Boggsville stood in the Arkansas River Valley, a frontier in both the American sense of sparsely settled land on the edge of civilization and the European sense of a boundary between nations or ethnic groups. There, Hispanics, Anglo Americans, and American Indians coexisted with one another and with the natural environment. In the high, dry country, nature dictated what people could do successfully: traditional Anglo American farming proved nearly impossible, so grazing became the dominant land use. Boggsville became an important place in Colorado's agricultural heritage as local pioneers such as the Bents and Hispanic herdsmen from New Mexico recognized the value of its pastures. By the middle of the 19th century, grazing cattle and sheep and irrigated farm fields lined the banks of the Purgatoire River. When Thomas Boggs and John W. Prowers settled there, the rich forage was already well known, and their success drew more ranchers to raise stock. After the Pike's Peak Gold Rush of 1859 brought thousands west, many who did not find gold turned to farming and livestock raising, and within ten years cattle herds, and to a lesser degree sheep, ranged across eastern Colorado. Free pasture on government land and high cattle prices then produced a beef bonanza for ranchers in the 1870s and 1880s.