Kane Ranch Open Space

Kane Ranch Open Space has generations-worth of rich ranching history. The 440-acre parcel that is now Kane Ranch Open Space was once part of a 5,000-acre ranch established in the 1940s by a woman named Wanden Matthews La Farge. Born Wanden Matthews, she came from a privileged background in New York and was extremely well-educated and well-traveled. Wanden’s first husband, Oliver La Farge, was a noted American writer and anthropologist best known for his research and writing on Native American culture. Wanden and Oliver had a son, Oliver Albee “Peter” La Farge, and a daughter, Povy La Farge. The family relocated to Santa Fe in 1933 where Oliver toured and studied Native American sites across the Southwest, often accompanied by the family. Wanden and Oliver’s struggling marriage ended in divorce in 1935, with Wanden and the children resettling in Fountain, Colorado. Wanden originally purchased a house in town, but soon purchased the 5,000 acres east of town that would become Kane Ranch. She hired Alexander “Andy” Kane, a local rancher, as the foreman, and the two eventually were married. Thereafter, she was known as Wanden Kane, and the ranch became known as Kane Ranch. In addition to ranching, Wanden Kane served two terms as mayor of Fountain starting in 1942. She was Colorado’s first female mayor.

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