Trinidad in Las Animas County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
A Capital of Open Range Ranching
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 2025
1. A Capital of Open Range Ranching Marker
Before homesteaders began farming the plains, before barbed wire sliced the prairies into neat squares, and before windmills spiked the horizon, huge open-range ranching operations controlled thousands of square miles of grasslands. Enormous herds of cows and sheep grazed on these grasslands. Three of these immense operations were headquartered in Trinidad, two in the First National Bank building.
The second-floor corner offices were headquarters for Texas' famed Matador Ranch from 1892 to 1920. Stretching from Texas to South Dakota, the Matador, at its peak grazed over 72,000 cattle on almost 880,000 acres. Its manager, a Scot named Murdo MacKenzie, first moved to Trinidad in 1885 to manage a ranching empire that dwarfed even the Matador the Prairie land and Cattle Company with almost 5-million acres which stretched from New Mexico into Canada. Both ranches were Scottish owned.
The Bloom Land and Cattle Company was locally owned and run by Frank Bloom. Bloom ran the ranch from the lobby of a bank, where he also served as president. Its ranges were scattered from Roswell, New Mexico, into Montana.
Many of Trinidad's major buildings were financed with ranch money. Ranching, on a smaller scale, remains important to the city's economy.
Erected by Trinidad Historical
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1885.
Location. 37° 10.118′ N, 104° 30.336′ W. Marker is in Trinidad, Colorado, in Las Animas County. It is at the intersection of East Main Street (Business Interstate 25) and North Commercial Street, on the right when traveling west on East Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 101 East Main Street, Trinidad CO 81082, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Mountain West, on the Great Plains, on the Southern Plains, and on the Santa Fe Trail Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Comancherνa, the Dust Bowl, and the Republic of Texas.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Aultman Studio (here, next to this marker); The Santa Fe Trail (a few steps from this marker); Corazσn de Trinidad National Historic District (within shouting distance of this marker); Invasion by the United States Army (within shouting distance of this marker); The Mountain Called Fisher's Peak (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Coal Miners' Memorial (about 400 feet away); The Coal Miner's Canary (about 400 feet away); Trinidad Schools and the Sisters of Charity (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Trinidad.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . .
1. About Matador Ranch.
Excerpt:(Submitted on August 6, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)For more than 140 years, the Matador Ranch has been a vibrant, colorful, cutting-edge cattle operation located in the southeast corner of the Texas Panhandle, about 90 minutes northeast of Lubbock.
2. Marker detail: Livestock BrandsThe Diamond Circle brand of the Bloom Cattle Co.
The Flying V brand of the Matador Ranch
The JJ brand of the Prairie Land and Cattle Co.
Its rich history includes diverse ownership, timely expansion to adequately handle growing herds and dynamic leadership that routinely placed the Matador Ranch at the pinnacle of the cattle industry.
From that day in the fall of 1878 when Henry H. Campbell and Alfred M. Britton began their partnership with the purchase of a small herd and grazing rights from Joe Browning at Ballard Springs in Motley County until present day, the Matador Ranch and Matador Cattle Company have justifiably earned their positions as a true historic ranch.
2. The Prairie Cattle Company (Texas State Historical Association).
(By Hugh Allen Anderson) Excerpt: The Prairie Cattle Company, Limited, is sometimes called the "mother of British cattle companies" since it was the first foreign syndicate to take advantage of the southwestern "Beef Bonanza" of the early 1880s. It was established in 1880 by the Scottish American Mortgage Company, based in Edinburgh, and by the following year it had purchased(Submitted on August 6, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)the JJ spread in southeastern Colorado and the Hall brothers' Cross L Ranch in northeastern New Mexico. The company's first big investment in the Texas Panhandle occurred in July 1881, when it purchased George W. Littlefield's LIT Ranch. By the end of 1882 the Prairie Cattle Company owned close to 100,000 cattle and range rights to an unbroken, 300-mile strip of land from the Canadian River to the Arkansas River.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 20253. A Capital of Open Range Ranching MarkerLooking south across East Main Street.
3. Diamond "A" Cattle Company (Ranchers.net).
Excerpt: The Diamond A Cattle Company was a nationally-known ranching outfit based in New Mexico and Colorado between 1885 and 1939. The company was created in 1885 by Frank G. Bloom of Trinidad, Colorado, and M.D. Thatcher of Pueblo, CO, as a subsidiary operation to the Bloom Land and Cattle Company. At that time, The Bloom Land and Cattle Company acquired the Diamond A Ranch in Chaves County, New Mexico and the Circle Diamond Ranch in Lincoln County, N.M., combining the two ranches into a large cattle and sheep ranching outfit called the Diamond A Cattle Company.(Submitted on August 6, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 10, 2025
4. First National Bank Building
Looking south across East Main Street from near the marker.
Second-floor corner offices were headquarters for Texas' famed Matador Ranch from 1892 to 1920.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 4, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 160 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 6, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
