Antonito in Conejos County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Livestock Loading Pens
Fall saw the busy stock rush of the D&RG
Photographed by Sandra Hughes Tidwell, August 7, 2025
1. Livestock Loading Pens Marker
Ranchers relied on the D& RG to ship livestock to Denver, Kansas City, and other markets.
In 1935 alone, shippers ordered 1,087 stockcars, most double-deck sheep cars. From the 1880s until the 1950s, ranchers drove grazing livestock into private stock pens, erected on railroad property at Osier. Drovers loaded animals into stockcars for shipment to Alamosa, where they were watered, fed, and transferred to standard gauge cars.
To load stockcars at Osier, drovers herded sheep from multiple corrals connected by gates into loading chutes. Stock trains from Chama to Alamosa might use two or three locomotives in order to haul dozens of stock cars over Cumbres Pass in one swift trip.
Caption:
"Stock was picked up at Lobato and Osier-quite a bit, as a matter of fact. Osier, especially because that was the summer range for a lot of [sheep]ranchers and cattle ranchers. They always drove them up in the spring."
Amos Cordova, Agent at Chama and Durango
The Thunder of Their Passing, Page 121
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1935.
Location. 37° 0.751′ N,
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Regionally, this marker is in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and in the San Luis Valley. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also the Republic of Texas.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Rocks on the Move (here, next to this marker); Hospitality (a few steps from this marker); Gravity Fed Water Tank (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Railroad Quarters (about 400 feet away); Osier, Colorado (about 400 feet away); Bunkhouse Site (about 500 feet away); Turntable Site (about 500 feet away); Depot (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Antonito.
Photographed by Sandra Hughes Tidwell, August 7, 2025
2. Livestock Loading Pens Marker
Photographed by Sandra Hughes Tidwell, August 7, 2025
3. Livestock Loading Pens Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on August 28, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 27, 2025, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 92 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 27, 2025, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
