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Leckenby Pioneer Award
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The Tread of Pioneers Museum Leckenby Pioneer Awards honor people who have had a prominent influence on shaping Routt County and improving the lives of its residents.
The qualifications for the Leckenby Pioneers Awards include being a resident in Routt County for at least 30 years, being involved in the community, addressing past and present community needs that will contribute to the future and preserve the history of the community, maintaining personal integrity and being a role model and inspiration to youth.
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2002 - William A. Bowes
2001 - Elaine Gay
2000
1999
1998
1997 - Lowell Whiteman
1996 - Pat Holderness
1995
1994 - Vernon Summer
1993
1992
1991 - Eldon W. Brummett
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2002 - William A. Bowes
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2001 - Elaine Gay
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(Excerpt from The Steamboat Pilot, 12/5/2001, by Tom Ross)
Elaine Gay and her late husband, Bob, were instrumental in a 25-year struggle to preserve the area surrounding their ranch about eight miles south of Steamboat Springs. Elaine and her son Bill continue to work the ranch today.
The Gays maintained their dignity and western hospitality through many years of resisting the original plans to transform the Lake Catamount area with construction of a major ski area and a resort village with enough dwelling units for 10,000 people. The reality of that plan today is much less impacting development of private estates interspersed among agricultural lands protected by conservation easements.
In a nominating letter, local historian Jayne Hill described Gay as a "gentle ranch woman" who isn't reluctant to take on cowboy chores.
"Participation in hard work on her family's farm made her a complimentary partner with her husband, Bob," Hill wrote. "When another field hand or cowboy was needed, Elaine could be counted on. At lunchtime, Elaine always had a spread ready for the ranch hands."
Gay authored a book, "How Pleasant is the Valley," which preserves memories and tales of everyday ranching life. She continues to meet annually with local fourth-graders to talk about forgotten implements used for accomplishing farm and ranch chores in another era.
When "the Steamboat springs community named 10 people who were important to our community in the last century, the team of Elaine and Bob Gay were included," Hill observed.
Millie Beall amplified Hill's nomination.
"As a lifelong resident of Pleasant Valley she joined her husband in not only ranching in the Yampa Valley, but also in preserving the land," Beall wrote. "Her soft-spoken voice and gracious movements hide the true strength and fortitude of a woman who has worked side by side with the men, driving the team and bucking the hay bales. I have met few women for whom I have held such esteem and respect."
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2000
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1999
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1998
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1997 - Lowell Whiteman
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1996 - Pat Holderness
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1995
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1994 - Vernon Summer
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1993
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1992
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1991 - Eldon W. Brummett
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In 1991, Eldon was the recipient of the Tread of Pioneers Museum Leckenby Pioneer Award for "enriching the quality of life in Routt County by serving the public institutions of the area, and contributing significantly to the county's heritage."
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