenchman who “built his own background,” putting up one of the largest hay and oat crops in the valley.
James Norvell
1912
Preacher, horse-trader, and mayor of the town company, James made and lost several fortunes on this same range.
THE HOGUE FAMILY · SINCE 1917
Frank Squire
1917
Norvell's foreman of twenty years; bred champion relay horses and the bucking legend, General Pershing. His daughter Margaret would carry the ranch into the Hogue name.
Charles & Margaret Hogue
1948
A Tenth Mountain Division skier and a rancher’s daughter, who raised five children on this ground.
The Routt County column, c. 1938 “Mr. and Mrs. Frank Squire made a trip to their sheep camp near Maybell last Wednesday.”
How the name came to be
We did not name the ranch. We kept the name.
Long before the survey stakes and the section lines, the settlement the family put down on this bend was known simply as Brookston, a brook, a crossing, and a handful of homesteads above the river.
The clipping beside this page is the Squires in the local paper, the family who would carry the place forward through brand and marriage and four more generations. When the time came to put a name on what we steward today, the old one was already there, set down in newsprint and memory. It was never ours to change.
The OWNERS
Owned by the Hogues, still on the ground.
A small family operation, the people who answer the phone are the people who put up the hay.
Mike Hogue
RANCHER & FARMER
Mike runs the ranch: the cattle, the hay ground, and the water. Grandson of Frank Squire, he has worked this place since he came home from school in 1975, and served as president of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association. Mike can also tell you where the best food and drink can be found in Steamboat!
Justin Hogue
Land & cattle
Justin works for the local power cooperative and keeps the herd and the fences here. He and his wife Loy are raising the fifth generation on this ranch, and they hold themselves to a simple standard: leave the land and the livestock better than they found them.
Jessica Hogue
FISH BIOLOGIST
A fish biologist by trade, Jessica spends most of her working hours on the water. Her love for fish and nature is paired with the desire to ensure the beauty in the water is here to stay. When not on the water Jessica loves riding and working with horses on the ranch.
Join us in our stewardship of this special place
If you've always dreamed of a quiet place to call home, and the rugged beauty of rural Colorado - this may be the place for you. We can't wait to meet you, our future neighbor.
