BAYFIELD – It began as any day in early autumn on the Old Buck Highway outside Bayfield. Brisk air. Patches of frost hiding in the shade. Red-winged blackbirds singing as the sun warmed grass wet with dew in the fields nearby.
Then, a faint “bleat” was followed by another, then more after that, each growing louder.
In seconds, more than 2,000 sheep were moving south down historic County Road 521, commemorating the 14th annual Bayfield Heritage Days put on by the Rotary Club of the Pine River Valley.
Saturday’s events included a 5-kilometer family run/walk, trailed by the sheep owned by former state Rep. J. Paul Brown and his wife, Debbie. A parade presented by the Bayfield Lions Club marched down Mill Street, and it all culminated in a daylong celebration in and around Joe Stephenson Park in downtown Bayfield.
Traditional festivities included live music, a beer garden, arts and crafts, a children’s wool workshop, a classic-car show, wool spinning and pie-eating contests. A fireworks display sponsored by the town of Bayfield and the Upper Pine River Fire District was scheduled for dusk.
Ron Dunavant, office president of the Bayfield branch of First National Bank and member of the Lions club, described the day’s events as a celebration to honor Bayfield’s heritage.
“It’s nothing more than to honor the farming and ranching heritage of this valley,” he said.
Although times have changed, ranching and animal husbandry are still a part of Bayfield, he said.
“It’s a celebration that there are still people that live that lifestyle,” he said. “It’s tough, but they love the land and they love the animals.”
Bayfield’s roots go back to the turn of the 20th century, and like many towns across southern Colorado, much of its history is still in place.
Joanne McCoy, 77, was born and raised in Bayfield. She attended school in one of the many “old country schoolhouses,” as she called them, some of which still stand around the historic community. She has found memories of life in the small town.
“It’s fun to remember those things,” she said from her volunteer post at the Pine River Historic Society Museum on Mill Street, once a general store and soda fountain before it served as town hall and then became the local museum. “There used to be a brick wall out there where the old men would sit and spit tobacco across the sidewalk and talk about everybody that passed by.”
McCoy still lives in the house her father built in 1947.
“We’ve lived here forever,” she said.
In the park, as the chilly morning warmed into afternoon, Melanie Mazur, publisher of the Pine River Times, explained that every year sheepherders bring their flocks down from the high country and into the lowlands. She said Bayfield’s celebration is one of the few remaining authentic sheep trailings.
“It all kind of started with the sheep coming to town, so we thought, ‘Let’s have a party,’” Mazur said. “We’re proud of the fact that it’s authentic.”
Many ranchers transport their animals with vehicles, but J. Paul Brown does it the old-fashioned way.
“Years ago, there might have been 50,000 sheep coming through Bayfield and Durango,” Brown said. “But we’re one of the last ones that runs a range operation.”
Brown said losing sheep to predators is a major issue in range operations, as well as finding enough labor to help. But along with his wife, and now his son, they continue in the fashion he learned from his father 37 years ago.
“We enjoy doing it,” he said. “We’ve made a living at it. It’s kind of tough sometimes, but that’s just how things are.
He said the heritage celebration is an important way to reflect and appreciate the farming and ranching industry.
“Every agricultural dollar turns over seven times in La Plata County,” said Brown. “It’s a $4.1 billion industry and a huge part of Colorado.”
To many locals, the annual event is a sign of the changing of seasons, but Brown’s work isn’t finished. He still has more sheep to move to Ignacio before winter, he said.
“We’re just going to turn around and start another bunch next week.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
