Archaeology - The Durango Herald

When Forrest Fenn treasure hunters hit a dead end

Search can take a toll on the obsessed

DATE: Sep 17, 2016 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Florence Lister, prominent Southwest archaeologist, dies at 96

Florence Lister, a prominent archaeologist in the American Southwest died Sunday at her home in Mancos. She was 96. “She succeeded in a field that was dominated by men, and she fo...

DATE: Sep 6, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Poll: 55 percent of Utahans support a Bears Ears monument

A recent poll commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts has found that 55 percent of Utah residents support the idea of a Bears Ears National Monument. Forty-one percent oppose the idea. ...

DATE: Aug 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Ute Mountain Ute tribe, CU develop archaeology field school

Students study Cowboy Wash Pueblo near Towaoc

DATE: Jul 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Researchers create a virtual version of Chimney Rock in S.W. Colorado

Laser-based technology uncovers new archaeological details

DATE: May 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Artifact looting, vandalism surge in southeastern Utah

Public, private partnership aims to foil thieves

DATE: May 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Mesa Verde National Park visitor numbers up in 2015

More than a half-million people visited the park in 2015

DATE: Apr 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Crow Canyon honored for 32 years of excellence

Archaeology center’s education, outreach efforts lead to award

DATE: Mar 31, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Utes, Navajo seek monument to preserve canyon

Utes, Navajos want monument status to protect 1.9M acres of ancestral lands

DATE: Mar 30, 2016 | CATEGORY: Good Earth

Utes, Navajo seek monument to preserve canyon

Tribal leaders give perspective on Bear's Ears monument

DATE: Mar 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fort Lewis College to control Hesperus campus

Historic agreement will allow more study, increase income

DATE: Mar 10, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Four Corners School of Outdoor Education shows off new discovery center

MONTICELLO, Utah – Sitting at the crossroads of the vast Colorado Plateau, this quaint town of 2,000 is surrounded by national parks, mountains, rivers and red rock canyons that define the r...

DATE: Dec 16, 2015 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

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Photos: Durango High School boys golf competes at stateDemons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Demons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade

Photos: High County Cattle Auction

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s