John W. Iliff
With $500 and a little imagination, John W. Iliff took a chance on a herd of tired cattle and became the acknowledged baron of Colorado’s beef industry.
Born in 1831, Iliff grew up on a livestock ranch in the Ohio Valley and learned from an early age: there is money in beef. Educated at Ohio Wesleyan University, Iliff left school in 1856. He turned down an offer from his father for a $7,500 farm and instead took $500 and moved west. In April 1857, Iliff stopped in Ohio City (now Princeton, KS), where he opened the small town’s first trade store. He parlayed his $500 into $2,000 and moved to Colorado in 1859 to join the gold rush.
Iliff and his partners brought an increased load of groceries and supplies to Colorado, which they sold to gold prospectors descending upon the state. With the profits, Iliff bought his first herd of cattle that he settled and grazed on his ranch near Fort Lupton. Following the Civil War, Iliff used the Homestead Act to acquire additional land around his existing ranch in Fort Lupton. The height of his ranching empire ultimately included 15,588 acres of prime land and over 26,000 head of cattle.
In 1868, while living in Cheyenne, WY, Iliff met Elizabeth (Lizzie) Fraser. The two married in Chicago on March 3, 1871, moved to Denver in 1874, and had three children. Upon Iliff’s death in 1878, Mrs. Iliff sold the cattle business to the Snyder Brothers of Texas, which made her one of the wealthiest women in Colorado. Fulfilling a lifelong dream of Iliff’s, Mrs. Iliff donated $100,000 in 1884 to the University of Denver to found the Iliff School of Theology.
Born in 1831, Iliff grew up on a livestock ranch in the Ohio Valley and learned from an early age: there is money in beef. Educated at Ohio Wesleyan University, Iliff left school in 1856. He turned down an offer from his father for a $7,500 farm and instead took $500 and moved west. In April 1857, Iliff stopped in Ohio City (now Princeton, KS), where he opened the small town’s first trade store. He parlayed his $500 into $2,000 and moved to Colorado in 1859 to join the gold rush.
Iliff and his partners brought an increased load of groceries and supplies to Colorado, which they sold to gold prospectors descending upon the state. With the profits, Iliff bought his first herd of cattle that he settled and grazed on his ranch near Fort Lupton. Following the Civil War, Iliff used the Homestead Act to acquire additional land around his existing ranch in Fort Lupton. The height of his ranching empire ultimately included 15,588 acres of prime land and over 26,000 head of cattle.
In 1868, while living in Cheyenne, WY, Iliff met Elizabeth (Lizzie) Fraser. The two married in Chicago on March 3, 1871, moved to Denver in 1874, and had three children. Upon Iliff’s death in 1878, Mrs. Iliff sold the cattle business to the Snyder Brothers of Texas, which made her one of the wealthiest women in Colorado. Fulfilling a lifelong dream of Iliff’s, Mrs. Iliff donated $100,000 in 1884 to the University of Denver to found the Iliff School of Theology.