Snowmass History: Kearns family roots run deep

Thomas J. Kearns moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1888 with his wife, Margaret, and seven children (two sons: Owen and Leo, and five daughters: Margaret, Mary, Elizabeth, Sadie and Emma) homesteading on Brush Creek in 1889 near the Faraway Ranch area. He applied for his land patent through the Homestead Act in 1926 and lived on the property until 1937, raising his children and later his sons raised their children on the same property. Thomas died in 1938 shortly after moving to a residence in Aspen. His death was considered a “distinct loss to all who knew and admired him throughout the passing years,” according to his obituary in the Aspen Daily Times, 1938. The ranch was sold to the Galluns, who also purchased the Aspen Drug corner store in 1954.