With Caribou Ranch opening its gates for the first time in years for our special report last week, music fans were reminded of the big names that came there: Elton John, John Lennon, Joe Walsh.

Brian O'Meara was also reminded of the big names who came there: Ernest Hemingway, Gypsy Rose Lee, the Prince of Iraq.

Caribou's musical legacy is amazing; there's been an outpouring of e-mails and online chats from rock fans after owner James Guercio and his crew sat for the first extensive interviews in years about the albums recorded at the spot outside Nederland.

Caribou also was a celebrated destination in its original incarnation as an Arabian horse ranch and cattle operation. Known as the Lazy VV ranch (after the Van Vleet family), the ranch was a destination for celebrities and made history long before its '70s recording-studio days. O'Meara spent his summers on the ranch as a child.

"I thought I was going to grow up to be a cowboy," said O'Meara, president of the car dealership that bears his name and a third-generation Coloradan. "I thought I was Hopalong Cassidy."

His maternal grandfather, L.W. Van Vleet, was a bean wholesaler who supplied Campbell's Soup and others. He decided to expand into cattle ranching in the 1920s, buying the ranch and stocking it with horses to work the herds.

"He wanted the smartest horse he could find. He thought the Arabian horse was the smartest horse on the planet," O'Meara said.

That led to a 1928 trip to Egypt to bring back a contingent of the animals, which were a rarity in the United States. And people scoffed.

"You can't bring an Arabian horse from 120 degrees in the desert to 9,000 feet," he was told, O'Meara said. "He brought them here and, of course, they did fine. It became one of the biggest Arabian horse ranches in the world."

It became world famous, with Warner Brothers filming three short documentaries there, including Arabians in the Rockies, a 1945 short showing the ranch and its horses in glorious color. There would be cattle drives down Boulder Canyon into town.

Celebrities followed.

"He entertained world-class people - Ernest Hemingway, (author) Mari Sandoz, Gypsy Rose Lee. Many of the opera singers at the Central City Opera," O'Meara said. "From businessmen to plumbers to brain surgeons to aviators. It was like a dude ranch, by invitation only. He'd bring in these eclectic people."

But the common man could get in, too.

"They had a horse show every Sunday (during warmer weather). Before the Denver Broncos and the Internet and TV there was nothing to do. They'd have 5,000 people every Sunday watching the Arabian horse shows," O'Meara said.

Anyone wanting to relive a bit of that history can visit the car dealership at 104th Avenue and Interstate 25, which has a couple of walls of memorabilia devoted to the ranch. You'll see photos, news stories and magazine spreads from the time, as well as the original chaps, saddles, hats, lassos, spurs and other equipment used on the ranch.

Caribou's recording legend spans the world - fans from as far away as Spain weighed in with love for the music made there after reading the story of the place. Some Internet and e-mail excerpts:

* Rob: "I'm jealous that you got to see the studio - and the piano where Elton wrote the Rock of the Westies album - which I remember waiting in a very long line at my local record shop in L.A. to buy when it came out in 1975."

* Steve: "Thanks for opening the gates to Caribou Ranch. I was ecstatic to see that someone finally got access to the ranch, and brought some of this historic piece of Colorado music history to light. I have lived in Colorado all my life, and have always been interested in the musical history of this state."

* Frank: "A great read that provides a fitting closing chapter (or maybe not?!!!) to the legendary, mysterious legend that is truly one of rock's high points-pun intended. Didn't know the full breadth of artists who had recorded/worked there."

Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674