The Hanna Family
Walter Hanna
Walter Hanna was born in San Marcial, New Mexico on February 7th, 1893. He served in the US military during WWI, and married Daphne Holt shortly after his service ended in 1918. He owned and operated the Bar-H-Bar Cattle Ranch in Socorro County, New Mexico for over 25 years until he finally sold it in 1959. He and Daphne moved to the Hanna Ranch in Colorado shortly after the death of his only son, Clark, and his granddaughter Randy in 1957 to help help Clark's widow and five surviving children recover from the traumatic event. He died in a Colorado Springs hospital on September 2, 1969 at the age of 76.
Clark Hanna
Clark Hanna purchased what was popularly known as the Roby Ranch from the McCandlish Cattle Company in 1947, and moved to the Colorado Springs area from his father's ranch in New Mexico. He chose the site because of its close proximity to a major city, and because Fountain Creek ran right through the middle of it. Clark married Mary Hayward shortly after his arrival in Colorado, and they had six children.
On June 14, 1957 Clark Hanna and his daughter Randy were killed when their car was struck by a train on the Hanna Ranch property. Randy’s twin sister, Ginger, survived the crash with multiple broken bones and lacerations, but spent several months in the hospital recovering from her injuries. Following the accident Clark’s father, Walter, sold his property in New Mexico and moved to Colorado to take over ranch operations and help the family recover from this tragic loss. Over the next few years the family sold the portion of their property known as "Old Hanna Ranch" to a company called Clear Springs Ranch, who in turn sold it to the city of Colorado Springs, and several other parcels of land were obtained through eminent domain by the state of Colorado for the construction of Interstate 25. Today this land is the site of Clear Springs Ranch Park, Pikes Peak International Raceway, and the Ray Nixon Power Plant.
Mary (Hayward) (Hanna) Frost
Mary Hayward was a Montana school teacher who moved to the fountain area in 1947. Following Clark’s death in 1957, Mary wed a local rancher named Jon Frost (who had three daughters of his own), and the two of them had son named Jay. Mary was honored with the Silver Spur Award in 1991 for her service to the community, which included setting up a well-baby clinic in Fountain, organizing a local museum foundation, and keeping her nine children out of trouble. She was a board member for Goodwill International, president of the Pikes Peak Cowbells, she was on the Colorado Springs school board, and she was a member of the Fine Arts Council. She also served with the American Red Cross in China and other parts of the Far East during World War II.
Kirk Hanna
Born in 1955, Kirk Hanna was less than two years old when he lost his father and older sister, Randy, in a car accident. He grew up in a loving home with a stepfather that he admired, along with his mother, three sisters, two brothers, and three step-sisters. With his older brother, Steve, set to take over the Hanna Ranch, and his younger brother Jay set to take over the Frost Ranch, Kirk moved to Denver to work as a commodities broker. When Steve left the ranch in the 1980s after a falling out with the family, Kirk came back to take over operations of the Hanna Ranch. He married his wife, Ann, and raised two daughters in the years that followed. He won Colorado’s Riparian Steward of the Year award in 1994, the governor's Smart Growth Individual Award in 1996, and he was nominated as president of the Colorado Cattleman’s Association in 1997. Kirk was know as a "bridge builder" for his ability to bring people together, including environmentalists and ranchers, urban and rural communities, and sometimes even his own family members.
Sadly, Just before Christmas Day in 1998 Kirk Hanna took his own life on the Hanna Ranch property. He is remembered as a loving husband and father, a caring and compassionate community leader, an outspoken proponent of responsible land development, and a pioneer in holistic resource management. In addition to being a hard-working rancher, Kirk was a skilled businessman who showed that responsible ranching practices could benefit both the land and the ranching community. Kirk is buried at the Wilson cemetery adjacent to the ranch, alongside other Fountain Valley ranching pioneers such as Oliver Cotten and Daniel Link.
