It started with the unmistakable sound.
You could hear the 400 cows before they stomped their way into Dolores on the morning of June 7, and then, there they were, marching down Railroad Avenue, looking in store windows and making a lot of noise.
The cows were driven by the Zwicker family. It is part of a twice-yearly tradition during which the Zwickers in the spring drive the cattle from McElmo Canyon to House Creek above Dolores.
The cows will then make their way back down through town in the fall on their way back to McElmo Canyon.
The trek takes about 10 days, and nearly the entire Zwicker family saddles up to help. In addition, the third-generation cattle family also calls on friends to help steer the cattle through town.
Many cattle ranchers have abandoned the tradition of the cattle drive, preferring, instead, to load the cows into large trailers to be trucked onto greener pastures. But the Zwickers continue the long-standing tradition of making the cows walk to higher elevations.
Norman Zwicker said he couldnt remember how long the family had been herding the cattle through Dolores.
When the cows made their way through town Tuesday, cars slowed down, cars stopped, people came out of their shops and many snapped photographs.
One local called it the Dolores Cow Parade.
Tara Zwicker, who married into the ranching family, said the cattle drive was finished Tuesday night when all the cows were delivered to their summer grazing grounds.
She said one of the hardest parts about the drive is keeping all the cattle together, and she said they had to retrieve a few cows when they got calls a stray cow showed up here and there wandering onto someones property.
She said the cowboys also do their best to keep the cows off lawns and away from peoples flowers, but keeping 400 cows on task isnt always easy.
