From ranches to rodeos: Aspen’s deep-rooted cowboy tradition

Editor’s note: This article features Matt Nieslanik, who passed away on the morning of June 3, just six weeks after we spoke about life as a rancher, his passion for horses and rodeo, and his love for his family. He was gracious and kind to suffer through my questions and was good-humored when I asked about the “Yellowstone” phenomenon and what we all get wrong about the cowboy lifestyle. He answered with a chuckle, “That show is all Hollywood. Cowboys are land-rich and cash-poor. You’ve got to have a good banker if you’re going to be a rancher.” May he rest in peace.

Ever since a little show called “Yellowstone” premiered in 2018, a pop-culture obsession with all things Western has been growing. From television and film to music and fashion, the American Cowboy aesthetic and lifestyle has captured our collective imagination once again.

While sights of cowboy hats, boots, big belt buckles, and other Western wear have become de rigueur in Aspen, ranching and cowboy culture are much more than a fashion statement; they are an integral part of the community, with a deep history running through the Roaring Fork Valley.

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“People admire our lifestyle,” says Darce Vold, executive director of the Snowmass Western Heritage Association. “People are really looking for something good and pure, that they can enjoy. And there is nothing more peaceful than being out on a ranch and seeing baby calves being born and colts and other animals. That’s about as close to nature as you’re going to get, and it’s very wholesome.”

Firmly rooted in the Old West

Before Aspen garnered its reputation for designer stores and its great arts scene — and, yes, even before skiing attracted visitors worldwide — families lived in harmony with the land. They supported their community through ranching, a lifestyle passed down through generations.

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While most of Aspen’s economy revolved around mining when early white settlers arrived in the valley, ranching began to take hold in the 1880s due to the Homestead Act, which allowed hard workers to move west and pick out 160 acres of land to work for five years, after which time they could claim ownership.

The Roaring Fork Valley attracted immigrants from Slovenia, Scandinavia, northern Italy, and other European countries. For many, especially families from the Aosta region of Italy, the area reminded them of the rugged mountain regions back home. These farmers and ranchers sold a variety of crops in the Aspen market, such as fresh meat, vegetables, and hay — products in high demand due to the remote location of Aspen and the surrounding region.

“My great grandfather was a homesteader here and bought a lot of land and put together the ranch,” says Mike Gerbaz. “And then my grandfather and his brothers ranched until the late ’60s. You know the old red schoolhouse and Woody Creek? They rode their horses from basically Watson Divide up to there to go to school. It was a different world back then.”

As families named Vanguer, Gerbaz, Stapleton, Christiansen, and others settled in the valley, the bust of the silver mining economy after the repeal of the Sherman Silver Act of 1893 put the onus of keeping Aspen afloat on farmers and ranchers. These families sustained life here during what became known as the Quiet Years, from 1900 to the 1940s, between the silver mining boom and the arrival of the founders of modern-day Aspen and the ski industry.

The railroad allowed these families to not only raise potatoes, vegetables, poultry, pigs, and cattle for their use and local markets, but also to transport goods and cattle to sell in Denver and other markets in Colorado and beyond.

Though many of the old ranching families had to sell their land in the 1950s and ’60s due to the high costs of maintaining it, today, families still ranch and continue to live an authentic cowboy lifestyle.

The enduring legacy of rodeo

Before skiing became synonymous with Aspen, another local pastime captivated people in the Roaring Fork Valley: rodeos.

Rodeos date back to the late 1800s and developed as a way for ranchers and riders to demonstrate their skills. So, it’s no surprise, with Aspen’s deep ranching history, that in 1953, The Aspen Saddle and Bridle Club formed. Though rodeos had taken place in the area earlier, the club hosted regular, annual events like the Silver Stampede Rodeo, the Potato Day Rodeo, and the popular W-J Stampede Rodeo at Wink Jafee’s W-J Ranch on McLain Flats, the latter of which ran for more than 20 years and attracted about 250 cowboys and 2,000 onlookers from across the Western Rocky Mountains.

In 1971, the Snowmass Rodeo was founded. It became the first weekly event, every Wednesday, during the summer season. In 2003, the Carbondale Rodeo became a beloved Thursday night community attraction. Both rodeos remain popular summer activities for visitors and local families yearning to connect with the valley’s Western legacy.

Continuing the tradition

Despite the hectic pace of modern-day life and land development, the ranching lifestyle still echoes throughout the valley.

“It’s a simple form of life, and most people want to add to simplicity,” Gerbaz says. “Cell phones and technology were supposed to make our life easier — better — but we’ve lost our way with being able to communicate with each other. I think that’s part of it. The other part is when you go to a rodeo and see the flag ridden out, that’s one of my favorite things to watch. It’s patriotic. We might be dealing with some issues right now, but we are still a great country.”

But it’s not an easy lifestyle by any means, especially in this day and age.

“It’s not all about riding horses and checking on your cows all day,” says Matt Nieslanik. “It’s a lot more labor intensive.”

The Nieslanik family has continued to ranch and raise cattle and horses for three generations in the valley in great part due to a conservation easement on their land, allowing future generations to continue what their forefathers began. Every year as the snow melts, they tend to spring calves, colts, and fillies and prepare to move their cattle to higher elevations to graze during the warmer months, as they grow hay and other crops.

“It’s in our blood. We’ve been ranching for years. It’s a special kind of lifestyle. It’s hard work, but there’s something different all the time,” he says. “We’re trying to be good land stewards — that’s why we put that conservation easement on my dad’s property because it’ll always be open space. So, my kids and their grandkids can come, and it’ll still basically be the same. Somebody will be farming it.”

A version of this story appears in the latest Summer in Aspen Snowmass Magazine. To read more magazine stories, go to aspentimes.com/magazines.

Sarah Girgis is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9151 or sgirgis@aspentimes.com.