<\/p>\n
A truck hauling 71 head of cattle from the high country overturned just south of mile post 13 on the Dolores-Norwood Road on Tuesday around 3 p.m. \u2013 leaving 10 cattle dead, three crippled and 58 wandering in the San Juan National Forest.<\/p>\n
Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Ben Steger said the driver of the 18-wheel semitrailer, Cody Parker, 23, of Mosca, Colorado, told troopers he guided the southbound truck to the right to allow a small passenger vehicle to pass along the narrow Forest Service road. But the truck started sinking in the soft shoulder sand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truck slowly tilted onto its side,\u201d Steger said.<\/p>\n
An investigation into the incident continues, but Parker was not cited on the scene. Steger said that could change depending on an inspection of the 18-wheeler and a check on its maintenance records.<\/p>\n
Lloyd Shuman, owner of the cattle, from Blanding, Utah, said the cattle were headed from summer high-country grazing to a feedlot in Sterling and were about six months out from being slaughtered.<\/p>\n
He estimated the cattle were worth about $1,000 a head and said he will seek insurance reimbursement for an estimated $13,000 in losses.<\/p>\n
The truck was one of three carrying Shuman\u2019s cattle to Sterling.<\/p>\n
Steger said no meat market would take product from the dead and crippled cattle, and they are considered total losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have to get some cowboys to round them up,\u201d Shuman said about the 58 head of cattle now roaming San Juan National Forest about 13 miles north of Dolores.<\/p>\n
The Colorado State Patrol, Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Dolores Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Dolores Water Conservancy District and the Colorado Brand Inspector\u2019s office all responded to the scene.<\/p>\n