History of the North Fork - Paonia Real Estate and Homes, Linda Lario, RE/MAX Mountain West, Paonia, Colorado

History of the North Fork

An expedition of white men arrived in the North Fork Valley in 1881 to scout for homesteads. The Ute Indians, once residents of the valley, were being moved onto reservations.

The valley, as described by these white men, was covered with cottonwood timber, willows, buffalo brush, skunk brush and sagebrush. The North Fork of the Gunnison River did not cut a gorge, but spread out over the valley during high water, depositing sand and rich soil from the high country, making the valley soil, in places, very rich.

One of the men on the expedition, Samuel Wade, imported the first fruit trees to the valley. In preparation for the trees, he began building what would be first of many irrigation ditches. By 1900, at least 18 ditches were under construction, bringing water to the fruit trees.

Meanwhile, what would become the valley's leading industry, coal mining, had its modest beginnings. Coal was discovered in the Somerset area of the North Fork Valley. The first claims were on a small scale, supplying local blacksmiths. No one realized the vast coal resource (approx. 33 billon tons) beneath the mountains.

By 1902, a railroad line was laid through the North Fork to the coal mines. The mines still operate today, with up to five full train loads of coal per day shipped by Union Pacific rail lines to power stations around the west. The coal is a hard anthracite, which is a cleaner burning, low sulfur coal that is much in demand.

The railroad also changed the commercial scale of the fruit industry. Two of the first settlers, W.S. Coburn and Samuel Wade took six first places with the fruit they exhibited at the 1893 Chicago world's Fair. With the advent of the railroad, a thousand car loads of fruit were shipped out of the North Fork in 1904.

Cattle and sheep ranching were also a prominent industry in the North Fork Valley. Long horn cattle were used because they were hardy. Many ranchers have grazing permits on National Forest lands, and the animals eat the sweet mountain grass all summer, coming home in the winter to eat hay that was grown in the North Fork Valley all summer on irrigated pasture.

Back in 1902 most land sold for around $100 an acre. Land was valued for its location, productivity, and mostly for its water rights. Land that could be irrigated was much more valuable than "dry" land.

Today, that is also true. However "dry", non-irrigated land that once was used only for limited grazing, is now much valued for its recreational values. The price of land now includes the value of a spectacular view and proximity to the mountains. Land usage has changed, and with it, so have land values.

Bob and Linda Lario

RE/MAX© Mountain West

P.O. Box 778

Paonia, CO 81428

Office: 970.527.7759

Toll Free: 800.571.7670

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