The Hepburn Ranch, now the Long Meadow Ranch, was run by Charles L. Hepburn and his wife, Agnes. Charles was one of the first settlers in the region. Early on in his endeavors, he invested in the boom town of Montgomery, which arose in the mid 19th century at the base of the Hoosier Pass mountains. When the Montgomery gold rush ended, Hepburn moved toward Kenosha Pass, where he sold liquor out of the "Kenosha House" for a short period of time. Taking a big loss on his gold mine claims, C.L. moved to sell his assets in Montgomery and bought large amounts of land in the South Platte River Valley. The western property he called the 76 Ranch, now the town of Grant, where Geneva Creek joined with the South Platte river. The eastern property was the junction of Smith Creek and the South Platte, now Long Meadow Ranch, where he would grow potatoes with his business partner Brock. Hepburn knew that these two river junctions were important for water rights. Eventually C.L. was married, to a 38 year old Agnes Wood from New York, and sold the 76 Ranch but stayed to manage the hotel and ranch to make a living. They would name the ranch "Grant" after the Union General who became president around this time. After some time, the Hepburns started to farm Long Meadow more, and produce a decent amount of potatoes and hay. C.L. would take a wagon from Fairview (Shawnee) full of potatoes and sell them up and down the Stagecoach Road.