Cheyenne County

Like most of Colorado's Central Plains, Cheyenne County presents a bit of a dichotomy. It's a place where you see mile after mile of rich farmland, working ranches, busy windmills, and even the remnants of homesteads, dugouts and soddy homes built by the first settlers back in the early 1860s. But Cheyenne County is also home to thoroughly modern technology like the $100 million Ladder Creek Helium plant and over 416 active oil and gas wells.

This is where the settlement of Colorado's Central Plains really began about a decade after the gold rush to Colorado's Rocky Mountains. The Kansas Pacific Railroad, later the Union Pacific, entered what is now Colorado just east of Arapahoe with rail stops and towns springing up as the track was laid westward. The railroad is still there stronger than ever, but it is now challenged as the county's leading industry by wheat and cattle production, and the continuing development of oil and gas.

Here is the link for the town of Cheyenne Wells.

Demographics

Population: 2,231
Land area: 1,782 square miles.
Annual precipitation has ranged during recent years from 14.3 to 19.46 inches. Average yearly precipitation is 15 inches.
January mean temperature is 29°. July mean temperature is 76°.

Economy

Cheyenne County ranks third in Colorado for winter wheat production. Other significant cash crops are sunflowers, hay, alfalfa and corn for grain. Cattle raising is an important source of revenue, too.

An alliance with energy was formed in the early railroad days, when the Kansas Pacific drilled a water well, but found natural gas instead. The first well lit only the railroad houses. Today, over 416 oil and gas wells bring significant revenues to the area.

Recently, Cheyenne County's vast helium reserves have been targeted, and drilling and production of the rare gas are putting the county on the world resource map. Just west of Cheyenne Wells is the $100 million Ladder Creek Helium plant. Colorado is one of only three states producing helium which is used in high-tech manufacturing and in medical imaging systems where it's used to cool super-conducting magnets.

Renewable energy is abundant on Colorado's Central Plains. In early 2011, 34 wind turbines were constructed northwest of Burlington generating a total of 51 megawatts of electricity. In early 2014, it was announced that a 150-megawatt wind farm will be built in Kit Carson County by NextEra Energy within the next two years. The Cedar Point wind project (a joint effort between Enbridge and Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc.) has 139 turbines capable of generating up to 252 megawatts of electrical power located in both Lincoln and Elbert Counties north and west of Limon. At the end of 2013, Limon I and II (Centennial Wind Farms) were online with one hundred twenty-five (125) 1.6mw turbines each, producing an additional 400 mw of renewable energy. NextEra was under construction at the end of 2013 for Limon III which will add more than 100 towers generating an additional 200 MW of power. When Limon III is completed, this will increase the total wind production in Lincoln County to 852 MW.

Life

The people who live in Cheyenne County still embrace many of the pioneer values of their ancestors-independence, hard work, pride in one's accomplishments, common sense and the like. Many of them farm, or ranch, or work for one of the counties many oil and gas ventures. Whatever the pursuit, it's done with a powerful determination balanced with a healthy respect for the land.

Cheyenne County offers what you would call wholesome living. The stands are packed every year at the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds for various rodeos and western events. In the town of Cheyenne Wells, the three softball fields are in use every night of the summer. People never miss the Cheyenne Wells Annual Tumbleweed Festival with its games, crafts, sidewalk sales and all-night softball tournament.

Realtors

• D-Brands - 719-767-5950