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Randy

Bear With Me

By Art

By now, almost everyone in this world knows Red Bull. It’s time you learn about Red Bear. Red Bear is a project born out of the plans for a greenhouse at the ranch. With a short growing season, we long to enjoy all things green and good. For instance, when I’m craving a BLT—all I need is the B and the B (Bread and Bacon), and we should have the LT on hand. With lots of glass on the south-facing sides of the greenhouse, I thought it would be cool to have a sculpture of a bear looking inside—after all, we are Bear Canyon Ranch. A few years ago, we had a young cinnamon bear looking in the glass of our French doors in the lower part of the Barn, which I thought was really neat at the time. SO, what kind of bear? At first, I thought I’d have a chainsaw bear made, but didn’t think I had a tree large enough to carve what I was thinking. Then I thought having a willow bear made up by a talented lady over in Crested Butte, similar to this willow sculpture of a mountain goat:

But I had worries about longevity based upon the UV rays and winter weather over the years. So I looked around and found a company that would build me a Red Bear out of stainless steel and powder coat it to match the use of the color red elsewhere around the ranch. So follow along as we do a build-a-bear, ranch-style.

let’s continue the story.

May 9, 2025
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Ranch History

By History

The area around the ranch was visited by the Spanish in the 1600s and their legacy still figures prominently today. Bear Canyon Ranch is located on the line between two historic Spanish land grants—The Nolan Land Grant and the St. Vrain Land Grant.

We’re snuggled in the Wet Mountains of the San Isabel National Forest. To the west is Greenhorn Mountain, which has multiple peaks, the highest stands at 12,346 feet. Greenhorn Peak, St. Charles Peak, and North Peak all reach above tree line. The Wet Mountains are a small mountain range, named for the amount of snow we typically get in the winter as compared to the dry Great Plains to the east. They are a sub-range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in the southern Rocky Mountains System.

If you are interested in the area’s geology, the core of the mountains around us consists of Precambrian granitic rocks with Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata in fault contact.

To the east is the Greenhorn valley which then emerges into the Great Plains farther east. The valley is named after Cuerno Verde (Greenhorn in English), a Comanche chief and war leader who raided Spanish settlements farther south in New Mexico. In 1779 he was defeated and killed near the I-25 exit by a New Mexican army led by Governor Juan Bautista de Anza. The towns nearest the ranch are Rye, CO to the south and Beulah, CO to the northeast, both reflecting the influence of its history.

Among the many things we’ve enjoyed doing, is tracing the history of the property. It was first granted a homestead patent to Albert Bisbee on November 3, 1891 which included all of the current Bear Canyon Ranch as well as acreage to the north comprising of 162.92 acres.

Bisbee was born in Indiana in 1829 and came to nearby Pueblo in 1872 and had the distinction of being a passenger on the first Santa Fe railway train that entered this city. He was a Union Army Civil War veteran having served in the Second cavalry, Minnesota volunteers, under Capt. Isaac Bonham.

Considered one of the pioneers of the state, he was a farmer and contractor. He was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic—a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. Below is a copy of the homestead certificate for Bear Canyon Ranch.

Under the original Homestead Act of 1862, homesteaders were required to live on and improve their land for five years to be eligible for a free title to the land. Bisbee had also applied for a homestead on land further east of the ranch and decided to settle in there as the property offered the ability for easier farming. Since Bisbee had abandoned his homestead filing by not living continuously on the property, it was re-homesteaded by Amos Sweet in August 23, 1893. Following is his homestead certificate.

March 5, 2025
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Mango Margarita

By Recipes

Let’s be honest, not every tequila adventure is a roaring success … even in Mexico. Case in point: my initial attempt at a papaya margarita in Puerto Vallarta. While vacationing with fab friends Heather and Jim Felt, surrounded by the windshield of their Mexican paradise, I confidently stepped up to the margarita challenge. Papaya was my first victim, and despite my best efforts, it simply refused to cooperate. Let’s just say the results were… less than stellar. Thankfully, the mangoes proved more forgiving. After a few rounds of experimentation and a crucial “back to the drawing board” from Jim, my tequila-wise friend, I finally created a mango margarita worthy of a “Salud!” It’s a reminder that even tequila missteps can lead to a delicious discovery, especially when shared with good friends.

 

Recipe:

I use a 2-1-1 default tweaked at the end with orange liqueur and simple syrup/agave. Since we were in mexico, I used Controy (an orange liqueur in the triple sec style sold in Mexico). Back home on the ranch I use Cointreau. One could use most any  triple sec (triple sec and Cointreau are not the same thing. They are both orange liqueurs but triple sec is a category of liqueurs, while Cointreau and its competitor Grand Marnier are brands of triple sec. ¿Comprende?). As well, i tend to use Cointreau for my mango margarita because it is less sweet than Grand Marnier and provides just the right amount of orange taste to enhance the mango.

I chunked up a mango and more because there would likely be seconds if the margarita was any good. Into a blender they go for the puree. Either way your goal is to make one ounce of mango puree per planned margarita.

TIP: I don’t measure ounces, I measure using a mexican shot glass for 2-1-1.

Also, I typically do not use just limes in preparing my margaritas. mostly because limes in the US are typically not true

 

2 shots of tequila

1 shot of mango puree

1 shot of lemon/lime juice

1/2 shot of Cointreau

1/4 – 1/2 shot of simple syrup or agave (agave diluted to 1:1 with water to equal simple syrup)

NOTE: the choice between using simple syrup or agave syrup here is based upon your mangoes. Agave syrup has a more neutral flavor which means that your mango margarita will be more full of the mango flavor when you are using ripe mangoes. if your mangoes aren’t quite ripe, then i suggest you use simple syrup because it will add just a hint of sweetness that is missing in a less than fully ripe mango.

March 4, 2025
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Merry Margarita

By Recipes

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March 4, 2025
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House Margarita

By Recipes

This is the story of two houses. The House Margarita for Julia’s Cantina and the House Margarita for the Buffalo Bar.

March 4, 2025
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Take Your Pick

By Art

The saga of my pickaxe collection, now christened “Take Your Pick,” is a testament to the serendipitous nature of art. It began years ago, a chance find of a lone pickaxe head in a dusty barn near Hartsel, Colorado. With no clear purpose, it simply joined my growing trove of Southwestern road trip treasures. Pickaxes from antique shops in Payson/AZ, Globe/AZ, Miami/AZ, Las Vegas/NM, and Buena Vista/CO followed, each adding to the eclectic mix. Why? No idea. But I set them aside, and over the years, more followed. Whenever I stumbled across another, I added it to my growing, purposeless collection.

Eventually, the right idea emerged, these relics were destined for a pickaxe Christmas tree, built upon a base salvaged from an old sawmill. I liked it, but did not love it.

Later, I borrowed a few for a Bonefish sculpture based on Julie’s idea. Fast forward another couple of years, and on a road trip to Bisbee/AZ, I found even more pickaxes, signaling the start of yet another collection—this time, I waited for the right idea to find me. And one day, it did. The spark to the idea? The way that the roof of the DIA Airport rises out of the flat prairie.

So I started out modeling what it might look like, figuring out how to connect the pickaxe heads together so that they would not fall apart. I drilled holes in an old piece of timber and after several variations got it to work. Then to take it all apart and build a final base to display them on. The most difficult part? Remembering how i connected all the pieces.

Seeking a unique touch, I had one pickaxe head vibrantly powder-coated red, a bold contrast in the assemblage. “Red1” was a working title, but Julie’s suggestion, “Take Your Pick,” resonated instantly, with a playful nod to choice and discovery. She even offered “Rouge Against the Machine” for a more “sophisticated” title, but we’ll stick with the simple charm of “Take Your Pick.” This piece, a collection of 21 pickaxes, assembled without a single weld, is a story of patient accumulation and the unexpected journey of found objects, now proudly displayed at the ranch—a reminder that sometimes, art finds you.

 

March 4, 2025
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