JACKSON COUNTY, Colorado — A lightning strike killed a Colorado rancher and 34 head of cattle over the weekend, officials said Sunday.
Mike Morgan, 51, was feeding his cattle from a trailer when he was struck and died on the scene despite life-saving efforts, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office said.
The lightning bolt struck on wide open pasture outside the town of Rand, about 80 miles northwest of Denver, said George Crocket, the county coroner.
"He was the absolute best husband and father we could have ever asked for," Morgan's wife, Nikole Morgan, and 17-year-old daughter, Dallas Morgan, said in a statement. "We were blessed for this short amount of time we were given with him."
Nikole Morgan said she and Mike would have celebrated 27 years of marriage this July.
The county coroner said in addition to killing Mike Morgan, the strike also bowled over around 100 head of cattle that had bunched around the trailer loaded with hay.
“All but the 34 got up,” he said.
Mike Morgan’s father-in-law and wife were nearby but survived the blast, Crocket said.
The incident stunned the small, tightknit community where most everybody knows everybody, Crocket said.
"Mike was larger than life," his friend Jerred Seely said. "You couldn't ask for a bigger hearted man."
Seely described Morgan as a devoted husband and father. All he talked about was Dallas and Nikole, he said, and how much they meant to him.
Grand Junction rancher Janie VanWinkle said she didn't know Mike Morgan personally, but as a fellow rancher, she feels this loss too.
"I found it to be terribly emotional," she said. "And we've had these conversations in our family, a lot of the work that we do, has high risks. And we all know that. And we do talk about it from time to time, but probably not in the context that it'll really happen."
When asked about continuing the work of ranching, despite the dangers of the profession, she said her passion is fueled by the desire to support people.
"It's not just what we do, it's who we are," VanWinkle said. "If not me, then who? If not me, if not my family, if not our broader family across the state, in the nation, who's going to feed people? Who's going to steward these lands? Who's going to care for these livestock that help ensure food security for our nation and for people across the globe? And even though that sounds a bit philosophical, I think we all think about that. But that's the why."
VanWinkle said she grew up on her ranch and has been in the industry for most of her 60 years of life. She said losing cattle to weather isn't totally uncommon.
"It's a natural phenomenon," she said. "You know, some years we won't lose any. Some years, we'll lose 10. The biggest hit we've taken in the last 20, 25 years we had a hit that took three cows and they were all standing under a big pine tree."
VanWinkle said she unfortunately has also known ranchers who were struck by lightning. She said it's a situation she could never imagine experiencing up close.
"As the wife of a rancher who's standing 30 feet from me, I just can't, I cannot imagine what that family is going through," she said. "I just can't even think about it. It literally it made me sick to my stomach."
VanWinkle said she knows the community of Jackson County as a whole will grieve this loss.
"Our thoughts and our concern for the family just can't be overstated," VanWinkle said. "It's not just the family. It's that broader community in Jackson County. And I served as president of Colorado Cattlemen's in 2020-21. And so I know a number of these kinds of folks across the state and they're salt of the earth. They're good people doing good work. And we just have to honor that."
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