from Encyclopedia of Colorado (abt 1960)

FRANK CHRISTOPHER, pioneer rancher and
son of a pioneer, has been associated with the
cattle industry of Fremont County[Colorado] since early
youth. Owner and operator of the Stirrup Ranch,
situated thirty-five miles northwest of Canon City,
Colorado, he specializes in the raising of high grade
commercial cattle of the Hereford breed. The brand,
Stirrup, is one of the oldest in Colorado. The Stirrup
Ranch was homesteaded by Mr. Freeman Waugh and
Mr. E. E.. Waugh. The abstract was filed in 1880. The
ranch then consisted of three hundred and twenty
acres. It now has fifty thousand acres of deeded and
leased land. In 1890 the property came into the
possession of Arthur and Eli Mermod, members of a
wealthy family of jewelers in St. Louis, Missouri.
It remained in the ownership of that family for eight
years. The ranch at one time had a private game
preserve, stocked with elk and other game, by Mr.
W. H. Pigg, a former owner. Old Mose,. weighing
some twelve hundred pounds, the last of the huge
grizzly bears, was killed on the ranch by Mr. Anthony
at the time that the place was owned by Mr. Pigg.

Frank Christopher was born in St. Joseph, Missouri,
on February 14, 1892, the son of Mr. and Mrs. S. P.
Christopher. His mother was Miss Ollie Yates prior to
her marriage. His parents left Missouri in 1889 and
made the trip to Colorado in a covered wagon. They
settled at Colorado Springs, where Mr. S. P. Chris-
topher helped construct the street car system oper-
ating between Colorado Springs and Old Town. Dur-
ing the mining boom the Christophers moved to
Cripple Creek. Later they returned to Missouri. They
again returned to Colorado when Frank Christopher
was seven years of age and settled at Colorado
Springs, where Mr. S. P. Christopher worked on the
Spring Valley Ranch. They later moved to Lincoln
and Teller Counties and ranched on Beaver Creek.


They then came to the Stirrup Ranch in 1913, after
purchasing the place from Mr. W. H. Pigg. The latter,
who bought the ranch from the Mermod family, had
operated the property fifteen years. After a year of
ownership of the place, Mr. S. P. Christopher sold it
to Dave Walker, who in turn sold it to William
MacKenzie in 1917. in 1933 Mr. MacKenzie sold it to
Mr. Frank Christopher.

Frank Christopher was educated in the public
schools of Colorado. Ranching has been a part of Mr.
Christopher's life since youth, first with his father
and then on his own property. In 1915 he homesteaded
on three hundred and twenty acres adjoining the
present Stirrup Ranch. The home ranch, known as the
Henry Hodges Ranch, is also an old property home-
steaded in 1880. All these places are now a part of the
Stirrup Ranch.

On September 5, 1914, Mr. Christopher married
Miss Eleanor Knowlton, daughter of Charles R. and
Emily Knowlton. The Knowlton's, after several trips
back and forth from Canada to California and Colo-
rado, settled at Cripple Creek, Colorado, in 1895.

Mr. Christopher belongs to the Colorado Cattlemen's
Association, the Fremont County Stock Growers As-
sociation, and the Elks Lodge of Canon City, Cob-
rado. He is a highly successful representative of the
ranching industry of Fremont County and is both
influential and popular throughout the area.

[notes: Frank married Gladys Giem, widow of Raymond Giem, in July 1961. Frank passed away in January 1969, Gladys in 1993. His first wife Elenor Knowlton is believed to have passed in the 1930's. He had no children]