From coloradoplains.com
by Charles W. Bowman
RICHARD GRUBB
Mr. Grubb was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, July 11, 1837. At the age of fifteen, he went to Australia, and, in company with a relative, he was handling cattle for ten years, when he branched out into business for himself, buying and selling cattle on commission, which occupation he followed for eight years before returning to his native country. He left Australia in 1871, and spent three years traveling in Europe. In the spring of 1874, he left Ireland with the intention of returning to Australia via San Francisco. In Denver, he met parties who induced him to visit Southern Colorado and New Mexico. Here he found a section of country that pleased him, and would have made it his permanent home had the Indians left him unmolested. He resided in Denver until the fall of 1876, when he took a herd of 100 milch cows to Huerfano Park, on the south side of Wet Mountain Valley, but was obliged to remove on account of the high altitude, it being 8,100 feet. In 1879, he came to West Las Animas, where he has resided until the present time. Within a few years, cattle men west of the Missouri River have been much interested in the subject of spaying cows, and many extensive dealers are having large numbers operated upon, learning that, when the operation is skillfully performed, the losses are but a small per cent, and the advantages are great. The opinion among cattle men is growing in favor of the treatment. By this means, they are enabled to turn to beef much earlier in the season than they otherwise would be, many of their cows, and also to weed out their inferior stock. The art of spaying, Mr. Grubb learned in 1855, but did not follow it as a profession until 1874, when he was the first gentleman west of the Missouri River who successfully operated on large herds. The late Mr. Iliff, of Denver, during the year 1874, after a consultation with Mr. Grubb, engaged him to spay a large number for him. Since then, he has made it a profession, operating in various portions of Colorado and New Mexico with eminent success.
