The Colorado cattle industry has an intriguing and colorful history. For more than 150 years, Colorado’s cattle ranching families have been committed to a tradition of providing consumers a safe and wholesome food supply while caring for Colorado’s land, water and wildlife resources.

Spanish Americans brought the first cattle into Colorado in the early 1800s. The first cattle boom in Colorado started in 1865, right after the Civil War, as cattle were trailed up from Texas to satisfy the demand for beef from a growing eastern population and a booming mining industry in the West.

Most of Colorado’s early cattle ranches were established to provide food for miners during the Gold Rush. By the 1860's, cattle were grazing in the mountain pastures. When the railroad was connected to Denver, cattle could also be shipped back east, and Colorado’s cattle industry began to grow.

In 1866, Charlie Goodnight and Oliver Loving blazed a new cattle trail from Texas to the markets and pastures far to the north.  Instead of going through bad rustler territory and Indian territory in north Texas and Oklahoma, they turned further west and came up through Colorado for the first time. This was the beginning of the Goodnight-Loving Trail. Over this trail, between 1866 and 1884, nearly 5 million head of Longhorn cattle were trailed or moved.

Today, there are more than 3.2 million head of cattle and 10,000 beef producers throughout Colorado. Colorado ranks 10th in overall cattle numbers nationwide.

Nearly one-third of Colorado’s counties are classified as either economically dependent on the cattle industry or having the cattle industry serve an important role in their economies. Cash receipts from the sale of cattle and calves at $2 billion represents nearly half of the gross farm income of $4.7 billion -- Colorado’s largest industry.

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) was founded in 1867 -- nine years before Colorado became a state and 11 years before a national cattlemen’s association was formed. CCA is the state's only nonprofit trade organization exclusively representing Colorado's 10,000+ cattle producers.

CCA was the nation’s first cattlemen’s association.  The association was originally organized to protect cattle ranchers from rampant livestock theft which plagued the open range.  On Nov. 24, 1867, a group of cattlemen met at Denver's historic Planters House to discuss the problems challenging the fledgling industry and to form what was originally named the Colorado Stock Growers Association.  While protecting against cattle theft continues to be an important function of the organization, the association’s agenda has broadened significantly since its inception.

Today, CCA maintains 20 standing committees comprised of volunteer cattlemen and women working on issues ranging from land and water resource stewardship and animal care to the protection of property rights and increasing awareness of the state’s beef industry. The grassroots organization has 48 affiliated local county cattlemen’s associations and a volunteer board of directors of 16 cattlemen and women. A full-time staff in Arvada helps the 501(c)6 nonprofit association carry out its mission of promoting and protecting the interests of the cattle industry in Colorado through legislative representation, research and education and information.

For more information, purchase Century in the Saddle, the 100-year history of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association and Colorado's cattle industry.  ($35 for CCA members, $45 for non-CCA members)