Snowslide Canyon and Hanke’s Ranch

Snowslide Canyon and Hanke’s Ranch. (Crow Creek Road). By 1881, just five years following the opening of the Crow Creek Freight Road, freighters had started calling this canyon by that name. Snowslides were frequent on snowy, windy days as drifts would build up on the shale ridge. Unable to hold the steep side hill, the snow would come crashing down on anything in the canyon below, damming off the creek. Over the years many loads were buried and several teams of horses were crippled or killed as they triggered a snowslide while pulling their loads along the road. It was truly a blessing that no man ever lost his life here as several had very close calls. Tommy Ritson was buried with his team while traveling with the Inez Campbell and Clifford Thornton wedding party on January 12, 1912. By holding his head up out of the rising water while digging him out, the party was able to save Tom’s life. His team drowned in the water because they were unable to free them in time. In February 1914, 18 sleighs were caught in a blizzard in the canyon. Blocked by snowslides ahead and then behind them, freighters managed to ride their horses out over the slide to Hanke’s ranch. They took turns by the fire to keep warm during the four days it took to dig out of Snowslide Canyon. Always hospitable with food and shelter for freighters, Jacob Henggi (Hanke) had a dairy and road ranch on Montpelier Creek located on what is now just above the head waters of Montpelier Reservoir. Hanke was a horse trader, a farrier, and a welcome sight to a weary freighter out on the Crow Creek Road.