A mixed herd of wild and domesticated horses tests the snow on the Ladder Livestock ranch, a vast cattle and sheep-ranching operation that straddles the Wyoming-Colorado border, which the Little Snake River crosses 12 times on the ranch's property. These photographs were taken on the Colorado side, in Routt County. The Ladder name derives from neither the set of climbing rungs nor a family member of that name, but from the ranch's "lazy ladder" brand: the Roman numeral III laid on its side, which somewhat resembles a short ladder. The ranch, which traces to a simple, 160-acre plot homesteaded in 1864, must deal with different rules, regulations, and taxing structures of the two Rocky Mountain states that it bestrides. Photo by Carol Highsmith.