George W. Swink

Swink, (1836–1910) was a landowner and politician in Colorado and is said to have been the holder of the first timber claim certificate in the United States, issued by President Grover Cleveland on November 3, 1887.

[2] He moved into Bent County, Colorado, in 1871 and established a retail store and a cattle business with Asahel Russell.

It was "the first community irrigation system in the valley, forever transforming Rocky Ford [Colorado] into a top crop-producing landscape.

"[3] Swink moved his stock of goods to Rocky Ford in 1876, partnering with Isaiah Denness, and eventually he had a thousand acres of land, which he obtained by homestead, pre-emption and purchase.

Swink invented the cantaloupe crate, which replaced the barrels formerly used for shipping the fruit, and he began the Arkansas Valley Fair.

He developed Rocky Ford's two main cash crops, melons and sugar beets; courted the town's largest corporation, the American Beet Sugar Company; and helped build the Rocky Ford Ditch, the spine of an extensive irrigation network.