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John Wesley Iliff: How a Denver Storekeeper Became the Cattle King of the Plains

A storekeeper who arrived with the gold rush built the largest ranch in Colorado history, then died at 46.

Who Was John Wesley Iliff?

John Wesley Iliff was the cattleman who showed that beef could be a large business on Colorado's plains. The Colorado Business Hall of Fame calls him the acknowledged baron of Colorado's beef industry, and Wikipedia says he built the largest ranch in the state's history and was known as the Cattle King of the Plains.

He did it in less than twenty years and died at 46. The money he made later paid for a Denver seminary.

An Ohio Livestock Family and a $500 Start

Iliff was born December 18, 1831, in McLuney, Ohio, to Salome Reed and Thomas Iliff, a cattle farmer, and attended Ohio Wesleyan without graduating. The Business Hall of Fame says he was raised on a livestock ranch in the Ohio Valley and left college in 1856. He declined an offer of a $7,500 farm and took $500 to go west.

In April 1857 he opened a trade store in Ohio City, Kansas, and by that account grew his $500 to $2,000. Wikipedia describes his father giving him the $500 for the store, so the sources differ on the family details.

Gold Rush Storekeeper to Cattleman

After gold was found in Colorado in 1859, Iliff moved to Denver and sold groceries and supplies to prospectors. Wikipedia says he traded supplies to newcomers in exchange for livestock, fattened the animals on open range and used the profits to buy land in the northeast of the state.

Cowboy State Daily's comparison of two Colorado cattle empires adds a method: Iliff bought injured, sick or worn-out cattle cheaply from travelers headed for the gold fields, fattened them on rented pasture and sold them to mining camps. He later won contracts with army posts, Indian agencies and the railroad.

Building the Largest Ranch in Colorado

Wikipedia says he raised as many as 35,000 head a year and sold them to Union Pacific construction crews. Cowboy State Daily says his partner, Texas trail driver Oliver Loving, first sold him 800 head and later drove about 10,000 Texas longhorns a year to his ranch, and that by 1877 he had over 40,000 head on a range of more than 100 square miles.

Figures differ. Wikipedia lists 15,558 acres and 26,000 head at his death, and the Business Hall of Fame gives 15,588 acres and more than 26,000. The Cowboy State Daily account puts his range at more than 100 square miles, far beyond the deeded acreage. He also used the Homestead Act to add land near Fort Lupton.

The Key to Iliff's Success

Iliff's method was to buy cheap and add value. He took cattle at a discount, fattened them and sold them to buyers who needed beef regularly.

The limits are in the sources too. Much of his range was open and shared, the documents do not say how his hands were paid, and the figures for his herd vary by thousands of head.

  • He began with a store, which gave him cash flow and customers before he owned a single cow.
  • He traded for cattle, taking livestock as payment from travelers.
  • He bought distressed stock cheaply, then fattened it on the open range.
  • He sold to institutional buyers, including mining camps, army posts, Indian agencies and Union Pacific construction crews.
  • He partnered for supply, with Oliver Loving driving Texas cattle to his range.
  • He used land law, adding acreage near Fort Lupton under the Homestead Act.

Marriage, Death and the Iliff Estate

He met Elizabeth Lizzie Fraser in Cheyenne in 1868, and they married in Chicago on March 3, 1871, moved to Denver in 1874 and had three children. He died February 9, 1878, at about 46. Cowboy State Daily reports the cause as alkali poisoning, and that is the only cause I saw in the sources.

His widow asked John D. Snyder to manage the whole cattle operation of the estate, and it was later sold to the Snyder Brothers of Texas, which made her one of Colorado's wealthiest women.

Legacy: A School, a Town and an Avenue

In 1884 Elizabeth Iliff Warren gave $100,000 to the University of Denver to found the Iliff School of Theology, which the Business Hall of Fame says fulfilled a lifelong goal of his. The town of Iliff, Colorado, and Iliff Avenue in Denver and Aurora carry his name.

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum inducted him into the Hall of Great Westerners in 1960, per Wikipedia. Wikipedia's article is a good place to follow the details. For more on Western cattle history, see the ranching section of farm.FM and a farm.FM story about Colorado cattle history.

Timeline

  1. 1831Born December 18 in McLuney, Ohio
  2. 1857Opens a trade store in Ohio City, Kansas
  3. 1859Moves to Colorado during the gold rush and opens a Denver store
  4. 1868Meets Elizabeth Fraser in Cheyenne
  5. 1871Marries Elizabeth Fraser in Chicago on March 3
  6. 1877Reportedly holds over 40,000 head by this year
  7. 1878Dies in Denver on February 9
  8. 1884Widow gives $100,000 to found the Iliff School of Theology

Frequently asked questions

Who was John Wesley Iliff?

John Wesley Iliff (1831 to 1878) was a Colorado cattleman called the Cattle King of the Plains. He started as a Denver storekeeper and built the largest ranch in Colorado history.

How did John Iliff get rich?

He traded supplies for livestock, fattened cattle on the open range and sold them to mining camps, army posts, Indian agencies and Union Pacific construction crews.

How many cattle did Iliff own?

Sources differ: Wikipedia and the Business Hall of Fame give 26,000 head at his death, while Cowboy State Daily reports over 40,000 head by 1877.

What is the Iliff School of Theology?

It is a Denver seminary founded in 1884 with a $100,000 gift from Iliff's widow, Elizabeth Iliff Warren, fulfilling his wish to found a school.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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