A man credited for helping form The Canyons by leasing land to the ski resort, who also sold the prized McPolin Farm to City Hall, died June 8 at the age of 88.

The veterinarian also made headlines in 1967 for helping determine that sheep in the Great Basin had died from nerve gas poisoning by the military, which led to his testifying before Congress, family members say.

Dr. D.A. Osguthorpe, who died from natural causes, was surrounded by family at his Holladay home at the time of his death, grandson Roger Osguthorpe said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

“He didn’t back down and he always stood up for what he believed in,” the grandson said. “Even though there were a lot of people who disagreed with him, people respected him for what he stood for.”

While treating horses and mules in Summit County, Osguthorpe bought five ranches in the Park City area from the estate of Daniel McPolin between 1945 and 1951. One purchase was the iconic McPolin Farm, which was a working dairy operation until the Utah Department of Transportation obtained it from Osguthorpe in the 1990s to expand State Road 224.

“That’s where we all grew up, milking the cows,” Roger Osguthorpe said. “Growing up as a young boy I remember stopping the traffic, before it went to four lanes, to cross the cows every day.”

The iconic white barn on the property, which the Osguthorpes sold to Park City, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

City Hall purchased hundreds of acres, including land Osguthorpe owned near Prospector, to preserve as open space, Roger Osguthorpe said.

He remembered his grandfather as “always a family guy.”

“He would always come to big sporting events, school events, graduations for high school and college,” Osguthorpe said. “He set an example for the family to work hard and endure.”

But the man most people called “Doc” had a gruff demeanor, said Myles Rademan, a longtime top-ranking City Hall official who was involved in negotiations for the McPolin Farm.

“[Osguthorpe] didn’t appreciate the city too much,” Rademan said Thursday. “He didn’t really like government and he didn’t like all the young people moving in.”

However, Osguthorpe also didn’t want real-estate speculators subdividing his farm, Rademan added.

“Behind the gruff façade I think he was kind of happy that the city was getting it and keeping it open,” Rademan said. “I found out how much he loved it out there. If you were in a public meeting he was like a terror, but if he invited you out on his land to look around you realized how much he really did appreciate the land.”

Still, Osguthorpe claimed repeatedly that he wasn’t paid a fair price for his property, Rademan said.

“He never was a big fan of ours that I knew of. He would always yell at us, ‘If you want my land, take out your checkbook and buy it,'” Rademan recalled. “Finally we arrived at a meeting of the minds but it wasn’t an easy meeting of the minds. I know he always felt that we stole it from him.”

Hikers, bicyclists and moose roam today where developers had envisioned shopping malls, a golf course and condominium projects near the Park City limits.

“It could have looked just like Kimball Junction and we really didn’t want it to look like that,” Rademan said.

Early in his career, Osguthorpe treated horses used in mining during the silver heyday in Park City, former Park City Mayor Brad Olch explained.

“It is quite an amazing story,” Olch said. “He was a cantankerous, lovable guy.”

Osguthorpe was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, on Oct. 12, 1920. He grew up in the Millcreek area and graduated from Granite High School.

In 1943, Osguthorpe completed veterinarian school at Colorado A & M and recognized early the potential for Park City to become like Estes Park, Colo., a swanky ski town in the Rockies.

“I think the Osguthorpes have been incredible citizens to Park City and Summit County in that they have been able to continue that rural lifestyle which so many of us moved here for,” Olch said, stressing that family members still ranch in the Snyderville Basin today. “They easily could have sold out 1,000 times.”

A funeral for Osguthorpe was held in Salt Lake County June 12.