Did Miss Kitty Sleep Here?

Dinosaur, Colorado is one of those border towns most folks drive through without realizing it has come and gone. Even with its one-of-a-kind name, Dinosaur is not a destination resort stop. When I was a kid riding in a 1948 Chevrolet we always stopped here for radiator water. No need for that these days.

But on this day I noticed a fancy new state tourist office just back from Highway 40 and I wondered if they sold fishing licenses, so I went in. Well, plus I had to see a man about a horse, you know.

The gal behind the counter turned out to be chatty and seemed friendly. I asked her about the ranch house I’d seen that seemed parked just inside the Colorado border. I was angling to get the names of the owners so I could ask for permission to cross any of their land that might straddle the line.

Oh, she said, you mean the K Ranch?

I allowed that I probably did. I find it regrettably easy to drop into almost any local vernacular.

Why sure, she said. That’s Mike and Norma’s place. Well, it isn’t but they manage it, you know. Say, did you know that Amanda Blake, you know, Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke owns that place? Well, of course she’s dead now but I mean, so her estate must, or family, or the like, you know.

So I drove out to Mike-Norma-Miss Kitty-Miss Kitty’s family place. The driveway was long and dusty. Not a driveway really, more like a mile or so of dirt road.

A spry looking silver-blue haired woman opened the door when I finally got past the yard dogs. She looked up straight into my eyes.

No, she answered my question with a pleased laugh. Norma’s my daughter and Mike’s off into town doin’ whatever. I explained my mission. She looked down at my Croc®-clad feet and then back up into my eyes. You best ask Mike on that, she said, but she smiled.

So I got a phone number and an address and when it comes time to walk north from Highway 40 I’ll be calling Mike to see if he’ll join me. Or better yet, he and Norma and Norma's mother. My research so far on Miss Kitty has not turned up any ownership records for the K Ranch but some darned interesting stuff on Miss Kitty.

I’d like to see what Mike knows about what those town folks in Dinosaur are saying about his land.

K Ranch from the air

Snake John Reef can also be seen on this map. Go south from the ranch and check for the uplift feature running from the northwest to the southeast. The Colorado/Utah border runs north and south in a straight line just to the west of K Ranch.