GROWING UP IN LIVERMORE

By Iris Ann Swan Damon
March 2026

Yes, I did grow up in the Livermore community. But first, you need to know how that came about.

I am a descendent of two local pioneer families. My paternal grandmother, Eva Roberts, was a daughter of Robert O. Roberts, who founded the original Forks Hotel, and his wife, Mary. My paternal grandfather, Herbert Swan, was a son of James H. Swan and his wife Julia. They settled in Livermore after arriving here from Connecticut bought the Livermore Hotel and Store, and James was postmaster for many years. Eva Roberts married Herbert Swan and they homesteaded the property just down the road from the top of McNey Hill near Gordon Creek . Four children were born to this union; Julia, who married Livermore resident and rancher, Arthur Sloan; Wesley, who was a Livermore rancher and community member for most of his life, and married to Jessie; Robert (Bob), who was my father, and Walter, who served in the Army, married Iola, and worked for Public Service in Loveland most of his adult life.

The Swan kids went to Adams School which was along the Red Feather Lakes Road near the ranch entrance, going either by horseback or on foot. My Dad attended Colorado School of Agriculture, a prep school, at Colorado Agricultural College in Fort Collins.

My Mother, Ruby Smith, was one of seven children born to Edward O. and Hattie Smith, who came to Colorado from Missouri and were wheat farmers near Akron, CO in Washington County. They lived for a time in a sod house, and it was there that my mother was born. After she graduated from High School in Sterling, CO in 1930, she, her parents and a younger sister moved to the Cradock Ranch in Livermore. Ruby’s parents eventually moved to Fort Collins from there. When I was growing up, Florence and Fred Barnes lived there. She was the pianist for the Livermore Women’s Chorus, and I took piano lessons from her. According to her writings, Mother became enchanted with the mountains, cowboys and ranch life. She met Bob Swan and they were married in 1931 “with no thought or worry about the future”. After working odd jobs around Livermore, they went to Coalmont, CO, near Walden, where Bob worked in the coal mine for $3.00 a day with housing provided.

In 1933, back in the Livermore area, Bob and Ruby went to work on the Brackenbury Ranch, living first at the “lower ranch”. Bob became foreman in charge of the cattle and sheep.

It was here on the lower Brackenbury Ranch that my parents were blessed with a baby girl in 1940, after nine years of marriage and several miscarriages. That was me and I must have been the only one ornery and tough enough to live and become their beloved only child. Apparently, they didn’t have a definite name picked out. I learned later that one of the nurses at Larimer County Hospital in Fort Collins where I was born was named Iris and my parents liked the name. My middle name is Ann. From the time I was born, many of the people in the Livermore community called me “Irisann”, like it was one word. I believe the last person to call me that was Catherine Roberts. My Dad called me Irie most of time and that became my nickname for others also.

Dick Brackenbury purchased the St. Cloud Ranch, nine miles west of the lower ranch, which became Trail Creek Ranch. My parents leased it from him and established a guest ranch. That is where I grew up.

Trail Creek Ranch is at the fork of Trail Creek and the North Fork of the Cache La Poudre River. It is across the road from Trails End Ranch, which at that time was owned by Joe Evans. Cherokee Dude Ranch was a mile or so away and Herb and Minnie Ford lived there and operated it as a guest ranch. The Carey Ranch was just beyond Cherokee Park Ranch. Earl Carey from Denver bought it in the 1940s and it is still owned by family members Marty Carey Segelke and her husband, Wes. I met Marty when she was 5 and I was 7 and we became friends during the summers that she spent at the ranch. We are still friends today.

Although I was an only child, I was not alone or lonely. I had a wonderful Collie dog named Lady, who was white with a black and brown face, who assumed the job of looking after me which she faithfully did. I had two black Shetland ponies, Midgie and Buster, and later two pinto ponies, Sugar and Babe, who produced several baby colts. A pet lamb, Dolly, kitties Fifi and Sylvester, and various other pets along the way. They were my family. I also had two imaginary playmates, Birdie and Greasy. They lived in the cellar built into the side of a hill. My mom would often have to set two extra plates at lunch for them. I could be seen riding my pony sitting in back of the saddle as either Birdie or Greasy would be riding in the saddle.

When I was big enough to stand on the seat of the pickup, in the winter when we fed hay to the cows, I would “drive” the pickup while my dad pitched hay. He set the throttle so the pickup moved very slow and I stood up in the seat and “drove”. When I was old enough, he taught me how to drive the various vehicles we had. My dad taught me how to saddle my ponies and ride and feed them, and he also inadvertently taught me some inappropriate language when I was little, when he didn’t know I was hanging around in the shop while he was working! My Mom was appalled when I would walk around cursing away! Daddy was not a large man but he was wiry and tough and had a strong voice. He also had “the look” which was apparent when I would occasionally misbehave. Mom was a sweet dark haired pretty lady with a, usually, easy going personality.

Every year during the Stock Show in Denver, The Denver Post sponsored a contest for kids, a boy and a girl, to enter to win a Shetland pony, based on how well they were dressed in western clothes. When I was four years old, my parents entered me in the contest. My Mom made my western shirt, and part of my outfit was borrowed from the Shaffer’s of the Two Bar Seven Ranch at Virginia Dale, who were good friends of my folks, and whose daughter, Polly, had won a pony the year before. It was held in downtown Denver along Champa Street. The contestants paraded up and down through chutes built on the street, before the judges. Of course, I didn’t even know why I was there, at age 4, but…the judges chose me best dressed! You can see how happy I was in the picture! I later learned that I was asked what I thought about winning and I replied, “I already have two ponies at home”! We named her Champa and it turned out that she was not a Shetland, as she grew into a full-sized horse!

We had a small group of guests every summer and horseback riding and fishing were the main activities. I was often along with them. A young man from the area, often a college boy, was usually hired as the wrangler for the season. A college girl was hired to help with household chores. Mother learned to cook fabulous meals to put on the big table. We met many nice people through the years. Our friend Aileen from New Hampshire came every year and stayed for two months and was like a family member
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When I was old enough to start first grade, I was able to go to Cherokee Park School, the little one-room school house across the river. The St. Cloud School District had fixed it up as it had been built many years before. A teacher, Betty Fithian, was hired even though she was only 18, but was taking a teaching correspondence course from Greeley. She lived with us. There were 9 students from 1st to 7th grade. There were several families cutting timber and sawmilling in the area above us, and the Ashby family was working at Trails End Ranch. There was a recitation bench in front and when it was time for a subject for a certain grade, Betty would announce something like “Third Grade Arithmetic” and that student would go to the recitation bench for his lesson.

The next year the sawmill people had moved on, the Ashby’s had left and moved back to Fort Collins and there was only me. Our good friends, Walter and Martha Cooper from Fort Collins had a daughter, Ann, who was in 6th grade. She was having reading problems so she stayed with us and went to school with me, and Betty taught her phonics. Ann and I were friends again in later life until, sadly, she passed away in 2025.

Once a month or so, Betty would take us to the Livermore School to meet the kids and do some activities with them. It was in a different location than the school is now. It was on C.R. 76H (the Schoolhouse Road) by the Judson Ranch.

The next year Ann was back in Fort Collins and there was only me. But Ruth and Louis Munz, who lived above us on Sheep Creek, had a daughter Lucy Lyn, who was ready for 1st grade. So, there were just two of us again. We had a different teacher then, whose name I don’t recall.

4th grade….just me. The school board decided it was better to pay tuition and board in Fort Collins than to try to hire a teacher for one student. I stayed with the Cooper family and went to 4th grade at. Washington Elementary. What a change from 2 to 30 kids in a class! My parents would take me to Fort Collins on Sunday evening and pick me up Friday after school so I could spend weekends at the ranch. I then stayed with my aunt and uncle and my cousin who was a year younger than I. I spent the school weeks with them, going to the ranch on weekends, through the 8th grade. My parents then decided that since I was starting high school that they had better spend the winters in town…and keep an eye on me! They eventually bought a house in Fort Collins where we lived during the winters until I finished high school.

As a teenager, I became interested in horse shows, which included events such as western pleasure classes, barrel racing, pole bending and other events. To participate in these events required a well-trained horse. This was especially true in barrel racing. Our horses on the ranch were to pleasure riding for our guests, my ponies were for hopping on and riding when and wherever, but we had a family friend who was an excellent horsewoman and had some very good horses. She had one that she thought would make a good horse for me. Her name was Zada and she was a small bay horse that was easy for a shortie like me to get on and off easily. And she was fast. Our friend agreed to loan her to us.

The first show I entered was the Larimer County Fair and Rodeo in Loveland. I don’t remember how nervous I really was, but I definitely was! I didn’t win any prizes the first show, but after that it got a little easier to go out there with Zada and try our best. My Dad would load Zada into the trailer and we went to local horse shows for a couple of summers. I did win a few ribbons, and it was great fun.

On the ranch, we had guests during the summer, and deer hunters in the fall. Besides visiting family, we enjoyed activities in the Livermore community. After the new Livermore Hall was built it became a gathering place for dances, club meetings, and school programs. Dances were held on Saturday nights and people came from near and far. I learned how to dance on my dad’s feet! There was a square dance club called the Merry Mixers, I believe. Lafi Miller, Rene’s Dad, was often the caller.
Livermore Woman’s Club and Highland Club met there. I often went to club with my mom. Back then, the entire families would attend club meetings. The men would gather and discuss whatever ranching men discuss, we kids would play in the basement if it was cold, or outside if it was warm, while the women had their club meeting in the Hall. Many residents were members of both Highland Club and Livermore Woman’s Club. A potluck dinner was served before the Highland Club meeting; and Livermore Woman’s Club served refreshments, either before or after. My Mom was president of Woman’s Club three times.

After I graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1958, I spent the summer at the ranch, then started a Secretarial Training Course at Colorado State University. After the first quarter, I married my boyfriend, Cliff Holtcamp, who I had met two years before, and we lived in Wellington, where he was from. I no longer lived at the ranch.

I was asked to talk about growing up in Livermore, so that is where this part ends.

My Mom and Dad continued to operate Trail Creek Ranch during the summers until the early 1960s. My dad started working with Dennis Giddings at Giddings Machine Shop in Fort Collins in the winters.

My parents were divorced in 1964 after 32 years of marriage. My husband, three daughters and I had moved to the Denver area to make a living. My Dad kept the ranch in the summers until 1967 when he went into the business at Giddings full time. My parents both remarried.

In 1980 with his then wife, Esther, my dad bought some property from his brother Wes Swan, who then owned the Lady Moon Ranch on the Red Feather Lakes Road. They built a house on the property which they named “The Swan’s Nest”. There is a sign on the gate which is across the road from Lady Moon Ranch. They lived in Fort Collins at Adriel Hills, but spent time at The Nest. They had 10 wonderful years there before Esther passed away in 1990.

We also spent time there when we could. My dad enjoyed his home at Adriel Hills as well as The Nest for a few years. In 1996 he had some medical issues and had to go to a nursing home, where he spent his last years, passing away in January 1998 at age 90. I inherited the Swan’s Nest when he passed away.

Some of you knew my mom, as Ruby Roberts, as she married Harold Roberts, who was the only son of Charlie Roberts. They spent years in other countries, when Harold’s company sent him to work on water projects, eventually retiring and moving back to Fort Collins. She rejoined Livermore Woman’s Club when they came back to Fort Collins, and served as President one year when Kay Quan couldn’t serve due to health problems. Harold passed away in 1994 and my mom lived another 17 years until she passed away at age 98. She has an article in the “Among These Hills” book, and my dad has written some, as well as spoken to the club.

I, too, was divorced in 1976, and remarried in 1984. My current husband, Norm, and I took over care of The Nest. We were both working at first, but would spend a weekend a month, doing what needed to be done. We had a new well put in, so there would always be water, and improved the woodshed and machine shed. Norm bought a Jeep and kept it in the garage there so he could get around the property easily. We enjoyed our time there and our kids also liked to spend a weekend there whenever they could.

I saw Mary Torrez and Cindy Henk one day when I stopped at the Forks on my way to the Nest. They were on the deck doing some LWC work and suggested that I think about joining LWC. I decided that day to join and joined in memory of my mother in 2012.

I am in the process of selling the Swan’s Nest to the Tamlin Families, who are the four children of Rene Lee. They will take over ownership in 2026 when they will be 4th generation owners of Swan ranch property.