History - The Durango Herald

And the West is History: Ed Horvat shines a light on history once a week

Ed Horvat grew up a couple of blocks from the Animas Museum at West Second Avenue and 31st Street, where his nearby grandparents lived in a house he says was constructed by Violet Smith from...

DATE: Apr 1, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Maps of Indigenous dwellings now on view at Canyons of the Ancients museum

15-year-long project produces detailed digital drawings

DATE: Feb 19, 2022 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Patriotism then and now: College students reflect on Pearl Harbor anniversary

History class discusses U.S. work culture, political extremism

DATE: Dec 5, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Grange to host Hermosa History Tour

Animas Valley Grange will host a tour of historic sites around Hermosa from 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 18 beginning at Animas Valley Grange, 7271 County Road 203. Lifelong Animas Valley resident...

DATE: Sep 10, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community

Animas Museum to host webinar

Animas Museum’s Second Saturday Seminar Series will resume at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 11 online. Participants will learn about photographer Frank Gonner and see early Durango through his eyes. The ...

DATE: Sep 3, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community

History Live returns this September

History Live Durango will offer a series of free events throughout September celebrating the humanities in Southwest Colorado. Events were organized by Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtab...

DATE: Aug 27, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community

Animas Museum to host book talk, signing

Animas Museum will host a book talk and signing with historian and author John Steinle at 1 p.m. Saturday, outdoors on the museum grounds, 3065 West Second Ave. Steinle is the author of “Co...

DATE: Aug 6, 2021 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Fort Lewis College considers search for Indigenous human remains at ‘Old Fort’ site

Bodies have been found at former boarding schools in Canada, Pennsylvania

DATE: Jul 23, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

In nod to history, Mesa Verde National Park offers J&J vaccinations

Shots given in same building that once housed a hospital

DATE: Jun 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bayfield heritage museum reopens after yearlong closure

New exhibits include old business machines, photos of 2002 Missionary Ridge Fire

DATE: Jun 10, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Dolores museum restores narrow-gauge freight cars

Goal is to showcase prosperous railroad history in Dolores

DATE: Apr 24, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Southern Colorado scenic byways get national designation

Routes bring billions in revenue statewide

DATE: Feb 21, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

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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