She's a picture of Douglas County's rural past and a symbol of its suburban future.
Jackie Allis' face, freckled and etched by years of working the old family ranch in northwestern Douglas County, mirrors those who came before her: farmers of German, Irish, and English descent who traveled to Colorado with dreams of owning a piece of the great prairie. They handed down their work ethic and land to their children. In 1994 her parents deeded their 280-acre ranch to her.
When developers began knocking at the door, Jackie was ready with plenty of savvy, skepticism and western grit. For the former geological technician, driver of a one-woman truck hauling business and commercial property manager, the land where her mother lived in the 20s is a sacred trust. But the right developer finally came along and made her an offer she didn't refuse.
Travelers driving between Santa Fe Drive and Roxborough along Titan Road know the ranch well. Just past Plum Creek Stables, the farmhouse sits closely enough to the road to be shaken by thousands of vehicles whizzing by daily. Weathered outbuildings, which at one time housed horses, cattle, pigs, and even ostriches, sit empty.
Drivers cruise past a mile-long twin row of two thousand Rocky Mountain junipers planted by Jackie and her mother in the late 80s. The trees have grown from 18 inches to ten feet high, a miraculous feat considering they were planted on a windy, waterless patch of high prairie.
Jackie's cattle roam freely except for the large black bull named Clark who is placed in a sturdy corral. She gladly introduces the individual cows she affectionately calls "her girls." Each walks toward her as she calls it by name. Many have names reflecting her six-year career as an Amoco geological technician. Mica, a Black Angus, is her favorite.
The two modern homes she built sit castle-like on a high ridge silhouetted against the mountains and sky. Treeless and unobstructed they catch the traveler's eyes. But look closely. Soak it in. The rural scene will be changing soon.
The strong-willed 60-year-old woman-rancher knew the time was coming when she wouldn't be able to continue her independent lifestyle. "I talked to the developers because I was tired of going out in the middle of the night, in 20 degree below weather, to feed the cattle." But selling the land to those who will place homes and shopping centers where rows of wheat once grew was a difficult decision and one many of her neighbors strongly opposed.
The neighbors, many she had known since childhood, were upset when they learned she had signed a contract with Sterling Ranch developers who will change the rustic landscape into a suburban development. But Jackie was, not surprisingly, unswayed by their criticisms. It was her decision and hers alone, she says. She's happy with the developers' plans knowing that so many will someday enjoy living, working and playing sports on her ranch.
A middle and high school, along with a large regional sports complex, will replace the homes she built on the ridge. Jackie hopes the thousand plus junipers will be replanted. She insists there won't be a golf course, at least not on her land. "They're a waste of water," she says defiantly.
Major changes are coming to what was once a dusty farm road south of Littleton. Jackie's property is merely a section of the much larger development Sterling Ranch has in mind. Thousands of homes, commercial properties, schools and recreational facilities will dramatically transform the rolling hills and pastoral fields along Titan Road as new settlers claim their part of the prairie.