History of Hartsel Springs Ranch
Samuel Hartsel homesteaded the Hartsel Ranch in 1862 at the two forks of the 
Platte River. This location would become the main road between the then prosperous town of Colorado Springs and the major gold mining camps of Breckenridge, Fairplay, Goldfield and others. Hartsel was the first ranchman to settle in South Park, starting his ranch with oxen that had been used to bring gold seekers to this area of Colorado in the 1860’s. Sam Hartsel expanded his original ranch by buying other surrounding spreads and soon had one of the largest spreads in the area. He had come west like so many others seeking his fortune searching for gold.
Having been born in Pennsylvania, he, as a young man of 15, became a cattle driver driving herds between Ohio and New York for six dollars a month. This trip took four and a half months as he walked the entire distance. Through his travels he gained valuable business knowledge and decided to start his own cattle business in Iowa. Finding the winters too severe for cattle, Hartsel soon abandoned Iowa and moved west to 
Kansas in 1856 to work for the largest freighting concern on the plains, Russell, Major & Waddell. This company had the government contracts to carry supplies for Fort Leavenworth to the forts and Indians in the far west. With his cattle experience, Hartsel was responsible for overseeing the animals for the company.
In 1860, Hartsel and four other men, along with a yoke of cattle, a wagon and necessary supplies, left Summer, Kansas for the gold diggings in Tarryall, Colorado. They mined until their stake was exhausted and
their gold fever was gone. Having enough of mining Sam went back to what he knew best and went to work herding cattle for Bowers & Warren, the original discovers of the Tarryall diggings.
Soon after, Hartsel founded his first small ranch only three miles from Tarryall starting with the oxen that had been used to transport miners west. In 1862, he moved a few miles west to South Park and located his ranch at the forks of the 
Platte River.
Hartsel found South Park to be favorable for cattle and soon brought Texas Longhorn cattle to the ranch. In 1864, Sam Hartsel returned east to diversify his livestock and purchase his first herd of short-horned Hereford cattle and began the long haul to drag them west to South Park. Along the journey, Hartsel ran into trouble with Indians and had to halt his cattle drive in Kansas. In 1865, he picked up where he left off and began the final push across the Great Plains to Colorado. At Fort Arbury, Hartsel’s wagon train was attacked and seven Mexican hands were killed. But Sam would not be deterred and although he continued to battle Indians as he moved west, he eventually completed his cattle drive and arrived in South Park with 150 head of short-horned cattle.
Hartsel became very successful in the cattle business and later would bring American horses to his Ranch. In fact, he was the first to bring these animals to Colorado and in the process he became a true pioneer of the west. Sam eventually founded the town of Hartsel and developed it into Colorado’s second tourism destination behind Colorado Springs. He capitalized on the natural hot springs where westerners would flock to get a chance to bath in these “healing waters.” Hartsel piped the hot water to his ranch which gave rise to the name Hartsel “Springs” Ranch.
And his life story would not be complete without the many Wild West experiences he had. Once he was captured by Indians on his very own Ranch and was forced to lead them out of South Park. Despite his many run-ins with the Indian, his relationship with the Indian would become local folklore. Hartsel would eventually earn respect from the Indian and even allowed them their yearly request for their tribes and even their horses to bathe in these natural hot springs.
With age setting in and the loss of his son, Hartsel sold the Hartsel Springs Ranch to Kansas-based Swift and Company Meat Packers in 1916. Hartsel died in Denver in 1918 leaving his legacy for many Colorado history books.
Swift and Company created the South Park Mercantile Company which ran the Ranch until 1944. The ranch became a thriving point for Swift and Company cattle markets.
During World War II the ranch was purchased by Texas interests and shortly thereafter acquired by A. T. “Cap McDanald, president of the McDanald Oil Company. Subsequently, more land was acquired by McDanald and soon the ranch holdings were at 200,000 acres and become Colorado’s largest ranch.
During the 1950’s, McDanald experimented with oil drilling but to no avail. With no reserves of oil McDanald sold the Ranch in 1959 to a Hawaiian-based company in conjunction with a number of Denver stockholders. Since that time the Ranch has been subdivided and mainly held by private investors.
A significant development occurred in 1996. With the last wild buffalo killed in 1878, the Ranch decided to reintroduce the buffalo to South Park. The protein rich grass and ample water supply helped cultivate a significant population of buffalo.
Today over 100 buffalo roam the land of Hartsel Springs Ranch, making the property one of the few places left where people can watch these creatures roam the plains as they once did. The world has changed a lot in the past 130 years, but at Hartsel Springs Ranch things really haven’t changed that much. The Ranch now serves as a rare gem in modern society. This frontier has somehow withstood the test of time and to this day remains part of the true Wild West. There are very few places left that encapsulate such a feeling of genuine American heritage and Wild West flavor than Hartsel Springs Ranch.
