Windy Ridge Land was settled by members of the Hasser family, who arrived in Prowers County, Colorado from Indiana by way of Texas, settling in 1918. That same year, four of the Hasser siblings, Elizabeth, Aaron, Leo, and Otto, claimed homesteads in the area.  Aaron would eventually purchase Leo’s land, followed by Elizabeth’s land in 1962, where he raised wheat and feed for cattle. Their nephew, Bob Emick (son of sister Laura) married Helen in 1952 and shortly after was drafted into the Army for the Korean War. After Bob’s honorable discharge in 1955, Bob and Helen moved in with Aaron. Seven years later, Aaron moved to Lamar. Beginning in 1965, Bob and Helen leased the land, and would eventually purchase it in 1971. Bob and Helen raised seven sons and a daughter on the ranch, who, together, later formed the XS Ranch, which has leased the Hasser land from their parents to raise cattle since 1994. Bob has taken pains to ensure the history of the family and land is remembered, marking the original homestead locations with stones, preserving the stone houses of Elizabeth and Aaron, and marking the military cut-off of the Santa Fe Trail that goes through the property.