United States 

Department 

of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain 

Research Station

General Technical 

Report RMRS-GTR-196

September 2007

More Than a Scenic Mountain Landscape:

Valles Caldera National Preserve

Land Use History

Kurt F. Anschuetz

Thomas Merlan
You may order additional copies of this publication by sending your mailing information 

in label form through one of the following media. Please specify the publication title and 

series number.

Fort Collins Service Center

Telephone (970) 498-1392

FAX (970) 498-1122

E-mail rschneider@fs.fed.us

Web site http://www.fs.fed.us/rmrs

Mailing address Publications Distribution

Rocky Mountain Research Station

240 West Prospect Road

Fort Collins, CO 80526

Anschuetz, Kurt F.; Merlan, Thomas. 2007. More than a scenic mountain landscape: Valles 

Caldera National Preserve land use history. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-196. Fort Collins, CO: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 277 p.

Abstract

This study focuses on the cultural-historical environment of the 88,900-acre (35,560-ha) Valles 

Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) over the past four centuries of Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. 

governance. It includes a review and synthesis of available published and unpublished historical, 

ethnohistorical, and ethnographic literature about the human occupation of the area now contained 

within the VCNP. Documents include historical maps, texts, letters, diaries, business records, 

photographs, land and mineral patents, and court testimony.

This study presents a cultural-historical framework of VCNP land use that will be useful to land 

managers and researchers in assessing the historical ecology of the property. It provides VCNP 

administrators and agents the cultural-historical background needed to develop management 

plans that acknowledge traditional associations with the Preserve, and offers managers additional 

background for structuring and acting on consultations with affiliated communities.

The Authors

Kurt F. Anschuetz, an archaeologist and anthropologist, is the Program Director of the RÍo Grande 

Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He provides 

educational opportunities and technical assistance to Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo communities 

working to sustain their traditional relations with the land, the water, and their cultural heritage 

resources in the face of rapid development. Kurt also serves as an Expert Witness in court cases 

involving Native American water and land issues. He has prepared assessments of pre-Columbian 

and Historic period Pueblo water management systems, agricultural landscapes, and settlement 

histories for expert witness testimony in water rights adjudications.

Thomas Merlan, is a historian and historic preservation specialist. He was New Mexico Historic 

Preservation Officer between 1974 and 1994, and served as the president of the New Mexico 

Heritage Preservation Alliance from 1995 to 1998. Tom received the George Clayton Pearl Award 

for outstanding contributions to the preservation of New Mexico’s cultural heritage in 2006. He has 

performed historical research and written reports and briefs for San Felipe Pueblo, Isleta Pueblo, 

Jémez Pueblo, and San Juan Pueblo (including investigations in archives in the United States and 

Mexico.

cover photo: By Rourke McDermott.

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Natural Resources Research Center

2150 Centre Avenue, Building A

Fort Collins, CO 80526
i

Acknowledgments

This land use history of the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) would not have been possible without the cooperation and support of a number of individuals. These people not only assisted 

us in enhancing the productivity of our efforts, they made this undertaking a much more enjoyable 

and rewarding experience.

Carol B. Raish, Ph.D., Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research 

Station, Albuquerque, NM oversaw the project and the shaping of the report. We are thankful for her 

critical insight and guidance as we developed a research strategy that deviated from that often followed in land use history studies. Carol’s review of our draft manuscript also was a great benefit in 

helping us to communicate our findings with greater clarity.

William deBuys, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Valles Caldera Trust, discussed the project with us 

at the outset. As a professional historian, he made specific suggestions about sources and methods that guided our work, and helped us to avoid dead ends and repetition of research already done 

by others.

Craig Martin of Los Alamos generously shared notes and sources with us. In particular, he allowed 

us access to his personal research materials, which made our own archival efforts more efficient. 

When Craig gave us a copy of his excellent book Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1

(Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons Publishing) upon its publication in the fall of 2003, he inspired us to 

redefine the scope of our study such that we would not repeat a job that already was well done but 

would explore new research questions made possible because of the foundations that he had established in his contribution. Craig, who was accompanied by Dorothy Hoard of Los Alamos, later 

met us in the Valle Grande to search for the site of Old Fort.

Robert M. March, Court Clerk, Federal District Court, District of New Mexico, helped us in our 

search for the record of appeal in Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply 

Company, and George W. Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., and T. Gallagher and Co., Inc. This record had been filed under an incorrect accession 

number in the National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region, Denver. Eric Bittner and Rick Martinez, 

archivists in the National Archives, subsequently located the records for us and facilitated our research in Denver. References in this record then led us back to the New Mexico State Archives 

in Santa Fe, where we also located the record of the partition suit of 1893 (Joel Parker Whitney v. 

Mariano S. Otero et al.).

Fraser Goff of Los Alamos discussed the geological history and literature of the Valles Caldera with 

us. During these conversations, he helped us to choose essential publications for inclusion in this 

volume’s annotated bibliography. This subject matter is perhaps the only area in which the annotated bibliography remains incomplete because it was impractical to annotate the several thousand 

relevant publications. Fraser’s contributions have helped us ensure that our selections for the annotated bibliography were representative statements of a huge and complex subject matter.

We also wish to recognize the contributions of Dr. Bob Parmeter, VCNP, for his advice throughout 

this effort. His patient assistance during the review and editing process was invaluable. Dr. Ron 

Hartman, University of Wyoming, provided us with a comprehensive list of plant species documented with the Preserve; Dr. Anastasia Steffen, VCNP, and Dr. Jeremy Kulisheck, Santa Fe National 

Forest, were generous in sharing their knowledge of the archaeology of the locality.

Mara Yarborough, Laboratory of Anthropology Library, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, helped 

us during our research of Navajo oral traditions that mention the Valles Caldera. We are thankful to 

Richard I. Ford, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan, for sharing with us a story that he heard 

many years earlier about a quiet little Valles Caldera fishing enterprise run by a few Santa Clara 

Pueblo men between the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

We wish to extend our gratitude to Cherie L. Scheick, President, Río Grande Foundation, for her 

unflagging support and always helpful advice during the preparation of this document. Although 

she did not play an active role in either the research or writing of the VCNP land use history, Ms. 

Smith-Savage fulfilled a valuable role in the completion of this report. Ms. Sheron Smith-Savage 
ii

completed the technical edit of portions of the first draft of the manuscript completed before the 

publication of Martin’s (2003) book. (Martin’s publication necessitated substantial revision of the existing manuscript.) Ms. Smith-Savage also shared several useful articles about the history of sheep 

herding in New Mexico. Ms. Gloria J. Vigil provided valuable assistance during the preparation of 

the final version of this volume.

Loa Collins and Kristi Coughlon, Editorial Staff, Publishing Services, Rocky Mountain Research 

Station, have earned our appreciation for editing the original manuscript for publication. Their efforts greatly improve the flow of the story that we tell. In addition, they will enable the reader to find 

reference materials that we have cited by correcting numerous omissions in our citations. We thank 

the University of Chicago Press and the University of Minnesota Press for granting us permission 

to adapt illustrations from their publications for use in chapter 9. These materials include fig. 2 in 

Alfonso Ortiz, “The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being, and Becoming in a Pueblo Society” (Chicago: 

University of Chicago Press, 1969), and fig. 15 in Yi-Fu Tuan, “Space and Place: The Perspective of 

Experience” (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977).

This research was supported in part by funds provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, (Joint Venture Agreement Number: 02-JV-11221601-

265 [RGF 119]), in cooperation with the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
iii

Executive Summary

The USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Albuquerque, contracted with the 

Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes (Río Grande Foundation), Santa 

Fe, during the final quarter of Fiscal Year 2002 to prepare a land use history of the Valles Caldera 

National Preserve (VCNP). As stipulated in the Joint Venture Agreement between the USDA Forest 

Service and the Río Grande Foundation (No. 02-JV-11221601-265 [RGF 119]), the purpose of this 

undertaking was to document the interactions between culturally diverse peoples and this striking 

physical environment over time.

The Río Grande Foundation assembled a team consisting of Dr. Kurt F. Anschuetz, an anthropologist and archaeologist, and Thomas Merlan, a historian, to conduct the research and to report 

their findings in this volume. Dr. Carol Raish, Research Social Scientist, Rocky Mountain Research 

Station, served as the Project Coordinator.

The study focuses on the cultural-historical environment of the 88,900-acre (35,560-ha) preserve 

over the past 4 centuries of Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. governance. The nature and intensity of 

human impacts on the physical environment is the central issue explored. The study attempts to 

determine the technological structure of land use activities, the social organization framing them, 

the identities of associated communities and major actors over the VCNP’s human history, and the 

timelines of diverse peoples’ relationships with the lands now within the VCNP. The scope of work 

also includes the preparation of an archaeological review of human use and occupation before 

the Spanish colonization of the New Mexican territory in 1598. This review establishes the cultural 

context of traditional Native American land use practices and associations, creates a timeline that 

identifies changing patterns in the technology and organization of the use of the VCNP, and explains the essential social and cultural contexts of patterns of economic activity extending far back 

into the past.

The work includes a review and synthesis of available published and unpublished historical, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic literature about the human occupation of the area now contained within 

the VCNP. The documents include historical maps, texts, letters, diaries, business records, photographs, land and mineral patents, and court testimony.

The quality and quantity of available documentary information made it necessary for this land use 

history to emphasize the material aspects of land use, such as hunting, gathering, mineral collecting, ranching, timbering, and geothermal exploration. By adopting a cultural landscape approach 

based on the premise that communities interweave meaning, space, and time to form the fabric 

of their landscapes, this study provides a record of the economic, social, and ideational relationships that culturally diverse Native American (e.g., Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and Ute), Hispanic, and 

Anglo-American peoples have maintained with the Valles Caldera. Although needed to build a comprehensive understanding of how communities create and sustain social and ideational associations 

with the VCNP, a formal program of ethnographic investigation to conduct interviews with knowledgeable persons was outside the contracted scope of the present research.

The publication of Craig Martin’s excellent book Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1

(Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons Publishing) in late 2003 allowed the redefinition of the scope and 

emphasis of the present study. Martin’s volume provides substantial background information about 

the economic and social history of the Baca Location. Consequently, the present land use history 

could devote greater effort to issues of land title, the changing intensity of industrial timbering, and 

patterns of everyday land use by neighboring traditional Native American and Hispanic communities that are outside the scope of Martin’s book. In addition, because Martin’s volume includes clear 

maps and photographs in a readily available publication, the Río Grande Foundation, in consultation with the Rocky Mountain Research Station, made the decision to devote project resources for 

original research that could broaden the understanding of the VCNP’s land use history rather than 

to recompile photographs and redraft maps already accessible in Martin’s publication.

In implementing this decision, this land use history makes four substantive original contributions. 

The first includes the analysis of two important case files that have not been fully reported in previous historical studies of the VCNP. These materials include the case file of the 1893–1899 Baca 

Location partition suit (Joel Parker Whitney v. Mariano S. Otero et al., Civil Case No. 3632, Records 
iv

of the U.S. Territorial and New Mexico District Courts for Bernalillo County, Accession No. 1959–

124) in the State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe. This research also incorporates the 

extensive records of the 1967 suit Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply 

Company, and George W. Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., and T. Gallagher and Co., Inc. (384 F.2d 701, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, 8NN-021-

89-022 #5648, Federal Records Center #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A), which had been misfiled 

under an incorrect number in the National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region, Denver. In combination, these resources allow a more complete review of the land grant’s complicated title history than 

had been possible previously (chapter 4).

Second, the study provides a detailed ethnobotanical inventory of Native American and Hispanic 

plant uses (chapter 5). Through its finding that Native American and Hispanic communities used, or 

are likely to have used, 350 of the more than 500 native plant species identified in the VCNP, this 

study demonstrates that traditional communities have developed a comprehensive knowledge of 

this tract’s environment and the resources that it offers.

Third, the volume develops the thesis that Valles Caldera is a multi-layered ethnographic landscape 

with which people of culturally diverse communities—Native American, Hispanic, and AngloAmerican—maintain meaningful relationships for their own purposes as part of a dynamic cultural 

process (chapter 9). It considers the prominent landscape elements, including mountains, water, 

caves, volcanoes, calderas, lava rock, shrines, trails, plants, and minerals, that have helped organize and give meaning to the land use activities of communities traditionally associated with this 

location. In this way, this study outlines the world view and landscape themes that generally inform 

and organize how traditional communities associate and interact with the VCNP.

Fourth, the volume offers a comprehensive annotated bibliography (appendix I) for major references cited throughout this study. The entries are critical evaluations of literature sources relevant to 

issues related directly to the VCNP’s land use history, as well as its identification and evaluation as 

an enduring cultural landscape. Additionally, the annotated bibliography provides a wealth of supplemental background information that supports many of the issues and ideas presented in this 

volume’s chapters.

As a whole, this study presents a cultural-historical framework of VCNP land use that will be useful 

to land managers and researchers in their efforts to assess the historical ecology of the property. 

This information is relevant not only to the critical assessment of how past human activities have 

altered the physical ecology of this seemingly pristine physical environment, it is important for evaluating potential impacts of present and future land use practices on the historical ecology of the 

VCNP. These practices include very old, culturally significant land uses carried on by the people of 

traditionally associated communities.

In addition, this volume should provide VCNP administrators and agents the cultural-historical background needed to develop management plans that acknowledge traditional associations with the 

Preserve. This study also explains how some traditional communities maintain important social and 

ideational associations with the VCNP that go beyond economic relationships. This background 

helps demonstrate why traditional land use practices that may not be visible on the ground today 

warrant respect and consideration in planning. Lastly, this volume offers managers additional background for structuring and acting on consultations with affiliated communities.
v

Contents

Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................................. i

Executive Summary......................................................................................................................... iii

Chapter 1. Valles Caldera National Preserve Land Use History...................................................................1

Kurt F. Anschuetz

Overview......................................................................................................................................1

Study Area....................................................................................................................................2

Goals and Methods ......................................................................................................................4

Preliminary Identification of Associated Traditional Native American Communities ................6

Report Organization.....................................................................................................................7

References....................................................................................................................................9

Chapter 2. A Sketch of the Cultural-Historical Environment—Part 1: The Pre-Columbian 

Past................................................................................................................................................11

Kurt F. Anschuetz

Introduction................................................................................................................................11

Paleoindian Occupation (10000/9500–5500 B.C.)....................................................................11

Archaic Occupation (5500 B.C.– A.D. 600)..............................................................................12

Pueblo Occupation(A.D. 600–1600)..........................................................................................13

Postscript....................................................................................................................................18

References..................................................................................................................................19

Chapter 3 A Sketch of the Cultural-Historical Environment—Part 2: Spanish Entradas 

to the Present................................................................................................................................25

Thomas Merlan

Introduction................................................................................................................................25

The Spanish Entradas (1540–1598)..........................................................................................25

Early Spanish Colonial Settlement (1598–1680).......................................................................25

The Pueblo Revolt, the Reconquest, and Spanish Colonial Rule (1680–1821).........................26

The Mexican Period (1821–1846) .............................................................................................26

The U.S. Territorial Period (1846–1912)...................................................................................27

Early Statehood to World War II (1912–1945)..........................................................................28

Post-World War II to Present (1945–2003)................................................................................28

References..................................................................................................................................29

Chapter 4. History of the Baca Location No. 1 ..........................................................................31

Thomas Merlan and Kurt F. Anschuetz

Introduction................................................................................................................................31

Birth and Confirmation of the Baca Location Land Grant ........................................................37

Competing Interests: The Basis for the Baca Location Partition Suit .......................................38

The Partition Suit of 1893–1899................................................................................................38

The Otero Family’s Tenure ........................................................................................................40

Redondo Development Company: Mortgaging the Baca Location’s Future.............................41

Divided Rights, Part I: Bond Family Ranching and the Beginning of Commercial Timbering42

Divided Rights, Part II: James Patrick Dunigan vs. New Mexico Timber ................................43

Federal Acquisition of the Baca Location..................................................................................45

References..................................................................................................................................46
vi

Chapter 5. Plant Gathering, Game Hunting, Fishing, Mineral Collecting, 

and Agriculture ............................................................................................................................49

Kurt F. Anschuetz

Introduction................................................................................................................................49

Native Plant Gathering...............................................................................................................50

Hunting ......................................................................................................................................56

Fishing........................................................................................................................................58

Mineral Collection .....................................................................................................................59

Agriculture .................................................................................................................................61

References..................................................................................................................................62

Chapter 6. Ranching History .....................................................................................................107

Thomas Merlan and Kurt F. Anschuetz

Introduction..............................................................................................................................107

Cattle and Sheep ......................................................................................................................107

Partido......................................................................................................................................108

The Nineteenth Century...........................................................................................................108

The Twentieth Century.............................................................................................................110

Today........................................................................................................................................114

References................................................................................................................................114

Chapter 7. Industrial Timbering ...............................................................................................117

Kurt F. Anschuetz and Thomas Merlan

Establishing the Foundations for a History of Leveraged Buyouts.........................................117

The Severing of Timber Rights from Grazing Rights..............................................................117

The Early History of Timbering on the Baca Location............................................................118

The Intensification of Timbering .............................................................................................120

James Patrick Dunigan vs. New Mexico Timber Revisited.....................................................121

The Persistence of the Timbering Tradition.............................................................................123

References Cited ......................................................................................................................124

Chapter 8. Industrial Mineral Extraction and Geothermal Exploration..............................125

Thomas Merlan

Introduction..............................................................................................................................125

Historical Overview.................................................................................................................125

References................................................................................................................................127

Chapter 9. The Valles Caldera National Preserve as a Multi-Layered Ethnographic 

Landscape...................................................................................................................................129

Kurt F. Anschuetz

Introduction..............................................................................................................................129

Distinguishing Land Use Traditions: Landscapes as Memory and Landscapes of Memory...130

Building Blocks of Land Use Traditions in Constructing Landscapes as Memory.................131

Landscapes as Memory and Vernacular Land Use History in the VCNP................................141

Summary and Conclusions ......................................................................................................152

References................................................................................................................................154

Chapter 10. Summary and Conclusions ...................................................................................163

Kurt F. Anschuetz
vii

Appendix I. Annotated Bibliography ........................................................................................167

Kurt F. Anschuetz and Thomas Merlan

Appendix II. Introducing a Landscape Approach for Evaluating Communities’ 

Traditional Senses of Time and Place ......................................................................................249

Kurt F. Anschuetz

(adapted from Anschuetz 2001; Anschuetz and Scheick 1998)

Introduction..............................................................................................................................249

National Park Service Landscape Concepts ............................................................................249

Landscapes as Worlds of Cultural Meaning.............................................................................251

The Challenge of Terra Incognita ............................................................................................252

Implementing an Ethnographic Landscape Approach .............................................................256

References................................................................................................................................257

Appendix III. Perspectives on Culture, Tradition,Vernacular Knowledge, and 

Culture Change to Understand Landscape as a Cultural Process........................................263

Kurt F. Anschuetz

Introduction..............................................................................................................................263

Culture With a Capital “C” ......................................................................................................263

Tradition: Sustaining Senses of Continuity Within Culture Change .......................................264

Vernacular Knowledge: Reigning Conventional Wisdom.......................................................264

The Inevitability of Culture Change ........................................................................................265

Traditions and Traditionalism as Instruments of Culture Change ...........................................265

Discussion: The Need for a Historical-Ecological Perspective ...............................................266

References................................................................................................................................267

Index................................................................................................................................................271
viii USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Valles Caldera National Preserve. Photo by Anastasia Steffen.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 1

Overview

The land use history of the Valles Caldera National 

Preserve (VCNP) extends back over thousands of years. Few 

known archaeological properties in the Valles Caldera date 

to the Paleoindian period (10000/9500–5500 B.C.). These 

finds include the recent discovery, during ongoing archaeological studies (Dr. Bob Parmeter, personal communication, 

VCNP, Los Alamos, 2005), of several spear points that associate with soils dated at 11,000 years before present. In 

addition, there is wide distribution of Jémez obsidian across 

the northern Southwest from archaeological sites dating to the 

late Pleistocene and the early Holocene. These patterns document that hunters of now-extinct large game animals, such as 

mammoth (Mammuthus jeffersonii) and a kind of bison (Bison 

antiquus), were the first people to visit the calderas.

A variety of evidence attests that many culturally diverse 

peoples used the Valles Caldera over the nearly eight millennia 

subsequent to the Paleoindian period. Archaeologists use artifacts and other durable traces to construct a history of land use 

by Archaic period hunters and gatherers and pre-Columbian 

Pueblo Indians, who are among the forebears of the people 

of Jémez Pueblo and other communities. Researchers cite the 

hunting of game, the gathering of plant resources, and the 

collection of obsidian for the manufacture of chipped stone 

tools as the main reasons for the short-term, warm-season use 

of the locale. Spanish colonial documents (1540–1821) report 

the periodic presence of Navajo and Hispanic groups in the 

Valles Caldera. These accounts characteristically describe the 

Navajos as impediments to the seasonal use of the property’s 

rich grasslands by the colonists’ flocks and herds. Navajo war 

parties periodically raided Hispanic and Pueblo settlements 

near the Valles Caldera. The Hispanics and Pueblos answered 

with punitive military forays.

During the Mexican Period (1821–1846), Hispanic settlement moved closer to the Valles Caldera, although this high 

altitude setting was not to see year-round habitation for nearly 

another century. An occasional Anglo-American trapper 

worked the rivers and ponds of the caldera.

Soldiers and settlers in the U.S. Territorial Period (1846–

1912) mention Apaches and Utes in the Valles Caldera. From 

the 1850s to the 1880s, the U.S. Army fought the nomadic 

tribes of the Southwest and forced them to settle on reservations. Anglos and Hispanics began large-scale—although 

seasonal—commercial use of the caldera. The resolution 

of the Indian problem transformed the Valles Caldera from 

unclaimed mountainous wilderness to a recognized private 

land grant. In 1860 the U.S. Congress authorized the heirs 

of Luis María Cabeza de Baca to select alternative lands, 

including what became known as the Baca Location No. 1, 

in exchange for termination of all rights to their grandfather’s 1821 grant on the Gallinas River in northeastern New 

Mexico. The New Mexico Surveyor General completed the 

survey of the 99,289-acre (40,180-ha) Baca Location No. 1 

(Baca Location) in 1876. The land use history of the Valles 

Caldera became a series of actions by known private individuals and business interests. This pattern continued until 

the acquisition of the property by the United States from the 

James Patrick Dunigan companies in 2000. The thousands of 

years of land use before 1876 left comparatively few lasting 

traces. In contrast, the exploitation of the Valles Caldera for 

commercial ranching, timber development, mineral extraction, and geothermal exploration from 1876 to the present has 

deeply marked the physical appearance and historical ecology 

of this locality. It also has profoundly shaped public perceptions of the nature of the landscape before and after the arrival 

of Anglo-Americans in the nineteenth century.

This land use history deals mainly with the economic 

development of the locality over the 124 years of intense use 

and development. We provide a regional context in which the 

caldera’s users—from the first legal owners, the Baca heirs, 

to the last private owners, the James Patrick Dunigan companies—acted during their respective tenures.

To focus the land use history of the Valles Caldera during 

this period of its most intense use, we examine the technological structure and social organization of people’s activities on 

the lands. Building on these findings, we describe the impacts 

of their actions on the physical environment. With the help 

of written documents from the late 1800s onward, especially 

legal records concerning the disposition or adjudication of the 

tract’s land, timber, and mineral rights, we are also able to 

consider some of the motivations of key actors in making the 

decisions that they did.

To make this land use history more comprehensive, we 

will also examine some of the vernacular (qua common, 

indigenous) uses of the Valles Caldera by neighboring Native 

American and Hispanic communities. These peoples interacted with this tract, not as wilderness, but as an essential 

part of their respective communities’ landscapes. Use of the 

written record has limits. There are no documentary records 

Chapter 1.

Valles Caldera National Preserve Land Use History

Kurt F. Anschuetz
2 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

before European colonization. Written accounts are biased 

as to the land use activities that are considered worthy of 

mention, however. Traditional users, the Pueblos in particular, are sensitive about revealing some land use practices. 

The physical effects of traditional uses have been slight. For 

all these reasons, the identities of most individual users are 

unknown. Nevertheless, their intimate relationship with the 

Valles Caldera survives in the oral traditions and histories of 

many communities. In some cases, the land use relationships 

that people established with this place in time immemorial 

are essential for sustaining the identity of their communities 

today. This discussion, therefore, also considers these associations.

Study Area

The VCNP is an 88,900-acre (35,560-ha) tract located 

high in the Jémez Mountains just 5 miles (8 km) west of Los 

Alamos—the birthplace of the Atomic Age—in north-central 

New Mexico (fig. 1.1). Acquired in 2000 with the passage of 

the Valles Caldera Preservation Act by Congress, the property encompasses major portions (89.5%) of the land held 

in private ownership as the Baca Location since 1860. (Of 

the other 10,389 acres [4,455 ha] of the original land grant, 

5,343 acres [2,137 ha] were transferred to private interests 

before 2000 and were outside the scope of the congressional 

act. Santa Clara Pueblo was authorized by the law to buy the 

remaining 5,046 acres [2,018 ha] at the northeast corner of 

the Baca Location that are the headwaters of the Santa Clara 

Creek.) Consequently, the land use history of the VCNP is 

linked inextricably to the political and social envionment of 

the old land grant. 

The VCNP encompasses most of the 12- to 15-mile 

wide (19.2- to 24-km wide) bowl-like hollow formed by the 

collapse of a pair of great volcanic domes following explosive 

eruptions that date to about 1.6 and 1.2 million years ago. The 

second volcanic episode, which created the Valles Caldera, is 

superimposed on the earlier hollow, the Toledo Caldera (see 

Martin 2003:4–6).

The base elevation of the Valles Caldera exceeds 8,000 feet 

(2,439 m) and is some 3,000 feet (915 m) below the level of 

the lava-dome mountains forming the caldera’s rim (fig. 1.2). 

The highest of these summits, most commonly known today 

by its Spanish name Cerro Redondo (Round Hill), rises to an 

elevation of 11,254 feet (3,431 m) and is one of the highest 

summits in the Jémez Mountain Range. This peak is also the 

headwaters of the Río Jémez, which flows past the Pueblos of 

Jémez, Zía, and Santa Ana and the Hispanic communities of 

Jémez Springs, San Ysidro, and Bernalillo around the south 

margin of the Jémez Mountains on its way to the Río Grande 

(fig. 1.1). The locality is fed by runoff, seeps, and springs, 

and drained by many streams, including the East Fork Jémez 

River, Redondo Creek, and San Antonio Creek.

The Valles Caldera is famous for is scenic beauty, 

geological features, and diversity of flora and fauna. The 

physical environment ranges from broad open meadows to 

1.1—Valles Caldera National Preserve location.

mountains heavily forested with coniferous trees, creating 

a unique viewshed unmatched in the Southwest. Besides its 

calderas and lava-dome peaks, the VCNP’s geothermal hot 

springs and sulfurous gas vents attract attention (Martin 

2003; USDA Forest Service 1993). The great topographic 

relief of the setting contributes to its ecological diversity, including more than 500 identified plant taxa (Dr. Bob 

Parmeter, personal communication, VCNP, Los Alamos, 

2005). Seventeen Federal- or State-listed endangered or threatened species, including the Jémez Mountains Salamander 

(Plethodon neomexicanus), northern goshawk (Accipiter 

gentiles), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), and bald eagle 

(Haliaeetus leucocephalus, occur in the VCNP (USDA Forest 

Service 1993).

Below elevations of 8,500 feet (2,600 m), plants and animals 

of the Transition Life Zone predominate (Bailey 1913). 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 3

1.2—Valles Caldera National Preserve study area (adapted from Weslowski 1981: fig. 10-1).
4 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Major plant species include ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), piñon (Pinus edulis), juniper (Juniperus communis and 

Juniperus scopulorum), mountain mahogany (Cerocarpus 

montanus), serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), blue curly 

grama (Bouteloua gracilis), Indian rice grass (Oryzopsis spp.), 

and sand dropseed (Sporobolus crytandrus). The Transition 

Life Zone supports mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), coyote 

(Canis latrans), bobcat (Lynx rufus), various squirrels (Sciurus 

sp., Tamiasciurus sp, and Spermophilus sp.), prairie dog 

(Cynomys gunnisoni), chipmunks (Neotamias sp.), raccoon 

(Procyon lotor), black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), 

cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttalli), woodrat (Neotoma mexicana), 

mice (Microtus sp. and Peromyscus sp.), weasel (Mustela 

frenata and Mustela erminea), beaver (Castor canadensis), 

badger (Taxidea taxus), black bear (Ursus americanus), and 

mountain lion (Puma concolor). Local birds include grouse 

(Dendragapus obscurus), turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), 

various hawks (Accipiter sp.) and owls (Otus sp., Bubo sp.,

Aegolius sp., Glaucidium sp., and Asio sp.), robin (Turdus 

migratorius), wren (Troglodytes aedon), woodpeckers 

(Picoides sp. and Melanerpes sp.), nighthawk (Chordiles 

minor), hummingbirds (Selasphorus sp.), white-throated swift 

(Aeronautes saxaialis), sparrows (Pooecetes sp. and Spizella

sp.), warblers (Vermivora sp., Dendroica sp., and Oporornis

sp.), chickadee (Parus gambeli), and golden (Aquila chrysaetos) and bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) eagles.

The Canadian Life Zone rises above the Transition habitat 

on slopes between 8,500 feet (2,600 m) and 11,000/12,000 feet 

(3,354/3,659 m) in elevation (Bailey 1913). Consequently, 

this life zone covers the rest of the VCNP. The principal trees 

are Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens), Engelmann spruce 

(Picea engelmannii), white fir (Abies concolor), Douglas-fir 

(Pseudotsuga menziesii), aspen (Populus tremuloides), 

Rocky mountain maple (Acer glabrum), alder (Alnus sp.), 

and currant (Ribes sp.). Notable herbaceous plants include 

cinquefoil (Potentilla sp.), columbine (Aquilegia sp.), and 

goldenrod (Solidago sp.). Several useful grasses are wheatgrass (Agropyron sp.) and fescue (Festuca sp.). Elk (Cervus 

canadensis), mule deer, black bear, lynx, weasels, squirrels, 

chipmunks, and many mice species persist in these higher 

elevations. This life zone also supports various shrews (Sorex

sp.). This habitat provides homes for various grouse, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, sparrows, and warblers. Other major 

bird species include northern goshawk (Accipiter gentiles), 

jay (Cyanocitta sp. and Gymnorhinus sp.), dark-eyed junco 

(Junco hyemalis), several kinglet species (Regulus sp.), and 

mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides).

To many laypersons, the VCNP appears pristine. With 

relatively few obtrusive buildings and other infrastructure to 

clutter the viewshed, the property offers the casual visitor

. . . the impression of a large, scenic mountain landscape 

with little evidence of human presence. This evokes a strong 

emotional impression derived from the property’s atmosphere 

of solitude and undeveloped character. (USDA Forest 

Service 1993:8)

Yet this impression overlooks visible reminders of intensive sheep grazing, cattle ranching, timbering, and mineral 

and geothermal exploration and development on the tract 

between the late 1800s and the early 1970s. These activities have increased the density and composition of forest 

cover, shifted the demographic structure of tree populations 

to a markedly lower mean age, and reduced the frequency 

and structure of lower canopy grasses and forbes (e.g., see 

Allen 1989; USDA Forest Service 1993:15–16). Nor does 

this impression acknowledge that the historical ecology of the 

VCNP includes a human presence that extends back 8,000 

years or even longer, possibly to the end of the Pleistocene.

Goals and Methods

At the request of Dr. Carol Raish (Research Social Scientist 

and Project Coordinator, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 

USDA Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM), the Río Grande 

Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes (Río 

Grande Foundation) made a proposal in the fourth quarter 

of Fiscal Year 2002 for a land use history of the VCNP. As 

stipulated in the Joint Venture Agreement between the USDA 

Forest Service and the Río Grande Foundation (No. 02-JV11221601-265 [RGF 119]), the purpose of this undertaking 

was to document the interactions between culturally diverse 

peoples and this striking physical environment over time.

The study focuses on the cultural-historical environment of 

the 88,900-acre (35,560-ha) preserve over the past four centuries of Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. governance. The scope of 

work also includes the preparation of an archaeological review 

of human use and occupation before the Spanish colonization 

of the New Mexican territory in 1598. This review establishes 

the cultural context of traditional Native American land use 

practices and associations, creates a timeline that identifies 

changing patterns in the technology and organization of the 

use of the VCNP, and explains the essential social and cultural 

contexts of patterns of economic activity extending far back 

in time.

Accordingly, the study provides a record of the economic, 

social, and ideational relationships that culturally diverse 

Native American (e.g., Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and Ute), 

Hispanic, and Anglo-American peoples have maintained with 

the Valles Caldera. The work includes a review and synthesis 

of available published and unpublished historical, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic literature about the human occupation 

of the area now contained within the VCNP. The documents 

include historical maps, texts, letters, diaries, business records, 

photographs, land and mineral patents, and court testimony. 

Table 1.1 identifies a list of local and regional archives visited 

in the course of the study.

In addition to these archival sources, Craig Martin, an 

historian and ecologist who lives in White Rock, NM, generously shared his research materials. Martin (2003) also 

provided copies of his book Valle Grande: A History of the 

Baca Location No. 1, published in late 2003. Although the 

book was not available until late in our work, it became an 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 5

important resource for this study. It identifies additional 

archival resources worthy of inclusion in this study. It also presents important information about key individuals, including 

Luis María Cabeza de Baca, his grandsons Francisco Tomás 

and Tomás Dolores Baca, and entrepreneurs Maríano Sabine 

Otero, James Greenwood Whitney, and Joel Parker Whitney. 

Frank Bond and Patrick Dunigan, the owners and developers 

of the Baca Location during the nineteenth and twentieth 

centuries, are other key historical figures. Martin’s book is the 

best source for this information about historic persons, since 

much of it is outside the scope of the present study.

Because Martin (2003) shared so much information about 

the economic and social history of the Baca Location, this 

study should devote greater effort to issues that are outside the 

scope of Martin’s book, such as land title, the changing intensity of industrial timbering, and patterns of vernacular land 

use by neighboring traditional Native American and Hispanic 

communities.

The quality and quantity of available documentary information made it necessary for this land use history to emphasize 

the material aspects of land use, such as hunting, gathering, 

mineral collecting, ranching, timbering, and geothermal exploration. Two important case files that have not previously been 

analyzed assisted our work. The discovery of the case file of 

the 1893–1899 Baca Location partition suit (Whitney v. Otero) 

in the State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe, NM, as 

well as the retrieval of the extensive records of Baca Land and 

Cattle Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967) allowed more comprehensive review of the land grant’s 

complicated title history than had been possible previously. 

The Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc., (1967) records had been 

misfiled under an incorrect number in the National Archives, 

Rocky Mountain Region, Denver, CO.

Throughout this study the central issue is the nature and 

intensity of human impacts on the physical environment. The 

study attempts to determine the technological structure of land 

use activities, the social organization framing them, the identities of associated communities and major actors over the 

VCNP’s human history, and the timelines of diverse peoples’ 

relationships with the lands now within the VCNP. With this 

presentation of a cultural-historical framework of VCNP land 

use, land managers and researchers should be better prepared 

to assess the historical ecology of the property. This information is relevant not only to the critical assessment of how past 

human activities have altered the physical ecology, including 

the biological structure of plant and animal communities in 

this seemingly pristine physical environment, but is useful 

as well for evaluating potential impacts of present and future 

land use practices on the historical ecology of the Preserve. 

These practices include old, culturally significant vernacular 

land uses carried on by the people of traditionally associated 

communities.

The Río Grande Foundation adopted a cultural landscape 

approach for this study. We have examined how communities 

created economic, social, and ideational associations with the 

VCNP. Such cultural knowledge is relevant because it documents how traditionally associated peoples use the VCNP to 

sustain the economy and important social and cultural traditions within their respective communities.

Central to this approach is the premise that communities interweave meaning, space, and time to form the fabric 

of their landscapes. With the passage of time, the intimacy 

of experience, and the sharing of memories, a community’s geographical space becomes a place of valued meaning. 

As each generation lives its life and bestows meaning on its 

surroundings, landscapes come to represent both mirrors and 

memories of each community’s living history. Moreover, the 

landscape is a powerful medium through which land-based 

communities create and sustain their cultural identities.

Because this project depends mainly on the existing documentary record, references to any particular group’s social and 

ideational relationships with the VCNP are usually sparse. In 

Table 1.1. List of Archival Resources.

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

Zimmerman (General) Library

 Center for Southwest Research, Zimmerman (General) Library

 Government Publications, Zimmerman (General) Library

 Spanish Colonial Research Center, Zimmerman (General) Library

State of New Mexico

Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe 

 Laboratory of Anthropology

 Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

 Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe

New Mexico History Library, Santa Fe

New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe

Southwest Room, New Mexico State Library, Santa Fe

U.S. Government

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region, Denver

National Park Service Library, Intermountain Support Office, Santa Fe

Valles Caldera National Preserve, Los Alamos

Other

Los Alamos Historical Society, Los Alamos
6 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

addition, the cultural meaning of reported observations cannot 

be comprehensively understood without supporting systematic ethnographic study based on interactive consultation and 

dialogue. A program of ethnographic investigation, however, 

is outside the scope of the present research. The Río Grande 

Foundation did not consult with affiliated traditional communities, families, or business enterprises. Such a phase of study 

remains to be done.

This study should give VCNP administrators and agents 

the cultural-historical background needed to develop management plans that acknowledge traditional associations with 

the Preserve. This study also explains how some traditional 

communities maintain important social and ideational associations with the VCNP that go beyond economic relationships. 

This background helps demonstrate why traditional land 

use practices that may not be visible on the ground today 

warrant respect and consideration in planning. The study is 

also intended to give managers additional background for 

structuring and acting on consultations with affiliated communities.

The authors of this study are Dr. Kurt F. Anschuetz and 

Thomas Merlan. Both investigators have experience in 

conducting research into the land use histories of traditional 

and historical community groups in northern New Mexico. 

Thomas Merlan is a consulting historian, and familiar with the 

major documentary archives in the Southwest. Dr. Anschuetz 

is an archaeologist and anthropologist, and in his role as 

Program Director, Río Grande Foundation, he further served 

as the project’s Principal Investigator.

Preliminary Identification of 

Associated Traditional Native 

American Communities

In the course of this study, Anschuetz and Merlan encountered documentary evidence identifying a large number of 

culturally diverse, traditional Native American communities 

that possess either a demonstrable or a probable cultural-historical relationship with the locality. The association of these 

communities with the VCNP is often neither readily visible 

archaeologically nor reported outside specialized ethnographic or ethnohistorical accounts.

In addition to the communities mentioned in documentary 

accounts as possessing direct or indirect associations with 

the Valles Caldera, there are several other Native American 

groups that likely maintain a relationship with the VCNP. We 

have listed these communities at the end of this discussion and 

stated the basis on which we infer their association with the 

Valles Caldera.

The following account neither states nor evaluates any 

community’s specific claim of traditional association. It is 

intended to introduce each of these Native American communities through a brief summary of relevant documentary 

evidence.

In the early twentieth century, U.S. Surveyor William 

Boone Douglass recognized (and looted) the shrine on top of 

Redondo Peak during his restorative cadastral survey of the 

Baca Location’s boundaries. In a subsequent publication of his 

observations of the shrine, Douglass (1917:358) reports that 

the Río Grande Pueblos of Jémez, Cochití, Santo Domingo, 

Zía, Sandia, San Ildefonso, San Juan, and Santa Clara make 

ritual pilgrimages to Redondo Peak. His account, therefore, 

stands as the first substantive statement of the traditional association of Native American peoples with the lands contained 

within the VCNP.

Decades later, Florence Hawley Ellis restated Douglass’ 

list of associated communities. She added the Río Grande 

Pueblos of Santa Ana, San Felipe, Nambé, Pojoaque, and 

Tesuque to the list of Native American communities that make 

pilgrimages to the shrine on top of Redondo Peak (Ellis 1956, 

1974:157). She further implied that the Navajo visited the 

shrines on its summit.

Relying heavily on materials generated by land claims litigated by the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) (1974) in the 

late 1940s and early 1950s, Nancy J. Akins (1993) addresses 

traditional use areas of aboriginal groups in New Mexico. 

She states that for several reasons, “The boundaries identified 

in the ICC cases are not always equivalent to an aboriginal 

or traditional use area” (Akins 1993:4). The Federal statute 

required Native American land claims to be based on exclusive use and occupancy of a given area at the time the United 

States assumed political sovereignty over the Southwest in 

1848. Given the inherent limitations of information compiled 

for land claims cases, Akins considers only shrines and ancestral villages as traditional cultural properties associated with a 

community’s aboriginal use areas.

In this overview, Akins (1993) discusses traditional Native 

American associations across the State of New Mexico. She 

identifies the Baca Location as entirely within the aboriginal 

lands of Jémez Pueblo and lists shrines in and near the Baca 

Location important to the Pueblo (including Wa-ve-ma [a.k.a. 

Redondo Peak]) (Akins 1993:62–69).

Inspection of Akins’ (1993) compiled map information reveals that the following Indian communities included 

the Valles Caldera locality within their far-reaching aboriginal territories: Jicarilla Apache, (1993:70–77), Navajo 

(1993:107–113), San Ildefonso Pueblo (1993:126–131), 

San Juan Pueblo (1993: 132–138), Santa Ana Pueblo 

(1993:139–141), Santa Clara Pueblo (1993:145–148), 

Santo Domingo Pueblo (1993: 150–153), Tesuque Pueblo 

(1993:163–165), Ute (1993:168–174), and Zía Pueblo 

(1993:181–186.

David M. Brugge (1983) offers insights into the association of the Navajo with the VCNP in his excellent summary 

of early Navajo history. His illustration “Approximate Navajo 

settlement areas” (Brugge 1983:fig. 1) shows the Valles 

Caldera portion of the Jémez Mountains to the east of the 

core of the settled Navajo territory. This observation does 

not necessarily preclude temporary Navajo use of the VCNP, 

however.

In fact, numerous documentary accounts place the Navajo 

in the VCNP in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as 

interlopers who passed through the locality to raid Pueblo and 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 7

Hispanic settlements along the flanks of the Jémez Mountains 

(e.g., Bishop Crespo, in Adams 1954:98; McNitt 1972).

Frederick W. Sleight (1950) follows Washington 

Matthews (1897) and places the Navajo within the boundaries of the VCNP for purposes other than raiding. In his 

comprehensive review of 34 contradictory documentary 

sources, and his supplementary original fieldwork to determine the geographic locations of the principal four Navajo 

mountains of direction, Sleight concludes that Pelado Peak 

is Sisnádjini, the Holy Mountain of the East. Regardless of 

the debate over the geographic identification of Sisnádjini, 

Douglass (1917:344–357) reports that Navajo traveling 

west of the Jémez Mountains visited the shrine on the top of 

Cerro Chicoma just outside the northeast corner of the Baca 

Location. Based on this, it is likely that Navajos would have 

made ritual pilgrimages to the top of Redondo Peak.

Although the evidence compiled by the ICC (1974; see 

also Akins 1993) places the Jicarilla Apache and the Ute 

in the Valles Caldera, the technological structure and social 

organization of their occupations of this locality are little 

known. Although she does not discuss the Jicarilla occupation of the Valles Caldera specifically, Veronica E. Tiller

(1992:15). illustrates the location of an undefined “permanent 

site” west of Los Alamos in the vicinity of the VCNP in a 

map titled “Aboriginal Sites and Early Settlements” Donald 

Callaway and others (1986) identify the Muache and Capote 

as the principal Ute bands that traveled seasonally into New 

Mexico’s mountains, with the Muache reaching as far south as 

Santa Fe. Their map showing the geographic expanse of early 

nineteenth-century Ute territory, however, does not show 

the full extent of the people’s occupation of New Mexico 

(Callaway et al. 1986:fig. 1). James Jefferson and others

(1972:xi), Charles S. Marsh (1982:3, 18–19), and Frances 

Leon Swadesh (1974:47) similarly place Ute bands in northcentral New Mexico.

The Hopi Tribe of northeastern Arizona currently consults 

with Federal agencies about the protection and disposition of 

cultural resources on lands east of the Jémez Mountains (e.g., 

Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma, Director, Cultural Preservation 

Office, letter to Gilbert Vigil, Forest Supervisor, Carson 

National Forest, USDA Forest Service, March 20, 2000). The 

Hopi Tribe’s affiliations with these lands are based, in part, on 

oral traditions that trace clan movements far back in time. In 

addition, some of the Tewa-Hopi clan leaders from the Pueblo 

of Hano on the Hopi Mesas variously trace their emigration to 

the Hopi Buttes from the old village of Tsawari (LA36)1.1 in 

the Santa Cruz Valley during late pre-Columbian Pueblo times 

(Yava 1978:27–28, 44–45) and from the Abiquiu area at the 

time of the Pueblo Revolt (Poling-Kempes 1997:19–20).

Anthropologists have documented an ethnogeography 

for the Pueblo of Zuni of west-central New Mexico. This 

account includes at least four sites in or near the Valles 

Caldera (Ferguson and Hart 1985:map 15—Traditional 

Zuni Hunting Area [site 31], map 16—Traditional Zuni Plant 

Collection Area [sites 31 and 93], and map 18—Traditional 

Zuni Religious Use Area [sites 31, 48, 93, and 94]). There are 

Zuni sites on the east side of the Jémez Mountains in proximity to the Río Grande Valley as well.

Although this is not documented directly in available literature, it is likely that that the Río Grande Pueblos of Taos, 

Picuris, and Isleta recognized the Valles Caldera as an important place on their landscape. The Jémez Mountains are 

visible from the immediate vicinity of each of these Pueblos. 

In addition, Taos Pueblo traditionally makes pilgrimages 

to Cerro Chicoma next to the Baca Location (Douglass 

1917:344–357). We found no information either directly or 

indirectly associating the Pueblos of Ácoma and Laguna with 

the VCNP. Given the proximity of these communities to the 

Río Grande, the observation that their expansive aboriginal 

homes (ICC 1974) extend toward the Jémez Mountains, and 

their close cultural-historical relationships with Zía and the 

other southern Río Grande Pueblos, it seems likely that future 

ethnographic consultation would establish their affiliation 

with the Valles Caldera.1.1

Report Organization

In addition to this introduction, this report includes eight 

chapters and three appendices.

Chapter 2 presents an archaeological reconstruction of lower 

Río Grande Valley culture history from time immemorial, 

beginning with the Paleoindian period in the late Pleistocene 

and continuing until a.d. 1600 following the establishment of 

the Spanish colony of New Mexico. The discussion recounts 

changing patterns of hunting, gathering, and mineral collection in the VCNP. This summary of surviving archaeological 

traces provides a cultural-historical framework that establishes 

the peripheral place that the VCNP has always occupied with 

respect to major centers of residential settlement and areas of 

intensive economic land use.

Chapter 3 gives a synopsis of lower Río Grande Valley 

history since the mid-sixteenth-century Spanish entradas

into New Mexico. This discussion traces broad patterns of 

documentary history having to do with the changing intensity of land use in the VCNP by Spanish Colonists, Hispanics, 

and Anglo-Americans over time. This sketch illustrates how 

the Valles Caldera remained peripheral to major residential 

centers, while its cycle of intensive economic land use was 

dependent on greatly expanded regional population levels.

Chapter 4 offers a summary of Baca Location history. 

It traces the genesis of the Baca Land Grant from its 

1.1 “LA36” is the identification number assigned to the archaeological 

remnants of the village of Tsawari. The prefix LA refers to the 

Laboratory of Anthropology, which is part of the Museum of New 

Mexico, who created this master numbering system in the 1920s 

for the inventory of every archaeological site documented within 

the State of New Mexico. Today, the information files for all 

known archaeological sites within the state are maintained at the 

Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe by the Archaeological 

Records Management Section of the Historic Preservation 

Division in cooperation with the Museum of New Mexico.
8 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

beginnings as a grant to Luis María Cabeza de Baca and his 

family in eastern New Mexico in 1821. The narrative follows 

the Congressional action in 1860 that substituted five equalsized alternative tracts or locations (Baca Locations No. 1, 2, 

3, 4, and 5) for the original grant. This chapter next explains 

the economic and political machinations of the 1893–1899 

partition suit, which resulted in the transfer of title to the Baca 

Location No. 1 to individuals unrelated to the Baca family. 

From this point, the discussion follows the sale of the property to the Redondo Development Company, explaining how 

Redondo leveraged the assets of the Location, separating the 

tract’s timber and mineral rights from its land rights in 1918. 

The discussion then generally reviews the use of the property by various ranching interests, including the Bond family, 

the King family, James Patrick Dunigan, and a succession of 

logging businesses. This overview, in turn, provides background for examinations of the VCNP’s ranching (chapter 6) 

and timbering (chapter 7) histories.

Chapter 5 reviews the evidence of plant gathering, game 

hunting, mineral collecting, and agriculture within the Valles 

Caldera. The discussion focuses mainly on vernacular Native 

American and Hispanic practices. It recounts a short-lived 

and ill-fated commercial hay-cutting venture in the mid-nineteenth century. The narrative also considers Anglo-American 

hunting and trapping as business enterprises and reports 

brief episodes of agricultural use. Nevertheless, this chapter 

emphasizes the ways in which the area’s traditional landbased, Native American and Hispanic communities used the 

VCNP’s rich botanical assemblage for food, medicines, and 

other economic or recreational purposes. (Given its cultural 

sensitivity, in-depth examination of ritual plant use is inappropriate and is not included.) The study finds that of the 

more than 500 native plant species identified in the VCNP, 

350 taxa were used, or are likely to have been used, by Native 

American and Hispanic communities that maintain associations with this place.

Chapter 6 addresses the VCNP’s ranching history since 

Spanish colonization. The narrative introduces the partido

system that organized the sheep herding industry in New 

Mexico from the early 1700s to World War II and examines 

the various factors that kept herding and ranching in the Valles 

Caldera at a comparatively low level until the late nineteenth 

century. The discussion then traces the development and use 

of the property’s rangeland by the Bonds (1918-1963) and by 

the tract’s last private owners, James Patrick Dunigan and his 

estate (1963-2000).

Chapter 7 gives the history of industrial timbering in the 

VCNP. It examines why commercial logging operations 

did not enter the property until 1935, although Redondo 

Development Company and other business interests had 

actively traded its timber rights since 1918. In addition to the 

economic environment that conditioned timbering, the narrative summarizes the changing technological structure and 

social organization of timbering over time. The discussion 

highlights how the public concerns over the growing physical 

and ecological impacts on the Valles Caldera in the late 1950s, 

and the acquisition of the property by James Patrick Dunigan, 

were among the reasons for the most intensive and destructive 

logging cycle. The confrontation between Dunigan, a developer and rancher with environmental interests, and T. P. 

Gallagher, Jr., the long-term owner of New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., who tried to maximize his logging profits under terms 

of his purchase of the Baca Location’s timber rights, gives 

invaluable insights into competing land use values within a 

broader social context.

Chapter 8 reviews the history of mining and geothermal 

exploration in the Valles Caldera. The hope of striking gold and 

silver was a motive in Spanish colonization of New Mexico. 

This chapter focuses on Maríano Sabine Otero’s short-lived 

sulphur mining operations at the beginning of the 1900s, and 

the interest in geothermal development in the VCNP that is 

now more than four decades old.

Chapter 9 helps develop the thesis that Valles Caldera is a 

multi-layered ethnographic landscape with which people of 

culturally diverse communities—Native American, Hispanic, 

and Anglo-American—maintain meaningful relationships 

for their own purposes as part of a dynamic cultural process. 

The discussion should lead to a fuller understanding of the 

social and ideational contexts underlying the traditional land 

use activities in the VCNP that predominated before 1860, but 

have persisted since then without attracting public attention. 

The narrative outlines the world view and landscape themes 

that generally inform and organize how traditional communities associate and interact with the VCNP. The discussion then 

considers several prominent landscape elements, including 

mountains, water, caves, volcanoes, calderas, lava rock, 

shrines, trails, plants, and minerals, that have helped organize 

and give meaning to the land use activities of communities 

traditionally associated with this location.

Following a concluding discussion (chapter 10), appendix 

I consists of an annotated bibliography of the major references 

used in writing this report. Entries often include materials not 

directly cited in the text. Instead, we offer citations and observations that provide supplemental contexts for many issues 

that we identify in the main body of the report.

Appendix II introduces an anthropological landscape 

approach. It builds from the premise that landscape is the physical and conceptual interaction of nature and culture, rather 

than the sum of material modifications. The discussion should 

help cultural resource managers to understand how people of 

traditional and historical communities in the region construct 

and sustain close associations with the VCNP. The narrative 

helps explain how a community’s relationships with particular 

places and landscape features may embody traditions important to communities for sustaining their cultural identities.

Appendix III contributes to the understanding of landscape 

as a dynamic cultural process. The premise of this discussion 

is that people actively contribute to conditions that warrant the 

restructuring and reorganization of their interactions with their 

physical settings, with other members of their communities, 

and with residents of other communities. Land and cultural 

resource managers may find this section useful in considering how people of traditional and historical communities 

construct and sustain affiliations with the VCNP. The structure 

and organization of a group’s interactions with a place might 

change, yet continue a traditional relationship.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 9

Formatting Note

Citations identified in bold font in chapter text identify reference materials included in the annotated 

bibliography (appendix I).

Indexing note

Appendix I, the annotated bibliography, is not fully indexed. The index lists only the name of the 

author—or, in case of multiple authors, the senior author—of the annotated entries. Upon finding topics 

of interest in the text of the main body of the volume, the reader can easily identify which bibliographic 

entries that they might also wish to examine through the use of the bold font formatting convention.

References

Adams, Eleanor B., ed.

1954 Bishop Tamarón’s Visitation of New Mexico, 1760. Publications in History, 15. Santa Fe: 

Historical Society of New Mexico.

Akins, Nancy J.

1993 Traditional Use Areas in New Mexico. Archaeology Notes, 141. Santa Fe: Museum of New 

Mexico, Office of Archaeological Studies.

Allen, Craig D.

1989 Changes in the Landscape of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation. Wildlife 

Resource Science, University of California, Berkeley.

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Bailey, Vernon

1913 Life Zones and Crop Zones of New Mexico. North American Fauna 35. Washington, DC: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey.

Brugge, David M.

1983 Navajo Prehistory and History to 1850. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 489–501. Vol. 

10 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.

Callaway, Donald, Joel Janetski, and Omer C. Stewart

1986 Ute. In Great Basin. Warren L. D’azevedo, ed. Pp. 336–367. Vol. 11 of Handbook of North 

American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. 

Douglass, William Boone

1917 Notes on the Shrines of the Tewa and Other Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. In Proceedings 

of the Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists. Frederick W. Hodge, ed. Pp. 

344–378. Washington, DC: International Congress of Americanists.

Ellis, Florence Hawley

1956 Anthropological Evidence Supporting the Land Claim of the Pueblos of Zia, Santa Ana, and 

Jemez. Santa Fe: Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico. Unpublished MS.

1974 Navajo Indians I: An Anthropological Study of the Navajo Indians. New York: Garland 

Publishing.

Ferguson, T. J., and E. Richard Hart

1985 A Zuni Atlas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Indian Claims Commission

1974 Commission Findings on the Pueblo Indians. New York: Garland Publishing.

Jefferson, James, Robert W. Delaney, and Gregory C. Thompson

1972 The Southern Utes: A Tribal History. Floyd A. O’Neil, ed. Ignacio, CO: Southern Ute Tribe.
10 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Marsh, Charles S.

1982 People of the Shining Mountains: The Utes of Colorado. Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

Matthews, Washington

1897 Navajo Legends. Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society 5. Menasha, WI.

McNitt, Frank

1972 Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals. Albuquerque: University of 

New Mexico Press.

Poling-Kempes, Lesley

1997 Valley of the Shining Stone: The Story of Abiquiu. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Sleight, Frederick W.

1950 The Navajo Sacred Mountain of the East: A Controversy. El Palacio 58:379–397.

Swadesh, Frances Leon

1974 Los Prímeros Pobladores: Hispanic Americans on the Ute Frontier. Notre Dame, IN: 

University of Notre Dame Press.

Tiller, Veronica E.

1992 The Jicarilla Apache Tribe: A History. Revised edition. Lincoln: University of Nebraska 

Press.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1993 Report on the Study of the Baca Location No. 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Southwest Region, August 1993.

Whitney v. Otero

1893 Joel Parker Whitney v. Mariano S. Otero et al. Civil Case No. 3632. Records of the U.S. 

Territorial and New Mexico District Courts for Bernalillo County. Accession No. 1959–124. 

Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Yava, Albert

1978 Big Falling Snow: A Tewa-Hopi Indian’s Life and Times and the History and Traditions of 

His People. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 11

Introduction

This chapter examines the scope and structure of current 

archaeological interpretations of the pre-Columbian Native 

American occupation and use of the Valles Caldera National 

Preserve (VCNP). The discussion provides useful culturalhistorical background for the presentation and evaluation of 

the structure and organization of Native American land use 

history, as it is known through documentary sources, in subsequent chapters of this volume. It demonstrates that aboriginal 

communities have sustained important relationships with the 

Valles Caldera over millennia even though none ever established year-round residential settlements in this locality. 

Instead, the Valles Caldera represents an edge for residential centers located elsewhere (see chapter 9 for discussion of 

the essential relationship between edge and center in Native 

American understandings and occupations of their aboriginal 

landscapes.)

The primary emphasis of this study is cultural-historical, not archaeological. Consequently, the comprehensive 

description and assessment of the VCNP’s archaeological site 

and artifact assemblages is outside the scope of the present 

research. Other investigators (e.g., Steffen 2003; Steffen and 

Skinner 2002) have reported the archaeology of the VCNP. 

Nevertheless, this chapter provides background useful to the 

subsequent identification, interpretation, and evaluation of 

potentially significant cultural resources in the Preserve.

We rely upon a variety of archaeological reports. We recognize that the descendents of the Indian peoples who occupied 

the VCNP have often carefully recorded the histories of their 

forebears in oral accounts. Although some parts of these verbal 

texts exist in published form (see chapter 9), most of these 

narratives are not generally available to outsiders today. For 

this reason, we use the term pre-Columbian history to denote 

the part of our discussion of the human history of the VCNP 

that depends solely upon the description, assessment, and 

interpretation of the material traces composing the archaeological record that survives today.

Paleoindian Occupation 

(10000/9500–5500 B.C.)

Paleoindian culture represents the earliest documented 

evidence of human occupation in the North American 

Southwest. Archaeologists typically characterize Paleoindian 

cultural adaptations as emphasizing the hunting of now extinct 

species of mammoth (Mammuthus jeffersonii), bison (Bison 

antiquus), and several other large-bodied late Pleistocene 

animals, such as horses, tapirs, and camels. Assuming that 

Paleoindians relied principally on big game hunting for their 

livelihood, researchers commonly infer that these people were 

nomadic. Although many investigators believe that native 

plants and small game animals were important supplemental 

resources for the Paleoindians, few of these resources survive 

in the archaeological record (see Anschuetz 1996; Anschuetz 

et al. 1997).

Difficulties resulting from small sample sizes and poor 

archaeological preservation notwithstanding, archaeologists 

have proposed three major developmental phases for the 

Paleoindian period in the Southwest on the basis of patterned 

changes in projectile point form over time. The earliest is the 

Clovis phase, which researchers have variously dated between 

10000/9500 and 9000 B.C. (cf. Agogino 1968; Irwin‐Williams 

and Haynes 1970). Researchers consider large lanceolate 

spear points with short flute scars and concave bases as characteristic markers of this period.

The distribution of sites across diverse topographic 

settings and the occurrence of moist environmental conditions suggest that Clovis peoples sought access to a variety of 

plant resources, game animals, and sources of surface water. 

Although available archaeological data are not conclusive, 

it is tempting to characterize Clovis populations as generalized hunters and gatherers rather than as specialized big game 

hunters (Cordell 1984:145, 148).

The succeeding stage of Paleoindian cultural development is the Folsom phase. Researchers date the Folsom phase 

from approximately 9000 to 8000 B.C. (Agogino 1968; Judge 

Chapter 2.

A Sketch of the Cultural-Historical Environment—Part 1: 

The Pre-Columbian Past

Kurt F. Anschuetz
12 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

1973). Some investigators regard the Folsom phase as an 

evolutionary refinement of the preceding Clovis phase with 

the onset of a long‐term trend of increasingly dry conditions 

(e.g., Irwin‐Williams 1979:31). This generalized climatic 

change, known to investigators as the Anathermal (ca. 8600 

to 5500 B.C.) (Antevs 1955), persisted through the end of 

Paleoindian times and saw parkland and boreal forest species 

dominate across the southern Great Plains (Wendorf 1970, 

1975). Under such ecological conditions, it is unlikely that 

Paleoindian hunters in the northern Southwest had access to 

great herds of large-bodied game animals (Anschuetz 1996; 

Anschuetz et al. 1997).

Folsom spear points, which are smaller than their Clovis 

predecessors, are another kind of distinctively flaked lanceolate implements. Even though they are shorter than their Clovis 

predecessors, they have proportionately longer flutes. These 

tools are most commonly associated with Bison antiquus 

remains; mammoth and most other large-bodied Pleistocene 

mammals were already extinct by this time. Excavated sites 

have yielded remains of antelopes, deer, elk, wolves, rabbits, 

other small mammals, birds, and reptiles (Cordell 1979a:21). 

Some researchers suggest that Folsom populations relied 

heavily on specialized hunting practices and a highly nomadic 

lifestyle for their living (Broilo 1971; Judge 1973). These 

investigators base their argument on the presence of Bison 

antiquus, which likely were solitary or small-herd animals, 

and the development of a stone tool technology dependent on 

the careful use and conservation of high quality raw material, 

including the obsidian that occurs abundantly in and around 

the VCNP. Cordell (1984:148) urges caution in applying 

this interpretation, however. Although available archaeological data by no means discount interpretations of specialized 

hunting practices and high mobility, excavated site assemblages indicate that Folsom phase peoples relied on a variety 

of plant and animal resources. Not all of the stone tools found 

at Folsom sites are as highly specialized as the unique spear 

point.

The Plano phase (ca. 8300 to 6000 B.C.) marks the end 

of the Paleoindian period of human occupation across North 

America. This time encompasses a number of distinct material culture complexes, including the Agate Basin (8300 

to 8000 B.C.) and Cody (6600 to 6000 B.C.) complexes 

(Irwin‐Williams and Haynes 1970). Late Plano phase huntergatherers apparently enjoyed a brief return to greater effective 

moisture, and the spatial distribution of Cody complex materials is wider than that of the earlier Agate Basin complex 

(Irwin‐Williams 1979). Given kill sites with an average of 

nearly 130 smaller-bodied late Pleistocene bison (Bison occidentalis) per location (Cordell 1979a:21), many researchers 

continue to describe Plano phase Paleoindian populations 

as highly specialized big game hunters. Nonetheless, the 

sustained development of increasingly generalized projectile 

points from mid to late Paleoindian times implies that these 

human populations adopted increasingly diverse subsistence 

strategies, including a reliance on a wide range of plant and 

animal foods (Anschuetz 1996; Anschuetz et al. 1997).

At the present time, no known archaeological properties in 

either the VCNP or the upper Río Jémez Valley clearly date to 

the Paleoindian period. A small number of obsidian artifacts 

collected during archaeological study in the Redondo Peak 

Area have hydration rinds sufficiently thick to indicate raw 

material breakage during Paleoindian times (Russell 1981). In 

addition, archaeologists have recovered several spear points 

associated with soils dated at 11,000 ybp during studies now 

ongoing at the VCNP (Dr. Bob Parmeter, personal communication, VCNP, Los Alamos, 2005).

Recovery of artifacts diagnostic of Paleoindian manufacture elsewhere in the northern Río Grande region shows that 

these early hunter and gatherers visited the Jémez Mountains. 

Archaeologists documented a Clovis phase camp (LA66891)2.1

at an elevation of 8,200 ft (2,240 m) on Cañones Mesa northeast 

of the VCNP (Acklen 1993; Acklen et al. 1991; Evaskovich 

et al. 1997a). These researchers also located a second lithic 

scatter with Paleoindian artifacts but were unable to confirm 

the presence of an intact early occupation. Steen (1977, 1982) 

found a small number of isolated Paleoindian projectile points 

on mesatops in the nearby Pajarito Plateau district.

Archaeologists working at Paleoindian sites in central 

New Mexico and west Texas have recovered artifacts made 

of obsidian that outcrops in the Jémez Mountains (Winter 

1983:105; see also Glascock et al. 1999:861). Because Jémez 

obsidian nodules occur in the alluvial gravel deposits along 

the northern Río Grande Valley and the tributary streams that 

originate in the Jémez Mountains, the central New Mexico 

and west Texas obsidian finds do not necessarily represent the 

products of Paleoindian expeditions to the Valles Caldera or 

its environ.

Archaic Occupation 

(5500 B.C.– A.D. 600)

Researchers date the Archaic period in the northern 

Southwest between ca. 5500 B.C. and A.D. 600. Hunting 

appears to have persisted as a primary economic concern under 

essentially modern faunal and vegetative conditions during 

the early Archaic (Judge 1982:49). The ubiquity of grinding 

implements and roasting ovens at late Archaic base camps 

sites suggests that over time the people became increasingly 

dependent on hard-shelled grass seeds (e.g., Irwin‐Williams 

1973; Reher and Witter 1977; see also Cleland 1966:42–45).

Irwin‐Williams (1979:35) argues that the five-centurylong break between clearly dated Paleoindian and Archaic 

period cultural assemblages in the region indicates the withdrawal of Plains-based big game hunters from the northern 

Southwest in response to the onset of the Altithermal (ca. 

5000 to 3000 B.C.) (Antevs 1955), a time of decreased moisture and greater environmental desiccation. She suggests that 

the appearance of Archaic period hunter and gatherer cultural 

assemblages in the northern Southwest represents the influx 

of new populations and that there is no evident connection 

between populations representing these two adaptations 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 13

(Irwin‐Williams 1973, 1979). Other researchers (Cordell 

1979a; Honea 1969; Judge 1982; Stuart and Gauthier 1981) 

disagree with this interpretation, however. They reason that 

the occupation hiatus is more apparent than real. Moreover, as 

summarized by Judge (1982:48–49), these investigators view 

Archaic period cultural traditions as an indigenous outgrowth 

from the preceding Paleoindian cultural historical sequence.

Abel E. B. Renaud (1942) was the first researcher working 

in the northern Río Grande to provide a discussion of Archaic 

period cultural materials, which he designated as a distinctive 

Río Grande Culture complex. The diagnostic projectile point 

forms, which Renaud describes, resemble those of the Oshara 

Tradition sequence subsequently defined for the Arroyo 

Cuervo locality southwest of the VCNP (Irwin‐Williams 

1973). Because Irwin‐Williams’ cultural historical framework has received wide acceptance, researchers working in 

the northern Río Grande over the past two decades have classified projectile point forms encountered during their surveys 

and excavations within the Oshara Tradition typological 

sequence. Nonetheless, the Cochise Tradition (Sayles and 

Antevs 1941), which is traditionally conceptualized as occurring south and west of the Oshara Tradition area, seems to 

truncate the Oshara Tradition in the Galisteo Basin to the east 

of the Valles Caldera (Lang 1977). The Cochise Tradition also 

appears to merge in the Redondo Valley area of the VCNP 

(Baker and Winter 1981:v).

Irwin‐Williams (1973, 1979) divides the Archaic period 

into developmental phases in her definition of the Oshara 

Tradition: Jay (5500–4800 B.C.), Bajada (4800–3200 B.C.), 

San Jose (3200–1800 B.C.), Armijo (1800–800 B.C.), En 

Medio (800 B.C.–A.D. 400), and Trujillo (A.D. 400–600). 

Because Cochise Tradition cultural materials “intrude” into 

the Jémez Mountains as well as the Galisteo Basin, many of 

these narrow temporal definitions of Irwin‐Williams’ cultural 

historical construct might not be appropriate. Moreover, the 

archaeological record of the VCNP might eventually offer 

information useful to settling this important question about 

Archaic cultural affinities in the northern Río Grande.

Archaic population levels apparently were relatively stable 

during the Jay and Bajada phases (Irwin‐Williams 1973, 

1979). Researchers suggest that these peoples lived in nuclear 

or extended groups at a series of short-term camps in the 

lower elevations, such as those of the San Juan Basin west of 

the Jémez Mountains, throughout most of the year. Hunting 

camps and obsidian quarry sites, however, occur in the Jémez 

Mountains. Yet early Archaic period hunter and gatherer use 

of this locality was likely brief and sporadic, and there exists 

little direct evidence for the significant seasonal occupation of 

the Valles Caldera area before 2000 B.C. (Elliott 1991a:13).

The subsequent San Jose phase saw increased regional 

population levels. This development apparently coincided 

with a period of increased effective moisture. Corn horticulture and a residential pattern of seasonal ingathering and 

dispersal of family groups followed during the drier Armijo 

phase (Irwin‐Williams 1973, 1979).

A direct radiocarbon date for maize kernels recovered from 

the Jémez Cave demonstrates that Archaic people occupied 

camps in the upper Río Jémez Valley by the late Armijo phase 

(Ford 1981; also, see Alexander and Reiter 1935; Ford 1975). 

In addition, Baker and Winter (1981), during their study of the 

proposed Baca Geothermal Project area, documented several 

sites that are roughly contemporaneous with the Armijo 

phase along Redondo Creek in the VCNP. Artifacts indicate 

that obsidian quarrying and the manufacture of bifaces were 

predominant activities. Overall, the investigators describe 

site use as light. Although direct evidence is lacking, it seems 

probable that hunting and plant collecting also occurred.

Paleoclimatic data indicate that cool, dry conditions and 

long winters characterized the late Archaic (Gillispie 1985; 

Irwin‐Williams 1973; Schoenwetter and Dittert 1968). 

Significantly higher regional population densities also contributed to the adoption of a more sedentary lifestyle in which 

corn horticulture became increasingly important, even while 

the economy continued to be based on hunting and gathering.

By far the most intensive uses of the Jémez Mountains, 

judging from the findings of archaeological studies in the 

Redondo Creek Valley (Baker 1981; Baker and Winter 1981; 

Winter 1983:94) and along Public Service Company of New 

Mexico’s proposed Ojo Line Extension (OLE) powerline 

rights-of-way (Acklen 1993), occurred between about 600 

B.C. and A.D. 400. Still, these high-altitude sites represent 

hunting camps, as indicated by high frequencies of bifacially 

flaked obsidian knives and spear and dart points. In addition, 

the abundance of waste flakes indicating the manufacture of 

these tools suggests that the late Archaic hunters made knives 

and projectile points for export to other places in the region 

(Anschuetz et al. 1997:92; see also Glascock et al. 1999).

Jémez Cave in the nearby upper Río Jémez Valley offers 

additional insights. The abundant evidence of obsidian and 

wood tool manufacture at the cave’s margin contrasts markedly with the recovery of diverse plant remains, along with 

the evidence of plant processing, such as corn grinding, other 

food preparation, sandal making and textile production, in the 

grotto’s center. While the stone and wood tool manufacturing 

area likely represents the focus of men’s activities, the cave’s 

central zone probably saw use primarily by women (Ford 

1975:21). Based on his preliminary analysis of collections 

and the available excavation notes, Ford concludes, “Jemez 

Cave was seasonally occupied, probably in the spring and 

fall for the planting and harvesting of corn and pumpkins” 

(1975:21). Recovery of broad leaf yucca fruit fragments and 

seeds, acorns and piñon nuts, all of which ripen in the fall, 

supports Ford’s interpretations of the cave’s use during the fall 

(Anschuetz 1996).

Pueblo Occupation

(A.D. 600–1600)

Emergence of adaptations that are qualitatively more 

Pueblo Indian than Archaic in the northern Río Grande 

occurred at approximately A.D. 600 (Wendorf 1954; Wendorf 

and Reed 1955). This date marks the culmination of the 

sometimes gradual, sometimes punctuated, transition from a 
14 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

subsistence economy based on the gathering and hunting of a 

broad spectrum of plant and animal resources to one increasingly focused on agriculture (Anschuetz 1996; Anschuetz et 

al. 1997). Although a wide variety of native plants and animals 

continued to be critically important in Pueblo Indian economies, over time they were more limited to use as supplements 

to agricultural staples. As this shift occurred, group mobility 

was reduced further and residences increasingly were occupied 

on a semiannual, if not on a year-round, basis. The introduction of pottery and arrow points are diagnostic markers of the 

beginning of Pueblo adaptations.

Wendorf (1954) divides the Pueblo Indian cultural 

sequence during prehistory into three periods: Developmental, 

Coalition, and Classic (see also Wendorf and Reed 1955). He 

defines each period by notable shifts in architectural and/or 

pottery assemblages.

Archaeological evidence of the Pueblo occupation of the 

northern Jémez Mountains and their neighboring locales does 

not follow the regional trend of Pueblo adaptations, being 

characterized by a greater dependence on agriculture and 

pottery. The discovery of arrow points on aceramic sites in 

the Jémez Mountains and in neighboring parts of the northern 

Río Grande Valley show that Pueblo people made short-term 

forays into areas of higher elevation for hunting and, presumably, gathering (Bertram et al. 1989; Earls et al. 1989; Lord 

and Cella 1986; see also Schaafsma 1976). Even where early 

Pueblo period (ca. A.D. 800) pitstructures exist, such as the 

Abiquiú Reservoir area northeast of the VCNP, ceramics 

seldom occur in association (Anschuetz et al. 1997:94). Such 

observations indicate that Archaic-like hunting and gathering 

adaptations persisted later in north-central New Mexico than 

commonly recognized by archaeologists.

Developmental Period (A.D. 600–1200)

The early part of the Developmental period in the northern 

Río Grande dates between A.D. 600 and 900. Archaeological 

sites dating to the seventh century are rare throughout the 

region, and known properties tend to be small. Sites dating to 

the eighth and ninth centuries are more numerous, although 

they are mainly remnants of limited activity work sites and 

small settlements (Wendorf and Reed 1955).

Most known early Developmental period sites are in the 

Albuquerque and Santa Fe districts (Cordell 1979a), although 

a few notable archaeological properties are reported to the 

north and northwest of the present-day community of Santa 

Fe along the Río Tesuque and Río Nambe drainages (McNutt 

1969; Peckham 1984:276).

Excavation data indicate that early Developmental period 

residential sites may be characterized as small villages 

of shallow, circular pitstructures. Sites commonly feature 

between one and three dwellings, which generally appear to 

be more similar to structures used by contemporaneous San 

Juan populations than to those of Mogollon peoples of westcentral New Mexico. Rectangular surface storage rooms also 

are found commonly in association (Cordell 1979a; Stuart and 

Gauthier 1981).

Seventh-century Developmental period ceramics include 

Lino Gray, San Marcial Black-on-white, and a variety of 

plain brown and red-slipped wares. The eighth- and ninthcentury ceramic assemblage is essentially a continuation of 

its predecessor but includes the addition of neck-banded gray 

and brown wares (Kana-a Gray and Alma Neck-Banded, 

respectively) as well as Kiatuthlana Black-on-white, La Plata 

Black-on-red, and Abajo Black-on-orange (Wendorf and Reed 

1955:138). These wares indicate that the early Developmental 

populations maintained close cultural ties with groups living 

to the northwest and west. The presence of small amounts 

of redware and brownware pottery indicates that the people 

also traded with Mogollon populations living to the south and 

southeast (Cordell 1979a).

Early Developmental period peoples tended to locate their 

residential sites in lower elevations near intermittent tributaries of the Río Grande, presumably for access to water 

(Cordell 1979a). Their preference for higher-altitude settings 

close to gathering and hunting resources is also visible.

The appearance of Red Mesa Black-on-white, another 

ceramic ware that occurs throughout much of the western 

Pueblo Indian culture area during prehistory (Lang 1982; 

McNutt 1969; Mera 1935; Peckham 1984), marks the beginning of the late Developmental period (A.D. 900 to 1200). The 

continued close affiliation between the peoples of the northern 

Río Grande and the Four Corners regions is illustrated by the 

appearance of Kwahe’e Black-on-white in north-central New 

Mexico at approximately A.D. 1100 (Warren 1980). This ware 

is a locally manufactured copy of ceramics produced in the 

northern San Juan region (Gladwin 1945; Kidder and Shepard 

1936).

The late Developmental period is characterized further 

by a general change in regional settlement patterns and more 

localized changes in architecture and site size. The changes in 

settlement pattern include an increase in the number of residential sites in the Albuquerque, southern Santa Fe, and Taos 

districts (Frisbie 1967; Mera 1940; Oakes 1979; Wetherington 

1968; Wiseman 1980; Woosley 1986). Not only did the density 

of habitation increase, the range of environmental settings 

exploited by Developmental period Pueblo Indian populations also expanded. Nonetheless, archaeologists suggest 

that Pueblo populations dependent upon agricultural produce 

favored locations near permanent water sources in middle 

(6,000–7,000 feet [1,830–2,135 m]) elevation settings. This 

archaeological observation further suggests that settlement 

above 7,000 feet (2,135 m) was unlikely except under conditions of prolonged drought (Winter 1983:33).

Even though pitstructures persisted in the Albuquerque 

district through the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the 

transition from semi-subterranean, circular dwellings to 

aboveground, rectilinear pueblos occurred in the Santa Fe 

district (Wendorf and Reed 1955:140). This architectural shift 

was not complete, however. McNutt (1969) reports the presence of pithouses in the Red Mesa phase component of the 

Tesuque By-Pass site.

In locales where Pueblo Indian peoples began to build 

above ground, site size increased and habitation rooms were 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 15

paired with storage facilities. Whereas most pueblos averaged 

between 10 and 12 rooms, settlements with multiple housemounds and totaling more than 100 rooms occured in some 

locales (Wendorf and Reed 1955). Often, these villages have 

one to four pitstructures, which archaeologists have usually 

interpreted as kivas (ceremonial chambers that commonly are 

circular in plan and subterranean in construction).

In general, the upper Río Jémez Valley conforms to the 

archaeological observation elsewhere in the northern Río 

Grande that Developmental village sites display a riverine 

focus (Anschuetz 1996; Anschuetz et al. 1997). Several 

pithouse sites with Kwahe’e Black-on-white pottery are 

known in the lower reaches of Cañon de San Diego near the 

present-day communities of Walatowa (Pueblo of Jémez) and 

Cañon.

Meager available information indicates that Developmental 

period Pueblo use of the Jémez district was not necessarily 

parochial. Although only 1 site yielded arrow points diagnostic 

of this time period, 7 of 21 quarries and camps that archaeologists excavated along Redondo Creek for the Baca Geothermal 

project yielded obsidian hydration dates indicating that the 

sites were used between about A.D. 600 and 900 (Winter 

1983:94). Further use of this locale by Developmental period 

Pueblo people is not known until the latter part of the twelfth 

century. Archaeologists conducting studies along the proposed 

OLE powerline rights-of-way similarly found a small number 

of artifact scatters, which they interpreted as remnants of 

briefly occupied hunting and gathering work areas or camps 

(Acklen et al. 1991).

Joseph C. Winter has argued that there was a link between 

the regional Pueblo economy centered in Chaco Canyon and the 

quarrying, processing, and distribution of obsidian in Redondo 

Creek and the neighboring Jémez Mountains vicinity (Winter 

1981:181–182, 1983:106). He suggests further that Chaco 

Canyon and its outliers might have been important nodes in a 

formal system of trade and exchange involving the “redistribution, social stratification, craft specialization, information 

exchange, and use of obsidian as a valuable commodity” 

(Winter 1983:106). He then interprets the low-frequency 

use of Redondo Creek obsidian as evidence of its controlled 

distribution in the Chaco Canyon economy, and proposes that 

its acquisition was a privilege among a small number of highstatus persons. He reasons that if Jémez Mountains obsidian 

was a highly controlled commodity during this time, then 

hunting and gathering in the locality similarly were restricted 

(Winter 1981).

Archaeological evidence from the VCNP and its environs 

indicate that Pueblos quarried obsidian and made tools from 

this resource during the Developmental period (Acklen et al. 

1991; Winter 1981:183). Available information, however, 

does not support Winter’s interpretation that Chaco Canyon 

exercised exclusive control over Jémez Mountain resources. 

Redondo Creek obsidian artifact scatters, although sometimes extensive, do not fulfill the archaeological expectations 

of formal craft workshops where specialists quarried this 

resource and manufactured standardized tools for regional 

trade.

Coalition Period (A.D. 1200–1300)

The adoption of organic-based paints for decorating 

pottery throughout all but the extreme north and east 

portions of the northern Río Grande marks the beginning 

of the Coalition period (Wendorf 1954; Wendorf and Reed 

1955). The diagnostic ceramic type for the early Coalition 

period is Santa Fe Black-on-white (Breternitz 1966). This 

pottery type has design elements similar to Kwahe’e Blackon-white, the ware it replaced (Dickson 1979). The change 

in decorative pigment coincides with the shift in the Four 

Corners region from mineral-based paints used by populations living in Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde to the organic 

based paints of Pueblo populations living in western New 

Mexico and eastern Arizona (Wendorf and Reed 1955:143–

144). Many Coalition ceramics, most notably Santa Fe 

Black-on-white, technologically and stylistically resemble 

wares manufactured in the northern San Juan drainage and 

found in Chaco Canyon (e.g., see Douglass 1985; Lang 

1982:176; Mera 1935; Warren 1980:156). Wiyo Black-onwhite, a common ware at the end of the Coalition period, 

has less certain cultural affiliations with the Four Corners 

region. Researchers variously trace connections between 

these northern Río Grande wares and those of the northern 

San Juan, Chaco, and Pajarito Plateau districts (cf. Mera 

1935; Lang 1982; Wendorf and Reed 1955). Wingate Blackon-red and St. Johns Polychrome, both of which originated 

in the Upper Little Colorado drainage of east-central Arizona 

(Carlson 1970), occur as trade wares on early and middle 

Coalition sites in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque districts 

(Peckham 1981:131, 133).

A notable characteristic of the Coalition period is the 

diversity of many locally manufactured wares rather than the 

predominance of any single ceramic type (Cordell 1979a; 

Lang 1982; Stuart and Gauthier 1981). Habicht-Mauche 

(1995) notes that this ceramic diversity includes high variability in vessel form, size, design motifs, complexity of 

stylistic composition, and quality of artisanship.

The trend toward increasing heterogeneity is also 

represented in other classes of material culture, including architectural form and construction (Wendorf and Reed 1955). In 

the Santa Fe district, for example, large quadrangular pueblos 

were built mainly of adobe, although some rooms had stone 

slab floors. Pitstructures (kivas) often occur as aboveground 

features at the corners of roomblocks and commonly are oval 

or D-shaped. Circular pitstructures (kivas) also are known 

in the Santa Fe and Tesuque valleys (McNutt 1969; Stubbs 

and Stallings 1953). In contrast, early Coalition dwellings in 

a crescent-shaped area encompassing the Pajarito Plateau, 

Galisteo Basin, and Pecos locales are small linear structures 

constructed of stone masonry with slab floors (Wendorf and 

Reed 1955). By the end of the thirteenth century, village size 

increased markedly and stone masonry became more common 

in some local settings (e.g., the upper Río Pecos Valley) 

(Kidder 1958). Peckham (1984:279) reports that habitation 

sites on the Pajarito Plateau continue the Developmental 

architectural tradition of one or two aboveground rooms with 
16 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

kiva-like features and as many as a dozen contiguous storage 

rooms.

Despite increased diversity in material culture, three 

population and settlement trends distinguish the Coalition 

period throughout the region. The first is substantial population growth, as indicated by great increases in the number 

and size of habitation sites during the thirteenth century. 

Undoubtedly, this regional change in settlement pattern is a 

product of the massive immigration of Pueblo people from 

the central Colorado Plateau throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (Cordell 1979a; Hewett 1953; Mera 1940; 

Peckham 1984; Stuart and Gauthier 1981; Wendorf and Reed 

1955). The second, the concentration of population into larger 

settlements, implies that population growth led to changes in 

social organization (Cordell (1979b). The third is the expansion of year-round Pueblo settlement into areas of higher 

elevation. Pueblo groups settled narrow drainage systems in 

the upper piedmont of the Albuquerque and Santa Fe districts 

by the early A.D. 1300s. The appearance of multiroom pueblo 

villages also occurs in the Taos, Chama, Pajarito Plateau, and 

Galisteo Basin districts.

Lang (1977) observes that most village sites occur along 

small drainages with easy access to seeps, springs, and 

potentially good agricultural lands. Peckham (1984: 279) 

characterizes Coalition Pueblo populations as being highly 

mobile and apparently not “reluctant to experiment with new 

areas of settlement, expanding their development of some 

localities while abandoning others.” Archaeological evidence 

of intensified agricultural practices, including cobble-grids 

and terraces, checkdams, and reservoirs, accompanies these 

changes in population and settlement (Anschuetz 1998b).

Although there is scant direct evidence for the Pueblo use 

of the VCNP during the Coalition period, settlement in the 

upper Río Jémez Valley was substantial (Anschuetz 1996; 

Anschuetz et al. 1997:106–107). Ten significant villages 

first established during the Coalition period occur within 

an 8-mile (13-km) radius of the present-day community 

of Jémez Springs. These settlements include Patokwa (LA 

96), Pejunkwa (LA 130), Boletswakwa (LA136), Wabakwa 

(LA478), Totaskwinu (LA479), Setoqua (LA499), Nanishagi 

(LA541), and Wahajamka (LA573), which the people of Jémez 

Pueblo remember as some of their ancestral homes (Elliott 

1982; 1991b). A number of archaeological sites recorded in 

San Juan Canyon for the Pueblito Timber sale apparently have 

Coalition components (Elliott 1991b:18–19). Elliott reports 

further that other unrecorded sites, including fieldhouses, 

agricultural terraces, and a probable reservoir also occur in 

this locale. Habitation sites also cluster at Vallecitos near the 

present-day settlement of Ponderosa (Dodge 1982; Elliott 

1991b:19; Holmes 1905:200–201). This grouping consists 

of small to medium pueblos, 1- or 2-room fieldhouses, 50- 

to 100-room villages, and a reservoir (Elliott 1991b:19, 44). 

Pottery types include common Coalition period wares, such as 

Santa Fe Black-on-white and St. Johns Polychrome, as well 

as Vallecitos Black-on-white, which dates from the late thirteenth century into the fourteenth century.

Archaeological studies of the Pajarito Plateau district have 

also found significant evidence of Pueblo settlement on the 

east flanks of the Jémez Mountains during the Coalition period 

(see Anschuetz 1996; Anschuetz et al. 1997). In addition to 

numerous artifact scatters, which likely represent hunting 

camps and obsidian quarries, known residential sites include 

1 rockshelter, 3 cavate complexes, and 19 pueblos (Hill and 

Trierweiler 1986).

Given the proximity of these settlements, it seems unlikely 

that the scarcity of documented Coalition period occupation 

of the Valles Caldera relates to the sudden avoidance of this 

locality by Pueblo people. Instead, the relative lack of identified thirteenth-century sites is probably a product of the low 

archaeological visibility of their land use activities during this 

period of major population relocation and reorganization (see 

Anschuetz 1996; Anschuetz et al. 1997).

Citing patterns of site abandonment and population movement, Elliott (1991b:18–19) attributes the increased Pueblo 

settlement of the Jémez district to the arrival of immigrants 

from the central San Juan Basin (i.e., Chaco Canyon) and 

the northern San Juan drainage (i.e., the Four Corners area, 

including Mesa Verde). He observes that archaeologists 

working in the upper Jémez Valley long have speculated that 

certain aspects of Jémez area material culture are products of 

migrations from the nearby Gallina district northwest of the 

VCNP. Mera (1935:23) provides the first published reference 

to this supposed cultural-historical event when he uses ceramic 

traits to suggest that Gallina populations joined “Río Grande” 

Pueblo people already living in the locale. Reiter (1938:69; 

Reiter et al. 1940:8) compared Hibben’s (1938) Gallina phase 

excavation findings from the Gallina district with his study at 

the Classic period Jémez Pueblo of Unshagi. He considered 

the similarities between the bins, deflectors, vents, and firepits 

found in settlements in both areas as evidence supporting 

Mera’s (1935) migration interpretation.

Wendorf (1954:213) reserves judgment on the merits of 

Mera’s and Reiter’s arguments about the supposed Gallina 

migration into the upper Jémez Valley, given the lack of 

reported excavation data at the time of his study (see also 

Wendorf and Reed 1954). Barnett (1973) and Mackey (1982), 

however, subsequently conducted excavations in the San 

Ysidro and Vallecitos areas that addressed this gap. Mackey 

(1982:95) concludes that the resulting tree-ring, chronometric, 

ceramic, and architectural data represent “a good intermediate 

evolutionary stage between the Gallina and Jemez Phases.”

Elliott (1991b:19) maintains that ancestral Jémez (Towa) 

culture is not distinguishable archaeologically with certainty 

until about A.D. 1350. Nonetheless, Ford and others

(1972:25) maintain that Towa culture history in the upper 

Río Jémez Valley extends back in time to about A.D. 1 in 

the Navajo Reservoir area and that it is possible to trace their 

movement into the Jémez district during the thirteenth century. 

Many other investigators accept the archaeological interpretation that the people of Jémez Pueblo descended from Gallina 

populations (e.g., Cordell 1979b:143; Dick 1976; Stuart and 

Gauthier 1981:97). Elliott concedes that the supposed Gallina 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 17

to Jémez migration is plausible; however, he notes that the 

archaeological evidence needed to support this interpretation 

is circumstantial. He concludes, “The key point concerning the 

Gallina to Jémez migration hypothesis is that there are [other] 

substantial differences between the architecture, ceramics, and 

settlement patterns found in the two areas” (Elliott 1991b:20) 

that require explanation.

Classic Period (A.D. 1300–1600)

This time span encompasses the late pre-Columbian history 

of the region. Wendorf and Reed (1955:153) characterize the 

Classic period, which postdates the central Colorado Plateau 

abandonment by Pueblo agriculturalists, as a “time of general 

cultural florescence.” Northern Río Grande Pueblo populations reached their highest levels, even though the area of 

settlement continued to shrink. Construction of large villages 

with multiple plazas and roomblocks occurred, and elaboration of material culture reached its pinnacle. Habicht-Mauche 

(1988:75) describes the Classic period as a time of substantive 

changes in settlement patterning, subsistence structure, social 

organization, and economic integration.

The beginning of the northern Río Grande Classic period 

coincides with the appearance of locally manufactured 

red-slipped and glaze-decorated ceramics—the Glaze A 

wares—in the Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Galisteo, and Salinas 

districts after about A.D. 1315 (Mera 1935; Warren 1979, 

1980). Biscuitwares (Harlow 1973; Mera 1934), including 

Biscuit A (a.k.a. Abiquiu Black-on-gray, A.D. 1375–1425) 

and Biscuit B (a.k.a. Bandelier Black-on-gray, A.D. 1425–

1475), predominate in the lower Río Chama Valley and on 

the Pajarito Plateau. These ceramics, made of soft, thick, and 

porous volcanic pastes, show great continuity with the earlier 

Wiyo Black-on-white.

Shrinking of inhabited areas, aggregation of populations 

into fewer but larger villages, and increased residential instability greatly affected Classic period settlement patterns in the 

Albuquerque, Chama, Galisteo Basin, Jemez, Pajarito Plateau, 

Santa Fe, and Taos districts (Anschuetz 1984). With the abandonment of locales with average elevations in excess of 6,000 

feet (1,830 m) in favor of the better-watered broad valleys of 

the Río Grande and its major tributaries during the fifteenth 

century, the range of year-round settlement declined significantly. Some investigators argue that falling water tables and 

fluctuating climatic conditions across the region as a whole 

would have favored the intensification of settlement along 

middle sections of permanent watercourses where stream irrigation presumably was possible (Dickson 1979; Rose et al. 

1981; Stanislawski 1981).

Although agriculture clearly had become a focal part of the 

subsistence base several centuries earlier, the presence of a 

wide variety of faunal and native plant remains in the archaeological record indicates the continued importance of hunting 

and gathering in Pueblo economies (Lang 1995; Lang and 

Scheick 1989). Classic period populations continued to use 

the surrounding mountains, hills, and plains for raw materials, 

native plants, and game animals.

Identifiable Classic period archaeological remains in the 

VCNP and its vicinity are rare (Anschuetz et al. 1997:116; 

Winter 1983:94). This pattern almost certainly is a product 

of the low archaeological visibility of Classic period Pueblo 

hunting, plant gathering, and lithic resource collection and tool 

manufacture in this mountainous setting (Acklen 1993). This 

statement rests on the fact that the upper Río Jémez Valley 

experienced its greatest occupation during the Classic period 

(Anschuetz 1996:211).

Three-quarters of the more than 1,000 Río Jémez Valley 

Pueblo architectural settlements are 1- to 4-room fieldhouses. 

Small pueblos are common (ca. 10% of reported sites), and 31 

villages have between 50 and 600 rooms (Anschuetz 1996:218). 

Nine settlements (Pejunkwa [LA130], Boletswakwa [LA136], 

Kiatsukwa [LA132–LA133], Seshukwa [LA303, LA5927], 

Wabakwa [LA478], Amoxiumqua [LA481], Kwastiyukwa 

[LA482], Tovakwa [LA483–LA484], and Wahajhamka 

[LA573, LA5913–LA5914]), have between 650 and 1,850 

rooms, 2 or 3 story roomblocks, multiple plazas, and 1 great 

kiva (Elliott 1991b). Most fieldhouses occur on low rises on 

high mesas with elevations greater than 7,000 feet (2,134 m), 

with some reaching altitudes of 8,400 feet (2,561 m). The 

big villages occur at elevations between 5,560 and 8,000 feet 

(1,695 and 2,439 m) (Anschuetz 1996).

Fliedner (1975:371) describes small agricultural terraces 

as other Jémez district phenomena. His Hot Springs Pueblo 

site map shows terrace clusters covering broad expanses 

around the village (Fliedner 1975:Figure 3). Survey of a 

geophysical corridor immediately east of Jémez Pueblo identified two large, structurally complex, gridded agricultural 

terraces dating to the late Classic period (Whatley 1995). 

Fliedner reports identifying still other agricultural features 

in the upper Jémez Valley, including “stone rows in flat areas 

where rocks are arranged in a line, or small dams and heaps 

of gathered stones, [occur but] are much less important” 

(1975:372).

Lastly, traces of numerous old trails, which might be parts 

of a road system that centers on the large Jémez villages, are 

visible (Fliedner 1975:374–375, Figures 1 and 3). These ruts 

measure 1.6 feet (.5 m) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) deep and run 

parallel or oblique to physiographic contours. Some engraved 

trails cross bedrock slopes and cut hand-and-toe holds occur 

in rocky ravines (Fliedner 1975:375).

The Classic period Jémez district settlement pattern exhibits 

three essential characteristics (Elliott 1991b:21). First, population increased greatly from the mid-fourteenth century to 

the late sixteenth century. Second, habitation settlement locations shifted from permanent streams to higher elevations. 

Third, Pueblo populations consolidated into fewer but larger 

villages. Two secondary settlement shifts accompany these 

major changes (Elliott 1991b:21). Over time, more and more 

fieldhouses, whose substantial stone construction implies 

sustained use, were built at greater distances from the major 

villages. The geographic focus of the Jémez Valley population 

shifted from the Vallecitos and Paliza Canyon locales northwest to Jémez Canyon and the Virgin, Holiday, and Stable 

mesas closer to the Valles Grande.
18 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

No evidence of permanent Pueblo habitations exists in the 

VCNP (Kulisheck 2003). LA24553, which dates between 

A.D. 1325 and 1425, is a 50-room village a short distance 

south of the VCNP. Smeared indented corrugated pottery and 

sherds representing early varieties of Jemez Black-on-white 

occur in rockshelters in Sulfur Canyon, which is west of the 

Valles Caldera.

Although not a place of year-round occupation, the Valles 

Caldera was important to the Pueblos. Martin provides a 

brief but evocative summary of archaeological evidence and 

interpretations regarding the Pueblos’ use of the southwestern 

margin of the locality for farming:

On Banco Bonito, the site of the most recent volcanic flow in 

the range, the farmers built one-room field houses. Situated 

adjacent to the stands of corn and squash, the simple 

structures were built of rocks collected in the immediate 

area. The hard rhyolite was not suitable for shaping into 

building blocks, so the field houses are made of dry-stacked, 

irregularly shaped stones. Up to the summer of 2002, the 

remains of about 100 field houses had been discovered on 

Banco Bonito, indicating the importance of the lava flowderived soils to the farmers. Most of the field houses date 

from after 1350. (Martin 2003:13)

While acknowledging the importance of local exposure, 

physiography, climate, and cold air drainage in defining the 

limits to agricultural intensification along the valley bottoms, 

Elliott (1991b:45) cites the great fourteenth-century population 

increase in the Jémez district as the driving force behind the 

settlement changes observed archaeologically. Drawing from 

Ellis’s (1978:59) ethnohistorical study of Río Grande Pueblo 

land and water use, Elliott suggests further that during the 

Classic period Jémez populations adopted a land use strategy 

of moving out of the large pueblos to live in fieldhouses during 

the warm season. From their scattered farming settlements, 

the people presumably would make forays into more distant 

settings, including the heart of the Valles Caldera country, to 

hunt game, gather native plant materials, and collect obsidian, 

minerals, and other products. With the fall harvest, the people 

returned to their large villages for the winter (Elliott 1991b).

Postscript

As evidenced in the archaeological record, the Pueblos’ 

history of association with the Valles Caldera dates far back 

into the past. Today, many Río Grande Pueblo communities, 

including Jémez, Zía, Santa Ana, San Felipe, Cochití, Santo 

Domingo, Tesuque, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and San Juan, 

maintain associations with the area now contained within the 

VCNP. In addition, the Pueblo of Zuni of west-central New 

Mexico, the Hopi Tribe of northeastern Arizona, the Diné of 

the Navajo Nation of the greater Four Corners Region, the 

Jicarilla Apache Tribe of northwestern New Mexico, and the 

Ute peoples now living in Colorado all have associations 

with this same landscape that are variously important to their 

respective histories.

Many aspects of such traditional relationships, however, 

are rendered largely invisible both in the surviving traces 

that make up the archaeological record and the documentary accounts written by Hispanic and Anglo observers. Yet, 

scholarly accounts either written by individuals from these 

associated communities or compiled by anthropologists and 

others who worked closely with these communities offer 

insights into significant land use traditions and landscape relationships that often date to time immemorial.

In recognition of the existence of traditional community 

histories relevant to establishing a fuller dialogue about the 

land use history of the VCNP, chapter 9 reviews some of the 

available lines of this often overlooked evidence. This chapter 

also provides cultural frameworks for building understandings 

of key aspects of the communities’ continuing associations 

with the VCNP through which the people remember and 

celebrate the culture and history of their communities as an 

enduring, living process.2.1

2.1: See Endnote 1.1 for explanation of the “LA” number 

designation.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 19

References

Acklen, John C., ed.

1993 Archaeological Site Testing for the Ojo Line Extension 345 kV Transmission Project in the 

Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Technical Report 527-I. Prepared for the Public Service 

Company of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Albuquerque, NM: Mariah Associates.

Acklen, John C., Amy C. Earls, Sarah K. Huber, Gary M. Brown, and Douglas G. Campbell

Data Recovery Plan for the Ojo Line Extension Project. Albuquerque, NM: Mariah Associates. 

Unpublished MS.

Agogino, George A.

1968 Archaeological Excavations at Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1, New Mexico 1963–4. 

National Geographic Society Research Reports on 1963 Projects:1–7.

Alexander, Hubert G., and Paul Reiter

1935 Report on the Excavation of Jemez Cave, New Mexico. Monographs of the University of 

New Mexico and School of American Research 1(3). Albuquerque: University of New 

Mexico, and Santa Fe: School of American Research.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1984 Prehistoric Change in Tijeras Canyon, New Mexico. Master’s thesis. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico.

1996 Part 2: The Jemez Mountains Subdivision. In A Study of Pre-Columbian and Historic Uses 

of the Santa Fe National Forest: Competition and Alliance in the Northern Middle Río 

Grande, Vol. 1. The Archaeological and Historical Cultural Resources. Cherie L. Scheick, 

ed. Pp. 191–235. Southwest Archaeological Consultants Research Series 253. Santa Fe, NM: 

Southwest Archaeological Consultants.

1998b Not Waiting for the Rain: Integrated Systems of Water Management by Pre-Columbian 

Pueblo Farmers in North-Central New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of 

Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., John C. Acklen, and David V. Hill

1997 Prehistoric Overview. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 71–118. Albuquerque: 

Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Antevs, Ernst

1955 Geologic-Climatic Dating in the West. American Antiquity 20(4):317–335.

Baker, Craig

1981 Archaic Culture Phenomena. In High Altitude Adaptations along Redondo Creek: The Baca 

Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, eds. Pp. 163–172. 

Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

Baker, Craig, and Joseph C. Winter

1981 High Altitude Adaptation Along Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Archaeological 

Project. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

Barnett, Franklin

1973 San Ysidro Pueblos: Two Prehistoric Pueblo IV Indian Ruins in New Mexico. Albuquerque, 

NM: Albuquerque Archaeological Society.

Bertram, Jack B., Jeanne A. Schutt, Steven Kuhn, Amy C. Earls, W. Nicholas Trierweiler, Christopher 

Lintz, John C. Acklen, Charles M. Carrillo, and Janette Elyea

1989 Report of Surface Collection and Testing at 18 Sites near Abiquiu Reservoir, Northern New 

Mexico. Report prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District. Contract 

No. DACW47-86-D-0002, Delivery Order DM0002. Albuquerque, NM: Mariah Associates.

Breternitz, David A.

1966 An Appraisal of Tree-Ring Dated Pottery in the Southwest. Anthropological Papers of the 

University of Arizona 10. Tucson: University of Arizona.

Brolio, Frank

1971 An Investigation of Surface Collected Clovis, Folsom, and Midland Projectile Points from 

Blackwater Draw and Adjacent Localities. Master’s thesis. Eastern New Mexico University, 

Portales.
20 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Carlson, Roy L.

1970 White Mountain Redware: A Stylistic Tradition in the Prehistoric Pottery of East-Central 

Arizona. Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona 19. Tucson: University of 

Arizona.

Cleland, Charles E.

1966 The Pleistocene Animal Ecology and Ethnozoology of the Upper Great Lakes Region. 

Anthropology Papers 9. Ann Arbor, MI: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan.

Cordell, Linda S.

1979a A Cultural Resources Overview of the Middle Río Grande Valley, New Mexico. 

Albuquerque: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and Santa Fe, NM: Bureau of 

Land Management.

1979b Prehistory: Eastern Anasazi. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 131–151. Vol. 9 of 

Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

1984 Prehistory of the Southwest. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Dick, Herbert W.

1976 Archaeological Excavations in the Llaves Area, Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico, 

1972–1974. Pt. 1: Architecture. Archeological Report 13. Santa Fe, NM: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwestern Region.

Dickson, D. Bruce, Jr.

1979 Prehistoric Pueblo Settlement Patterns: The Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico Site Survey. Arroyo 

Hondo Archaeological Series 2. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.

Dodge, William A.

1982 Archaeological Investigations at Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico: The Monitoring of Indian 

Health Service Waterline Trenches. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University 

of New Mexico.

Douglass, Amy A.

1985 The Pottery of Rowe Ruin: A Stylistic Analysis of the Black-on-white Ceramics. Paper 

presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Denver, CO; 

May 1–4, 1985.

Earls, Amy C., Christopher R. Lintz, and W. Nicholas Trierweiler

1989 Analysis of Three Cobble Ring Sites at Abiquiu Reservoir, Río Arriba County, New Mexico. 

Albuquerque, NM: Mariah Associates.

Elliott, Michael L.

1982 Large Pueblo Sites near Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Cultural Resources Report 3. Santa Fe: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Southwestern Region, Santa Fe National 

Forest.

1991a The Jemez Falls Campground Project: Archaeological Investigations at Four Small Sites 

in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Prepared for the USDA National Forest Service, 

Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe. Archaeological Report 89-2. Albuquerque, NM: Jemez 

Mountains Research Center.

1991b Pueblo at the Hot Place: Archaeological Excavations at Giusewa Pueblo and San Jose de los 

Jemez Mission, Jemez State Monument, Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Prepared for Thomas 

Caperton, Director, New Mexico State Monuments, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe. 

Albuquerque, NM: Jemez Mountains Research Center.

Ellis, Florence H.

1978 Small Structures Used by Historic Pueblo Peoples and Their Immediate Predecessors. In

Limited Activity and Occupation Sites. Albert E. Ward, ed. Pp. 59–68. Contributions to 

Anthropological Studies 1. Albuquerque, NM: Center for Anthropological Studies.

Evaskovich, John A., Richard W. Coleman, Richard A. Anduze, E. Tianna Crollett, Robert Dello-Russo, 

John C. Acklen, Katherine J. Roxlau, Richard W. Lang, Meade F. Kemrer, Dorothy L. Larson, Rachel 

Loehman, and Douglas G. Campbell

1997a Cañones Mesa Geoarchaeological Unit. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 

199–462. Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Fliedner, Deitrich

1975 Pre-Spanish Pueblos in New Mexico. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 

65:363–377.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 21

Ford, Richard I.

1975 Re-Excavation of Jemez Cave. Awanyu 3(3):13–27.

1981 Gardening and Farming Before A.D. 1000: Patterns of Prehistoric Cultivation North of 

Mexico. Journal of Ethnobiology 1:6–27.

Ford, Richard I., Albert H. Schroeder, and Stewart L. Peckham

1972 Three Perspectives on Puebloan Prehistory. In New Perspectives on the Pueblos. Alfonso 

Ortiz, ed. Pp. 19–39. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Frisbie, Theodore R.

1967 The Excavation and Interpretation of the Artificial Leg Basket Maker III - Pueblo I Sites Near 

Corrales, New Mexico. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Department of Anthropology, University 

of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Gillespie, William B.

1985 Holocene Climate and Environment in Chaco Canyon. In Environment and Subsistence of 

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Frances Joan Mathien, ed. Pp. 13–37. Chaco Canyon Studies 

Publications in Anthropology 18E. USDI National Park Service, Southwest Region, Division 

of Cultural Research. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Gladwin, Harold S.

1945 The Chaco Branch Excavations at White Mound and in the Red Mesa Valley. Medallion 

Paper, 38. Globe, AZ: Gila Pueblo.

Glasock, Michael D., Raymond Kunselman, and Daniel Wolfman

1999 Intrasource Chemical Differentiation of Obsidian in the Jemez Mountains and Taos Plateau, 

New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 26:861–868.

Habicht-Mauche, Judith A.

1988 An Analysis of Southwestern‐Style Utility Ware Ceramics from the Southern Plains in the 

Context of Protohistoric Plains—Pueblo Interaction. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of 

Anthropology, Harvard University. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms.

1995 Changing Patterns of Pottery Manufacture and Trade in the Northern Río Grande. In Ceramic 

Production in the American Southwest. Barbara J. Mills and Patty L. Crown, eds. Pp. 

167–199. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Harlow, Francis H.

1973 Matte-Paint Pottery of the Tewa, Keres, and Zuni Pueblos. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico 

Press.

Hewett, Edgar L.

1953 Pajarito Plateau and Its Ancient People. Bertha P. Dutton, reviser. Albuquerque: School of 

American Research and University of New Mexico Press.

Hibben, Frank C.

1938 The Gallina Phase. American Antiquity 14:131–136.

Hill, James N., and W. Nicholas Trierweiler

1986 Prehistoric Responses to Food Stress on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico: Technical Report 

and Results of the Pajarito Archaeological Research Project, 1977–1985. Submitted to the 

National Science Foundation in partial fulfillment of Grant BNS-78-08118. Los Angeles: 

Pajarito Archaeological Research Project, Department of Anthropology, University of 

California at Los Angeles.

Holmes, W. H.

1905 Notes on the Antiquities of Jemez Valley, New Mexico. American Anthropologist 7:198–212.

Honea, Kenneth

1969 The Río Grande Complex and the Northern Plains. Plains Anthropologist 14:57–70.

Irwin-Williams, Cynthia

1973 The Oshara Tradition: Origins of Anasazi Culture. Eastern New Mexico University 

Contributions in Anthropology 5(1). Portales, NM: Eastern New Mexico University Press.

1979 Post‐Pleistocene Archeology, 7000–2000 B.C. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 31–42. 

Vol. 9 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.
22 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Irwin-Williams, Cynthia, and C. Vance Haynes

1970 Climatic Change and Early Population Dynamics in the Southwestern United States. 

Quaternary Research 

1:59–71.

Judge, W. James

1973 The Paleoindian Occupation of the Central Río Grande Valley, New Mexico. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

1982 The Paleo-Indian and Basketmaker Periods: An Overview and Some Research Problems. In

The San Juan Tomorrow: Planning for the Conservation of Cultural Resources in the San 

Juan Basin. Fred Plog and Walter Wait, eds. Pp. 5–57. Santa Fe, NM: U.S. Department of 

the Interior, National Park Service, Southwest Region, in cooperation with the School of 

American Research.

Kidder, Alfred V.

1958 Pecos, New Mexico: Archaeology Notes. Papers of the Robert S. Peabody Foundation for 

Archaeology Vol. 5. Andover, MA: Phillips Academy.

Kidder, Alfred V., and Anna O. Shepard

1936 Part 1: The Glaze-Paint, Culinary and Other Wares. In The Pottery of Pecos, Vol. 2. Pp. 

1–388. Phillips Academy, Papers of the Southwestern Expedition 7. Yale University Press, 

New Haven.

Kulishek, Jeremy

2003 Draft: VCNP—Banco Bonito Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project: Heritage Resources 

Clearance Report, Santa Fe National Forest, Sandoval County, New Mexico. Pecos, NM: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, Pecos/Las Vegas 

Resource Area. Unpublished MS.

Lang, Richard W.

1977 Archaeological Survey of the Upper San Cristobal Arroyo Drainage, Galisteo Basin, Santa Fe 

County, New Mexico. Contract Archaeology Program Report 37. Santa Fe, NM: School of 

American Research.

1982 Transformation in White Ware Pottery of the Northern Río Grande. In Southwestern 

Ceramics: A Comparative Review. Albert H. Schroeder, ed. Pp. 153–200. The Arizona 

Archaeologist 15. Phoenix: Arizona Archaeological Society.

1995 Investigations of Limited Activity Sites at Bishop’s Lodge in the Santa Fe Foothills. 

Southwest Archaeological Consultants Research Series 284. Santa Fe, NM: Southwest 

Archaeological Consultants.

Lang, Richard W., and Cherie L. Scheick, eds.

1989 Limited Excavations at LA2, the Agua Fria Schoolhouse Site, Agua Fria Village, Santa Fe 

County, New Mexico. Southwest Archaeological Consultants Research Series 216. Santa Fe, 

NM: Southwest Archaeological Consultants.

Lord, Kenneth, and Nancy S. Cella, eds.

1986 Final Draft: Archaeological and Historical Research at the Abiquiu Dam Reservoir, Río 

Arriba County, New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM: Chambers Consultants and Planners.

Mackey, James C.

1982 Vallcito Pueblo (a Fourteenth Century a.d., Ancestral Jeme Site), and LA12761 (a Late 

Prehistoric and Early Historic, Jemez Phase Farm House Site) in New Mexico. Journal of 

Intermountain Archeology 1:80–99.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

McNutt, Charles H.

1969 Early Puebloan Occupations at Tesuque By-Pass and in the Upper Río Grande Valley. 

Anthropological Papers 40. Ann Arbor, MI: Museum of Anthropology, University of 

Michigan.

Mera, H. P.

1934 A Survey of the Biscuit Ware Area in Northern New Mexico. Technical Series Bulletin 6. 

Santa Fe: Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico.

1935 Ceramic Clues to the Prehistory of North-Central New Mexico. Technical Series Bulletin 8. 

Santa Fe: Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 23

1940 Population Changes in the Glaze-Paint Area. New Mexico Archaeological Survey, Technical 

Series, Bulletin 9. Santa Fe: Laboratory of Anthropology, New Mexico Archaeological 

Survey.

Oakes, Yvonne R.

1979 Excavation at Deadman’s Curve, Tijeras Canyon, New Mexico: New Mexico State Highway 

Projects I-040-3 (55) 171 and I-040-3 (36) 169. Laboratory of Anthropology Note 137. Santa 

Fe: Museum of New Mexico.

Peckham, Stewart

1981 The Palisade Ruin. In Collected Papers in Honor of Erik Kellerman Reed. Albert H. 

Schroeder, ed. Pp. 113–147. Papers of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico 6. 

Albuquerque: Archaeological Society of New Mexico.

1984 The Anasazi Culture of the Northern Río Grande Rift. In New Mexico Geological Society 

Guidebook: Río Grande Rift: Northern New Mexico. W. Scott Baldridge, ed. Pp. 275–281. 

New Mexico Geological Society Thirty-fifth Annual Field Conference, October 11–13, 1984. 

Socorro, NM: New Mexico Geological Society.

Reher, Charles A., and D. C. Witter

1977 Archaic Settlement and Vegetative Diversity. In Settlement and Subsistence along the Lower 

Chaco River: The CGP Survey. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Reiter, Paul

1938 The Jemez Pueblo of Unshagi, New Mexico, with Notes on the Earlier Excavations at 

“Amoxiumqua” and Giusewa. 2 pts. Monographs of the School of American Research, Vol. 

5–6. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Reiter, Paul, William T. Mulloy, and E. H. Bluementhal

1940 Preliminary Report of the Jemez Excavation at Nanshagi, New Mexico. University of New 

Mexico Bulletin, Anthropological Series 3(3).

Renaud, Abel E. B.

1942 Reconnaissance Work in the Upper Río Grande Valley, Colorado and New Mexico. 

Archaeological Series 3. Denver, CO: Department of Anthropology, University of Denver, 

Denver.

Rose, Martin R., Jeffrey S. Dean, and William J. Robinson

1981 The Past Climate of Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, Reconstructed from Tree Rings. Arroyo 

Hondo Archaeological Series, 4. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.

Russell, G. S.

1981 Preliminary Results of the Redondo Valley Obsidian Study. In High Altitude Adaptations 

along Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craid Baker and 

Joseph C. Winter, eds. Pp. 363–370. Albuquerque, NM: Office of Contract Archeology.

Sayles, E. B., and E. Antevs

1941 The Cochise Culture. Medallion Papers, 34. Globe, AZ: Gila Pueblo.

Schaafsma, Curtis F.

1976 Archaeological Survey of Maximum Pool and Navajo Excavations at Abiquiu Reservoir, Río 

Arriba County, New Mexico. Report 11. Santa Fe, NM: Contract Archaeology Division, 

School of American Research.

Schoenwetter, James, and Alfred E. Dittert, Jr.

1968 An Ecological Interpretation of Anasazi Settlement Patterns. In Anthropological Archaeology 

in the Americas. Betty J. Meggers, ed. Pp. 41–66. Washington, DC: Anthropological Society 

of Washington.

Stanislawski, Michael B.

1981 The Pithouses of Pecos. Manuscript on file. Santa Fe, NM: Cultural Resources Center, 

Southwest Regional Office, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

Steen, Charles R.

Pajarito Plateau Archaeological Survey and Excavations. Report LASL-77-4. Los Alamos, NM: Los 

Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

1982 Pajarito Plateau Archaeological Survey and Excavations, II. Report LA-8860-NERP. Los 

Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.
24 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Steffen, Anastasia

2003 VCNP—2003 Amendment to the Interim Grazing Initiative. Cultural Resources Report: 

Valles Caldera National Preserve and Jemez Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest, 

Sandoval County, New Mexico. Santa Fe National Forest Report 2002-10-024D. Santa Fe, 

NM: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest.

Steffen, Anastasia, and Rita Moots Skinner

2002 VCNP—2002 Interim Grazing Initiative. Heritage Resource Clearance Report: Valles 

Caldera National Preserve and Jemez Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest, Sandoval 

County, New Mexico. Santa Fe National Forest Report 2002-10-024A. Santa Fe, NM: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest.

Stuart, David E., and Rory P. Gauthier

1981 Prehistoric New Mexico: Background for Survey. Santa Fe, NM: Historic Preservation 

Bureau.

Stubbs, Stanley A., and William S. Stallings, Jr.

1953 The Excavation of Pindi Pueblo, New Mexico. Monographs of the School for American 

Research, Vol. 18. Santa Fe, NM: School for American Research.

Warren, A. Helene

1979 Ceramic Studies in the Cochiti Reservoir, 1976–1977. In 1976–1977 Field Seasons, Jan V. 

Biella, ed. Pp. 27–39. Archeological Investigations in Cochiti Reservoir, New Mexico, Vol. 

3: Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

1980 Prehistoric Pottery of Tijeras Canyon. In Tijeras Canyon: Analyses of the Past, Linda S. 

Cordell, ed. Pp. 149–168. Albuquerque: Maxwell Museum and University of New Mexico 

Press.

Wendorf, Fred

1954 A Reconstruction of Northern Río Grande Prehistory. American Anthropologist 56: 200–227.

1970 The Lubbock Subpluvial. In Pleistocene and Recent Environment of the Central Plains. W. 

Dort, Jr., and J. K. Jones, Jr., eds. Pp. 23–35. Department of Geology, University of Kansas, 

Special Publication 3. Lawrence, KS: Regents Press of Kansas.

1975 The Modern Environment. In Late Pleistocene Environments of the Southern High Plains. 

Fred Wendorf and James J. Hester, eds. Pp. 1–12. Fort Burgwin Research Center Publication 

9. Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University.

Wendorf, Fred, and Erik K. Reed

1955 An Alternative Reconstruction of Northern Río Grande Prehistory. El Palacio 62:131–173.

Wetherington, R. K.

1968 Excavations at Pot Creek Pueblo. Fort Burgwin Research Center Report 6. Taos, NM: Fort 

Burgwin Research Center.

Whatley, William J.

1995 Seismic Line 1 Archaeological Site Narratives for Jemez Pueblo. In Cultural Resources 

Survey of Lines 1, 2 and 3 within the Vastar Resources, Inc., New Mexico 2D-Seismic 

Project Area, Near Zia Pueblo, Santa Ana Pueblo and Jemez Pueblo, Sandoval Count. By 

Kurt F. Anschuetz. Pp. 143–149. Southwest Archaeological Consultants Research Series 

358D. Santa Fe, NM: Southwest Archaeological Consultants.

Winter, Joseph C.

1981 Energy and Power along Redondo Creek: II—A Cultural Framework. In High Altitude 

Adaptations along Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig 

Baker and Joseph C. Winter, eds. Pp. 173–190. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, 

University of New Mexico.

1983 Jemez Obsidian Exchange: A View from Redondo Valley. In High-Altitude Adaptations in 

the Southwest. Joseph C. Winter, ed. Pp. 91–107. Cultural Resources Management Report 2. 

Albuquerque, NM: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region.

Wiseman, Regge N.

1980 The Carnue Project: Excavation at a Late Coalition Period in Tijeras Canyon, New Mexico. 

Laboratory of Anthropology Notes 166. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of New Mexico.

Woosley, Anne I.

1986 Puebloan Prehistory of the Northern Río Grande: Settlement, Population, Subsistence. Kiva 

51:143–164.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 25

Introduction

This chapter outlines the history and culture of the lands 

in the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) from the 

mid-sixteenth-century Spanish entradas (expeditions) into 

New Mexico to the present. The discussion draws from 

documentary sources listed in the accompanying annotated 

bibliography.

The Spanish Entradas (1540–1598)

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was the first Spanish 

explorer to reach the Río Grande. In the winter of 1540–1541, 

he made his headquarters at the Tiguex pueblo of Alcanfor 

or Coofor near present-day Bernalillo (Schroeder 1979:242), 

within sight of Redondo Peak. Coronado and his lieutenants 

explored north to Taos, west as far as the Grand Canyon, and 

east into the Kansas plains, but they did not find a reason to 

venture into the rugged Jémez Mountains.

In 1541 Captain Francisco Barrionuevo, leading a detachment of Coronado’s main expeditionary force, traveled north 

from Tiguex to the Jémez pueblos. Pedro de Castañeda 

(1907:339–340, 352, 359), chronicler of this expedition, 

recorded seven pueblos in the drainage of Vallecitos Creek and 

three villages near the aguas calientes on the Jémez River.

Forty years later, in 1581, fray Augustín Rodríguez and 

Captain Francisco Chamuscado led an expedition up the 

Río Grande to the Southern Tiwa and Keres pueblos. They 

visited several of the Jémez pueblos and left two Franciscan 

missionaries at the Southern Tiwa pueblo of Puaray (Bolton 

1930:139, 147).

An expedition led by Antonio de Espejo returned to the 

region in 1582 to search for the two missionaries left by 

Rodríguez and Chamuscado. Espejo learned that the Tiwa 

of Puaray had killed the priests. Espejo visited the Jémez 

pueblos as well as Ácoma, Zuni, and the Hopi villages 

(Bolton 1930:163–166, 182). Just as Coronado, Barrionuevo, 

and Rodríguez and Chamuscado, Espejo did not explore the 

Jémez Mountains.

In 1598 Juan de Oñate, son of one of the original silver 

magnates of Zacatecas, Mexico, and a professional miner, was 

awarded a contract to colonize New Mexico. Oñate established 

the first permanent Spanish colony and capital in New Mexico 

at the Tewa Pueblo of Yunge Oweenge (which he renamed 

San Gabriel) west of the confluence of the Río Grande and 

the Río Chama. As a mining expert, Oñate also noted mineral 

indications in his visits to various regions of New Mexico. 

He visited eight of the Jémez pueblos, including Giusewa at 

the Jémez hot springs. He noted other springs and deposits of 

“sulfur and rock alum” in this general area (Reiter 1938:27).

According to historian Lansing B. Bloom, Oñate passed 

through the Valles Caldera on his way from San Juan Pueblo 

to Giusewa and the other Jémez villages:

He “descended” thro [sic] the Valles to the Pueblos in the 

Vallecito drainage then working to the west over the high mesa 

land he “descended” from the potrero to the “last pueblo” 

of the province which he associates with the marvelous hot 

springs. Giusewa is the Pueblo meant beyond any reasonable 

doubt, and the trail from the Vallecito down into Hot Springs 

is still in daily use (Bloom1946 [1922]:123).

Early Spanish Colonial Settlement 

(1598–1680)

The establishment of missions was an important part of 

Oñate’s colonization project. Franciscan friars began to set 

up missions in the pueblos in the early 1600s. Father Alonso 

de Lugo established a church, probably at Giusewa, about 

1600 (Reiter 1938:28). The second resident missionary at 

the Jémez pueblos was fray Gerónimo Zárate de Salmerón, 

who served there from about 1618 or 1620 to 1626. Zárate 

de Salmerón was also a prospector. He stated that he filed on 

numerous mineral locations in the Jémez Mountains in the 

name of the King of Spain (Ayer 1916:217). He might have 

been the first European to take note of the mineral wealth in 

what became known as the Cochití Mining District south of 

the Baca Location No. 1 (Baca Location).

The period between 1598 and 1680 in Spanish colonial 

New Mexico was one of brutal exploitation of the Pueblos 

by the new Hispanic overlords. This time also was one of 

fierce competition between the Franciscans, who had their 

own settlements (the missions) and their own governing hierarchy, and the governor and his secular officials (Dozier 

1970:52–55). This competition was mainly over control and 

Chapter 3.

A Sketch of the Cultural-Historical Environment—Part 2: 

Spanish Entradas to the Present

Thomas Merlan
26 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

exploitation of the Indians. The Pueblos were decimated by 

new diseases to which they had no immunity, and driven to 

the brink of extinction by Hispanic masters who exacted their 

labor.

The Pueblo Revolt, the Reconquest, 

and Spanish Colonial Rule 

(1680–1821)

In 1680 the Pueblos revolted and drove the Spanish colonists out of New Mexico. The exiles camped near the mission 

of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe near present-day El Paso, 

Texas. They stayed there 12 years, until a new governor, 

Diego de Vargas, led a military expedition into the northern 

Río Grande in 1692 to begin the reconquest of New Mexico. 

Vargas obtained the peaceful submission of 23 pueblos, but 

when he returned with a stronger force in 1693, the Pueblos 

took up arms. Vargas besieged the former capital of Santa Fe 

and recaptured it in early 1694 (Dozier 1970:61). He then 

proceeded to subdue the Pueblos along the Río Grande. The 

Jémez people vacated their villages, and many fled into the 

Navajo country. They did not reestablish a town until about 

1703. A census at the time recorded some 300 Jémez inhabitants—as little as 1 percent of the aboriginal Jémez population 

of 100 years earlier (see Schroeder 1979).

To promote the resettlement of the province of New 

Mexico, the Spanish colonial government granted lands to 

colonists. The Pueblos were understood to have certain lands, 

or “leagues,” reserved for their exclusive use. Yet most of the 

Pueblo leagues were not formalized in writing until the late 

nineteenth century. Nonetheless, the idea of the Pueblo league 

was used by the Spanish colonial authorities to protect Indian 

lands against the growing Hispanic population and encroachment on the Indian lands by the land grants to the colonists.

The Cañada de Cochití Grant (1728) was between Cochití 

Pueblo and what became the Baca Location; by 1782 this 

grant had an Hispanic population of 184 residents. A grant 

that included the Rito de los Frijoles was made before 1740 

but was abandoned because of nomadic Indian raids.

Governor Pedro Fermín de Mendinueta made the Ojo de 

San José Grant on Vallecitos Creek in 1768. Eleven families 

were living on this grant by 1776. During the 1700s settlers 

also began moving into San Diego Canyon north of Jémez 

Pueblo. Governor Fernando Chacón made the Cañon de San 

Diego Grant in 1798, which extended north from the Jémez 

Pueblo lands to the area of modern La Cueva and Fenton 

Lake. The first European settlement on the grant was probably 

Cañon, at the confluence of the Jémez and Guadalupe rivers. 

By 1821 the Hispanic population of the Jémez Valley was 864 

(Scurlock 1981:135).

By about 1790/1800—because of the growing population, a period of peaceful relations with some Apaches and 

other nomads, and the reforms and development promoted 

by the ministers of King Charles III (the so-called “Carlist 

Reforms”)—some economic diversification appeared among 

the Hispanic population. For nearly a century, almost all 

settlers had been farmers. Some artisans and skilled craftsmen 

now began to set up shops, and farmers began to switch to 

herding cattle and sheep. Around this time, Hispanics began 

to use the lush grazing lands that became the Baca Location 

(Scurlock 1981:134–135).

Although the documentary record is incomplete, the 

pastoral use of the Valles Caldera might have begun as much 

as a generation earlier. The Miera y Pacheco Map of 1779 

makes clear that some New Mexicans knew of the Valles 

by the third quarter of the eighteenth century. Cartographer 

Bernardo Miera y Pacheco (1779) drew the map at the 

request of Governor Juan Bautista de Anza and labeled the 

Valles Caldera the Valle de los Bacas (Valley of the Cows 

[chapter 6]). The map is not to scale; the caldera is drawn 

many times its actual size. This distortion probably indicates the obvious: while travelers and herders had admired its 

majesty, no one had yet measured it.

The Mexican Period (1821–1846)

Anglo-American and French Canadians trappers and 

traders, arriving in New Mexico as early as 1805, encountered a closed system. Spain limited and often prohibited 

trade among its colonies, and between its colonies and other 

nations. Trappers and traders were sometimes arrested and 

their goods confiscated (Bancroft 1889:277–303). After 

Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, the United 

States quickly became New Mexico’s trading partner and 

the main source of cash for the departmental government. 

A strong American Party, with the declared object of eventual annexation to the United States, grew up in New Mexico. 

Nevertheless, foreigners were prohibited by law from trapping fur-bearing animals, and many disputes arose between 

Mexican officials and Americans over fees and customs duties. 

Luis María Cabeza de Baca, the original grantee of the Baca 

Grant, died in 1827 after being shot by a soldier attempting 

to confiscate13 packs of illegally harvested furs, which Baca 

had hidden in his house for American trapper Ewing Young 

(Cleland 1950:219).

During Spanish colonial times (up to the 1810s), the land 

grants owned by individual proprietors, or ricos (individuals 

with much land and livestock), were used mainly to raise 

sheep, especially in outlying areas where nomadic Indian 

raids made it too dangerous to establish permanent communities. Sheep were a measure of wealth and moved across the 

internal borders of the Spanish colony with fewer restrictions 

than those placed on most other goods. U.S. Army Lieutenant 

Zebulon Pike, taken into custody in 1807 for entering New 

Mexico illegally, reported seeing large herds of sheep as he 

was escorted down the Río Grande to Chihuahua, which was 

a major market for New Mexico sheep. After Mexico gained 

independence from Spain, relaxed trade restrictions with the 

United States meant new markets for wool and sheep. U.S. 

Army Lieutenant James Abert, reporting from New Mexico in 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 27

1846, noted that some large proprietors owned tens of thousands of head (Wentworth 1948:112, 114).

The Mexican government allowed Anglo-Americans to 

become citizens and to acquire land. As the demand for land 

increased, the government made large grants of three kinds: (1) 

to individuals or groups of families who proposed to develop 

a new community; (2) to farmers and ranchers for the development of agricultural enterprises; and (3) to the Pueblos, 

implicit awards of title to the “leagues” which they had occupied either from time immemorial or since the Reconquest. 

Some grants were also made to naturalized Anglo-Americans, 

with a view to placing the land under private ownership as 

a barrier to U.S. expansion. The U.S. Court of Private Land 

Claims subsequently confirmed 30 land grants of this period.

Two land grants of the Mexican Period, the Luis María 

Cabeza de Baca Grant (1821) and the Town of Las Vegas 

Grant (1835), embraced the same lands on the Gallinas River. 

To settle this conflict, the Baca heirs eventually relinquished 

their claim in exchange for U.S. Congressional authorization 

(1860) to select an equal amount of land in five square blocks 

elsewhere in the Territory of New Mexico. The first block 

they chose was the Baca Location. They did not receive title, 

however, until 1876, when the New Mexico Surveyor General 

completed the survey of the Baca Location.

The U.S. Territorial Period 

(1846–1912)

In August 1846 U.S. troops marching from Fort 

Leavenworth invaded New Mexico. That the New Mexican 

government offered no resistance undoubtedly was due in part 

to its economic and social ties to the United States. The U.S. 

then occupied Arizona and California. Two years later the 

Mexican War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty 

of Guadalupe Hidalgo. When New Mexico became a territory of the United States in 1850, Santa Fe continued to be 

the capital. The occupying U.S. Army first quartered troops in 

private houses, but soon began to build Fort Marcy.

Raiding by various Native American nomadic groups, 

including the Navajo, Apache, and Ute, was among the challenges the new U.S. administration faced. The Valles Caldera 

played a role in several notable episodes.

In 1851, after persistent drought conditions and overgrazing had depleted rangelands at lower elevations closer to 

Santa Fe, a civilian company headed by Robert Nesbit and 

Hiram R. Parker won a contract from the quartermaster at Fort 

Marcy to cut hay in the Valle Grande for the Army’s horses 

and mules. Nesbit and Parker established a hay camp, still 

remembered as “Old Fort,” on the East Fork of the Río Jémez 

(McNitt 1972:184). In the early hours of the morning of July 

2, a band of about 35 to 40 Navajo warriors attacked Nesbit 

and Parker’s camp, slightly wounded one of the sentries, 

and kept the rest of the hay men holed up in their log bunkhouse, massively constructed but poorly sited for defense. 

The attackers decamped two hours later with 6 of Nesbit and 

Parker’s horses and 43 of their mules, only to be ambushed by 

11 Jémez Pueblo herders who happened to be running cattle 

nearby and had heard the commotion. The Jémez herders 

killed two of the raiders and recaptured five mules (McNitt 

1972:185; see also chapter 5 for further discussion of the hay 

camp raid and its aftermath).

The Navajo continued to plague the Jémez Mountains and 

the region over the next three decades. In 1853 raiders killed 

two Hispanic shepherds at Vallecitos in the upper watershed 

of the Río del Oso, a short distance northeast of the VCNP 

(McNitt 1972:256). Three years later Navajos attacked near 

Peña Blanca on the Río Grande between the Pueblos of Cochiti 

and Santo Domingo. They killed 2 shepherds and stole 400 

sheep belonging to José Ignacio Montoya (McNitt 1972:277). 

New Mexican militiamen tracked the raiders into the Valle 

Grande. The militiamen attacked four Navajo herdsmen who 

were tending the stolen animals, killing two and recovering 

Montoya’s flock (McNitt 1972:277; Scurlock 1981:137).

Sited on a gentle hill with ready access to water, Nesbit 

and Parker’s original hay camp “was apparently later the site 

of Camp Valles Grandes, established by the U.S. Army as a 

deterrent to Navajo and Apache movement through the area 

during the final Navajo Wars of 1863” (Scurlock 1981:137; 

see Whitney v. Otero 1893, Exhibit No. 2, in which Walter 

Marmon indicates the location of the “Old Fort” in a map). 

Lieutenant Erastus W. Wood, 5 non-commissioned officers, 

and 31 privates from Company A, 1st Infantry, California 

Volunteers, manned this encampment under orders from 

General James A. Carleton. From this location, they were

. . . to lie in wait for thirty days to kill every Navajo or 

Apache Indian who attempts to go through that noted 

thoroughfare. No women and children will be harmed; these 

will be captured. [General James A. Carleton, in Keleher 

1982:314].

Although maps dating between 1876 and the 1930s show 

Old Fort’s location, by the late 1950s all traces of the place 

had been destroyed, according to John Davenport who served 

as the Baca Location ranch manager during the 1920s. Recent 

efforts to relocate this site have been unsuccessful (Martin 

2003:21–22).

On September 27, 1863, 5 weeks after General Carleton’s 

orders to the Company A, 1st Infantry, California Volunteers 

to set up a month-long post in the Valles Caldera, Lieutenant 

P. A. J. Russell led four mounted men and a group of Pueblo 

warriors from the Valle Grande. They rode in pursuit of a band 

of Navajo raiders who had stolen livestock from nearby Río 

Grande Pueblo villages. This contingent surprised the raiders 

at Jémez Springs, killing 8 men, capturing 20 women and 

children, and recovering 125 sheep and 2 horses (Keleher 

1982:314).

Jémez Pueblo preserves the memory of another battle with 

Navajo raiders in the Valles Caldera. A group of young men, 

including Cristóbal Sando, were tending the Pueblo’s horse 

herd when they spied some Navajos camped on the southeast 

side of the Valle Grande. As retold by Joe S. Sando, Jémez 

Pueblo historian and Cristóbal Sando’s grandson, Cristóbal 
28 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

stealthily approached the raiders and fired a lethal arrow at the 

Navajo leader, starting the Jémez’ surprise attack. The Pueblo 

herdsmen then chased the other raiders toward the west with a 

sustained volley of arrows, which they meant more as a scare 

tactic than an actual effort to kill the fleeing Navajos (Sando 

1982).

The development of large single-owner herds of sheep, 

increased military protection, and the often brutal subjugation 

of the Navajos and other nomadic Indians during the 1860s 

and 1870s, caused expansion into previously little-known 

areas adjacent to the Río Grande Valley. There were two homesteads near the Baca Location by about 1883 (USDA Forest 

Service 1883–1913). Maríano Sabine Otero and his uncle, 

Miguel Antonio Otero, planned to develop Jémez Springs 

as a commercial resort (with the backing of officials of the 

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad). They built a hotel 

and new bathhouses in 1882. Prospectors discovered gold and 

silver about 5 miles (8 km) south of the Baca Location in 1889. 

Major mines and the boomtowns of Albemarle, Allerton, and 

Bland followed circa 1894. The demand for lumber led to the 

establishment of several sawmills (Scurlock 1981:138).

Maríano Otero bought the Baca Location in 1899 for the 

Valles Land Company. He appears to have made this purchase 

in an insider deal made possible by a partition suit (Whitney 

v. Otero 1893; see also chapter 4). Maríano shared ownership 

of the Valles Land Company with his son, Frederico J. (F. J.). 

F. J. then became president of the Valles Land Company and 

used the Baca Location as summer range. In 1905 the Federal 

government created the Jémez Forest Preserve, known today 

as part of the Santa Fe National Forest, which surrounds the 

land grant.

In 1909 F. J. Otero sold the Baca Location to Redondo 

Development Company (with headquarters in Pennsylvania). 

He continued to lease the Location for grazing sheep up to 

1917.

Early Statehood to World War II 

(1912–1945)

In 1917, Frank Bond, one of New Mexico’s most important general merchants in the late Territorial and early 

statehood periods, acquired, along with his brother, the 

summer grazing rights for the Baca Location. By the end 

of the following year, he entered into a purchase contract 

for the tract (Scurlock 1981:144, 147; see also chapter 4). 

Despite suffering major losses on the Baca Location during 

the severe winter of 1918–1919, Bond continued to develop 

his operations there. He finalized his purchase of the land 

grant in 1926. The Redondo Development Company retained 

its timber rights for the next 99 years (Deed, April 8, 1926, 

Redondo Development Company to George W. Bond and 

Frank Bond, in Abstract of Title of Timber Interest in and to 

the Baca Location No. 1, Baca Land and Cattle Company 

v. New Mexico Timber, Inc. [Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 

1967]). Thus, this sale agreement was the basis for largescale timbering in the Valles. The logging would continue 

until James Patrick Dunigan, the major shareholder in the 

companies that bought the Baca Location in 1963, went to 

court to restrain logging.

Guy H. Porter and his son, Frank H. Porter, formed the 

White Pine Lumber Company in 1922. In 1924 they began 

to ship timber from the Cañon de San Diego Grant by rail 

to Bernalillo. This meant the condemnation of a right-of-way 

across Jémez Pueblo, authorized by the (Federal) Pueblo 

Lands Condemnation Act of 1926, subsequently reenacted in 

1928. The White Pine Lumber Company cut about 100 million 

board feet of lumber between 1924 and 1931 (chapter 7).

T. P. Gallagher, Jr., President of the New Mexico Lumber 

and Timber Company (later New Mexico Timber, Inc.), 

bought the White Pine Lumber Company after it stopped operations in 1931 because of falling lumber prices, and resumed 

logging on the upper Cañon de San Diego Grant. Redondo 

Development Company sold the logging rights on the Baca 

Location to the Firesteel Lumber Company in 1935. Under an 

agreement with Firesteel, New Mexico Lumber and Timber 

Company began logging in the vicinity of Redondo Creek and 

built a logging camp (Redondo Camp) consisting of cabins, 

sheds, stables, a mess hall, and a school for the loggers and 

their families in Redondo Meadows. This rush of activity led 

the Civilian Conservation Corps to build a road from Los 

Alamos to Cuba through Valle Grande in 1935 (Boyd 1938; 

see also chapters 4 and 7). This road continues to be the main 

access to the Valle Grande.

New Mexico Timber, Inc., received the rights to the 

Baca Location’s timber in 1939 (Deed, December 31, 1939, 

Redondo Development Company to New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., in Abstract of Title of Timber Interest in and to the Baca 

Location No. 1, Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967; see also 

chapter 7). Redondo Camp was abandoned this same year, and 

most of the Valles’ logging was moved to the northwest part of 

the Baca Location. Logging continued into the war years and 

included cutting on Redondo Peak, at El Cajete, and along the 

Jaramillo drainage.

Post-World War II to Present 

(1945–2003)

Because of the decline in wool prices during 1939 and 

1940, Frank Bond added cattle to his operation. After his death 

in 1945, the Bond family leased the Baca Location to various 

cattle ranchers. In 1963 James Patrick Dunigan, owner of 

Dunigan Tool and Supply Company of Abilene, Texas, bought 

the Baca Location to run cattle. In 1964 Dunigan sued New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., in federal district court to obtain recognition of his successor interest in the 99-year timber lease. 

He appealed his case to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in 

1967, and won some rather minor restraints on logging (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc 1967; see also chapter 7). Dunigan 

eventually bought back the timber rights in 1971 and temporarily ended logging on the Baca Location. He also drilled 

an experimental geothermal steam well in 1963 (following 

up the discovery of geothermal capacity in 1960). In the 

1970s Westates Petroleum Company, Baca Land and Cattle 

Company, and Union Oil Company drilled wells within the 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 29

caldera that produced steam and hot water. Dunigan also made 

commercial elk hunts a part of his operation.

In 1976 the National Park Service bought 3,076 acres 

(1,244 ha) of the southeast corner of the grant as an addition 

to Bandelier National Monument. The National Park Service, 

the Forest Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service began 

studies in 1979 with a view to acquiring the Baca Location 

for the public.

References

Ayer, Mrs. Edward E., trans.

1916 The Memorial of Fray Alonso de Benavides. Chicago, IL: Privately printed.

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe

1889 Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. 17. History of Arizona and New Mexico 1530–1888. 

San Francisco, CA: The History Company.

Bloom, Lansing B.

1946 [1922] The West Jemez Culture Area. New Mexico Historical Review 21:120–126. Originally 

published in El Palacio 12:19–25.

Bolton, Herbert Eugene

1930 Spanish Exploration in the Southwest 1542–1706. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Boyd, Dick

1938 Jemez High Country. New Mexico Magazine 16 (9):14–15, 35–39.

Castañeda, Pedro de

1907 Narrative of the Expedition of Coronado. In Spanish Explorers in the Southwestern United 

States 1528–1543. Frederick W. Hodge, ed. Pp. 273–387. New York: Charles Scribner’s 

Sons.

Cleland, Robert Glass

1950 This Reckless Breed of Men: The Trappers and Fur Traders of the Southwest. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Dozier, Edward P.

1970 Pueblo Indians of North America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Keleher, William A.

1982 [1952] Turmoil in New Mexico, 1846–1868. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

McNitt, Frank

1972 Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals. Albuquerque: University of 

New Mexico Press.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

Miera y Pacheco, Bernardo

1779 Plano de la Provincia Interna de Nuebo Mexico que hizo por mandado de el Tnte. Coronel de 

Caballeria, Gobernador y Comte. General de dha Prov.a Don Juan Bap.ta de Ansa. On file:

Santa Fe: Map Room, Angélico Chávez History Library, Palace of the Governors, Museum 

of New Mexico.

The Federal Government and the Dunigan companies 

signed a purchase contract for the Baca Location on October 

27, 1999, and the acquisition was carried out in 2000 (Martin 

2003). The Valles Caldera Trust, a Federally chartered oversight board appointed by the President, assumed responsibility 

for the operation and development of the property for public 

purposes.
30 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Reiter, Paul

1938 The Jemez Pueblo of Unshagi, New Mexico. University of New Mexico Bulletin 4(1). 

Monograph of the University of New Mexico and School of American Research. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Sando, Joe S.

1982 Nee Hemish: A History of Jemez Pueblo. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Schroeder, Albert H.

1979 Pueblos Abandoned in Historic Times. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 236–254. Vol. 

9 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.

Scurlock, Dan

1981 Euro-American History of the Study Area. In High Altitude Adaptations along Redondo 

Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, 

eds. Pp. 131–160. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region

1883–1913 Forest Homestead Records. Albuquerque, NM: Land Status Office, Southwest Region.

Wentworth, Edward Norris

1948 America’s Sheep Trails. Ames: Iowa State College.

Whitney v. Otero

1893 Joel Parker Whitney v. Mariano S. Otero et al. Civil Case No. 3632. Records of the U.S. 

Territorial and New Mexico District Courts for Bernalillo County. Accession No. 1959–124. 

Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 31

Introduction

The Baca Location No. 1 (Baca Location) is unique among 

New Mexico land grants in having two histories that begin in 

separate locations. It is the only grant whose patent does not 

cover any part of the lands originally granted. It is the only 

grant whose patented lands are in three different states.

The lands that became the Baca Location by Congressional 

authorization in 1860 lie almost entirely within the Valles 

Caldera of north-central New Mexico. The original grant was 

in another location altogether, centering on what became the 

town of Old Las Vegas in eastern New Mexico.

The lands that became the Baca Location were a frontier 

long before they were granted to the Baca heirs. The Valles 

Caldera is only a short distance east of the Navajo country (see 

also chapter 9). The Valles are within easy striking distance 

by nomadic raiders who preyed first on the Pueblos, then on 

the Hispanics, and then on the Anglo-Americans who lived 

near or used the Valles Caldera. Bishop Crespo, describing his 

visitation of New Mexico in 1730, notes that Jémez is “five 

leagues from the Navahos” (Adams 1954:98).

Of interest to the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) 

is Frank McNitt’s (1972) account of Governor José Antonio 

Vizcarra’s 1823 punitive expedition against Navajo raiders 

who warred on the Mexican colony. At the end of Vizcarra’s 

expedition, he passed through the Valle Grande on his return 

to Santa Fe from the Four Corners region:

On August 24, after negotiating the pass through the 

Chuska Mountains and reaching the valley below, Vizcarra 

discharged two regiments of militia to make their separate 

ways home to Río Arriba and Río Abajo. With the balance 

of the command he proceeded directly eastward for fifteen 

leagues until meeting the Chaco Wash at Fajada Butte. For 

the next two days he followed his outward route, resting 

briefly at Pueblo Pintado before continuing past the Chacra 

Mesa and down Torreon Wash. Below the present town of 

Cuba the command turned east on a trail leading across 

the Jemez Mountains by way of the Valle Grande. At sunset 

on August 31, after an absence of seventy-four days, the 

troops arrived in Santa Fe. The expedition was over (McNitt 

1972:65).

Vizcarra’s action did not resolve the trouble with Navajo 

raiders. For example, between 1826 and 1829, during 

Governor Antonio Narbona’s administration:

Navajos raided along the Río Grande, striking repeatedly 

at Jemez but ranging from Abiquiu and the Valle Grande 

southward to Belen. Thousands of sheep and other livestock 

were run off; some of the pastors [shepherders] were carried 

away as slaves and others were killed. A token force of fifteen 

soldiers was sent in March 1829 to patrol the frontier at 

Jemez (McNitt 1972:70).

This proximity to Navajo country became apparent to 

contractors Robert Nesbit and Hiram Parker when Navajo 

raiders struck their camp in the Valle Grande in the summer of 

1851 (Church n.d.; see also McNitt 1972:184–185; see also 

chapters 3 and 5).

The documentary history of the Baca Location, therefore, begins at the end of New Mexico’s Spanish colonial 

era and the opening of the Mexican Period. In this brief span 

of 25 years (1821–1846) during which New Mexico was part 

of the Mexican nation, the Mexican authorities made large 

land grants in northern and eastern New Mexico to place the 

land under private ownership as a buffer against the expansionist United States. Instead, after the U.S. occupation of 

the colony of New Mexico in 1846 and the formation of the 

New Mexico Territory in 1850, the grants became an important part of the economic development of the Territory and 

subsequently the State of New Mexico. The grant lands and 

the agricultural and extractive enterprises on them gradually became part of a regional, then a national economic 

network.

This chapter is a detailed examination of the documentary 

history of the Baca Location. The discussion derives from the 

sources provided in the accompanying annotated bibliography. 

Table 4.1 provides a timeline of selected events important in 

the history of the Baca Location.

Chapter 4.

History of the Baca Location No. 1

Thomas Merlan and Kurt F. Anschuetz
32 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Table 4.1. Timeline of selected events important in the Baca Location No. 1’s History.

Year Date Event

1820

February 18. Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca petitions Spanish colonial authorities 

of New Mexico for land on the Gallinas River at Las Vegas.

post-February Spanish colonial authorities place New Mexico under the 

jurisdiction of the province of Nueva Vizcaya.

1821

January 16 Baca re-petitions the provincial deputation of Nueva Vizcaya for 

the grant land.

May 29 The provincial deputation notifies the Governor of New Mexico of 

the approval of Baca’s grant request.

August 14 Mexico wins its independence from Spain with the signing of the 

Treaty of Cordova.

1823

Governor José Antonio Vizcarra passes through the Valle Grande 

on his return to Santa Fe after leading a punitive expedition 

against Navajo raiders in the Four Corners region. 

1826

The Alcalde of San Miguel del Vado delivers legal possession of 

the grant. Baca builds a house or hut on the Gallinas River, and 

runs sheep and mules. 

1827

Baca dies of a gunshot wound suffered during an argument with a 

Mexican government soldier over the confiscation of contraband 

property belonging to an American trapper. His son, Juan Antonio 

Baca, takes over the family’s ranching operation. 

1835

Navajo raiders kill Juan Antonio and steal all of the family’s sheep. 

The Baca heirs do not reoccupy the grant because of continuing 

Indian hostilities.

The Town of Las Vegas receives its grant (Town of Las Vegas 

Grant). In 1838 Francisco Tomás Baca, son and executor of Juan 

Antonio Baca, protests to Governor Armijo that the Town of Las 

Vegas Grant covers the same lands as the Baca Grant. Armijo 

takes no action. 

1846 U.S. troops (the Army of the West) occupy New Mexico, thereby 

marking the beginning of the American period.

1850 The U.S. Congress recognizes the former Mexican province of 

New Mexico as a territory of the United States.

1851 Navajo raiders strike Robert Nesbit and Hiram Parker’s hay 

cutting camp in the Valle Grande.

1855

Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca’s heirs petition New Mexico Surveyor 

General William Pelham for confirmation of the Baca Grant. With 

Francisco Tomás Baca as the driving force in this effort, the heirs 

allege that the Town of Las Vegas Grant is null because it was 

made in the knowledge that its lands were part of the Baca Grant. 

Pelham conducts a hearing on the two applications. 

1856

John Watts files the brief of the claimants and suggests that the 

Baca family would be willing to select an equivalent number of 

acres rather than displace the residents of the Las Vegas Grant.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 33

1857 May 1

Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca’s heirs record an agreement before 

the probate clerk of Bernalillo County. This agreement confers 

plenary authority on Francisco Tomás Baca to pursue their land 

grant claims.

1860

Surveyor General Pelham recommends to Congress that both the 

Baca and Las Vegas grants be confirmed, leaving it to the courts 

to determine the rights of the parties. To avoid litigation, the Baca 

heirs offer to give up their claim, provided they get an equivalent 

amount of land somewhere else in the Territory of New Mexico.

June 21

The U.S. Congress confirms the Town of Las Vegas Grant and 

authorizes the heirs of Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca to select 

vacant lands in up to five equal-sized tracts, each square in plan, 

throughout the territory.

The survey of the Town of Las Vegas Grant totals 496,446.96 

acres. The Baca heirs receive scrip for an equivalent amount of 

land. They choose five tracts, each measuring 99,289.39 acres. 

The first of these parcels is the Baca Float No. 1 (a.k.a. the Baca 

Location No. 1 [henceforth, the Baca Location]). 

ca. 1861–1872

Francisco Tomás Baca acquires interests of other heirs in the 

Baca Location and eventually assembles an interest of just over 

one-third of the tract.

ca. 1875

Tomás Dolores mortgages his claimed 100% interest in the Baca 

Location to José Leandro Perea, Maríano Sabine Otero’s fatherin-law, for $10,000.

1876

Deputy U.S. Surveyors Sawyer and McBroom survey the Baca 

Location. The United States delivers title to Luis Maria Cabeza de 

Baca’s heirs.

1880 Maríano Otero and his uncle, Miguel Antonio Otero, begin 

planning to develop Jémez Springs as a commercial resort.

1881 August 17

James Greenwood Whitney purchases Francisco Tomás Baca’s 

interest in the Baca Location from his widow, María Gertrudis 

Lucero Baca. With the additional purchase of Baca’s children’s 

interests, Whitney claims a one-third interest in the tract..

1889–1894

The discovery of gold and silver nearby leads to the establishment 

of mines and mining towns in the area. The demand for lumber 

also sees the establishment of several sawmills close by in 

response to the growing demand for timber products.

1884 May 17

Weary of his prolonged personal and legal fights with members 

of the Otereo family over land issues, James Whitney sells his 

interests in the Baca Location to his younger brother, Joel Parker 

Whitney.

1890

Maríano Otero and his son, Frederico J. (F. J.), begin buying 

interests in the Baca Location from the Baca heirs after Maríano 

inherits his father-in-law’s interest in the land grant.

1893 Joel Whitney petitions for partition of the Baca Location. 

Table 4.1. Continued.

Year Date Event
34 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

1897 December 6

An interlocutory decree is entered making findings and an 

adjudication of the respective fractional interests of each party to 

Whitney’s partition suit.

1898

October

The court enters a decree directing partition of the Baca Location 

and appoints commissioners to determine the feasibility of 

partition in kind. 

December

Commissioners report that partition of the Baca Location in kind 

was infeasible, and they recommend sale of all real property and 

the division of the proceeds.

1899 January–March

The court enters a decree ordering the sale of the Baca Location. 

The Special Master sells the grant to Frank W. Clancy, who was 

Whitney’s counsel of record, as well as counsel to Otero’s Valles 

Land Company and Thomas B. Catron, another claimant to the 

case. The Special Master distributes the proceeds to 46 owners, 

including two groups of Baca heirs, Whitney, Otero, and Catron.

1899

(continued) March 18

Maríano Otero purchases the balance of the grant. F. J. Otero 

becomes the president of the Valles Land Company and uses 

the Baca Location as summer range for large numbers of horses, 

cattle, and sheep. 

1904 Maríano Otero dies. F. J. Otero takes over full responsibility of the 

family’s business interests. 

1905 The Federal Government creates the Jemez Forest Preserve 

(subsequently renamed the Santa Fe National Forest). 

1907

Timbering around the Baca Location was decimating local forests. 

Consequently, the value of the tract’s timber holdings were 

increasing. Estimates of the Baca Location’s timber resources 

were estimated to include 425 million board feet of white pine and 

from 15 to 25 million board feet of spruce.

1909 October 16, 1909 The Valles Land Company sells the Baca Location to the Redondo 

Development Company. 

1915 April, 1 The Redondo Development Company mortgages the Baca 

Location to Warren Savings Bank of Pennsylvania. 

1917

F. J. Otero does not renew his grazing lease. The Redondo 

Development Company leases the property’s grazing rights to 

Frank Bond. Bond extends his family’s partido sheep business 

operations into the Baca Location.

1918 December 14

Redondo Development Company contracts with George W. and 

Frank Bond for the sale of the Baca Location, excepting and 

reserving all timber for a period of 99 years.

1920s

Logging operations expand in the Jemez Valley. White Pine 

Lumber Company obtains Federal legislation to condemn a rightof-way across the Jemez Pueblo Grant for the transport of their 

products.

1926 April 8

The Bond brothers complete their purchase of the Baca Location 

from the Redondo Development Company, which reasserts its 99-

year right to all of the tract’s timber resources and one-half of all if 

its minerals. 

1930 May 15

Redondo Development Company executes a first mortgage on 

its timber and mineral rights to Warren Savings Bank and Trust 

Company.

Table 4.1. Continued.

Year Date Event
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 35

1933

January 16 Redondo Development Company renews its mortgage with 

Warren Savings Bank and Trust.

September 9

Warren Savings Bank and Trust pledges the note, bond and 

mortgage to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation as collateral 

for borrowing money.

1935

The Civilian Conservation Corps builds a road through the Valle 

Grande. 

July 19

Redondo Development Company sells its timber right to Robert 

Anderson, who owns Firesteel Lumber Company, for the term of 

99 years. 

Under an agreement with Firesteel Lumber Company, New 

Mexico Timber Company begins logging operations; establishes 

the Redondo Logging Camp in Redondo Meadows for 25 

employees and their families.

December 17

Anderson protests his taxes on the timber and wins a reduction 

in state district court filed this date. He claims that there are 312 

million board feet of timber on the Location in 1931, the same in 

1932 and 1933, and 270 million board feet in 1935.

1936

May 26 Warren Bank sells the bond of $130,000 and the first mortgage on 

the timber to Blue Diamond Trading Corporation of New York.

May 28

Reconstruction Finance Corporation receives Redondo’s note for 

$65,000 from Warren Bank and Trust Company, then reassigns 

the note to Warren Savings.

December 31 Anderson assigns all his right, title and interest in the timber to A.I. 

Kaplan of New York. 

1937 October 14 Blue Diamond sells the renewal note and assigns the bond to 

Calumex Corporation in Delaware.

1938 September 16 Kaplan assigns all his right, title and interest to New Mexico 

Lumber and Timber Company.

1939

December 31

Redondo Development Company deeds all the timber to 

New Mexico Timber Co., whose President is T. P. Gallagher. 

New Mexico Timber Company mortgages the timber to the 

Reconstruction Finance Corporation for $182,436.52, at interest of 

5 percent per year.

New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company closes the Redondo 

Camp when it moves its logging activity to the northwest part of 

the Baca Location.

1940

April 30

New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company assigns all its right 

to New Mexico Timber Company. T. P. Gallagher remains the 

President of the new interest. 

June 27 Reconstruction Finance Corporation recognizes the satisfaction of 

the mortgage and bond dated May 15, 1930.

1942 January 16 Reconstruction Finance Corporation releases the mortgage it 

holds on the timber.

1945

Frank Bond dies. His son, Franklin, takes over the family business 

and begins leasing grazing rights for the Baca Location to various 

cattle operations. Franklin also hires employees to work the ranch, 

thereby ending the partido sheep business system.

Table 4.1. Continued.

Year Date Event
36 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

1954

With Franklin Bond’s death, the family leases the Baca Location 

ranch to outside parties, including the King family. With this 

transaction, the last of the Bond livestock were removed from the 

tract.

1963 January 11

George W. Savage, trustee for Ethel Bond Huffman (widow 

of Franklin Bond), sells the Baca Location to James Patrick 

Dunigan through the Dunigan Tool & Supply Company. Dunigan 

establishes the Baca Land and Cattle Company. 

1963–1980

While his investors propose various development plans for the 

Valles Caldera, including a ski resort, a racetrack, and a resort 

community of home sites and stores, Dunigan remains committed 

to his idea of maintaining the property as a working ranch and 

sustaining the Valle Grande’s beauty.

1964

Baca Land & Cattle Company, Dunigan Tool & Supply Company, 

and George W. Savage, Trustee, sue New Mexico Timber, Inc. 

and T. P. Gallagher & Co., Inc., on three counts: (1) to establish 

the parties’ interests under the deed and contract of 1918 and 

1926; (2) to seek damages for timber cut in violation of the terms 

of the instruments of 1918 and 1926; and (3) to seek damages for 

wasteful logging practices.

1967

U.S. District Court renders summary judgment for the plaintiffs on 

first two counts of the complaint, establishing Baca Land & Cattle 

Company’s interest, and for damages for timber cut in violation 

of the instruments of 1918 and 1926. On third count, for wasteful 

logging practices, District Court orders trial by jury. 

1967

(continued)

Baca Land & Cattle Company, Dunigan Tool & Supply Company, 

and George W. Savage, Trustee, appeal the decision of the 

District Court. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dismisses the 

case and remands it back to the District Court.

1969

August 12 The District Court issues ruling, denying plaintiffs’ motion for 

partial summary judgment. 

September 10

New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. P. Gallagher & Co., Inc., file an 

appeal in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals against the District 

Court’s ruling on logging practices and the award of compensatory 

damages.

1971 Dunigan buys the timber rights to the Baca Location from New 

Mexico Timber, Inc. and halts logging on the tract.

1980 James Dunigan dies. 

2000 The U.S. government purchases the Baca Location.

2001

Valles Caldera National Preserve permits timber hauling on South 

Mountain to complete a timber project that was in progress when 

the Federal Government bought the ranch. The Preserve also 

begins the rehabilitation and obliteration of existing logging roads 

on 100.1 acres and 4.9 miles of roads. 

2002

Interim cattle grazing program initiated, with up to 2,000 head run 

on 23,380 acres in Valle Grande, Valle Toledo, Valle San Antonio 

and Cerro Seco pastures.

Table 4.1. Continued.

Year Date Event
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 37

Birth and Confirmation of the Baca 

Location Land Grant

On February 18, 1820, Luis María Cabeza de Baca individually and on behalf of eight other persons petitioned New 

Mexican colonial authorities for a tract of vacant land on the 

Gallinas River. The object of Baca’s petition is present-day 

Las Vegas and environs.

Baca’s associates dropped out of the project before an 

answer came from the governmental authorities. In 1820, in 

the turmoil of the revolution against Spain that had begun in 

1810 and would shortly result in an independent Mexico, the 

New Mexican colony was placed under the jurisdiction of 

the province of Nueva Vizcaya (now the Mexican States of 

Chihuauhua and Coahuila). On January 16, 1821, Baca, for 

himself and his 17 sons, petitioned the provincial deputation 

of Nueva Vizcaya for the same grant that he had requested 

originally. Baca and his sons described their requested tract 

as bounded on the north by the Chapelote River, on the east 

by the Aguaje de la Yegua and the Antonio Ortíz Grant, on the 

south by the San Miguel del Vado Grant and on the west by 

the summit of the Pecos Mountains (Bowden 1969:794).

On May 29, 1821, the provincial deputation notified the 

New Mexican colonial governor that the grant had been 

approved. The Alcalde of San Miguel del Vado was supposed 

to deliver legal possession of the grant to Baca and his sons, 

and after considerable delay, he did so in 1826 (U.S. Congress, 

House 1860). Meanwhile, by the Treaty of Cordova, signed on 

August 24, 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain.

Luis María Cabeza de Baca built a little house on the 

Gallinas River at the place called Loma Montosa, and ran sheep 

on the grant. He died in 1827 after being fatally wounded by a 

soldier in an argument over 13 packs of contraband pelts that 

belonged to American trapper Ewing Young (Martin 2003; 

see also chapter 3). His son, Juan Antonio Baca, took on the 

ranching operation.

The Baca family had begun taking their sheep into the Jémez 

Mountains during periods when the Navajos refrained from 

raids. In 1835, however, Navajo raiders suddenly struck. They 

killed Juan Antonio and stole his sheep (Martin 2003:27).

Because Indian hostilities simultaneously plagued the 

Gallinas River, Juan Antonio’s heirs did not reoccupy the grant 

given to Luis María Cabeza de Baca. After the Town of Las 

Vegas received its grant in 1835, Francisco Tomás Baca, son 

and executor of Juan Antonio Baca and one of Luis María’s 

many grandsons, protested to Governor Armijo that the Town 

of Las Vegas Grant covered the same lands as the Baca Land 

Grant, but Armijo took no action (Bowden 1969:797).4.1

In 1846 U.S. troops (the Army of the West) occupied the 

colony of New Mexico. In 1850 Congress recognized the 

4.1 Because it is a source of considerable historical confusion, it 

is important to note that Francisco Tomás referred to himself as 

Tomás even in legal documents. Francisco Tomás, however, had 

a brother, Tomás Dolores, who was 20 years younger. Tomás 

Dolores usually appears in historical documents as Tomás D.

former Mexican province as a territory of the United States. 

The first Anglo-American relationship with the Valles Caldera 

was military. The Army of the West brought cash and contracts 

to the region. The U.S. Army was a market for forage and 

beef, buying first for its own needs. Then, as it pacified the 

various Indian groups and confined them to reservations, the 

Army bought beef to feed them. This military activity was 

the beginning of modern ranching in what was to become the 

State of New Mexico.

In 1851 Navajos raided the camp that civilian contractors 

Nesbit and Parker had established to cut hay for the U.S. Army 

(Church n.d.; see also McNitt 1972:184–185; see chapter 5). 

This camp was on the East Fork of the Jémez and “was apparently later the site of Camp Valles Grandes, established by 

the U.S. Army as a deterrent to Navajo and Apache movement through the area during the final Navajo Wars of 1863” 

(Scurlock 1981:137).

In 1855 the surviving heirs of Luis María Cabeza de Baca 

petitioned New Mexico Surveyor General William Pelham for 

confirmation of the grant. Francisco Tomás Baca apparently 

was the driving force behind this effort. The heirs alleged that 

the Town of Las Vegas Grant was null because it had been 

made with the knowledge that its lands were part of the original Baca Land Grant.

The heirs of Luis María Cabeza de Baca waited for the 

Surveyor General to act on the matter. Two years later, on 

May 1, 1857, the heirs, including 5 grandsons who represented 

their deceased fathers and 10 other male heirs (including 2 

males representing female heirs) recorded an agreement 

before the probate clerk of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 

conferring plenary authority on Francisco Tomás Baca to 

pursue their claims to lands granted to Luis María Cabeza 

de Baca, and which were now occupied by “settlements that 

have no legal right.” Francisco Tomás agreed to assume all 

expenses. Francisco Tomás’ widow, María Gertrudis Lucero 

Baca, would later claim that the other heirs stated that at the 

“final conclusion” of the matter, Francisco Tomás would be 

paid by them either in lands “satisfactory to him” or in money 

(Whitney v. Otero 1893, Exhibit A, May 1, 1857). In this way, 

Francisco Tomás Baca and his immediate family claimed 

to have acquired about one-third interest in the total grant 

(Martin 2003:38). This document neither specifies the Baca 

Location nor names the specific percentage of any grant, a 

point that figured prominently in the final resolution of the 

1893–1899 partition suit.

New Mexico Surveyor General Pelham conducted a 

hearing on the Baca and Town of Las Vegas Grant applications. He recommended to Congress in 1860 that both grants 

be confirmed, leaving it to the courts to try to determine 

the rights of two parties (U.S. Congress, House 1860). To 

avoid litigation, the Baca heirs offered to give up their claim, 

provided they got an equivalent amount of land somewhere 

else in the New Mexican Territory. Congress approved an act 

on June 21, 1860, confirming the Town of Las Vegas Grant 

and authorizing the heirs of Luis María Cabeza de Vaca [sic] 

to select vacant lands in “square bodies, not exceeding five in 

number” (U.S. Public Law 167 1860).
38 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The Town of Las Vegas Grant was surveyed in 1860 for 

a total of 496,447 acres (200,901 ha). The Baca Land Grant 

heirs received scrip for an equivalent amount of land. They 

promptly chose five tracts measuring 99,289 acres (40,180 

ha). Each appears as a distinctive square on historical land 

grant maps. All five tracts were in the Territory of New Mexico 

in 1860. Due to subsequent boundary changes, two parcels are 

now in Arizona, and one in Colorado.

The first tract, called Baca Float No. 1 because it was 

“floated” or relocated from the original grant, was located 

in Sandoval County, New Mexico, on December 6, 1860. Its 

original description was:

Beginning at a point 21⁄2 miles [4 km] west of the corner 

of Townships 19 and 20 North and Range 4 and 5 East, 

N.M.P.M., and thence North, South, East and West from said 

center point a sufficient distance to embrace 99,289.39 acres 

[40,180.24 ha] (Bowden 1969:799).

This boundary encompassed the Valle Grande, the Valle 

San Antonio, the Valle Santa Rosa, and Redondo Creek, lands 

subsequently known as Baca Location.

Baca Float No. 2, in San Miguel County north of Tucumcari, 

was patented in 1860. Baca Float No. 3, now in Arizona, was 

subsequently relinquished due to conflicts with a prior grant. 

Baca Float No. 4, in Saguache County, Colorado, was patented 

in 1900. Baca Float No. 5, in Yavapai County, Arizona, was 

patented in 1865 (Bowden 1969:799ff).

Competing Interests: The Basis for 

the Baca Location Partition Suit

Contrary to the claims made by Francisco Tomás Baca and 

his heirs, several sources identify his younger brother, Tomás 

Dolores, as the sole inheritor of the Baca Location during the 

late nineteenth century (Scurlock 1981:138; U.S. Congress, 

House 1860). From his base in Peña Blanca, Tomás Dolores 

ran one of the largest sheep and cattle enterprises in the 

Territory of New Mexico until he moved to Las Vegas in 1865 

to open a mercantile and to run freight wagons over the Santa 

Fe Trail (Cabeza de Baca 1994:80). According to his granddaughter, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca, Tomás Dolores mortgaged 

the 100,000-acre (40,000 ha) Baca Location to José Leandro 

Perea, Maríano Sabine Otero’s father-in-law, for $10,000 

about 1875. Tomás Dolores mortgaged the land to make up a 

shortfall of $40,000 that became known while he served as a 

bondsman for the newly elected San Miguel County sheriffclerk-treasurer (Cabeza de Baca 1994:72–73). This action, 

in which Tomás Dolores treated the whole Baca Location as 

his exclusive property, helped to create the grounds for the 

bitter partition suit of 1893 involving Maríano Otero and Joel 

Parker Whitney. This suit in turn led to the extinction of all 

the rights that Luis María Cabeza de Baca’s heirs had in the 

Baca Location.

The coming of the railroad created an endeavor never 

before known in New Mexico: the tourist trade. Two 

well-to-do businessmen with local and national political 

connections, Maríano Otero and his uncle, Miguel Antonio 

Otero, began planning to develop Jémez Springs in 1880 

following their purchase of the old bathhouses that local residents had long used.4.2 The Oteros intended to make Jémez 

Springs, located outside the west boundary of the Baca 

Location as defined by the 1876 survey of the land grant 

(Sawyer and McBroom 1876), a commercial resort. Their 

venture had the backing of officials of the Atchison, Topeka, 

and Santa Fe Railroad. Their plan was to operate the springs, 

with customers arriving by spur line that would connect Jémez 

Springs with Bernalillo. Their company built a hotel and new 

bathhouses at this location in 1882 (Otero 1935:237–238, 

241–277). After Miguel Antonio Otero died that same year, 

plans to make Jémez Springs a major resort were dropped, 

although the Otero family continued to run successful businesses in the community for the next 20 years (Martin 

2003:41).

Even after the arrival of the railroad, few people moved 

into the high country around the Valles Caldera. There were 

only two homesteads near the Baca Location by about 1883 

(USDA Forest Service 1883–1913).

Gold and silver were discovered about 5 miles (8 km) south 

of the Baca Location in 1889. Major mines and the boomtowns of Albemarle, Allerton, and Bland followed about 1894. 

The demand for lumber led to the establishment of several 

sawmills (Scurlock 1981:140).

Maríano Otero and his son, Frederico J. (F. J.), began buying 

interests in the Baca Location from the Baca heirs about 1890 

after Maríano inherited an interest in the land grant following 

the death of his father-in-law, José Leandro Perea. As noted 

previously, Perea bought the mortgage on Tomás Dolores 

Baca’s interest in the property about 1875, after Tomás D. 

discovered that, as a bondsman, he owed $40,000 to San 

Miguel County (Cabeza de Baca 1994:72–73). Numerous 

transactions in the records of Bernalillo County show that other 

grant heirs sold their interest in the Baca Location piecemeal 

and that the Oteros bought up these interests as they became 

available. The Oteros also formed the Valles Land Company 

at this time (Bernalillo County, New Mexico 1849–1903).

The Partition Suit of 1893–1899

The Baca Location was transformed from a land grant held 

by multiple owners to a corporate entity under the sole control 

of one man by an Anglo-American innovation: the partition 

suit.

The U.S. Territorial government made the laws necessary 

to accomplish the transfer of most of the Spanish Colonial 

4.2 Miguel Antonio Otero studied law in St. Louis before returning 

to New Mexico to serve as private secretary to Governor William 

Lane (1852–1853). Maríano Otero dealt in real estate in central 

New Mexico to build upon his family’s wealth and influence. 

He served two terms as the delegate from the Territory of New 

Mexico to the U.S. Congress (Martin 2003:34). 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 39

and Mexican period land grants from the grant heirs to private 

speculators—usually Anglo-Americans but including several 

Hispanic patrones—men who acquired land and made that 

land the basis of their participation in regional and national 

trade networks. Maríano Otero was one of these men.

The partition statute of 1876, variously amended and 

now codified at 42-5-1 through 9 NMSA 1978, authorizes 

the holder of an undivided interest in a land grant to sue all 

other holders in an action for partition. This statute means that 

anyone who has acquired an undivided interest in a land grant 

can request its partition, which constitutes a legal action that 

effectively terminates the grant and allocates exclusive holdings to individuals in proportion to their interest in the tract. 

For example, an individual with a one-third undivided interest 

in a land grant of 100 acres (40 ha) would receive exclusive 

rights to or compensation for 33.33 acres (13.33 ha) upon the 

grant’s termination. Contention between Hispanic and AngloAmerican speculators—men who had purchased interests in 

the Baca Location from various Baca heirs for control of the 

land grant—took the form of a partition suit.

As noted above, from about 1861 to 1872, Francisco 

Tomás Baca, grandson of Luis María Cabeza de Baca, and 

his immediate family claimed to have acquired a 33.3 percent 

interest in the Baca Location from other heirs. Other individuals, including Maríano Otero, José Leandro Perea, and 

Thomas B. Catron, subsequently obtained significant interests 

in the grant through mortgages, purchases, and inheritances. 

James Greenwood Whitney, an English immigrant who 

became wealthy from cattle ranching and operating a mercantile, purchased the claimed 20 percent interest that Francisco 

Tomás Baca held in the Baca Location from his widow, María 

Gertrudis Lucero Baca, on August 17, 1881. María Gertrudis 

Lucero, in turn, persuaded her children to sell their interests 

to Whitney, to give the speculator her family’s full one-third 

interest in the grant (Martin 2003:35, 38).

James Greenwood Whitney was a fierce competitor with 

the Otero family in the acquisition of another important land 

holding. While gaining a foothold in the Baca Location, he 

simultaneously claimed the title to the Bartolome Baca Land 

Grant in the Estancia Basin of central New Mexico, a holding 

that the Oteros believed they had rightfully acquired.4.3 Violent 

and scandalous events followed. Whitney was tried for the 

4.3 In the court battle over the Bartolome Baca Land Grant title, 

Thomas B. Catron, who subsequently played a key role in the 

Baca Location partition suit, served as legal counsel to the Otero 

family.

4.4 Whitney engaged in a shootout with Manuel B. Otero at the Otero 

family’s Estancia Springs Ranch house. During the exchange in 

which 10 shots sounded in 10 seconds, Whitney’s brother-in-law 

died, Otero was mortally wounded, and Whitney himself was 

wounded. Whitney fled the scene.

Authorities subsequently charged him with murder while he 

convalesced at St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe. He escaped from 

the hospital with the assistance of his brother, Joel Parker Whitney, 

and boarded a private car on a train headed to California. He was 

recaptured at a train stop south of Las Vegas with the help of 

Miguel Antonio Otero II, Manuel B. Otero’s cousin, who would 

murder of Manuel B. Otero, Maríano’s first cousin, who died 

in a gunfight.4.4

Weary of his legal troubles, Whitney well knew that the 

powerful Otero family and its many supporters continued 

to hold him responsible for Manuel B. Otero’s death. 

Consequently, James Greenwood Whitney sold his right, title, 

and interest in the Baca Location, Cañada de Cochití, and 

Ojo del Borrego land grants to his brother, Joel Parker Whitney, 

on May 17, 1884, for $17,000 (Whitney v. Otero 1893).

After waiting nearly a decade, Joel Parker Whitney filed suit 

against Maríano Otero et al. on August 25, 1893, requesting 

partition of the Baca Location (Whitney v. Otero 1893). He 

claimed that after the death of Luis María Cabeza de Baca, 

Baca’s grandson Francisco Tomás had appeared before the 

Surveyor General at the request of all the Baca heirs to pursue 

their land claims. Whitney added that Francisco Tomás’ efforts 

led to the Congressional act of 1860 authorizing the five Baca 

Locations. The heirs paid Francisco Tomás with a one-third 

interest in the Las Vegas Grant, in the Ojo del Espiritu Santo 

Grant, and in any other grants he might locate, by an agreement dated May 2, 1857 (Whitney v. Otero 1893).

Joel Parker Whitney asserted that the 15 signers of this 

document acted as representatives of all the other Baca 

Land Grant heirs, but he did not know on what authority and 

had no written evidence. Whitney also claimed that in this 

way Francisco Tomás Baca obtained a one-third interest in 

the Baca Location, which his widow subsequently sold to 

Whitney’s brother, James Greenwood Whitney (Whitney v. 

Otero 1893).

No agreement of May 2, 1857, appears in the court papers, 

but a Spanish transcript of a document dated May 1, 1857, is 

Exhibit A. This certificate states that Francisco Tomás Baca 

was authorized to represent the heirs, and that he subsequently 

was to be paid in money or in “a portion of the lands satisfactory to him” (Whitney v. Otero 1893). This document does not 

mention any particular grant.

Joel Parker Whitney claimed one-third of the Baca Location 

plus additional interests (i.e., both the interests that Francisco 

Tomás Baca bought from the other heirs and those that accrued 

to him for his representation of the other heirs before U.S. 

become Governor of the Territory of New Mexico between 1897 

and 1906.

While traveling in custody back to Valencia County for trial, 

Whitney received bail for $25,000 during an unusual, hastily 

arranged court hearing in Albuquerque. This hearing raises 

questions about the presiding judge’s motives. Among other 

things, the judge’s actions suggest the possibility that he accepted 

a bribe. Alternatively, his conduct also may be viewed as a 

prudent act acted to prevent a crowd of incensed Otero family 

supporters in Los Lunas from lynching Whitney on his return to 

Valencia County.

After recovering from his gunshot wounds in California, Whitney 

returned to New Mexico to stand trial for the murder of Manuel 

B. Otero (Martin 2003:36–37). On April 29, 1884, during court 

proceedings that lasted just one day, the mostly Anglo-American 

jury acquitted Whitney of the crime, finding that he had acted in 

self-defense.
40 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

authorities) amounting to about 45 percent of the entire grant. 

The commissioners appointed by the court, however, subsequently found Joel Parker Whitney’s interest to be about 19 

percent of the grant.

Maríano Otero, aided by Thomas B. Catron, who filed an 

affidavit in support of Otero’s (Valles Land Company) petition in early 1898 (Whitney v. Otero 1893), argued that the 

Valles Land Company actually had held true right to lands 

claimed by Whitney because many of Francisco Tomás 

Baca’s purported land purchases were not legally recognized 

transactions. The defendants called upon the Baca heirs to 

testify that they never agreed to pay Francisco Tomás Baca 

for his services with a share of their interest in the land grant. 

Besides, Maríano Otero had inherited a significant share in the 

Baca Location following the death of his father-in-law, José 

Leandro Perea, who had obtained the interest by buying the 

mortgage on Tomás Dolores Baca’s interest in the property.

The court determined that Maríano Otero’s interest in the 

Baca Location was 34.9 percent—just over a full third. On 

December 6, 1897, an interlocutory decree was entered making 

findings and an adjudication of the respective fractional interests of each party to the suit (Whitney v. Otero 1893).

On October 4, 1898, a decree was entered directing partition of the Baca Location and appointing commissioners to 

determine the feasibility of partition in kind. Two months 

later, on December 5, 1898, the commissioners reported 

that partition in kind was not feasible, given their identification of 46 valid, undivided interests in the property that 

ranged from more than 34,700 acres (14,960 ha) to as few 

as about 113 acres (45.2 ha) (Martin 2003:38–39). The 

commissioners recommended the sale of all the real property and the division of the proceeds. On January 27, 1899, 

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of 

New Mexico John R. McVie entered a decree ordering the 

sale of the entire Baca Location in public auction to the 

highest bidder. He appointed a special master to carry out 

the sale and to distribute the proceedings to the claimants 

(Whitney v. Otero 1893).

In his report to Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of 

the Territory of New Mexico J. W. Crumpacker, Special Master 

William D. Lee stated that he sold the Baca Location to Frank 

W. Clancy for $16,548.21 on March 13, 1899, “for cash at the 

Court House door of the Court House of Bernalillo County in 

the Town of Albuquerque” (Whitney v. Otero 1893). Clancy 

was Joel Parker Whitney’s attorney of record. Clancy was 

also, according to a court decree entered some time subsequent to December 4, 1897, “of counsel” to the Valles Land 

Company (Whitney v. Otero 1893). Moreover, Clancy simultaneously served as Catron’s counsel in a disbarment suit.

The special master’s deed from Lee to Clancy was filed in 

the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office on March 29, 1899. This 

deed conveyed the full fee title to the Baca Location without 

exceptions or reservations (Bernalillo County, New Mexico 

1849–1903, reel 31, Deed Books 352–353).

On March 18, 1899, just 5 days after he bought it, Frank 

W. Clancy sold the entire Baca Location to the Valles Land 

Company, whose owners were none other than Maríano 

and F. J. Otero. The subsequent deed filed for this purchase 

conveyed the full fee title without exceptions or reservations 

(Bernalillo County, New Mexico 1849–1903, reel 31, Deed 

Books 354–355).

In this case, a partition suit ended uncharacteristically with a Hispanic capitalist in full control of the lands. 

Maríano Otero was not an heir to the grant; rather, as a 

member of New Mexico’s economic elite, he was sophisticated enough to use the law to his advantage. Otero 

demonstrated his ability to make at least temporary alliances with Anglo-American claimants, including Thomas 

B. Catron, a formidable land speculator and owner of lands 

within the Baca Location acquired from the Baca heirs. As 

shown by a much later petition (October 15, 1909) by F. J. 

Otero to the New Mexico Supreme Court (asking the Court 

to issue a decree confirming that all unknown heirs of Luis 

María Cabeza de Baca were bound by the proceedings in 

the case), Catron became a stockholder in the Valles Land 

Company (Whitney v. Otero 1893, petition of Valles Land 

Company, October 18, 1909). This suggests an explanation 

of Catron’s acquiescence in the sale of the Baca Location to 

the Otero family.

The Otero Family’s Tenure

Having acquired the Baca Location, the Valles Land 

Company began to use the land as summer range for large 

numbers of horses, cattle, and sheep (Martin 2003:44; see 

also chapter 6). Following his father’s death in 1904, F. J. 

Otero managed the Baca Location as summer range between 

1905 and 1909.

While Maríano Otero purchased the Baca Location as a 

business proposition, he already was a member of the Cañon 

de San Diego Grant around nearby Jémez Springs by right 

of being a resident of the grant community. Over the years, 

however, Otero had increased his interest in this 110,000-

acre (44,000-ha) land grant significantly in support of his 

expanding sheep enterprise. By the time of his death he had 

come to treat the entire community tract as his private property (Martin 2003:44). Trying to assert their interests, the 

other Cañon de San Diego Grant heirs filed suit against F. J. 

Otero and his brothers over their inheritance claim.

As recounted previously, the contested inheritance claims 

between Francisco Tomás and his younger brother, Tomás 

Dolores, led to the extinction of the claim of the Luis María 

Cabeza de Baca heirs to the Baca Location. Unintended 

consequences carried the day: the dispute over the inheritance 

of right in the Cañon de San Diego Grant led to the sale of the 

Baca Location by the Otero brothers, and to the end of their 

family’s interest in their community land grant as well.

To settle the dispute, the judge awarded 80 percent of the 

acres to the heirs of the original grantees and ordered the 

[Cañon de San Diego] land grant sold and the money divided. 

Combined with other losses, the settlement forced the brothers 

to look elsewhere to add to their cash flow. By 1905 Frederico 

Otero actively marketed the Baca Location to prospective 

buyers, most of whom hailed from the East Coast (Martin 

2003:44).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 41

In 1909 F. J. Otero, as president of the Valles Land Company, 

sold the Baca Location to the Redondo Development Company, 

an organization with access to eastern capital and headquarters in Warren, Pennsylvania (see also chapter 7). The deed 

contained no reservations (Baca Land and Cattle Company 

v. New Mexico Timber, Inc. [Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc., 

1967], Valles Land Company to Redondo Development 

Company, October 16, 1909, in Abstract of Title, box 110A). 

F. J. Otero subsequently leased the grazing rights to the Baca 

Location for 9 years, from 1909 to 1918.

Redondo Development Company: 

Mortgaging the Baca Location’s 

Future

Three years after Redondo Development Company 

purchased the Baca Location, George White, who had firsthand 

knowledge of the Jemez Mountains going back to the days 

when he had helped string telephone line through the locality 

in 1905, filed a homestead entry for 156 acres (62.4 ha) in the 

Valles de los Posos along the east border of the Baca Location, 

as determined by Daniel Sawyer and William H. McBroom’s 

1876 survey. “White and his wife Lottie built a small cabin 

in the northern arm of the Posos at the foot of an old trail that 

crossed the Sierra de los Valles from Guaje Canyon” (Martin 

2003:52). The isolation of this tract, however, led the Whites 

to abandon the homestead within the year.

One of White’s contemporaries, James Leese, who had 

lived in the locality for about a decade, filed entry for White’s 

abandoned Valles de los Posos homestead on June 3, 1915 

(Martin 2003:52). The Leese family built a two-story log 

summer home with a corrugated metal roof, and fenced 

a 3-acre (1.2-ha) garden in which they grew potatoes and 

other vegetables. They made none of the other improvements 

required for a homestead patent, however. The Leese family 

occupied the property only during the warm season of 1915 

and the summers of 1916 and 1917. Even then, James Leese 

worked elsewhere and only visited the homestead (Martin 

2003:52).

Redondo Development Company challenged the legality 

of the Leese homestead entry, citing Lewis D. W. Shelton’s 

unofficial 1910 survey of the Baca Location’s boundaries to 

show that the Sawyer and McBroom survey was in error and 

that the Leese claim was really on their land. The Santa Fe 

National Forest supervisor asserted that Leese had not met the 

requirements of the Homestead Act. The Surveyor General 

in Santa Fe authorized a new boundary survey to resolve the 

discrepancies between the Sawyer and McBroom and Shelton 

surveys. Leese bowed out, giving Redondo Development 

Company a quitclaim deed for the tract. The company paid 

Leese for the log house and fencing that he had erected on the 

property (Martin 2003:53).

The resurvey redefined the east, south, and west grant boundaries. Three patented homesteads and the two sulfur-mining 

claims made by John W. Walton and Maríano Otero, all of 

which had been thought to lie outside the Baca Location (based 

on the Sawyer and McBroom survey), were discovered to be 

within the land grant. “Because these homesteaders and miners 

had received valid title to their land and had acted in good faith, 

their ownership was not challenged” (Martin 2003:53).

Timbering approached the Baca Location from lower 

elevations that were more accessible to the railroad (chapter 

7). As with the grass needed for herding and ranching, the 

timber of the Valles Caldera rose in value as the lower areas 

were sharply reduced in productivity.

In 1898 the Anglo-American owners of the Ramón Vigil 

Land Grant on the nearby Pajarito Plateau leased the timber 

rights on the grant to H. S. Buckman, a lumberman from 

Oregon. Buckman began cutting timber on the Plateau in 

1899. Hal Rothman (1989:203) observes, “Buckman’s timber 

enterprise destroyed what remained of the native ecosystem 

on the Vigil Grant.”

[C]hanging patterns of land use in the region ignited a 

complicated process of economic, social, political, and 

environmental change. This change was incremental. 

Each stage pushed the people of the area closer toward 

dependency on outside markets. Native American and 

Hispanic populations found themselves with less and less of 

the plateau at their disposal. The Ramón Vigil Land Grant, 

its productivity demolished by Bishop and Buckman, was 

no longer available. The density of Hispanic and Native 

American stock outside the Vigil Grant increased, and more 

animals competed for less grazing land. Anglo overgrazing 

extended the impact of earlier limited overgrazing by 

Hispanics and Native Americans; cattle and sheep trails 

were no longer centralized around water sources. Larger 

herds also drove game higher into the Jemez Mountains, and 

the black bear, wild turkeys, and pumas that characterized 

the pre-1800 plateau became scarcer. The advantages of the 

plateau as a subsistence environment quickly disappeared. 

The people that depended on this land had to find new 

sources of sustenance. Prior to the lumber camps and 

tie-gangs, few Hispanics or Native Americans worked for 

anyone else. Instead, they grew foodstuffs, tended animals, 

and traded for items that they could not produce themselves. 

Cash money was scarce, and labor was a commodity to be 

bartered, not sold. Buckman’s crews received cash for their 

labor, and the influx of money made the goods in the stores 

by the railroad in Española more available to the people 

of the region. With motives born of desire and necessity, 

Hispanics and Native Americans began to participate in 

the cash economy. As their base of subsistence became 

less fruitful, many Hispanics entered the market to trade 

for foodstuffs. Many also sought to acquire the tools and 

implements of industrial America. These were expensive, 

and often required credit—the final step in becoming a part 

of the cash economy...the need for credit and its availability 

dramatically changed both farming and grazing in the 

Pajarito Plateau area. Cash crop farming became prevalent, 

and new patterns of land use emerged (Rothman 1989:205–

206).
42 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The timber on the Baca Location was estimated in 1907 

at 425 million board feet of white pine and from 15 to 25 

million board feet of spruce. Another informant estimated 

403 million board feet of merchantable timber. A “cruiser” 

stated that there were also “telegraph poles, ties, piling, 

mine props and stulls in large quantities” (Laughlin Papers 

1907).

During 1911 and 1912, the U.S. Surveyor General (Santa 

Fe) made restorative surveys. The object of this work was to 

clarify the shared boundaries of the Baca Location, the Jémez 

Forest Preserve, and the Ramón Vigil Land Grant. Notes 

accompanying the cadastral surveys indicate the interests that 

would predominate on the Baca Location over the next 50 

years: “The ridges, densely timbered with fir and spruce, and 

considerable pine, give good timber values” (Douglass and 

Neighbour n.d.).

This survey also showed that the operation on the Ramón 

Vigil Land Grant, carried on under the name of the Ramon 

Land and Lumber Company, had cut about 100,000 board feet 

of timber from the Jémez National Preserve (rather than the 

west side of the Vigil Grant) (USDA Forest Service 1915).

A later (1921) cadastral survey again noted:

The remainder of the [Baca Location] grant is covered with 

timber, the bulk of which is spruce, fir and aspen. Some of the 

lower elevations and southerly slopes, contain considerable 

valuable pine timber. Oak undergrowth occurs most in the 

higher pine levels (Osterhoudt et al. 1921).

On April 1, 1915, Redondo Development Company mortgaged the Baca Location to the Warren Savings Bank of 

Pennsylvania, borrowing $175,000. Redondo Development 

Company reserved a right to sell timber from the lands for 

a price not less than $175,000. The company authorized the 

issuance of bonds in the value of $175,000, securing the 

payment of principal and interest (at 6%) by this mortgage 

to Warren Savings Bank of Pennsylvania. The bonds were to 

mature on April 1, 1925.

This mortgage applied to:

. . . all that certain tract of land cummunly [sic] known as 

Baca Location No. One, situated in the counties of Sandoval 

and Río Arriba in the Territory of Mexico [sic], the same 

being one of the tracts of land located by the heirs of Luis 

María C. de Baca under the authority conffered [sic] by 

section 8 of an act of Congress of the United States approved 

June 21, 1860. . . (Redondo Development Company 1915).

Divided Rights, Part I: 

Bond Family Ranching and the 

Beginning of Commercial Timbering

F. J. Otero did not renew his grazing lease in 1917. The Bond 

brothers, George W. and Frank, first leased the grazing rights 

to the Baca Location from Redondo Development Company 

in 1917 as part of their efforts to acquire the pasturage that 

they needed to sustain their dominant position in northern 

New Mexico’s sheep and wool industries. In March 1918, 

Frank Bond inquired about buying the Baca Location. On 

December 14, 1918, Redondo Development Company signed 

a contract with the G. W. Bond and Brothers Company for 

the sale of the Baca Location, reserving an exclusive 99-year 

timber right. G. W. Bond and Brothers Company continued to 

lease the Baca Location from 1918, fulfilling the terms of the 

purchase contract in 1926 (Kelly 1972:6–7; Otero 1935:237; 

Wentworth 1948:239–241).

In the meantime, Guy H. Porter and his son, Frank H. 

Porter, formed the White Pine Lumber Company in 1922. In 

1924 they began to ship timber from the Cañon de San Diego 

Grant by rail to Bernalillo. This required the condemnation of 

a right-of-way across Jémez Pueblo. New Mexico’s members 

of Congress obtained passage of the (Federal) Pueblo Lands 

Condemnation Act of 1926 to enable the lumber company to 

take the Pueblo lands. The act turned out to be defective—it 

did not name the United States as the representative of the 

Indians. New Mexico’s members of Congress went back 

and obtained passage of a second Federal statute in 1928. 

Anglo-American businesspersons, including New Mexico’s 

U.S. Senators, found ready acceptance in Congress and in 

the White House of the assumption that the rights of Indians 

should be set aside to facilitate exploitation of the lands for 

private profit.

On April 8, 1926, the Bond brothers completed their 

purchase of the Baca Location, with a half interest in its mineral 

rights, for $400,000. The terms of the contract excepted and 

reserved all the:

. . . timber, trees and wood and increment thereof, standing, 

growing, lying and being in and upon the above described 

premises, with the right of entry and reentry at all times for 

and during the term or period of ninety-nine years from the 

date hereof. . . (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, 8NN021-89-022 #5648, FRC#76L0201, box 110A; see also Bond 

and Son 1918–1919; Scurlock 1981:144).

Timber operations on the Baca Location began in 1926 and 

continued under various auspices until 1971 (chapter 7).

On May 15, 1930, Redondo Development Company mortgaged the “timber, trees and wood owned by this company 

standing, growing, lying and being upon land...Commonly 

known as Baca Location No. 1” to Warren Savings Bank and 

Trust Company (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract 

of Title to Timber Interest, box 110A). Redondo Development 

Company also conveyed a one-half interest in all minerals. 

The company executed a promissory note to the bank for 

$65,000 payable in 4 months, with a bond of $130,000 (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of Title to Timber 

Interest, box 110A).

The company renewed its mortgage to Warren Savings 

Bank and Trust Company on January 16, 1933, by delivering a 

promissory note for $65,000. Warren Savings Bank and Trust 

Company, in turn, pledged Redondo Development Company’s 

promissory note, bond, and mortgage to the Reconstruction 

Finance Corporation on September 9, 1933, to borrow funds 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 43

for its own use (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract 

of Title to Timber Interest, box 110A).

Redondo Development Company sold its timber interests to 

Robert Anderson of Firesteel Lumber Company for $150,000 

on July 19, 1935 (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract 

of Title to Timber Interest, box 110A). The term of this sale 

was 99 years and was subject to approval by Warren Savings 

Bank and Trust Company.

Under an agreement with Firesteel Lumber Company, New 

Mexico Lumber and Timber Company began logging near 

Redondo Creek in 1935. Firesteel’s owner, Robert Anderson, 

variously claimed (in a 1935 petition for a reduction of taxes) 

that there were 270 to 312 million board feet of merchantable timber on the Baca Location (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, 

Inc. 1967, box 110A). New Mexico Lumber and Timber 

Company built Redondo Camp at Redondo Meadows to house 

25 employees and their families (chapter 7). This logging 

camp included log cabins, transportable skid-mounted frame 

houses, sheds, stables, a mess hall, and a school. In addition, 

during 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps built the road 

across the Valle Grande that continues to be the main connection between Los Alamos and Cuba today (Tucker and 

Fitzpatrick 1972:162–171).

New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company’s Redondo 

Camp closed in 1939 when logging activity shifted to the 

northwest part of the Baca Location (Scurlock 1981:151). 

Heavy logging continued through the war years and included 

cutting on Redondo Peak, at El Cajete, and along the Jaramillo 

drainage.

When Frank Bond died in 1945, his son, Franklin, began 

leasing parts of the Baca Location to various cattle operations. 

The Bond family also ended their reliance on the traditional 

partido system and began hiring shepherds and cowboys to 

work their flocks and herds (chapter 6). Following Franklin’s 

death in 1954, the family leased the ranch to outside parties. The 

King family, whose son Bruce subsequently served three 4-year 

terms as governor of New Mexico in the 1970s, 1980s, and 

1990s, obtained a 5-year lease in 1959 for summer pasturage of 

their cattle. With this transaction, the last of the Bond sheep were 

removed from the Valle Grande and this important part of the 

Bond family’s connection to the Baca Location came to an end.

Lena Bonaguidi, Leonard M. Tartaglia, and Irene Tartaglia 

sued Frank Bond and Son, Inc., and New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., on January 13, 1959, complaining that they were rightful 

owners of 74 acres (30 ha) in Section 9, T19N, R3E. The court 

found for the plaintiffs. The judge determined that the west 

fence line of the Baca Location is on the east boundary of the 

tract held by Bonaguidi and others (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, 

Inc. 1967).

Divided Rights, Part II: James 

Patrick Dunigan vs. New Mexico 

Timber

On January 11, 1963 George W. Savage, trustee for Ethel 

Bond Huffman (Frank Bond’s widow), sold the Baca Location 

to James Patrick Dunigan, owner of Dunigan Tool and Supply 

Company, Abilene, Texas, for $2.5 million.

Dunigan’s acquisition of the Baca Location began a significant interlude in the pattern of use of the Valles Caldera. 

Dunigan continued cattle leases, but he also initiated the 

drilling of experimental steam wells. Dunigan was interested 

specifically in long-term conservation and went to extraordinary lengths, as shown by his lawsuit against New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., to try to restrain wasteful land use. Further, his 

companies eventually sold the Baca Location back to the 

public after his death.

New Mexico Timber, Inc., merged with the San Diego 

Land Corporation on April 30, 1963. In this transaction, New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., assumed the name of its parent corporation.

In 1964 Dunigan’s Baca Land and Cattle Company sued 

New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. P. Gallagher and Co., Inc., 

on three counts: (1) to establish the parties’ interests under the 

deed and contract of 1918 and 1926; (2) to seek damages for 

timber cut in violation of the terms of the deed and contract of 

1918 and 1926; and (3) to seek damages for wasteful logging 

practices (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A).

In a response to interrogatories filed on October 19, 

1964, in this case, Vega Testman, representing New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., deposed that the logging operation on the Baca 

Location between the years 1960 and 1963 had employed 81 

men. Based on the employees’ surnames, it appeared that 54 

were Hispanic. The others apparently were Anglo-Americans, 

although Jémez Indians could have been in both groups (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A).

Baca Land and Cattle Company argued that the defendant, 

New Mexico Timber, Inc., did not own any of the trees or 

wood “which were not in being on December 14, 1918” (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Motion for partial summary 

judgment filed December 23, 1965, box 110A). That is, Baca 

Land and Cattle Company claimed that New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., owned only the trees growing on the land at the time of 

signing the 1918 agreement.

While Dunigan and the timber companies were in court, 

logging continued. One deposition noted that logging took 

place on Cerro Toledo about 1966, with roads built “around 

and around the mountain” (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, 

Deposition of J. B. Harrell, Jr., July 17, 1968, box 110A). The 

roads were later bermed and abandoned, but the scars remain 

clearly visible today.

Dunigan had only partial success in his lawsuit. In 1967 

the U.S. District Court rendered summary judgment for the 

plaintiffs on the first two counts of the complaint (Baca Co. v. 

NM Timber, Inc. 1967). The Court established Baca Land and 

Cattle Company’s interest in the timber on the Baca Location 

and right to damages for timber cut in violation of the instruments of 1918 and 1926. With regard to the third count, 

although the District Court ordered New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., to restrain wasteful and abusive logging practices, it 

ordered trial by jury to consider the question of restitution for 

damages. Importantly, in doing so, the District Court upheld 

New Mexico Timber, Inc.’s 99-year timber lease on the Baca 

Location.
44 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Baca Land and Cattle Company, Dunigan Tool and Supply 

Company, and George W. Savage, the trustee of the Bond 

family, immediately appealed the District Court’s decision. 

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case on 

October 19, 1967. The court found that Baca Land and Cattle 

Company had set forth three different legal theories on the 

same set of facts as the basis for its dismissal. Because each 

theory of the appellants arose out of the same transaction or 

occurrence, the 10th Circuit said that the common practice of 

all circuit courts directed it “to conclude that the trial court’s 

ruling is not appealable” (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967). 

The case was remanded to the District Court.

Dunigan testified on July 18, 1968, that the Baca Location 

ran 7,000 steers from about April 15 to November 15 (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Record on Appeal, box 110A). 

Dunigan said that this had been his operation for the years 

1965 through 1968 (in 1963 and 1964, the prior lessee still 

controlled the grass).

George W. Savage, the Bond family trustee, testified that 

logging had marred the natural beauty of the Baca Location. 

He claimed that the severity of this disturbance eliminated 

“the motive of pride of possession” and that in his opinion 

this might reduce the value of the Baca Location from $2.5 to 

$1.5 million (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Deposition 

of George W. Savage, July 18, 1968, in Record on Appeal, 

box 110A).

In his findings of fact and conclusions of law dated June 5, 

1969, U.S. District Judge H. Vearle Payne found that timbering 

methods used before the 1960s meant that an area that had 

been logged could be used for cattle grazing. Moreover, he 

concluded that:

. . . the slash and debris did not form barriers to livestock or 

deer or other reasonable uses of the land by the fee owner, 

numerous trees were left standing, and erosion problems 

were localized to widely spaced lead roads and skid trails. 

Slash and debris left did not constitute a grave fire danger 

(Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Findings of Fact and 

Conclusions of Law, H. Vearle Payne, June 5, 1969, box 

110A).

Payne added, however, that:

. . . as a result of the timbering practices employed by the 

defendants commencing about the time plaintiffs acquired 

their interest in the Baca Location, slash and debris is piled 

upon slash and debris forming a barrier to livestock and deer 

and depriving plaintiffs of reasonable use of land (Baca Co. 

v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Findings of Fact and Conclusions 

of Law, H. Vearle Payne, June 5, 1969, box 110A).

Judge Payne found that clear-cutting meant that both dead 

and damaged live trees were left standing, such that they 

might constitute a severe fire danger, or might blow down and 

increase the tangle on the ground. He added that the recent 

system of haul roads had created a severe erosion problem 

(Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of Title to 

Timber Interest, box 110A).

Judge Payne then found that the timbering methods now 

being used were not contemplated in 1918 and 1926. He found 

that clear-cutting had not been anticipated originally and that 

this method destroyed the scenic value of the Baca Location 

(to which, he clearly indicated, the fee owner had a right). 

Yet the judge explicitly authorized clear-cutting of spruce 

and mixed conifers because this was the common method at 

the time of his ruling (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967,

Abstract of Title to Timber Interest, box 110A).

Judge Payne awarded damages to the plaintiff to pay for 

the harm caused by the defendant, but he rejected Baca Land 

and Cattle Company’s argument that New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., owned only the timber existing as of 1918, pointing to 

the 99-year provision and ruling that this period controlled, 

and that “increment” meant the natural increase and growth 

over this period. He upheld the property right of the defendant, while at the same time recognizing that Baca Land and 

Cattle Company could use the land for any purpose other than 

timbering, including scenic value and use (Baca Co. v. NM 

Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of Title to Timber Interest, box 

110A).

In the ruling that followed on August 12, 1969, Judge 

Payne denied the motion of the plaintiffs (Baca Land and 

Cattle Company, Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and 

George W. Savage, Trustee) for partial summary judgment. 

New Mexico Timber, Inc., and the other defendants, he said, 

were the owners of all timber, trees and wood “and the increment thereof,” and were permitted to clear-cut spruce and 

“mixed conifer-type” trees (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 

1967, Abstract of Title to Timber Interest, box 110A).

Judge Payne stipulated methods to repair damage: (1) cut 

down dead and living trees that were likely to blow over, (2) 

properly reseed and reconstruct water bars at appropriate 

spots on all roads not regularly used for timber harvesting, 

and (3) straighten out slash and debris so it lay on the ground. 

The timber companies must accomplish these tasks within one 

year, the judge ruled, and added that Baca Land and Cattle 

Company could use the Baca Location for any purpose except 

for the rights reserved in the 1918 contract and the 1926 deed. 

He also awarded Baca Land and Cattle Company compensatory damages of $202,278.31. Nevertheless, he awarded 

no damages for the clear-cutting of the Cerro del Medio area 

as of about January 7, 1969, nor any damages for the timber 

practices of the defendants up to and including January 7, 

1969 (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of Title 

to Timber Interest, box 110A). In conclusion, however, Judge 

Payne’s ruling made it inevitable that more logging damages 

would occur in the future.

New Mexico Timber, Inc., and the other defendant companies appealed this ruling on September 10, 1969 (Baca Co. v. 

NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of Title to Timber Interest, 

box 110A). In 1971, however, the parties settled. Dunigan 

bought back the timber rights and temporarily halted logging 

on the Baca Location (chapter 7).

Under Dunigan’s ownership, two land sales occurred 

(Martin 2003:103–104). Until this time, three small homestead entries and the sulfur mineral claims filed by John W. 

Walton and Maríano Otero were the only legally recognized 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 45

inholdings within the Baca Location (see chapter 8). Each of 

the properties received patents because their owners had acted 

in good faith under the belief that the respective tracts were 

outside the land grant boundaries that were based on the 1876 

Sawyer and McBroom survey.

In 1975, Dunigan finalized the sale of a 165-acre (66-ha) 

parcel along the Baca Location Land Grant’s east margin to 

the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. This sale allowed the ski 

operators to open a new lift and allow development of new 

north-facing slopes for ski runs. In 1977, the National Park 

Service (NPS) bought the 3,076-acre (1,245 ha) Upper Frijoles 

Tract at the southeast corner of the grant as an addition to 

Bandelier National Monument for $1,350,000. As part of the 

complex negotiations for this transaction, Dunigan traded 

a 12-acre (4.8-ha) parcel on the south side of New Mexico 

Highway near the Upper Frijoles Tract to Jacob Harrell, 

Union Oil Company of California, in exchange for the undivided mineral interest in the property that the NPS wished to 

acquire (Martin 2003:105–106).

After James Patrick Dunigan died in 1980, his estate sold 

two other small properties within the land grant to private 

individuals. These transactions took place in 1986 and 1987 

(Martin 2003:106).

Federal Acquisition of the

Baca Location

By the 1970s, Dunigan was well aware of initiatives by the 

NPS, USDA Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

to explore the public acquisition of the Baca ranch. This was 

not the first time that the U.S. Government had considered 

the issue. Congress first briefly entertained the idea in 1888, 

inspired by “the writings of ethnologist Adolph F. Bandelier 

and journalist Charles Lummis” (Martin 2003:73–74). Edgar 

Lee Hewett, the renowned archaeologist who was the driving 

force behind the legislative act that established the Bandelier 

National Monument, first lobbied Congress in 1900 to include 

the Valles Caldera in a great “Pajarito National Park.” The 

first bill died in committee. Hewett became a tireless advocate for the protection of the Pajarito Plateau’s archaeological 

resources. It took him 16 years, 6 more congressional bills, 

and countless meetings with ranchers, loggers, homesteaders, 

and Pueblo communities—who all had stakes and vocal 

concerns about their access to the Jemez Mountains’ land 

and natural resources to win Congressional authorization of 

Bandelier National Monument—a small area within the much 

larger park originally proposed in 1916.

Ranchers, miners and loggers finally accepted the monument to put an end to proposals for a larger park, but Hewett 

felt that Bandelier National Monument was an inadequate 

fragment of his vision. He revisited the idea of placing the 

Valles Caldera in public ownership in his 1923 proposal to 

establish a geographically expansive “Cliff Cities National 

Park” (Martin 2003:74). The NPS was responsive to the idea 

because it would have included the transfer of huge tracts to 

their administration, including 195,000 acres (78,000 ha) of 

the Santa Fe National Forest, the entire Baca Location, and 

the culturally significant pre-Columbian and early Historic 

period Tewa Pueblo villages of Otowi and Puye. The USDA 

Forest Service, Frank Bond and other ranchers, loggers, homesteaders, and Pueblo communities each renewed its objections 

to Hewett’s plan of creating an archaeological preserve whose 

reach extended beyond the established boundaries of the nowexisting Bandelier National Monument (Martin 2003:74).

Two more attempts to establish a national park that 

included at least major parts of the Valles Caldera were made 

before Dunigan’s acquisition of the Baca Location. In 1938 

H. E. Rothrock, Natural Resources Division, NPS, spearheaded an attempt to establish a million-acre (400,000 ha) 

national park that would have included “the entire Valles 

Caldera, and thus all of the Baca Location, the ancient 

villages on the mesas to the north and south, the Bond-owned 

Ramon Vigil Grant on the Pajarito Plateau, and the Cañada 

de Cochiti Grant” (Martin 2003:75). The coalition of other 

Federal, private, and tribal interests kept Rothrock’s expansive idea from moving from the Department of the Interior 

to Capitol Hill.

In 1961 an influential local resident, Evelyn Frey, informed 

New Mexico Senator Dennis Chavez that the Bond family was 

interested in selling the Baca Location (Martin 2003:75–78). 

Chavez found that the idea of creating a national park that 

included the Valle Grande interested both his colleague, New 

Mexico Senator Clinton P. Anderson, and the NPS. By this 

time the NPS had a long history of welcoming any proposal 

that would increase its holdings around the Bandelier National 

Monument. Senator Anderson engaged the Bond Estate, the 

NPS, and the USDA Forest Service in various discussions. 

T. P. Gallagher, president of New Mexico Timber, Inc., was 

steadfast in his opposition to the idea. He repeatedly reminded 

the parties that his company owned the timber on the Baca 

Location and intended to log it all (Martin 2003:77; see also 

chapter 7).

Dunigan was sympathetic to the idea of the preservation 

of the Baca Location, and listed the Valles Caldera with the 

NPS as a National Natural Landmark (NNL). Rather than 

focusing on the tract’s scenic, cultural-historical, and cultural 

values, however, the NNL nomination highlighted the Valles 

Caldera’s long, rich volcanic history (Martin 2003:111). 

While his investors proposed various development plans 

for the Valles Caldera, (including a ski resort, a racetrack, 

and a resort community of home sites and stores), Dunigan 

remained committed to his idea of maintaining the property as 

a working ranch and sustaining the Valle Grande’s beauty (see 

Martin 2003:80–82).

After Dunigan died in 1980, negotiations for the Federal 

acquisition of the Baca Location were shelved until the early 

1990s. The USDA Forest Service (1993) issued a preliminary 

study titled, Report on the Study of the Baca Location No. 1 

Pursuant to Public Law 101-556. The study was intended “to 

support informed and educated decisions regarding the Baca 

in the future” (USDA Forest Service 1993:2). The purpose of 

this document was to prepare for the acquisition of the Baca 

Location by the Federal Government. The report did not state 

this intent because the owners were not offering the Baca 

Location for sale at the time.
46 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

References

Adams, Eleanor B., ed.

1954 Bishop Tamarón’s Visitation of New Mexico, 1760. Publications in History, 15. Santa Fe: 

Historical Society of New Mexico.

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Bernalillo County, New Mexico

1849–1903 Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office Records. Accession No. 1974-034. 

Reels 1–33. Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Bond and Son

1918–1919 Ledger. Item 103. Bond, Frank, and Son Records. Albuquerque: Center for Southwest 

Research, General Library, University of New Mexico.

Bowden, J. J.

1969 Private Land Claims in the Southwest. Masters thesis. Houston: TX: Southern Methodist 

University.

Cabeza de Baca, Fabiola

1994 We Fed Them Cactus. 2nd ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Church, Peggy Pond

n.d. Peggy Pond Church Correspondence. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Historical Museum.

Douglass, William Boone, and Hugh M. Neighbour

n.d. Restorative Survey of the Baca Location No. 1. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe, NM: State Office, 

Bureau of Land Management.

Kelly, Daniel T., with Beatrice Chauvenet

1972 The Buffalo Head: A Century of Mercantile Pioneering in the Southwest. Santa Fe, NM: 

Vergara Publishing.

Laughlin Papers

1907 Unsigned letter to L.W. Dennis, Chicago, Illinois, August 14, 1907. Napoleon B. Laughlin 

Papers, Accession No. 1959–131, Box 10, Folder 145. Santa Fe, NM: State Records Center 

and Archives.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

McNitt, Frank

1972 Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals. Albuquerque: University of 

New Mexico Press.

Osterhoudt, L. A., W. V. Hall, and Charles W. Devendorf

1921 Independent Resurvey of the Baca Location No. 1. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe, NM: State 

Office, Bureau of Land Management.

Otero, Miguel Antonio

1935 My Life on the Frontier. Albuquerque, NM: Press of the Pioneers.

New Mexico’s Congressional delegation pursued acquisition throughout the 1990s. After lengthy negotiations with 

the Dunigan companies, the Federal Government acquired the 

Baca Location in 2000 and established the VCNP.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 47

Redondo Development Company

1915 Deed of Trust, Redondo Development Company to Warren Savings Bank, April 1, 1915. 

Sandoval County, New Mexico, Records, Deed Record No. 2 (1911–1922). Accession No. 

1959-042. Santa Fe, NM: State Records Center and Archives.

Rothman, Hal

1989 Industrial Values and Marginal Land: Cultural and Environmental Change on the Pajarito 

Plateau. New Mexico Historical Review 64:185–211.

Sawyer, Daniel and McBroom, William H.

1876 Field Notes of the Survey of Baca Location No. One, in New Mexico, being Grant made to 

the heirs of Luis Maria Baca by act of Congress approved June 21, 1860. Surveyed by Daniel 

Sawyer and William H. McBroom, U.S. Dep. Surs., under their Contract No. 68, of April 15, 

1876. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe, NM: State Office, Bureau of Land Management.

Scurlock, Dan

1981 Euro-American History of the Study Area. In High Altitude Adaptations along Redondo 

Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, 

eds. Pp. 131–160. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

Tucker, Edwin A., and George Fitzpatrick

1972 Men Who Matched the Mountains: The Forest Service in the Southwest. Albuquerque, NM: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region.

U.S. Congress, House

1860 H.R. Doc. No. 14, 36th Cong., 1st sess., 45.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region

1883–1913 Forest Homestead Records. Albuquerque, NM: Land Status Office, Southwest Region.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1915 Fire Map, Jemez National Forest, Santa Fe. Copy on file. Santa Fe: Angélico Chávez History 

Library, Palace of the Governors, Museum of New Mexico.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1993 Report on the Study of the Baca Location No. 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Southwest Region, August, 1993.

U.S. Public Law 167

1860 An Act to Confirm Certain Private Land Claims in the Territory of New Mexico. 36th. Cong., 

1st sess., June 21, 1860.

Wentworth, Edward Norris

1948 America’s Sheep Trails. Ames: Iowa State College Press.

Whitney v. Otero

1893 Joel Parker Whitney v. Mariano S. Otero et al. Civil Case No. 3632. Records of the U.S. 

Territorial and New Mexico District Courts for Bernalillo County. Accession No. 1959–124. 

Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.
48 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 49

Introduction

Native American populations have cut wood for shelters and fuel, gathered native plants, hunted game animals, 

and collected various other resources, such as obsidian for 

making chipped-stone tools, clay for crafting pottery vessels, 

and stone slabs for producing piki (corn meal paper bread) 

griddles, in the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) 

for countless centuries (chapter 2). Archaeological evidence 

recounted in chapter 2 documents that Pueblo groups from 

the upper Río Jémez Valley farmed the Banco Bonito within 

the VCNP during pre-Columbian times. Although the available evidence is scanty, it appears likely that Pueblo groups 

caught trout in the Valles Caldera’s former marsh lands and in 

streams for immediate consumption while they were staying 

in the locale for other purposes.

Consisting of a relatively narrow assemblage of raw materials—primarily obsidian debitage, chipped stone tools, 

charred botanical materials, a few fragments of animal bone, 

and the remnants of stone fieldhouses—the archaeological 

record offers insights only into a fraction of the activities that 

took place in the past. Moreover, it is largely silent on the 

social and ideational contexts underlying the aboriginal use of 

the locale before the arrival of Europeans in the region in the 

sixteenth century. Consequently, archaeological constructions 

of the pre-Columbian occupation in the Valles Caldera, as 

presented in chapter 2, necessarily focus on economic issues. 

The ethnohistoric and ethnographic records reveal that 

many Pueblo communities have maintained significant relationships with the VCNP throughout the Historic period. Like 

their pre-Columbian forebears, these peoples have gathered 

native plants, hunted game animals, fished, and collected 

various minerals. Similarly, their stays were comparatively 

brief; the Pueblos never built and occupied permanent habitations in the locality. Because Spanish colonial administrators 

generally failed to recognize Native Americans’ traditional 

land use practices (Anschuetz 1998c), the continued occupation of the Valles Caldera by the Pueblos is underrepresented 

in the documentary record. 

Historic Pueblo communities maintained cultural and 

historical affiliations with the Valles Caldera. These communities included neighboring settlements (e.g., the Pueblos of 

Jémez, Santa Clara, and Zía), as well as villages located at 

great distances (e.g., the Pueblo of Zuni in west-central New 

Mexico) (chapters 1 and 9). Secrecy has effectively shielded 

specific detail of the Pueblos’ activities in the Valles Caldera 

from the view of outsiders (e.g., Weslowski 1981:114). The 

keepers of indigenous cultural knowledge invoked confidentiality to protect the sanctity and power of their communities’ 

age-old traditions (Anschuetz 2002a:3.35–3.37; Friedlander 

and Pinyan 1980). Ethnographic observations, however, 

indicate that the Pueblos’ gathering, hunting, and collecting 

pursuits satisfied subsistence, social, and ritual needs (see 

chapter 9).

Other Native American groups known to have come to the 

Valles Caldera for their own purposes include the Apache, 

Navajo, and Ute. Just as with the Pueblos, available documentary evidence indicates that these visits were not necessarily 

undertaken for material needs or as a stopover along a journey 

from the north, northwest, or west to the Río Grande Valley. 

These nomadic groups also held the Valles Caldera in regard 

for important social and cultural reasons (chapter 9).

Wood cutting, plant gathering, hunting, and mineral 

collecting in the Valles Caldera by Hispanic soldiers and 

herdsmen date to the eighteenth century. At this time, raids by 

various Native American nomads prompted punitive military 

expeditions. In addition, the diversification of New Mexico’s 

economy fueled the search for new livestock pastures (chapters 3 and 6). The Spanish colonial administration of New 

Mexico also began making land grants for settlers in the Río 

Jémez and Río Chama valleys in the early eighteenth century. 

Hispanic settlers from the Chama district farmed in high elevation settings northeast of the Baca Location No. 1’s (Baca 

Location’s) historical boundaries during the mid-early eighteenth-century drought cycle. For this reason, it is possible that 

other Hispanic, Pueblo, or Genízaro (i.e., hispanicized Native 

American) groups from the south or east similarly planted in 

selected, well-watered meadows in the Valles Caldera. 

The activities undertaken by Hispanic visitors likely were 

completed at a relatively small scale. Most also probably were 

undertaken to fulfill some immediate need of individuals during 

their brief visits to the locale. Detailed information about their 

specific use of the Valles Caldera is lacking. Ethnohistorical 

accounts offered by lifelong residents of the locality, however, 

suggest that the Hispanic residents, like their Native American 

Chapter 5.

Plant Gathering, Game Hunting, Fishing, Mineral 

Collecting, and Agriculture

Kurt F. Anschuetz
50 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

counterparts, developed special relationships with this unique 

upland setting that transcended economic activity.

By the late nineteenth century, permanent settlement moved 

closer to the Valles Caldera. Hispanic and Anglo-American 

homesteaders settled around Battleship Rock near Jémez 

Springs some time after 1876. By 1880 there was a small 

ranching settlement east of the Baca Location in the setting now 

occupied by Los Alamos (Scurlock 1981:138). The village 

of Archuleta (subsequently renamed Perea and now Jémez 

Springs), located near the Jémez Hot Springs on the Cañon 

de San Diego Land Grant, was established about the same 

time near Archuleta’s original 1850s cabin (Smith 1979, in 

Scurlock 1981:138). Archuleta built the first crude bath houses 

for commercial use (Martin 2003:41). Homesteads gave rise 

to the settlement of La Cueva near the southwest corner of 

the Baca Location. At about 1883, homesteaders, including 

John Kelly, Polito Montoya, N. R. Darey, Angeline Eagle, J. 

S. Eagle, and S. D. Thompson moved still closer to the Valles 

Caldera (USDA Forest Service 1883–1913; see also chapter 

6). Meanwhile, Maríano Sabine Otero and his uncle, Miguel 

Antonio Otero, working with officials of the Atchison, Topeka, 

and Santa Fe Railroad, made plans to develop the Jémez Hot 

Springs—which they bought from Archuleta—and Sulfur 

Springs as resorts. The passage of the Enlarged Homestead 

Act (1909) and the Stock-raising or Grazing Homestead Act 

(1916) brought intense settlement by Hispanics and AngloAmericans. This act quickly brought the establishment of at 

least 19 homesteads, occupied land claims, and ranches around 

La Cueva and Upper Vallecitos, which are just southwest and 

south of the VCNP, respectively (Scurlock 1981:142). 

With this development in the last decades of the nineteenth century, local residents and entrepreneurs increasingly 

looked toward the Valles Caldera for the raw materials and 

recreational venues for their new communities and businesses. Recreational hunting increased and timber joined 

ranching, making these the dominant activities. Consequently, 

game animals, such as elk, rapidly became depleted and the 

construction of sawmills brought commercial timbering to the 

upper Río Jémez Valley in the 1890s (Scurlock 1981:140). 

Even as development resulted in increasingly dramatic physical and ecological changes to parts of the Jémez Mountains, 

traditional Native American and Hispanic hunting, fishing, 

plant gathering, and various mineral, rock, and other resource 

collecting activities persisted in comparative obscurity.

This chapter reviews historical and ethnohistorical evidence 

of plant gathering, game hunting, fishing, mineral collecting, 

and agriculture within the Valles Caldera. Except for a brief 

episode of commercial hay cutting in the mid-nineteenth 

century, small-scale fishing by a small number of Pueblo 

men to satisfy a limited demand in Santa Fe during the late 

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and a sport hunting 

business begun by James Patrick Dunigan in the 1960s during 

his tenure as the owner of the Baca Location, the land uses 

considered in this chapter were either traditional subsistence 

or vernacular (qua common indigenous practice) activities.

As I note in my preceding comments, gathering, hunting, 

and collecting pursuits undertaken by traditional Native 

American and Hispanic groups often have important social 

and ritual meanings, as well as economic functions. To follow 

the structure of the chapters on the history of ranching (chapter 

6), industrial timbering (chapter 7), and industrial mineral 

extraction and geothermal exploration (chapter 8) within the 

Valles Caldera, I primarily focus the following discussion 

on subsistence issues. I refer the reader to chapter 9, which 

addresses how the VCNP represents a multilayered ethnographic landscape, for insights into the social and ideational 

importance of native plant gathering, game hunting, fishing, 

and obsidian, clay, and other resource collecting among the 

Native American and Hispanic communities who maintain 

associations with this locality. 

Native Plant Gathering

Collecting plants in the late summer and fall undoubtedly was an important draw for the people who have visited 

the Valles Caldera over countless centuries. Archaeological 

sites within the study area do not occur only in areas of the 

greatest diversity of mammals and birds. These locations 

generally also have high plant diversity (Winter 1981:176). 

Nevertheless, grinding stones, such as manos and metates, 

are rare. Excavations conducted in the Redondo Creek Valley 

for the Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project did not 

find storage pits, hearths, or other features expected at plant 

processing sites (Winter 1981:177). Investigators recovered 

small numbers of edible Chenopod and Monocot seeds from 

sites that also had ground-stone tools. 

Secrecy has limited opportunities by anthropologists 

to observe plant gathering in the Valles Caldera first hand. 

In comparison, more is known of native plant gathering by 

Native American groups that used the VCNP. Much of what 

is known is owed to Lois Vermilya Weslowski (1981), an 

anthropologist who reported on Jémez Pueblo’s cultural and 

historical relationships with the Redondo Creek Valley nearly 

25 years ago in anticipation of geothermal development. 

Although the entire Redondo Peak vicinity is important to the 

Pueblo, Weslowski (1981:111–112) states that the Redondo 

Creek watershed was especially important for the gathering of 

many plants and herbs traditionally used by the community’s 

people. She offers useful context:

Plant gathering is viewed as an integral part of community 

survival and is undertaken as a comprehensive activity. 

In earlier years, a rich assortment of plant species was 

collected, providing the village with wild food supplements, 

raw materials for household needs, building supplies, and 

fuel. Moreover, all plant collection was ritually tied to the 

societal gathering of herbs and medicines. These ceremonial 

plants continue to be regarded as extremely sacred and are 

still gathered with reverence. The entire Redondo Creek 

Valley is recognized as the main location for obtaining 

certain ritual herbs and medicines, as dictated by traditional 

religious practice (Weslowski 1981:111).

The Redondo Creek Valley supports a large number of the 

native plants that were historically gathered by the people of 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 51

Jémez Pueblo and the other Pueblos for food. These resources 

include native grapes, strawberries, chokecherries, currants, 

oceanspray, Gambel oak acorns, white pine nuts, and clusters 

of pink New Mexico locust flowers. The latter taxon offers 

a delectable nectar when eaten raw (Weslowski 1981:111; 

citing Castetter 1935:27, 42, 49; Cook 1930:27, 28). 

Betty Woods (1942) speculates that the people of Jémez 

Pueblo visited the Valles Caldera to harvest piñon nuts and to 

gather other native plant products. Writing for New Mexico 

Magazine in the early 1940s, she reported, “every day during 

the piñon season they [the Jémez] pass through [Vallecito de 

los Indios] on their way to the mesa tops, for they, too, are 

great nut hunters” (Woods 1942:30, emphasis in the original). 

Because the VCNP today supports only a small number (<100) 

of piñon trees near Redondo Meadow and has no landforms 

that fulfill the usual physiographic definition of mesas, it is 

difficult to imagine that extensive piñon stands existed in the 

VCNP even during pre-Columbian Pueblo times at elevations 

of 8,500 feet (2,591 m) (Dr. Bob Parmeter, personal communication, VCNP, Los Alamos, 2005). 

The Jémez harvested mountain mahogany root, a highly 

resilient forest product found on the Valles Caldera’s mountainous slopes, for making rabbit sticks, clubs, baby cradles, 

fruit drying racks, and various tool handles (Weslowski 

1981:111). The people prized the supple boughs of the chokecherry, currant, and New Mexico locust for use in making 

bows, and favored the hard wood of the Gambel oak as well 

as mahogany root for making clubs and rabbit sticks (Cook 

1930:27; Weslowski 1981:114). The Jémez produced a red 

dye to color moccasins by boiling a mixture of alder bark, 

mountain mahogany, and birch (Cook 1930:20). The value of 

mountain mahogany root and Gambel oak further is illustrated 

by the fact that the Jémez today continue to use these woods 

as fuel for firing pottery (Weslowski 1981:114). 

One of Weslowski’s (1981:114) male informants noted 

that the Redondo Creek Valley supports the growth of an 

unspecified tall grass that is used in basketry, and a marsh 

grass that is needed for weaving mats and pads for drying 

fruit. He also mentions that Jémez women use yucca, which 

occurs elsewhere in the Valles Caldera, in their basketry. This 

informant added that the Jémez also use marsh grass in some 

of the Pueblo’s dances. Finally, he notes that this people visit 

the Valles Caldera area to obtain ponderosa pine timbers 

for roof vigas and aspen branches for thatch (in Weslowski 

1981:114).

The collection of the above resources was undertaken by 

the Jémez “in relation to the societal gathering of herbs and 

medicines,” which were procured from specific localities “in 

accordance with ritual procedures passed on by oral history” 

(Weslowski 1981:114). Native plant products used in Jémez 

Pueblo rituals include Douglas fir boughs and sprigs, which 

the people use in nearly every dance as part of their costumes. 

As stated by the Jémez themselves, Douglas fir branches “are 

commonly carried in the hand as well as tied to headdresses, 

collars, waist belts, and legs. On some occasions, entire trees 

are even set out in the plaza” (Weslowski 1981:114). After 

their use in ceremonies, the Jémez dispose of the Douglas fir 

products that they had gathered for these observances with 

reverence and through ritual. 

Other Valles Caldera plants used in Jémez rituals include 

blue flag (native iris) flowers dried for certain December 

dances, cinquefoil blooms for summer ceremonies, native 

grapes for producing body paints needed by dancers, and moss 

for costumes used in the sickle dance (Cook 1930:22, 24, 28; 

Weslowski 1981:114). The Jémez harvest aspen trunks from 

alpine settings for making drums and wati grass from around 

mountain springs for use as prayer sticks (Ellis 1956:56–57; 

Parsons 1925:104). Other species that grow around springs, 

such as sedges and rushes, as well as the algae that thrives 

in the water, are harvested for use in the kivas (Weslowski 

1981:114). The significance of these resources lies in their 

association with spring water, which the Pueblos consider 

powerful medicine (Parsons 1996 [1939]:352, 416, 453–454; 

see chapter 9).

Given the ritual and power associated with medicinal 

herbs, comparatively little is known publicly about the traditional pharmacology of Jémez Pueblo. Weslowski observes:

Sage is documented as a remedy for stomach trouble. 

Prepared lichens are applied to sores (Cook 1930:20, 28). 

Other studies of Pueblo medicine in general describe uses for 

a few other plants found in the study [i.e., the Redondo Creek 

Valley] area, including mountain mahogany, white fir, aspen, 

and wild rose. Whether or not the Jemez actually utilize these 

same species for medicinal purposes is unknown (Weslowski

1981:114; bold added).

During their forays into the Valles Caldera, the people of 

Jémez Pueblo traditionally built temporary shelters of tree 

boughs and rocks. They occasionally also built more substantial log cabins for shelter, hunting rites, and related ceremonial 

purposes (Weslowski 1981:111). 

Another anthropologist, Leslie A. White (1962), offers 

a few additional insights into the use of Valles Caldera 

plants by nearby Pueblo communities. Reporting his study 

at Zía Pueblo, downstream of Jémez Pueblo in the lower 

Río Jémez Valley, White (1962) states that retreats into the 

Jémez Mountains remain an important part of this community’s ritual life. Members of Zía’s medicine societies, just 

as those from Jémez and other nearby Pueblo communities, were required by their respective community traditions 

to make pilgrimages into the Jémez Mountains in general 

and the Valles Caldera locality in particular. The duties of 

society members participating in these special expeditions 

often included the gathering of yucca leaves (used both for 

making whips and soapy water for blowing bubbles [cloud 

symbols] in medicine bowls), several unspecified kinds of 

grass, and oak for use in their respective community’s many 

rituals and ceremonies. During summer pilgrimages, society 

members collected decorative material, such as spruce and 

piñon boughs, for their kivas. They would also harvest willow 

branches for making prayersticks, and oak branches for 

kicksticks, if ceremonial races were involved in the upcoming 

ceremony (White 1962:172, 232).
52 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The importance of these plant-gathering expeditions was 

not entirely lost on Frank Bond. From the time of his purchase 

of the Baca Location Land Grant until his death in 1945 

(chapter 4), Bond “permitted the people of the surrounding 

pueblos various types of access to the property.” Through the 

1940s, Jémez people received permission to conduct ceremonies on the property. Limited hunting was also allowed, and 

perhaps included the construction of traditional log structures 

(Martin 2003:66).

Native Americans were not the only people to gather 

native flora in the Valles Caldera. Hispanic residents of the 

surrounding valleys have a long, even if little reported, tradition of gathering plants in the Jémez Mountains. Carrillo 

and others (1997:136–137) briefly discuss Hispanic land 

use patterns along the length of the Public Service Company 

of New Mexico’s once-proposed Ojo Line Extension (OLE) 

construction corridor, which crosses the east margin of the 

Baca Location land grant boundaries. These authors note 

generally that area residents visited the Jémez Mountains, 

including the Baca Location, to gather herbs, berries, nuts, 

and broom grass for household consumption, medicinal use, 

and ritual practices (Carrillo et al. 1997:137). For example, 

one of their informants stated:

I recall gathering piñon nuts, broom grass, and other things 

in the area of the power line, especially the Baca Location. 

Broom grass was a sacred plant found in the Baca Location 

(Informant I, personal communication 1991, in Carrillo et al. 

1997:137).

Another informant added that Hispanics actually harvested 

two kinds of broom grass.

“There is the traditional broom grass, which is out of a thin 

grass, which is straight stemmed and hard, and then there is 

another type of broom grass which is quite a bit taller, with a 

thicker stem” (Informant I, personal communication 1991, in 

Carrillo et al. 1997:137). 

Carrillo and others (1997) note further that area Hispanic 

residents harvested wood for use as fuel and building material. 

An informant stated that they favored slower-burning piñon 

and oak during the winter. Both of these species, however, are 

much less common in the high elevations of the VCNP than in 

the surrounding areas (Dr. Bob Parmeter, personal communication, VCNP, Los Alamos, 2005). Local residents preferred 

“cedar” (possibly meaning tamarisk) and juniper for summer 

use (Informant B, personal communication 1991, in Carrillo 

et al. 1997:137). These fuels burn rapidly, thereby allowing 

the fires to cool more quickly.

Hispanic traditions refer to the acquisition of Jémez 

Mountain timbers for construction since the earliest colonial settlement in the area. Given the remote location of the 

Valles Caldera, however, lumber harvests were minimal until 

the twentieth-century (chapter 7). Instead, Hispanic shepherds 

and ranchers constructed sheds, corrals, lambing pens, and 

other structures of logs or milled lumber at their larger stock 

camps (Winter 1981:178, after Scurlock 1981). 

Although Carrillo and others (1997) do not elaborate 

on any of these observations, Hispanic gathering traditions 

overlap markedly with those of the region’s Native American 

communities. That such a blending exists is not surprising, 

given the process of mestizaje—the hybridization of Indian, 

Mexican, and Iberian cultures through intermarriage—that 

has characterized northern New Mexico’s history and culture 

since Spanish colonization (e.g., Anzaldúa 1987:5; Lamadrid 

and Gandert 2001:66; see also Mörner 1967; Wolf 1959).

Equally important is syncretism, which refers to melding of 

the structure and symbolic content of Indian and of Iberian 

(i.e., Catholic) religious belief (e.g., Anzaldúa 1987:25–39; 

Ingham 1986:180–193; Rodriguez 1994:143–148; see also 

chapter 9).

Direct observations of specific native plant gathering 

activity in the VCNP by Native American and Hispanic 

groups are limited. Nonetheless, an initial survey of key 

ethnobotanical reference materials illustrates the richness 

of this mountainous habitat in terms of the number of plant 

taxa important to the everyday secular and ritual lives of the 

region’s traditional communities that historically have maintained an association with this locality. This sample includes 

plant uses by the Río Grande Pueblos (i.e., Jémez, the northern 

Tiwa [Picurís and Taos], the southern Tiwa [Isleta and Sandia], 

the Eastern Keres [Cochití, Santa Santo Domingo, and Zía], 

the Tewa [Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa 

Clara, and Tesuque], the Western Keres [Acoma and Laguna], 

Zuni Pueblo, the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla 

Apache Tribe, the Ute tribes of Colorado, and New Mexican 

Hispanics [chapter 1]). I also include references to archaeological samples collected from pre-Columbian Pueblo and 

seventeenth-century Spanish colonial assemblages because 

these resources establish the antiquity of certain plant uses, 

including some that are not known from direct ethnobotanical 

observation. 

As shown in tables 5.1 and 5.2 (tables are at the end of the 

chapter), the VCNP may offer as many as 350 native plant 

taxa that at least one of the associated Native American and 

Hispanic communities is known to have used traditionally. Of 

this assemblage, 125 taxa represent plant species that ethnobotanical references identify explicitly. I base the identification 

of the use of the remaining 225 taxa on analogy. That is, when 

ethnobotanists identify a plant either by genera or a related 

species, I assume that the pertinent Valles Calderas botanical 

specimen(s) possess the potential for similar use(s) as those 

reported. 

To simplify the task of compiling this diverse, rich body of 

information, I follow ethnobotanists William W. Dunmire and 

Gail D. Tierney (1995, 1997) and report plant uses in terms 

of seven general categories: (1) food or beverage; (2) medicine; (3) smoking or chewing (for recreation); (4) construction 

or fuel; (5) dyes, pigments, tanning, soap, or crafts; (6) fiber, 

cordage, basketry or matting; and (7) tools. In an attempt to 

document food uses and other ethnographic observations of 

interest more fully, table 5.1 offers a comment field that identifies edible plant parts and selected supplemental detail. Out 

of respect for the sensitivity of information related to Native 

American ceremony, I did not attempt to inventory ritual use 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 53

by taxa. The small number of published observations provided 

in the preceding paragraphs specific to the Jémez Mountains 

will have to suffice. 

While table 5.1 reports uses by individual taxon, table 5.2 

offers summary counts. Throughout table 5.1 I distinguish 

which uses are for plant species that exactly match reported 

Valles Caldera species and which applications are based 

on analogy. The reader should note that many of the Valles 

Caldera plant taxa have plant uses based on both direct observation and analogy. Table 5.2 does not attempt to discriminate 

between functions based on direct observation and analogy 

within individual taxa. Instead, I rely on the occurrence of any 

instance of direct observation within species in classifying my 

summary counts. 

The information represented in tables 5.1 and 5.2 admittedly 

sacrifices much useful ethnobotanical detail. Nevertheless, it 

allows identification of several important patterns relevant to 

evaluations of the land use history of the VCNP before largescale herding and industrial timbering reached the area. 

First, the identification of 290 (82.9%) plants in the category “Foods and Beverages” might initially appear to suggest 

that the Valles Caldera was a virtual Garden of Eden at some 

times of the year for subsistence plant gatherers. This raw 

count is misleading, however. Of this diverse inventory, few 

species represent either high-quality foods or resources that 

people can depend upon to occur with unwavering abundance 

over time.

Dunmire and Tierney (1995:56) note that certain key 

resources, including “wild nuts and grains, cactus fruits, and 

amaranth and goosefoot seeds and leaves...are high in protein, 

their inclusion in early diets must have been critical to maintaining a healthy population.” In addition, they observe that 

aboriginal methods for gathering and preparing a variety of 

supplemental native foods found in the Valles Caldera, such 

as “wild celery and beeplant greens in the spring; amaranth 

greens, groundcherry pods, and wild onions in the summer; 

and...sunflower seeds in the fall” (Dunmire and Tierney 

1995:57) helped to ensure that Native peoples included a 

beneficial mix of essential nutrients in their diets. 

Native plant resources upon which traditional peoples 

depended either as staples or key supplemental foodstuffs, 

however, characteristically have a patchy distribution in highaltitude mountainous settings and/or exhibit a high degree of 

variability in productivity from year to year. They do not offer 

either the productivity or the reliability needed to sustain a 

large number of people in one place for a significant length 

in time. It is not surprising, therefore, that the archaeological and historical records alike document that the permanent 

settlement of the VCNP did not occur until the past century. 

Moreover, year-round habitation of this locality was finally 

made possible because of a reliance on commercial ranching 

operations (chapters 4 and 6). Even then, comparatively few 

people ever lived on the Baca Location year-round. Most of 

the land grant’s residents occupied it, usually from spring to 

late fall, as seasonal employees.

Equally important, as many indigenous Southwestern 

peoples became more dependent on corn and other cultigens 

for their livelihood:

. . . gathering became more seasonal and less of a factor 

in the people’s diet. Today, except for piñon nuts, most 

gathering for food by Pueblo Indians [and all other 

traditional peoples of the northern Southwest] seems to be 

done in conjunction with other activities—tending crops, 

hunting for game, or management of livestock—rather than 

of itself . . . (Dunmire and Tierney 1995:56).

Area Hispanic residents probably followed the Pueblo 

model of plant gathering as primarily an adjunct activity 

during their visits to the Baca Location. As noted previously, 

the VCNP likely did not support the dense stands of piñon 

trees needed to sustain intensive nut gathering activity during 

the fall (Dr. Bob Parmeter, personal communication, VCNP, 

Los Alamos, 2005). Even among late nineteenth-century 

populations who still largely pursued hunting and gathering 

as a way of life, such as the Navajo, Apache, and Ute peoples, 

plant gathering in the Valles Caldera almost certainly was a 

periodic, short-term activity undertaken in combination with 

other transitory purposes. 

One additional type of food gathering activity in the VCNP 

is mentioned because it serves to underscore the tenuous 

nature of the edible native plant resources in this high altitude forest habitat. Three tree species—Rocky Mountain 

maple, limber pine, and ponderosa pine—found in the Baca 

Location locality produce an edible inner bark, the cambium 

(table 5.1). High in calories because of the concentration of 

sugars contained in its fibrous mass, cambium was variously 

consumed by traditional Native American and Hispanic populations at any time of the year during times of need (Dunmire 

and Tierney 1995:100; Hudspeth 1997:29). 

Writing of the ponderosa pine, whose bark can give the 

sweet scent of vanilla (especially when the trees are not drought 

stressed), Dunmire and Tierney (1995) add that people might 

simply chew pieces of raw cambium to release its sugars. “The 

cambium can be very bitter, so if used in quantity, it was probably processed by pounding or grinding and then leaching 

with water” (Dunmire and Tierney 1995:100). 

Trees harvested for their cambium on a large scale 

yield telltale scars on their trunks. Rather than girdling 

and killing a tree, people would cut through the outer bark 

and pry off long, vertical planks of outer and inner bark. 

On mature ponderosa pine trees, the residual scars, which 

might date back more than a century, can extend from near 

the base the tree’s trunk to heights of nearly 10 feet (3 m) 

(Author’s personal observation, Río Grande Foundation for 

Communities and Cultural Landscapes, Santa Fe, 1998).

Surviving features of this type, which are part of the 

archaeological record because they represent a locus of 

human activity, are important in reaching an understanding of 

the land use history of the VCNP. They possess the potential 

to help students of natural and cultural history—archaeologists, historians, and ecologists—understand some of the 

circumstances that lead people to rely on so-called starvation foods in this setting. Through the adoption of a regional 

perspective and a multidisciplinary approach that includes 

climatological and dendrochronological information, investigators might be able to address an intriguing question: 
54 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Why did groups who visited the Baca Location over the past 

several centuries harvest cambium? Widespread drought 

stress is one possibility. The inherently low productivity of 

edible native flora in the Valles Caldera might have required 

groups visiting the locality to intensify their gathering if they 

were forced to stay in the mountains for extended periods 

due to times of open raiding and warfare. As noted in chapter 

3, the Valles Caldera lies along major routes used by many 

Native American communities and Spanish and U.S. military forces alike to travel between the Río Grande valley and 

areas to the west and northwest. 

Second, the large number of native plant species in the 

VCNP with one or more directly documented or inferred 

medicinal uses (n = 286 [81.7%]) simultaneously illustrates 

and strengthens the importance of observations made previously by Dunmire and Tierney: 

Some medicinal plants associated with Pueblo people grow 

only at higher elevations. Not many of these are detailed... 

[in published works such as theirs because most of these taxa 

are not readily visible to the public]. But certain members 

of the medicine societies that use these plants still make 

regular forays to the mountains to collect them. Thus, many 

Puebloans are concerned about having continued legal 

access and rights to use these lands for medicinal herb 

collection, even though they may technically be outside the 

official boundaries of their Pueblo. These people also have a 

legitimate interest in such lands, which typically are within 

the national forests of New Mexico, not being developed for 

heavy recreational or commodity uses that might diminish 

the quality of habitat for their medicinal plants (Dunmire 

and Tierney 1995:59).

As shown in the studies by Karen Cowan Ford (1975) 

and Michael Moore (1977), traditional Hispanic communities similarly possess extensive native plant pharmacologies, 

including numerous taxa found in the mountainous setting 

of the VCNP (table 5.1). Consequently, the argument that 

Dunmire and Tierney make for Pueblo concerns about their 

ability to continue their traditional relationship with the native 

medicinal plants within the former Baca Location applies 

to Hispanic communities equally. The same unquestionably holds true for the people of the Navajo Nation whose 

ethnopharmacology also is comparatively well studied (e.g., 

Dunmire and Tierney 1997; see also table 5.1). Although 

medicinal plant uses among the Jicarilla Apache and Ute are 

less well documented (table 5.1), it is reasonable to anticipate 

that Dunmire and Tierney’s commentary would apply similarly to these communities. 

The medicinal species identified in table 5.1 are included 

in the pharmacologies of one or more traditional associated 

communities because the people have long understood that 

certain plants by themselves, or particular combinations of 

plants, possess healing properties. (The persistent interest 

of today’s pharmaceutical companies in ethnopharmacology 

indicates that the chemical basis of many indigenous cures 

remains to be discovered and quantified [after Dunmire and 

Tierney 1995:58].) The power of healing, however, is not 

merely a secular matter. It concurrently enters the realm of 

ritual, a topic that is beyond the scope of this discussion. 

Third, as documented in table 5.1, many of the medicinal 

plants used by Native Americans and Hispanics are also food 

plants. We can similarly expect that many of these medicinal 

plants also have important, highly sensitive ritual applications. It is conceivable that other plant species, which occur in 

the Valles Caldera but are not listed in table 5.1, might be used 

in community rituals (after Dunmire and Tierney 1995:58). 

It is important to emphasize that some medicinal plants 

found in the Valles Caldera that ethnobotanists and other 

anthropologists have observed being used by associated 

communities in ceremonies such as private prayer, public 

dance, and healing ritual, cannot be collected anywhere else 

(Winter 1981:177). This does not mean that the occurrence 

of some plants is unique to the Baca Location, however. The 

geographical association of certain plants with the Valles 

Caldera contributes to traditional cultural knowledge and 

values, which specify the need for people to harvest particular 

plant taxa only from this location (chapter 9). 

Fourth, plants that are native to the VCNP and are used for 

purposes other than food, beverage, or medicine illustrate the 

breadth of the traditional occupation of this locality by associated communities. The species represented among the five 

residual categories (i.e., “Smoking or Chewing,” “Construction 

or Fuel,” “Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts,” “Fiber, 

Cordage, Basketry or Matting,” and “Tools”) were necessary for sustaining diverse aspects of Native American and 

Hispanic people’s lives. Although many of these uses are 

virtually invisible except through ethnographic and ethnobotanical investigation—just as is the case with the harvesting 

of edible tree bark—the active pruning of long-lived, woody 

species for certain tools, craft items, such as bows, cradle 

boards and pine resin, or even fuel wood can embody invaluable, although frequently often overlooked, archaeological 

evidence (Dr. Richard I. Ford, personal communication, 

Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann 

Arbor, 1998; Louie Hena, personal communication, Pueblo of 

Tesuque, 2001; Felipe Ortega, personal communication, Owl 

Peak Bed and Breakfast, La Madera, NM, 1998). In the case 

of trees, whether dead or still living, dendrochronology may 

be used to determine the date when a piece of a trunk or limb 

was harvested. Moreover, the act of pruning living flora rather 

than unnecessarily killing an entire plant for certain desired 

products attests to traditional land use practices than may 

differ from those that have predominated in the locality over 

the past century. 

Robert Nesbit and Hiram R. Parker’s Hay 

Cutting Enterprise Revisited

The large-scale commercial harvesting of native plant 

products, other than trees for lumber and pulpwood, in the 

Valles Caldera was limited to a brief episode in the midnineteenth century. Persistent spring drought conditions and 

overgrazing had combined to deplete rangelands at lower 

elevations close to Santa Fe at the beginning of the 1850s. The 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 55

Army was becoming desperate for fodder to feed the horses 

and mules on which the Fort Marcy garrison depended. The 

Army looked toward the well-watered valleys of the Jémez 

Mountains for hay. The Army’s resolution to improve the 

road between Santa Fe and the Valles Caldera, a distance of 

40 miles (64 km), to facilitate the transport of hay harvested 

in the Jémez Mountains back to Santa Fe partly attests to the 

great need that the garrison faced. This road crossed the Río 

Grande at present-day Buckman, ascended the Pajarito Plateau 

via Mortandad Canyon, and traversed the Sierra de los Valles 

through Cañon de Valle. The 1851 contract award by Fort 

Marcy Quartermaster Alexander W. Reynolds to a civilian 

company headed by Robert Nesbit and Hiram R. Parker to cut 

and haul Jémez Mountains hay to Santa Fe at the premium rate 

of $50.00 per ton also seems to attest to the severity of the hay 

supply shortage (Frazer 1983:50). Quartermaster Reynolds, 

however, had a history of making shady deals with Robert 

Nesbit that ensured the two men were among the wealthiest 

residents in the whole Territory of New Mexico (Jordan et al. 

2000:465–468, 470, 494). 

Nesbit and Parker expected a substantial profit. They 

bought a train of mule wagons from Pinckney Tully in Santa 

Fe. The partners apparently had hoped that they would find 

good hay in the lower elevation valleys closer to Santa Fe 

(McNitt 1972:184). Not only would their cartage costs be 

reduced (assuring them of an even larger profit), the hay crew 

would be less exposed to the threat of Navajo raiders who 

were moving through the Jémez Mountains upland valleys.

They found that prevailing drought conditions had stunted 

and browned the grasses in the lower valleys. Nesbit and 

Parker had to lead their crew higher into the Jémez Mountains 

(McNitt 1972:184). The Valle Grande, which they referred to 

as the “Grande Bioh” in a letter dated July 6, 1851, to Colonel 

Munroe, Commander, 9th Military Detachment, U.S. Army 

(Church n.d.), was “an emerald swatch surrounded by tall 

timber” (McNitt 1972:184). 

Nesbit and Parker built a stout hay camp near several 

springs at the head of the East Fork of the Río Jémez. They 

built a blockhouse of “bottom wood logs” and an attached 

corral measuring 30 by 50 feet (9.1 by 15.2 m) constructed “of 

large, green cottonwood logs” (letter from Lieutenant Beverly 

H. Robertson to 1st Lieutenant L. McLaws, dated July 17, 

1851, in Church n.d.) that were stacked a height of 4 or 5 feet 

(1.2 or 1.5 m) (McNitt 1972:184). 

Historical documents call Nesbit and Parker’s hay camp 

“Old Fort.” The camp apparently became “the site of Camp 

Valles Grandes, established by the U.S. Army as a deterrent 

to Navajo and Apache movement through the area during the 

final Navajo Wars of 1863” (Scurlock 1981:137; see also 

chapter 3). Nonetheless, Nesbit and Parker neither situated 

nor built their encampment for effective defense. It occupied 

a gently sloping hill within 50 yards (46 m) of a stand of trees. 

Nesbit and Parker also failed to provide loopholes for firing 

guns. The only opening in the blockhouse that faced the corral 

was too high to allow the hay men to protect their horses and 

mules. 

The afternoon of July 2, 1851, saw the haying operation 

caught by a soaking rainstorm. Although the heavy rain gave 

way to a steady drizzle at nightfall, the continuing inclement 

conditions reduced visibility to a minimum, with the two men 

posted on guard unable to see 20 paces into the night (letter 

from Robert Nesbit and Hiram R. Parker to Colonel Munroe 

[Commander, 9th Military Detachment, U.S. Army], dated 

July 6, 1851, in Church n.d.). 

At about 1:00 AM on the morning of July 2, the man 

guarding the corral was struck in the neck by an arrow. The 

wounded guardsmen fired his rifle almost simultaneously, 

with his shot waking the other members of the hay party who 

were asleep in the cabin. Nesbit and Parker’s team found 

themselves under attack by Navajo raiders (letter from Robert 

Nesbit and Hiram R. Parker to Colonel Munroe [Commander, 

9th Military Detachment, U.S. Army], dated July 6, 1851, in 

Church n.d.). 

According to Nesbit and Parker, 250 to 300 warriors 

besieged their camp for two hours. During this time the hay 

team engaged the raiders in: 

. . . a continued fight...on three sides of the house, while 

another portion of the Indians were endeavoring to pull 

down the corral to get the animals out, which they succeeded 

in doing after three o’clock—when they drove off all the 

animals, consisting of over one hundred in all (letter from 

Robert Nesbit and Hiram R. Parker to Colonel Munroe, 

Commander, 9th Military Detachment, U.S. Army, dated July 

6, 1851, in Church n.d.).

Colonel Munroe repeatedly asked Nesbit and Parker to 

make affidavits supporting their claims of losses (in McNitt 

1972:185n4). He believed that the partners were planning to 

petition Congress for compensation, given their claim that their 

losses were so great that their business faced ruin. Colonel 

Munroe even warned the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 

in Washington against paying “greatly exaggerated” claims 

based on the “weakest proof” (Jordan et al. 2000:470–471). 

Nesbit and Parker never submitted the affidavits that 

Colonel Munroe required (Jordan et al. 2000:471; McNitt 

1972:185n4). The documentary record supports Colonel 

Munroe’s conclusion that the two had greatly inflated their 

claimed losses.

Colonel Munroe sent Lieutenant Beverly H. Robertson 

from the Abiquiú Army Post to investigate the attack and to 

document Nesbit and Parker’s claimed losses. As Robertson’s 

patrol of dragoons entered the Valle Grande, they spied 

a group of 11 Jémez Pueblo men herding cattle on the 

opposite side of the valley (Martin 2003:19; McNitt 

1972:184). Thinking that the herdsmen were Navajos, 

Robertson ordered his troops to fire their weapons. 

The Native Americans immediately rushed on horseback 

across the valley toward the soldiers, frantically making 

signs of friendship. Robertson recognized the riders as being 

from Jémez Pueblo and ceased fire before anyone was hurt 

(Martin 2003:19).

Talking with the Jémez afterward, Robertson learned that 

they had been herding their cattle near the fort during the 
56 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

night of the attack (McNitt 1972:184). The Jémez stealthily 

followed the raiders, who numbered perhaps 30 or 40 warriors, 

as they fled with about 50 of Nesbit and Parker’s animals. The 

Jémez hid until the raiders started down a steep hill. While 

the Navajos were exposed, the Jémez herdsmen attacked, 

killing two of the raiders and capturing five mules (McNitt 

1972:185). 

Following Colonel Munroe’s orders, Robertson pursued 

his investigation. He persuaded one of the Jémez herdsmen to 

accompany his dragoons to Nesbit and Parker’s hay camp. 

Robertson described the log house and corral. He examined 

the spot where the raiders had torn down the corral walls to 

steal the mules and horses. He saw the 40 to 50 arrows that the 

attackers had fired at the log blockhouse’s doorway to prevent 

the hay men from breaking out. He also noted that there were 

no rifle loopholes in the blockhouse’s walls, and the very high 

single opening in the wall on the structure’s corral side that 

prevented the men inside from firing at the raiders as they 

pulled down the stacked log enclosure and drove off the livestock (McNitt 1972:185).

Robertson questioned the wounded guard, who said he 

wasn’t sure, but that there were probably only a few more 

than 40 attackers, not the 250 to 300 warriors that Nesbit 

and Parker had claimed. Worse still, Nesbit and Parker’s hay 

cutters testified that the raiders made off with only 43 mules 

and 6 horses, not 100 animals (McNitt 1972:185). In addition, besides the shot that the guard had fired to sound the 

alarm, Robertson learned that Parker fired his revolver only 

twice because the opening was too high for the defenders 

to see their targets. One of Parker’s shots hit the topmost 

log on the opposite side of the corral; the other went even 

higher, into the trees beyond the corral. Robertson concluded 

that none of the other hay cutters fired their rifles (McNitt 

1972:185). 

Hunting

Hunting in the Valles Caldera has undoubtedly been an 

important activity for millennia, even though faunal remains 

were not recovered at pre-Columbian archaeological sites 

excavated in the Redondo Creek Valley during the Baca 

Geothermal Anthropological Project (Winter 1981:178). 

Broken dart and arrow points, other hunting tools, and a 

pattern of preferred site locations downwind from elk calving 

areas all suggest that the absence of animal bones at the excavated archaeological sites most likely is a product of poor 

conditions for bone preservation rather than an absence of 

hunting. In addition, the oral traditions of the region’s Native 

American communities provide invaluable glimpses into the 

importance that game animals and the Valles Caldera have 

had since the beginning of human history in the northern 

Southwest (chapter 9). 

Documentary history leaves no question about the value 

of the Valles Caldera’s game animals to Indian, Hispanic, and 

Anglo-American groups since the time of first contact. Since 

the arrival of Spanish colonists at the end of the sixteenth 

century, the many communities that have been associated 

with the Baca Location hunted elk, deer, bear, mountain lion, 

bobcat, mountain sheep, rabbit, beaver, and squirrel. 

Oral histories of the people of Jémez Pueblo say that mule 

deer, white tail deer, and elk once were numerous (Weslowski 

1981:108). As reported by historian Lansing B. Bloom (1946

[1922]:121), the Jémez held “community rabbit drives in the 

valley, and in the sierras they hunt the deer and bear, the wolf 

and fox, the gallina de tierra and the eagle of the sky” through 

the early decades of the twentieth century. 

The Valles Caldera’s lush meadows and forested mountain 

slopes also provided habitats favorable to a variety of birds. 

The principal game bird species favored by Native American, 

Hispanic, and Anglo-American hunters alike included turkey 

and grouse. Jémez Pueblo, and presumably other Native 

American communities, also hunted hawks, robins, and 

magpies for ritual purposes (Weslowski 1981:111; see also

Tyler 1979). Moreover, ethnographic information documents 

that Jémez Pueblo designated lands around Redondo Peak as 

one of the places where the community captured eagles alive 

for community ceremonies (Weslowski 1981:111).

Again drawing from Jémez Pueblo ethnographic accounts, 

Native Americans traditionally relied upon bows and arrows, 

slings, bolas, traps, and snares in their hunts (Weslowski 

1981:111). Before guns were available, the bow and arrow 

was the preferred weapon for hunting turkeys, rabbits, larger 

game animals, and many predators in wooded habitats. The 

Jémez reportedly also used the sling, which was thrown with 

a stone projectile encased in the weapon’s pocket, to kill 

turkeys, bobcats, and even young cougars in open settings 

(Weslowski 1981:111). 

As I note in my earlier discussion of plant uses, Jémez 

Pueblo (and presumably other Native American) hunters 

traditionally built temporary shelters of tree boughs and rocks 

for shelter while seeking game in the Valles Caldera. The 

Jémez occasionally built substantial log cabins as well, in 

which to observe the requisite rites that accompanied certain 

hunts (Weslowski 1981:111; see also Martin 2003:66). 

Other physical remains of Jémez hunting activity include 

eagle pit-snares (covered by brush) and hunting shrines. 

Archaeologically documented examples of seemingly analogous features occur at LA904705.1, which is about 8 miles 

(12.8 km) north of the Baca Location’s northeast corner. The 

site’s 14 features occur along a .3-mile-long (500-m) eastfacing mesa edge.

[They] typically consist of rectangular pits, about 1.5 m [4.9 

ft] long, 0.5 m [1.6 ft] wide, and as deep as 2 m [6.6 ft], 

excavated into solid tuff bedrock. Traces of suspected foot 

paths worn into the bedrock appear to connect some of the 

pits. Virtually no artifacts or other cultural manifestations 

were discovered. Capture of large animals such as deer, elk, 

or especially mountain sheep is seen as the probable function 

of the site with the pits serving as traps. Use of some of the 

features as eagle traps is also considered (Evaskovich et al. 

1997a:597–598).

The broad, grass-covered valleys and the numerous 

clear streams of the Valles Caldera were probably first used 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 57

by Hispanic settlers for hunting and fishing by about 1800, 

when the expansion of sheep herding and cattle ranching 

in the territory drove a search for new pasturage (Scurlock 

1981:134–135, citing Smith 1979; see also chapter 6). 

Although Anglo-American and French trappers began 

operating in New Mexico as early as 1805, commercial fur 

trading between the territory and the United States was limited 

until Mexico achieved its independence from Spain with the 

signing of the Treaty of Cordova in 1821. The opening of the 

Santa Fe Trail the following year connected the relatively 

isolated New Mexican territory with U.S. markets and their 

insatiable demand for fur (Scurlock 1981:135).

Mexican law usually prohibited foreigners from trapping 

fur-bearing animals. The Nuevo Mexico colony, however, 

allowed nonresidents to obtain trading permits in Santa Fe 

that allowed them to trap for fur. Between 1821 and 1823, 

approximately 100 trappers, most of whom were either 

English or French, were operating along the Río Grande 

Valley (Hill 1923:4; Yount 1965:ix). Other English and 

French trappers, including George Yount and James O. Pattie, 

operated illegally in more remote areas of the colony. Their 

trapping territory apparently encompassed the Valles Caldera 

(Scurlock 1981:135).

Although documentary records do not directly attest to 

foreign trappers working the prime beaver country of the 

Valles Caldera, Historian Dan Scurlock bases his inference 

that Anglo-Americans were working the locality for furs 

shortly after New Mexico’s independence from Spain on two 

incidents:

One party of trappers headed by George Yount cached their 

beaver pelts on the banks of the Jémez River somewhere 

near the ruins of Gíusewa Pueblo and San José Church in 

the summer of 1828 to avoid confiscation by government 

officials. Later they retrieved the furs and smuggled them 

into Taos. Santa Fé merchant Thomas H. Boggs and Ramon 

Vigil were less fortunate, for in the spring of the same year 

25 beaver pelts which they had bought from trapper James 

O. Pattie were confiscated by the alcalde of Jémez Pueblo 

(Scurlock 1981:135, citing Weber 1971:140, 167 and Yount 

1965:63).

Troubles caused by foreign trappers were not limited to the 

Valles Caldera; they were widespread throughout the territory. 

As noted in chapter 3, Luis María Cabeza de Baca, the original 

grantee of the Baca Land Grant, died in 1827 after being shot 

by a soldier who was trying to confiscate contraband furs that 

Baca was holding. According to documentary records, Baca 

had hidden these illegal pelts for American trapper Ewing 

Young at his house along the Gallinas River near the present-day town of Las Vegas (Cleland 1950:219). 

By the beginning of the twentieth century, rifles became 

the preferred weapon for hunting among all of New Mexico’s 

communities (Van Ness 1991). Up to this time, most of the 

region’s Native American and Hispanic populations relied on 

the bow and arrow, including projectiles that were tipped with 

stone or metal points.

Subsistence hunting remained important throughout the late 

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Residents from the 

nearby Chama Valley relate that even though local Hispanic 

communities were running large numbers of cattle, the people 

did not eat beef. Cattle were for sale in the region’s emerging 

market economy:

Men would hunt deer, before the time of licenses, when 

they wanted meat for jerky (Informant G, personal 

communication 1991, in Carrillo et al. 1997:135).

We grew up eating carne del venado (i.e., venison)...In those 

days we hardly ever ate any beef, although we raised a lot. 

The beef was sold at auction, and the money used for paying 

bills and buying other food we could not raise (Informant H, 

personal communication 1991, in Carrillo et al. 1997:135).

The large number of newly arrived Anglo-American 

settlers, who joined the area’s established Native American 

and Hispanic residents, increased subsistence hunting. For 

example, Dick Cotton, a New Mexico Timber Company 

employee who arrived at Camp Redondo in 1937 from 

Missouri, built a cabin (whose remains are designated site 

BG-19) for his residence on the outskirts of the settlement 

(Scurlock 1981:148, citing Darnell 1979 and Smith 1979). 

Following Camp Redondo’s closure in 1939 (chapter 7), 

Cotton supported himself by hunting, trapping and poaching 

(Winter 1981:179). 

Even though many area residents, such as Dick Cotton, 

depended on hunting for subsistence, Anglo-American sports 

enthusiasts who prized hunting primarily as a recreational 

outlet soon embraced the introduction of efficient new weaponry to the consumer market. Together, increased levels of 

subsistence and sport hunting quickly led to the decimation 

of native game animal and bird populations. Mule deer and 

wild turkey were drastically reduced by the late 1800s and 

early 1900s. The popularity of elk hunting was so great that 

this species was eradicated across the State of New Mexico 

by 1910. 

At the same time, a change in management policies 

adversely affected several other native and introduced animal 

populations that had become a traditional part of the Valles 

Caldera’s ecology. As recalled by Homer Pickens (1979, 

in Scurlock 1981:148), a long-time trapper and wildlife 

specialist, ranchers and federal agents placed poisoned grain 

at Gunnison prairie dog towns on the Baca Location in the 

1920s to rid pastures of these pests. Ranchers and government 

officials also regarded feral burros and horses as nusisances 

because they competed with cattle and sheep for pasturage. 

In a concerted effort to rid the Jémez Mountains of such 

unnecessary competition to the livestock industry, U.S. Forest 

Service personnel rounded up 1,500 burros and horses from 

the greater Jémez district area, including the Baca Location 

(Tucker and Fitzpatrick 1972:81). 

With the depletion of elk, mule deer, turkey, horse, and 

prairie dog populations in the Jémez Mountains, gray wolves, 

mountain lions, and coyotes killed increasing numbers of sheep 
58 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

and cattle around the Valles Caldera (Winter 1981:178). In 

1916 the United States Forest Service initiated a new predator 

control program (Scurlock 1981:144). The U.S. Biological 

Service (now known as the Fish and Wildlife Service) sent 

trappers into the Jémez Mountains, including the Valles 

Caldera, to exterminate gray wolves and mountain lions. John 

Davenport, who once served as one of Frank Bond’s Baca 

Location ranch managers, killed the last New Mexican gray 

wolf in the Valle Grande in 1932 (Pickens 1979, in Scurlock 

1981:148). 

In 1947, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish 

worked to reintroduce elk by releasing 47 head imported 

from the Yellowstone, Wyoming, area into the Río de las 

Vacas Valley west of the Baca Location (Martin 2003:104, 

citing Allen 1997). Although the Jémez Mountains grasslands 

provided favorable habitat, the introduced elk herd increased 

at a slow rate, with the population reaching only an estimated 200 animals in 1961. The New Mexico Department 

of Game and Fish introduced another 58 elk from Jackson 

Hole, Wyoming, between 1964 and 1965. These populations 

continued their slow increase in the Valles Caldera over the 

next decade (Martin 2003:104, citing Allen 1997). Dramatic 

ecological change that had both an immediate and great impact 

on local elk demography occurred in 1977:

In June of that year, the 25,000-acre [10,000-ha] La Mesa 

fire burned in the ponderosa pine forests on the Pajarito 

Plateau at Bandelier National Monument. The fire converted 

the forest into grassland and opened up considerable winter 

habitat for the Jémez elk population. With favorable climatic 

conditions, the elk herd expanded to about 7,000 in 1989. In 

2001 it was estimated that between 4,000 and 6,000 elk used 

the Baca Ranch for summer range (Martin 2003:104, citing 

Allen 1997).

The Baca Location’s last private owners, Frank Bond, 

Franklin Bond, and James Patrick Dunigan, all were hunters. 

They hunted for sport and promoted sport hunting.

Despite his hard-nosed attitude toward business, Frank 

Bond found pleasure in owning the Baca Location beyond 

its profitability. Bond loved to fish, and from 1917 until he no 

longer was able to make the journey, he spent two weeks a 

year in the central Jémez Mountains, trying his luck on the 

streams (Martin 2003:65).

Frank Bond was also generous in granting permission to 

the students of the Los Alamos Ranch School to fish, hunt, and 

camp on the property through the 1930s (Martin 2003:66).

Ted Mather, who had worked for Frank Bond during the 

rancher’s first year of leasing the property, was the head 

wrangler at the school and had an intimate knowledge of 

the Baca Location. Many of the boys, who mostly hailed 

from eastern cities, caught their first trout in the East Fork 

of the Jémez in the Valle Grande. Each year the school ran a 

summer camp that included a three-week trail ride through 

the Jémez. The route generally started at Camp May in 

the Sierra de los Valles above the school and descended a 

steep trail into the Valle de los Posos. A camp also was set 

up along the Rito de los Indios, and the route to the San 

Pedro Parks passed through the Valle San Antonio (Martin 

2003:66–67).

As noted previously, Frank Bond also allowed members 

of the various nearby Pueblos limited access to the ranchland 

for plant gathering, hunting, and ceremonial purposes even 

though he had rescinded their grazing privileges shortly after 

buying the property (after Martin 2003:66; see also chapter 

6). This permission, however, apparently ended in the 1940s 

about the time of Bond’s death. 

It is uncertain if Frank Bond or his son, Franklin, ever 

formally extended recreational hunting and fishing rights 

during their lifetimes to the employees of New Mexico Lumber 

and Timber Company (later New Mexico Timber, Inc.), which 

began commercial logging operations on the Baca Location 

in 1935 (chapter 7). It is clear, however, that the Bond Estate 

at least tolerated the loggers’ hunting and fishing during the 

early 1960s. James Patrick Dunigan bought the Baca Location 

from the Bond Estate in 1963 (chapter 4). When he filed suit 

against T. P. Gallagher, Jr., over the question of the land grant’s 

timber rights, he forbade Gallagher’s employees from fishing 

and hunting on the property (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 

1967; see also chapter 7). 

By the late 1970s, Dunigan’s 1972 decision to decrease his 

cattle operations to promote the growth of the reintroduced 

Jémez Mountain elk herd, which he recognized was an important part of the ranch’s ecology, began to realize fruition (see 

Martin 2003:104). Helped further by the La Mesa fire within 

the nearby Bandelier National Monument in 1977, the rapidly 

expanding Jémez Mountain elk herd provided Dunigan with 

a new business opportunity: guided elk hunts on the Baca 

Location. 

By the late 1970s, a private operator, North Country 

Outfitters Company, had leased the hunting rights for the 

whole Baca Location. Under the terms of the lease, Dunigan 

issued 40 bull permits each hunting season, which was held 

in October during the fall rut, at a cost of $4,000.00 per 

permit (Winter 1981:178). By 1998, the elk herd had grown 

to such an extent that the Baca Land and Cattle Company 

issued 265 hunting permits, with the fee for a trophy bull 

selling for $10,000 (Martin 2003:105). In addition to the 

hunting permit fees, the Baca Land and Cattle Company 

received income for use of the Dunigan Casa de Baca as a 

hunting lodge. 

Fishing

In comparison to most other southwestern Indians, the 

Pueblos of north-central New Mexico did not have broad 

proscriptions against catching and eating fish. Information 

concerning the Pueblos’ dietary reliance on fish and their 

fishing practices is rare and incomplete, however. 

Despite the paucity of published reports, the available 

evidence indicates that the proximity and productivity of large 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 59

streams traditionally were the primary factors determining the 

Pueblos’ use of fish. For example, the Keres of Cochiti Pueblo 

(Bandelier 1892:149; Lange 1959:140–141, 147–148) and 

the Tewa from Santa Clara Pueblo (Hill 1982:59–61) were 

known to have organized communal fish seining operations 

along the Río Grande near their homes during the late nineteenth century. Given the river’s productivity and the fact 

that the use of seining nets possesses the potential to harvest 

large quantities of fish, catches could be shared among the 

residents of the fishermen’s villages. Hill (1982) reports that 

participants in the Santa Clara seining operations commonly 

took home between 5 and 20 fish to share with their families. 

Lange (1959) notes that the Cochiti fishermen probably similarly distributed the fruits of their work among their kin. 

By the middle of the twentieth century, the communal 

fishing of the Río Grande and the broad sharing of catches 

had become a thing of the past. Lange (1959) tells that individuals and small groups of family members used bated 

hook-and-lines, small nets, hayforks, and hands to catch fish. 

Ford (1992:175) observed that by the time of his study in 

the 1960s, fish consumption among the San Juan Tewa was 

limited to harvests resulting from the use of private weirs 

along the Río Grande mainstem and the gathering of fish found 

stranded in the bottoms of canals after irrigating their fields. 

Moreover, given the typically small sizes of these catches, not 

all members of the Pueblo ate fish (Ford 1992). Men were the 

primary consumers. Children, who were likely to accompany 

the men while they worked their fields or checked their weirs, 

had greater access to fish than women, whose duties required 

them to be elsewhere. 

The above patterns suggest that in the absence of opportunities for large and reliable harvests using nets in big 

watercourses, the Pueblos’ consumption of fish was limited 

to the proceeds of small, and often opportunistic, catches. It 

is likely, therefore, that Pueblo fishing in the Valles Caldera 

usually was restricted to comparatively brief and informal 

episodes when individuals or small groups visited the locality 

for some other purpose. In addition, it is probable that these 

catches were consumed immediately as part of the group’s 

foraging activity to sustain itself while traveling away from 

home, rather than a component of a major economic activity 

for the benefit of the community as a whole.

Before leaving the subject of fishing, a story that Clayto 

Tafoya, a Santa Clara elder, shared with Richard I. Ford 

when he was completing his doctoral studies in anthropology in the 1960s is worth retelling. Tafoya talked about 

how a small number of Santa Clara men would periodically 

fish the Valles Caldera’s marshes (the caldera bottomlands 

were swampier back then and had larger standing ponds) and 

streams for trout as part of private entrepreneurial enterprise 

(Dr. Richard I. Ford, personal communication, Museum of 

Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2006). 

Riding into the Valles Caldera at night, they would use basket 

traps to catch trout, which they would then carry to Santa Fe 

via horseback for sale. Given Tafoya’s age, the context of his 

remarks, and the time of their conversation, Ford (personal 

communication, Museum of Anthropology, University of 

Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2006) estimates that this resourceful 

and industrious business activity took place between the late 

1800s and 1940.

Mineral Collection

Weslowski (1981:114) reports that the people of Jémez 

Pueblo gather manganese and iron ore, both of which are 

rare, from locations in the Valles Caldera for use as pigment 

in painting pottery. One of her informants added that clay 

might also be collected (Weslowski 1981:114–115). While 

this informant claimed that pottery clay was usually found 

closer to the villages, Parsons (1996 [1939]:352; see also 

Ferguson and Hart 1985:127) observes that the Pueblos 

sometimes use clay and mud collected from springs as ritual 

body paint. As I note in my earlier discussion of the importance of plants and algae gathered from the same springs, the 

significance of these resources derives from their association with spring water, which the Pueblos consider powerful 

medicine (Ellis 1956:56–57; Parsons 1996 [1939]:352, 416, 

453–454; see also chapter 9). In fact, the Jémez, like the other 

Pueblos, gather spring water for use in purification rites and 

other solemn rituals (Weslowski 1981:115).

Other Pueblo similarly visited the Valles Caldera for decorative pottery clay and pigment. For example, Carl E. Guthe

(1925; see also Friedlander and Pinyan 1980) notes that the 

San Ildefonso residents made trips to the Baca Location for 

orange-red slip and black ware paint for firing their ceramics. 

He identifies the location, procurement, and use of these 

resources:

Orange Red Slip

This substance is a yellow clayey earth, in texture somewhat 

like the two white slips. It occurs in the “Valle” to the west, 

beyond the first Jémez range, near Ojo Caliente. It was dug 

with a stick...and is carried home in shawls and bags. Before 

being stored it is put out into the sun to dry thoroughly, then 

placed in ollas and kept until needed. Like the other slips, it 

is prepared for use by being mixed with water. A saturated 

solution is made, but the consistency remains that of water.

This material, which in solution is a brilliant yellow, is 

used for two purposes—as a slip to color the bases of bowls 

and ollas, and as a paint to supply the red elements of 

polychrome designs. After being fired it assumes an orangered or burnt-sienna color...

Black Ware Paint

This is a paint used for making matte designs on polished 

black ware, a new departure in decorative technique first 

used by Maria and Julian Martinez of San Ildefonso, in June, 

1921. The substance is a hard yellow stone, said to occur in 

the “Valle,” west of the Jémez range, near Ojo Caliente, in 

the same district as the orange-red paint.

The first step in preparing the paint for use is to scrape 

the stone with a knife. The resulting powder is mixed with 
60 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

water, and there is then added about one-fourth as much 

dissolved “guaco” [powdered roots of the Rocky Mountain 

Beeplant {Cleome serpulata}]...as there is paint. It is said 

that the purpose of the guaco is to make the paint “stick” 

to the polished surface. This paint, when ready for use, is 

kept in a small earthenware or china dish. The consistency 

of the mixture, like the other paints, is that of water (Guthe 

1925:24–25).

The Pueblos, the Navajo, and other Native American groups 

traditionally harvested obsidian for ceremonies, including its 

use as a prayer offering (Ellis 1956:56–57; Van Valkenburgh 

and Begay 1938:30; see also Harrington 1916). Weslowski

(1981:115) states that the Jémez continue to collect obsidian 

from the Redondo Creek Valley. She speculates further that they 

might also harvest the higher-quality volcanic glass present in 

the neighboring Valle Grande (Weslowski 1981:126n20). The 

Tewa collect obsidian from the slope of Tsikumu (Obsidian 

Covered Mountain [a.k.a. Cerro Chicoma]) at the northeast 

corner of the Baca Location Land Grant, among other places 

(Harrington 1916). 

Acklen and others (1997:301) refer to regional archaeological evidence that demonstrates the great importance of Jémez 

Mountains obsidian for tool use among the Navajo throughout 

the early Historic period. Because fine-grained obsidian 

source information is unavailable, the question whether 

Valles Caldera obsidian is represented in these archaeological samples cannot be answered. Archaeological surveys 

in the Chama district similarly report finding rich evidence 

of Jémez Mountains obsidian use among Historic period 

sites with Navajo, Apache, and/or Ute cultural components 

(e.g., Anschuetz 1993, 1995, 2000; Schaafsma 1975, 1976, 

1979). Of particular relevance to the management of cultural 

resources in the VCNP, Anschuetz (1993, 1995, 2000) reports 

that among the rich assemblage of Jicarilla Apache sites in the 

nearby Río del Oso Valley, Jémez Mountains obsidian is the 

predominant raw material used in the manufacture of chipped 

stone lithic tools. He notes that the lithic reduction technologies are identical to those used by Archaic period (ca. 5500 

b.c.–a.d. 600) hunters and gatherers (chapter 2).

The Jémez quarry flagstone slabs, which they use to make 

piki griddles, in the Valles Caldera (Weslowski 1981:115). 

Piki, the Pueblos’ renown paper-thin bread made of finely 

ground corn meal, embodies essential cultural tradition. Piki

griddles and the baking of this bread alike are rich in symbolic 

meaning (e.g., Anschuetz 1992). Consequently, finished piki

stones and their quarries are significant traditional cultural 

properties that the Jémez treat with considered reverence.

Certain pebbles found along watercourses that originate on 

Redondo Peak (an extremely important summit [chapter 9] 

for many Pueblo and Navajo communities) and other peaks in 

the Jémez Mountains were collected for ritual use. According 

to White (1962:232), the Zía and other Pueblos placed four 

waterworn pebbles collected from sacred mountains on each 

of the four sides of a medicine bowl, which, in turn, is placed 

on sand and corn meal paintings used in summer rain ritual. 

This act is highly meaningful because the medicine bowl is a 

representation of the Pueblos’ respective worlds. The terraces 

formed on the bowls rim and these special stones, which were 

worn smooth by the water that flowed off these peaks, denote 

the mountains of cardinal direction and their essential relationship to rain and snow (chapter 9). Although White does 

not say so, it is probable that within this highly patterned 

system of significant cultural meaning and associations, 

at least some of the Pueblos, especially Jémez and Zía, use 

stones gathered from Redondo Peak to symbolize one of their 

mountains of cardinal direction during the celebration of these 

rites. Similarly, Richard F. Van Valkenburgh (1940:9; Van 

Valkenburgh and Begay 1938:30) describes the ritual use 

of various stones by the Navajo (besides obsidian) as prayer 

offerings when visiting mountaintop shrines, such as those that 

occur within the Valles Grande (see chapter 9). Just as White, 

Van Valkenburgh does not mention Redondo Peak, but given 

that some Navajo communities historically considered this 

summit their Mountain of the East (chapter 9), it is a certainty 

that some Navajo groups collected pebbles from Redondo Peak 

and other Valles Caldera area summits in their rites.

People from the Pueblo of Zuni are known to have visited 

two locations, He:mushina Yala:we and K’ya:k’yałna’ 

K’ya:kwayinna, at the southwest margin of the Valles Caldera 

(Ferguson and Hart 1985:127). The Zuni collected white 

powder medicine, hunted, and obtained materials used in kiva 

initiations, as well as gathered medicinal herbs, at He:mushina 

Yala:we. The Zuni traditionally collected mud and silt at 

K’ya:k’yałna’ K’ya:kwayinna. 

The use of obsidian in the Historic period for profane and 

sacred activities was not limited to Native Americans. One 

of the informants with whom Carrillo and others (1997) 

consulted about the proposed construction of the OLE power 

line revealed that Hispanic residents used bow and arrows, 

including projectiles tipped with obsidian points, until the 

time that firearms became broadly available at the turn of the 

twentieth century:

I remember hearing stories of people hunting with bows and 

arrows. There were badgers in those days. The tips of the 

arrows were made from metal. I remember also seeing some 

made from obsidian (Informant F, personal communication 

1991, in Carrillo et al. 1997:135).

Hermanos (members of the Penitente Brotherhood) living 

near Abiquiú also collected obsidian for use in Pentiente 

ritual:

Most of the obsidian for the Hermanos came from the 

Polvadera area, because the obsidian from around Abiquiu 

was not the glass type, the clear type. It was cloudy and 

pitted. I remember that they would bring in some obsidian, 

although I was not there to see them gather it...I haven’t 

been to the area of Mesa Pedregosa [which is just 1.5 miles 

{2.4 km} north of the Baca Location Land Grant]...but I 

have heard the people say that there is a place up there that 

you cannot even walk because there is so much obsidian, on 

the Mesa Pedregosa (Informant B, personal communication 

1991, in Carrillo et al. 1997:137).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 61

Agriculture

As recounted in chapter 2, Jémez farmers planted on the 

Banco Bonito during the Classic period (ca. a.d. 1350–1600) 

(after Martin 2003:13). There is no further mention of farming 

in the Valles Caldera until the late nineteenth century. Two 

citations are of interest because they discuss why the production of commercial agricultural crops was climatically and/or 

economically not feasible. 

First, reporting their survey of the Baca Location in 

June1876, U.S. Deputy Surveyors Daniel Sawyer and William 

H. McBroom stated that while the soils in the Valles Caldera 

area were rich, the locale’s high elevation brought temperatures “too cold to raise any kind of grain or vegetables” 

(Sawyer and McBroom 1876: 14–15). As a result, no settlers 

were living upon the Baca Location at this time. 

Second, Adolph F. Bandelier similarly noted during his 

explorations in New Mexico in the 1880s that the Valles 

Caldera offered little inducement for agriculture, “for although 

the soil is fertile, ingress and egress are so difficult that even 

potatoes, which grow there with remarkable facility, cannot be 

cultivated profitably” (1892:200).

Final mention of farming in the Baca Location dates 

to about 1917. This account, retold by Martin (2003:52), 

builds on Bandelier’s preceding remark that area residents 

were highly successful in growing root crops for their own 

consumption in this high altitude environment. According to 

Martin (2003:52; see also chapter 4), James Leese filed entry 

for George White’s 1912 homestead claim in the Valle de los 

Posos in 1915. Leese continued to work elsewhere but made 

frequent trips to see his wife and three children who occupied 

the homestead over the next two summers.

Little was done to improve the land as required by the 

Homestead Act. The family continued to plant potatoes 

on three or four acres [1.2–1.6 ha] but did no additional 

clearing nor did they attempt to irrigate their field, which 

were required improvements for those seeking to patent a 

homestead. However, their farming was successful enough 

for them to grow 15,000 pounds [6,804 kg] of potatoes in the 

summer of 1917! (Martin 2003:52).

It is worth noting that documentary evidence of agricultural 

land use in the Valles Caldera—just as discussed for traditional 

subsistence or vernacular plant gathering, game hunting, and 

mineral collecting activities—might be incomplete. While 

I doubt that agricultural practice ever was intensive outside 

the Banco Bonito, archaeological investigations along the 

proposed OLE power line documented the existence of two 

small eighteenth-century farm sites, LA66859 (Acklen et al. 

1997:298–299; Evaskovich et al. 1997b:357–373; Holloway 

et al. 1997:97–98, 104, 107) and LA66869/LA66870 (Acklen 

et al. 1997:299–302; Evaskovich et al. 1997a:537–597; 

Holloway et al. 1997:99–101, 104, 107). It is significant that 

the agricultural functions of these sites were not suspected 

based on survey documentation alone; their identification as 

seasonal farming settlements was made following excavation 

and analysis of botanical samples.

LA66859, which is at an elevation of 7,660 feet (2,426 m) 

in an open meadow that enjoys southern exposure and receives 

runoff, has a poorly preserved fieldhouse, pottery that dates 

between 1700 and 1760, relatively high maize pollen concentrations, and sheep bone. Although faunal analysts could not 

determine if the sheep bone represents native bighorn or domesticated species, its presence indicates that the site’s occupants 

either hunted or ran sheep during their stay. Based on the site’s 

dates and artifact assemblages, the excavators suggest that 

Tewa likely occupied this seasonal farm site (Acklen et al. 

1997:298–299; Evaskovich et al. 1997b:357–373; Holloway 

et al. 1997:97–98, 104, 107). 5.1

LA66869/LA66870, at a slightly higher elevation of 7,860 

feet (2,396 m), yielded the severely eroded remnants of several 

temporary dwellings, ash pile deposits that date between 

roughly 1760 and 1800, and comparatively high corn pollen 

concentrations. Given the artifact assemblage recovered and 

settlement trends in the local area, this site’s inhabitants were 

probably Hispanic (Acklen et al. 1997:299–302; Evaskovich 

et al. 1997a:537–597; Holloway et al. 1997:99–101, 104, 

107).

The significance of these sites is that the eighteenth century 

was characterized by repeated severe but short-term drought 

cycles (Dean et al. 1985:fig. 1). During a similar climatic 

regime, which lasted from about the mid-a.d. 1300s to the 

mid-a.d. 1500s, Pueblo populations throughout much of the 

northern Río Grande region occupied and farmed higher-elevation settings, including the Banco Bonito (e.g., see Anschuetz 

1998b:9–22, 216–242; Anschuetz et al. 1997). Therefore, it is 

possible that a record of subtle archaeological traces related to 

the occupation of the Valles Caldera for comparatively smallscale, seasonal farming by various Native American and 

Hispanic groups remains to be recognized.

5.1 See Endnote 1.1 for explanation of the “LA” number 

designation.
62 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

References

Acklen, John C., Christopher A. Turnbow, and Dorothy L. Larson

1997 Conclusions and Recommendation. In OLE, vol. 3. Analysis. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 

285–342. Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Adams, Karen R.

1980 Pollen, Parched Seeds and Prehistory: A Pilot Investigation of Prehistoric Plant Remains 

from Salmon Ruin, A Chacoan Pueblo in Northwestern New Mexico. Eastern New Mexico 

University Contributions in Anthropology, 9. Portales, NM: Eastern New Mexico University 

Press.

Adovasio, J. M., and J. D. Gunn

1986 The Antelope House Basketry Industry. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope House. 

Don P. Morris, ed. Pp. 306–397. U.S. Department of the Interior (USDI), National Park 

Service. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Allen, Graig

1997 Report to the Baca Land and Cattle Company. Los Alamos, NM: Valles Caldera National 

Preserve, unpublished MS. 

Anzaldúa, Gloria

1987 Borderlands: La Frontera. San Francisco, CA: Aunte Lute Books.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1992 Corn in the Flow of Life: Further Consideration of Hopi Concepts of Zea Mays. Paper 

presented at the 15th Annual Conference of the Society of Ethnobiology. Washington, DC: 

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

1993 Preliminary Report for the 1992 Field Season: The University of Michigan Río del Oso 

Archaeological Survey, Española Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest. Santa Fe, NM: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest. Unpublished MS. 

1995 Preliminary Report for the 1993 Field Season: University of Michigan Río del Oso 

Archaeological Survey, Española Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest. Santa Fe, NM: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest. Unpublished MS. 

1998b Not Waiting for the Rain: Integrated Systems of Water Management by Pre-Columbian 

Pueblo Farmers in North-Central New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of 

Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms.

1998c The View from Atop Tsi Mayoh: Reflections on Spanish Colonial History; Refractions of 

Pueblo Tradition. Paper presented at Pecos Conference, Pecos National Historical Park, 

August 13–16, 1998.

2000 48 Mid- to Late Nineteenth-Century Jicarilla Apache Sites in the Río del Oso Valley, Río 

Arriba County, New Mexico. National Register Multiple Properties Registration Form. 

Prepared for: State of New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Santa Fe. Santa Fe: Río 

Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

2002a A Healing Place: Río Grande Pueblo Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph National 

Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph National Monument 

Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, Harris Francis, 

Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 3.1–3.47. Community and Cultural Landscape 

Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, Petroglyph National Monument, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, 

NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., John C. Acklen, and David V. Hill

1997 Prehistoric Overview. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 71–118. Albuquerque: 

Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region. 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 63

Bandelier, Adolf F.

1892 Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the Southwestern United States, 

Carried on Mainly in the Years from 1880 to 1885, pt. 2. American Series IV. Papers of the 

Archaeological Institute of America. Cambridge, MA: John Wilson and Son.

Bell, Willis H., and Edward F. Castetter

1941 The Utilization of Yucca, Sotol, and Beargrass by the Aborigines in the American Southwest. 

Ethnological Studies in the American Southwest 7. University of New Mexico Bulletin. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.

Bloom, Lansing B.

1946 [1922] The West Jémez Culture Area. New Mexico Historical Review 21:120–126. Originally 

published in El Palacio 12:19–25. 

Bohrer, Vorsila L.

1960 Zuni Agriculture. El Palacio 67:181–202.

1975 The Prehistoric and Historic Role of Cool-Season Grasses in the Southwest. Economic 

Botany 29:199–207.

Bryan, Nonabah G., and Stella Young

1940 Navajo Native Dyes: Their Preparation and Use. Washington, DC: Office of Indian Affairs.

Callaway, Donald, Joel Janetski, and Omer C. Stewart

1986 Ute. In Great Basin. Warren L. D’azevedo, ed. Pp. 336–367. Vol. 11 of Handbook of North 

American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. 

Camazine, Scott, and Robert Bye

1980 A Study of the Medical Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians of New Mexico. Journal of 

Ethnopharmacology 2(4):365–388.

Carrillo, Charles M., Kurt F. Anschuetz, Richard D. Holmes, and Susan Perlman

1997 Historic Overview of the Project Area. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 

119–138. Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Castetter, Edward F.

1935 Uncultivated Native Plants Used as Sources of Food. Ethnobiological Studies in the American 

Southwest 1. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. 

Chamberlin, Ralph V.

1909 Some Plant Names of the Ute Indians. American Anthropologist 11:27–40.

Chinle Curriculum Center

1995 Diné Bikeyahdóó Ch’il Nanise’ Altaas’éí: The Purpose and Uses of Plants of Navajoland. 

Chinle, AZ: Chinle Unified School District. 

Church, Peggy Pond

n.d. Peggy Pond Church Correspondence. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Historical Museum.

Cleland, Robert Glass

1950 This Reckless Breed of Men: The Trappers and Fur Traders of the Southwest. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Colton, Harold S.

1974 Hopi Ethnobotany and Archaeological History. New York: Garland Publishing.

Colton, Mary-Russell Ferrell

1965 Hopi Dyes. Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona.

Cook, Sarah Louise

1930 The Ethnobotany of the Jémez Indians. Master’s thesis. University of New Mexico, 

Albuquerque. 

Darnell, Henry

1979 Interview of October 25, 1979. Dan Scurlock, interviewer. Tape BG-8. In Dan Scurlock’s 

possession, Fort Sumner, NM. 

Dean, J. S., R. C. Euler, G. J. Gumerman, F. Plog, R. H. Hevly, and T. N. V. Karlstrom

1985 Human Behavior, Demography, and Paleoenvironment on the Colorado Plateaus. American 

Antiquity 50:537–554. 
64 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Dunmire, William W., and Gail D. Tierney

1995 Wild Plants of the Pueblo Province: Exploring Ancient and Enduring Uses. Santa Fe: 

Museum of New Mexico Press.

1997 Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico 

Press. 

Ellis, Florence Hawley

1956 Anthropological Evidence Supporting the Land Claim of the Pueblos of Zia, Santa Ana, and 

Jemez. Santa Fe: Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico. Unpublished MS.

Elmore, Francis H.

1944 Ethnobotany of the Navajo. Monographs 8. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research. 

Evaskovich, John A., Richard W. Coleman, Richard A. Anduze, E. Tianna Crollett, Robert Dello-Russo, 

John C. Acklen, Katherine J. Roxlau, Richard W. Lang, Meade F. Kemrer, Dorothy L. Larson, Rachel 

Loehman, and Douglas G. Campbell

1997a Cañones Mesa Geoarchaeological Unit. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 

199–462. Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Evaskovich, John A., E. Tianna Crollett, Robert Dello-Russo, John C. Acklen, Katherine J. Roxlau, 

Christopher A. Turnbow, Richard W. Lang, Dorothy L. Larson, and Douglas G. Campbell

1997b Polvadera Creek Geoarchaeological Unit. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 

463–613. Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Ferguson, T. J., and E. Richard Hart

1985 A Zuni Atlas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Fewkes, J. Walter

1896 A Contribution to Ethnobotany. American Anthropologist 9:14–21.

Ford, Karen Cowan

1975 Las Yerbas de la Gente: A Study of Hispano-American Medicinal Plants. Anthropological 

Papers 50. Ann Arbor, MI: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan.

Ford, Richard I.

1992 An Ecological Analysis Involving the Population of San Juan Pueblo. New York: Garland 

Publishing.

Fowler, Catherine S.

1986 Subsistence. In Great Basin. Warren L. D’azevedo, ed. Pp. 64–97. Vol. 11 of Handbook of 

North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. 

Frazer, Robert W.

1983 Forts and Supplies: The Role of the Army in the Economy of the Southwest, 1846–1861. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Friedlander, Eva, and Pamela J. Pinyan

1980 Indian Use of the Santa Fe National Forest: A Determination From Ethnographic Sources. 

Ethnohistorical Report Series 1. Albuquerque, NM: Center for Anthropological Studies. 

Fry, Gary F., and H. Johnson Hall

1986 Human Coprolites. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope House. Don P. Morris, ed. 

Pp. 165–188. USDI, National Park Service. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing 

Office.

Guthe, Carl E.

1925 Pueblo Pottery Making: A Study at the Village of San Ildefonso. Papers of the Phillips 

Academy Southwestern Expedition 2. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 

Harrington, John P.

1916 The Ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians. In Twenty-Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau 

of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1907–1908. W. H. 

Holmes, ed. Pp. 29–636. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Hill, Joseph J.

1923 Ewing Young in the Fur Trade of the Far Southwest 1822–1834. Quarterly of the Oregon 

Historical Society 24(1):1–35.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 65

Hill, W. W.

1982 An Ethnology of Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. Charles H. Lange, ed. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Holloway, Richard G, Steven R. James, and Lori E. Rhodes

1997 Analysis of Organic remains. In OLE, vol. 3. Analysis. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 77–127. 

Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Hudspeth, William B.

1997 Environmental Setting. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 9–42. Albuquerque: 

Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Ingham, John M.

1986 Mary, Michael, and Lucifer: Folk Catholicism in Central Mexico. Austin: University of Texas 

Press.

Jones, Volney H.

1931 The Ethnobotany of the Isleta Indians. Masters thesis. University of New Mexico, 

Albuquerque.

Jones, Volney H., and Robert E. Fonner

1954 Plant Materials from Sites in the Durango and La Plata Areas, Colorado. In Basketmaker 

Sites near Durango, Colorado, by Earl H. Morris and Robert F. Burgh. Pp. 93–115. 

Publication 604. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institute.

Jordan, Weymouth T., Jr., John D. Chapala, and Shan C. Sutton

2000 “Notorious as the Noonday Sun:” Capt. Alexander Welch Reynolds and the New Mexico 

Territory, 1849–1859. New Mexico Historical Review 75. 

Kent, Kate Peck

1983 Prehistoric Textiles of the Southwest. Santa Fe: School of American Research, and 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 

Kirk, Donald R.

1970 Wild Edible Plants of the Western United States. Heraldsburg, CA: Naturegraph. 

Krenetsky, John C.

1964 Phytosociological Study of the Picuris Grant and Ethnobotanical Study of the Picuris Indians. 

Masters thesis. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Lamadrid, Enrique R., and Miguel Gandert

2001 Tierra Mestiza, Tierra Sagrada: An Indo-Hispano Heritage Revealed. New Mexico Historical 

Review 76:65–76. 

Lang, Richard W.

1986 Artifacts of Woody Materials from Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. In Food, Diet, and Population at 

Prehistoric Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. Wilma Wetterstrom, ed. Arroyo Hondo Archaeological 

Series, 6. Pp. 251–276. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.

Lange, Charles H.

1959 Cochiti: A New Mexico Pueblo, Past and Present. Austin: University of Texas Press. 

McNitt, Frank

1972 Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals. Albuquerque: University of 

New Mexico Press.

Magers, Pamela C.

1986a Miscellaneous Wooden and Vegetal Artifacts. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope 

House. Don P. Morris, ed. Pp. 277–305. USDI, National Park Service. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Government Printing Office.

1986b Weaving at Antelope House. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope House. Don P. 

Morris, ed. Pp. 224–276. USDI, National Park Service. Washington, DC: U.S. Government 

Printing Office.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.
66 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Matthews, Meridith H.

1992 Macrobotanical Analysis. In Bandelier Archeological Excavation Project: Summer 

Excavations at Burnt Mesa Pueblo and Casa del Río. Timothy A. Kohler and Matthew J. 

Root, eds. Reports of Investigations 64. Pullman: Washington State University. 

Mayes, Vernon O., and Barbara Bayless Lacy

1989 Nanise’: A Navajo Herbal. Tsaile, AZ: Navajo Community College Press.

Minnis, Paul E., and Richard I. Ford

1977 Appendix C: Analysis of Plant Remains from Chimney Rock Mesa, 1970–1972. In

Archaeological Investigations at Chimney Rock Mesa, 1970–1972. Frank W. Eddy, ed. Pp. 

81–91. Memoirs of the Colorado Archaeological Society. Boulder. 

Moore, Michael, compiler

1977 Los Remedios de la Gente: A Compilation of Traditional New Mexican Herbal Medicines 

and Their Use: 134 Different Leaves, Flowers, Roots, Barks & Gums in Spanish, English & 

Latin. Santa Fe, NM: Herbs Etcetera.

Mörner, Magnus

1967 Race Mixture in the History of Latin America. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Nichols, Robert F.

n.d. Wetherill Mesa Excavations: Step House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Manuscript on 

file. Mesa Verde, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. 

Opler, Morris E.

1936 A Summary of Jicarilla Apache Culture. American Anthropologist 38(2):202–223.

Parsons, Elsie Clews

1925 The Pueblo of Jemez. Papers of the Phillips Academy Southwestern Expedition 3. New 

Haven: Published for the Phillips Academy by Yale University Press.

1996 [1939] Pueblo Indian Religion. 2 vols. Lincoln: University of Nebraska. (Originally published 

Chicago: University of Chicago Press.)

Peckham, Stewart

1990 From this Earth: The Ancient Art of Pueblo Pottery. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press. 

Pickens, Homer

1979 Interview of October 23, 1979. Dan Scurlock, interviewer. Tape BG-7 and notes. In Dan 

Scurlock’s possession, Fort Sumner, NM. 

Robbins, W. W., J. P. Harrington, and Barbara Freire-Marreco.

1916 Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 55. Washington, 

DC: Smithsonian Institution.

Rodríguez, Sylvia

1994 The Taos Fiesta: Invented Tradition and the Infrapolitics of Symbolic Reclamation. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 

Sawyer, Daniel and McBroom, William H.

1876 Field Notes of the Survey of Baca Location No. One, in New Mexico, being Grant made to 

the heirs of Luis Maria Baca by act of Congress approved June 21, 1860. Surveyed by Daniel 

Sawyer and William H. McBroom, U.S. Dep. Surs., under their Contract No. 68, of April 15, 

1876. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe, NM: State Office, Bureau of Land Management. 

Schaafsma, Curtis F.

1975 Archaeological Survey and Excavations at Abiquiu Reservoir, Río Arriba County, New 

Mexico. Reports 1 and 2. Santa Fe, NM: Contract Archaeology Division, School of 

American Research. 

1976 Archaeological Survey of Maximum Pool and Navajo Excavations at Abiquiu Reservoir, Río 

Arriba County, New Mexico. Report 11. Santa Fe, NM: Contract Archaeology Division, 

School of American Research. 

1979 The Cerrito Site (AR-4): A Piedra Lumbre Phase Settlement at Abiquiu Reservoir. Santa Fe, 

NM: Contract Archaeology Division, School of American Research. Unpublished MS. 

Scurlock, Dan

1981 Euro-American History of the Study Area. In High Altitude Adaptations along Redondo 

Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, 

eds. Pp. 131–160. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 67

Smith, Anne M.

1974 Ethnography of the Northern Utes. Papers in Anthropology 17. Santa Fe: Museum of New 

Mexico Press.

Smith, Clyde

1979 Interviews of September 28 and 29, and October 2, 1979. Dan Scurlock, interviewer. Tapes 

BG-3B, 4, 5, and 6. In Dan Scurlock’s possession, Fort Sumner, NM. 

Stevenson, Matilda Coxe

1912 Ethnobotany of San Ildefonso and Santa Clara Pueblos. Archives of the Office of 

Anthropology. Unpublished Manuscript No. 4711. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. Thirtieth Annual Report of the Bureau of American 

Ethnology. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Stiger, Mark A.

1977 Anasazi Diet: The Coprolite Evidence. Masters thesis. University of Colorado, Boulder.

Swank, George R.

1932 The Ethnobotany of the Acoma and Laguna Indians. Masters thesis. University of New 

Mexico, Albuquerque.

Trigg, Heather Bethany

1999 The Economy of Early Colonial New Mexico, a.d. 1598–1680: An Investigation of Social 

Structure and Human Agency Using Archaeological and Documentary Data. Ph.D. 

dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: 

University Microfilms.

Tucker, Edwin A., and George Fitzpatrick

1972 Men Who Matched the Mountains: The Forest Service in the Southwest. Albuquerque: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region.

Turney, J. F.

1948 An Analysis of Material Taken from a Section of Group M of the Cliffs, Frijoles Canyon, 

Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. Masters thesis. Adams State College, Alamosa, 

CO.

Tyler, Hamilton A.

1979 Pueblo Birds and Myths. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Underhill, Ruth

1979 Pueblo Crafts. Palmer Lake, CO: Filter Press.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1883–1913 Forest Homestead Records. Albuquerque, NM: Land Status Office, Southwest Region.

Van Ness, John R. 

1991 Hispanos in Northern New Mexico: The Development of Corporate Community and 

Multicommunity. New York: AMS.

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F.

1940 Sacred Places and Shrines of the Navajo. Part II: Navajo Rock and Twig Piles, Called 

Tsenadjihih. Museum of Northern Arizona Museum Notes 11(3):29–34.

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F., and Scotty Begay

1938 Sacred Places and Shrines of the Navajo. Part I: The Sacred Mountains. Museum of Northern 

Arizona Museum Notes 11(3):29–34.

Vestal, Paul A.

1952 Ethnobotany of the Ramah Navajo. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology 

and Ethnology 40(4). Cambridge: Harvard University.

Weber, David J.

1971 Taos Trappers: The Fur trade in the Far West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Weslowski, Lois Vermilya

1981 Native American Land Use along Redondo Creek. In High-Altitude Adaptations along 

Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. 

Winter, eds. Pp. 105–127. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New 

Mexico. 
68 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

White, Leslie A.

1942 The Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico. Memoirs 60. Menasha, WI: American 

Anthropological Association. 

1962 The Pueblo of Sia, New Mexico. Bulletin 15. Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 

DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Whiting, Alfred F.

1939 Ethnobotany of the Hopi. Bulletin 15. Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona. 

Williams-Dean, Glenna

1986 Pollen Analysis of Human Coprolites. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope House. 

Don P. Morris, ed. Pp. 189–205. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National 

Park Service.

Windes, Thomas C., and Dabney Ford

1996 The Chaco Wood Project: The Chronometric Reappraisal of Pueblo Bonito. American 

Antiquity 61:295–310.

Winter, Joseph C.

1981 Energy and Power along Redondo Creek: II—A Cultural Framework. In High Altitude 

Adaptations along Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig 

Baker and Joseph C. Winter, eds. Pp. 173–190. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, 

University of New Mexico.

Wolf, Eric

1959 Sons of the Shaking Earth. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Woods, Betty

1942 The Blonds of Vallecito. New Mexico Magazine 20(10):10, 30.

Wyman, Leland C., and Stuart K. Harris

1941 Navajo Indian Medical Ethnobotany. University of New Mexico Bulletin, Anthropological 

Series 3(5). Albuquerque.

Wyman, Leland C., and Stuart K. Harris

1951 The Ethnobotany of the Kayenta Navajo: An Analysis of the John and Louisa Wetherill 

Ethnobotanical Collection. University of New Mexico Publications in Biology 5:1–66. 

Albuquerque. 

Yount, George C.

1965 George C. Yount and His Chronicles of the West. Charles L. Camp, ed. Denver: Old West 

Publishing.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 69

Table 5.1. VCNP ethnobotanical inventory.

VCNP Speciesa Common Name

Exact

Species

Match?b

Food or 

Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel

Dyes,

Pigments,

Tanning, Soap,

or Crafts

Fiber,

Cordage,

Basketry or 

Matting

Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments

Abies concolor White fir Yes

Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Tewa(Robbins et al. 1916); Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Pre-Columbian(Windes and Ford 1996);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916)

Acer glabrum Rocky Mountain maple Yes Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931)

Cambium and shoots are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Achillea millefolium Western yarrow, common yarrow No Northern Tiwa

(Krenetsky 1964)

Eastern Keres,Northern Tiwa,Tewa, and Zuni(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Ute(Chamber-lin 1909); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Entire aboveground part of plant may be dried, boiled in water, and strained for nutritious broth; also, may be used as remedy for disordered indigestion and rundown feeling (Kirk 1970).

Agoseris aurantiaca var. purpurea

Mountain dandelion Yes

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Agropyron cristatum var. cristatum

Crested wheatgrass Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Rootstocks may be dried and ground, with meal then baked into bread (Kirk 1970). Seeds also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Allium cernuum Nodding onion

Yes

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

No Most Historic 

Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Most Four Corners Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Tewa (Ford 1992); Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Zuni(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Bulbs may be eaten raw, boiled, or steamed. Wild onions often are ingredients for soups or as seasoning (Kirk 1970). Seeds also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Allium geyeri var.geyeri Geyer’s onion No
70 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Alnus incana var. occidentalis/Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia Thinleaf alder Yes Hispano (Ford 1975) No Western Keres 

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986a);Northern Tiwa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Alnus tenuifolia Mountain alder Yes

Amaranthus powellii var. powellii

Powell’s amaranth Yes Zuni (Bohrer 1960) Leaves may be eaten as greens. Seeds 

may be eaten in a variety of ways, from raw to cooked (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970).

Amaranthus retroflexus Redroot pigweed Yes

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Amaranthus hybridus Smooth pigweed

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Leaves may be eaten as greens. Seeds may be eaten in a variety of ways, from raw to cooked (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970).

No Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Western Keres (Swank 1932);Most Four Corners Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Western Keres (Swank 1932);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Amaranthus wrightii Wright’s amaranth NoAmelanchier alnifolia var. pumila

Serviceberry, Rocky Mountain juneberry

No

Pre-Columbian(Stevenson 1915); Hopi,Navajo, andUte (Dunmire and Tierney 1997) Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931)

All species produce edible berries, which may be eaten raw, dried, or cooked (Kirk 1970).

Androsace septentrionalis Rock jasmine No Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931)

Navajo(Fewkes 1896)

Apocynum cannabinum

Dogbane, Indian hemp dogbane No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931)

Aquilegia elegantula Red columbine Yes Western Keres 

(Jones 1931)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 71 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Aquilegia triternata Southwestern red columbine No Navajo

(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Arabis fendleri var.spatifolia Fender rockcress Yes

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Arctostaphylos uvaursi var. adenotricha Bearberry, manzanita

Yes

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Jémez (Cook 1930);Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Tewa(Ford 1992)

Acidic berries may be eaten and sometimes are used in beverages. Seeds also may be ground for cooking (Kirk 1970). Shoots also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Ford 1992)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Eastern Keres(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Arnica chamissonsis var. foliosa Arnica No Hispano

(Moore 1977)

Artemisia carruthii Carruth’s sagewort Yes Zuni

(Stevenson 1915)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Ute (Dunmire and Tierney 1997; Smith 1974)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986a); Navajo(Elmore 1944)

All species may be used for food, although A. tridentata, which is not present in the study area, is the best. Seeds and fruits may be dried, pounded into a meal to make pinole, or eaten raw (Kirk 1970). The Hopi use A. frigida as a seasoning.

Artemisia dracunculus Tarragon Yes Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975) Artemisia 

franserioides

Ragweed sagebrush Yes

Artemisia frigida Fringed sagebrush Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Tewa(Robbins et al. 1916); Zuni(Stevenson 1915); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977)

Artemisia ludoviciana var.ludoviciana

Louisana sagebrush Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Tewa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Western Keres (Swank 1932);Hispano (Ford 1975)
72 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Artemisia campestris var. pacifica Pacific wormwood No Pre-Columbian

(Stiger 1977);Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

PreColumbian?

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Eastern Keres(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Tewa(Robbins et al. 1916); Most Historic Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Ute (Dunmire and Tierney 1997; Smith 1974)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986a); Navajo(Elmore 1944)

All species may be used for food, although A. tridentata, which is not present in the study area, is the best. Seeds and fruits may be dried, pounded into a meal to make pinole, or eaten raw (Kirk 1970). The Hopi use A. frigida as a seasoning.

Artemisia campestris ssp. borealis var. scouleriana

Northern wormwood No

Asclepias subverticillata

Horsetail milkweed No

Hopi (Fewkes 1896);Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Tewa(Ford 1992);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Jémez(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Tewa(Ford 1992;Stevenson 1912); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Southern Tiwa

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Western Keres (Swank 1932);Zuni (Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Pre-Columbian(Kent 1983)

Buds, young shoots, and young leaves may be eaten as greens, seeds and inner pod may be eaten raw or cooked, and sugar may be boiled from flowers (Kirk 1970).

Aster ascemdems/ Symphyotrichum ascendens

Western American aster No

Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964)

Navajo (Vestal 1952); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Leaves of these species possibly boiled as greens (Kirk 1970).

Aster falcatum var. commutatum/ Symphyotrichum falcatum var.commutatum

White prairie aster No

Aster foliaceus var.canbyi Leafy-bract aster No

Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964)

Navajo (Vestal 1952); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Leaves of these species possibly boiled as greens (Kirk 1970).

Aster laevis var.geyeri Smooth aster NoAster lanceolatus spp. hesperius Panicle aster No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 73 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Astragalus gilensis Milkweed No Hopi (Fewkes 1896); Jémez

(Castetter 1935); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Fruits are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Bahia dissecta Yellow ragweed

Yes

Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Berberis fendleri Colorado barberry

Yes Jémez (Cook 1930) Berries may be eaten. Leaves also 

potentially are edible (Hudspeth 1997). Brilliant yellow dye may be obtained by boiling roots and bark (Kirk 1970).

No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Whiting 1939); Hopi(Whiting 1939)

Bessya plantaginea Kittentails Yes Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Betula fontinalis Water birch No Jémez (Cook 

1930)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986a) Betula occidentalis Western waterbirch Yes

Bouteloua gracilis var. gracilis Blue curly grama No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916);Eastern Keres(Lange 1959)

Seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Brickellia californica var. californica

California brickellbush Yes Hispano (Ford 1975)

Brickellia eupatorioides var.chlorolepis

Shinners false boneset

No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Brickellia fendleri Fendler’s brickellbushBrickellia grandiflora var.grandiflora

Tasselflower brickellbush

Bromus ciliatus Fringed brome No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997).
74 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Calamagrostis canadensis var. canadensis Canadian reedgrass Yes Yes (See comments) Seeds are edible 

(Hudspeth 1997).

Calochortus gunnisonii var.gunnisonii

Mariposa lily Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Bulbs may be eaten raw or after roasting over a smoky fire. They also may be dried and ground into flour (Kirk 1970).

Campanula parryi var. parryi Parry’s bellflower Yes

Navajo (Vestal 1952); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Carex aquatilis var.aquatilis Water sedge No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Seeds and roots of these many sedges are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Carex brunnescens Brownish sedge NoCarex canescens var.canescens Brownish sedge NoCarex conoidea Field sedge NoCarex deweyana Dewey’s sedge NoCarex disperma Softleaf sedge NoCarex douglasii Douglas’ sedge No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 75 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Carex foenea var. foenea Bronze-headed oval sedge No Yes (See comments) Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Seeds and roots of these many sedges are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Carex geophila Dryland sedge NoCarex lanuginosa Woolly sedge NoCarex microptera var. microptera

Mackenzie smallwing sedge No

Carex norvegica var.stevenii

Steven’s Scandinavian sedge No

Carex obtusata Obtuse sedge NoCarex occidentalis Bailey western sedge NoCarex pensylvanica var. digyna Sun sedge NoCarex petasata Liddon’s sedge NoCarex rossii Ross’ sedge NoCarex simulata Short-beak sedge NoCarex stenophylla Mackenzie sedge NoCarex stipata var.stipata Owlfruit sedge NoCarex utriculata /C. rostrata Beaked sedge NoCastilleja lineata

Greene marshmeadow Indian paintbrush

No

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Tewa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Jémez (Cook 1930)

Tewa(Stevenson 1915); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Although most species have edible raw flowers, C. lineate is the best (Kirk 1970).

Castilleja miniata var. miniata

Scarlet Indian paintbrush No

Castilleja sulphurea Sulphur Indian paintbrush NoCeanothus fendleri Bulkbrush Yes Western Keres 

(Swank 1932)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Leaves and flowers may be used for tea, although some species are better for this use than others. The bark may be used to make a tonic, while fresh flowers produce an excellent lather (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970).
76 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Cercocarpus montanus Mountain mahogany Yes Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916);Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Hopi (Colton 1965); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Jicarilla(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Hopi (Colton 1974); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Ute (Callaway et al. 1986)

Chenopodium fremontii

Fremont’s goosefoot Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano(Moore 1977)

All species are edible, but C. fremontii is the best species for food use. Leaves may be cooked as greens. Seeds may be eaten raw but best when mixed with other grain for mush or baked cakes (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970).

Chenopodium graveolens Fetid goosefoot Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Chenopodium leptophyllum

Narrowleaf goosefoot Yes

Most Historic Pueblos(Castetter 1935)

Chenopodium atrovirens Piñon goosefoot No Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Hopiand Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Tewa(Ford 1992);Most Historic Pueblos(Castetter 1935; Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Hispano(Trigg 1999)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Ford 1992); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977;Trigg 1999)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986b)

All species are edible, but C. fremontii is the best species for food use. Leaves may be cooked as greens. Seeds may be eaten raw but best when mixed with other grain for mush or baked cakes (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970).

Chenopodium berlandieri var.zschackei

Pitseed goosefoot No

Chenopodium neomexicanum

New Mexico goosefoot No

Chenopodium overi Over’s goosefoot NoCicuta maculata var.angustifolia Golden aster Yes

Navajo (Chinle Curriculum Center 1995)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 77 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Cirsium arvense Creeping thistle No Yes (See comments) Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Ford 1992); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

All species have edible roots, which may be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. Peeled stems may be eaten as greens (Kirk 1970). Seeds also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Cirsium parryi Parry’s thistle NoCirsium undulatum Wavyleaf thistle Yes

Cirsium vulgare Bull thistle NoCirsium wheeleri Thistle NoClematis columbiana var. tenuiloba Virgin’s bower No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Commelina dianthifolia Dayflower

Yes Navajo (Vestal 1952)

No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Conioselinum scopulorum Hemlock-parsley

Yes

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Corallorhiza maculata var.occidentalis

Spotted coral root Yes

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Cornus sericea var.sericea

Red-osier dogwood No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Jémez (Cook 1930)

Corydalis aurea var.aurea Golden corydalis Yes

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)
78 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Cryptantha cinerea var. cinerea Hidden flower No Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Tewa(Stevenson 1912); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980;Stevenson 1915)

Cymopterus alpinus Alpine parsley No Eastern Keres

(Swank 1932);Tewa (Ford 1992); Zuni(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Most Historic Groups(Dun-mire and Tierney 1995,1997)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Hill 1982); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Hispano(Moore 1977)

In spring, the edible roots are sweet. Roots become less sweet later in the year (Kirk 1970).

Cymopterus lemmonii/Pseudocymopterus montanus

Mountain parsley No

Cyperus fendlerianus Fendler’s flatsedge No Western Keres 

(Castetter 1935)

Hispano (Trigg 1999)

Hispano (Trigg 1999)

Tubers have a nutty flavor when eaten raw (Kirk 1970).

Descurainia pinnata ssp. filipes

Western tansy mustard

Yes

Hopi (Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Navajo(Vestal 1952)

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Pre-Columbian(Peckham 1990; Robbins et al. 1916);Hopi (Whiting 1939)

All species are edible, but some are better than others. Stems and leafy parts may be eaten as greens. The seeds may be parched, ground and eaten as mush, or in other ways (Kirk 1970).

No

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Robbins et al. 1916)

Descurainia incana var. macrosperma Tansy mustard NoDescurainia incana var. viscosa

Mountain tansy mustard No

Descurainia incana ssp. incisa

Mountain tansy mustard No

Descurainia sophia Flixweed tansy mustard NoDraba aurea Golden draba No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Draba helleriana var. helleriana

Greene Heller’s whitlowgrass No

Draba rectifructa Mountain draba NoDraba spectabilis Showy draba No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 79 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Echinocereus coccineus var. coccineus Hedgehog cactus No Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Eastern Keres(Castetter 1935); Hopi(Castetter 1935); Navajo(Castetter 1935);Western Keres (Castetter 1935); Southern Tiwa (Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Hispano(Trigg 1999)

Fruits, buds, and stems are edible (Kirk 1970).

Eleocharis acicularis Needle spikerush No

Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Eleocharis palustris Common spikerush NoEleocharis quinqueflora

Fewflower spikerush No

Elymus elongatus var. elongatus Rough tridens No

Yes

(See 

comments)

All species yield edible grains, but hairs on seeds must first be singed (Kirk 1970).

Elymus elymoides var. brevifolius

Bottlebrush squirreltail No

Elymus elymoides var. elymoides

Bottlebrush squirreltail No

Elymus hispidus var.hispidus

Intermediate wheatgrass No

Elymus hispidus var.ruthenicus

Intermediate wheatgrass No

Elymus smithii/ pascopyrum smithii

Western wheatgrass No

Elymus trachycaulus var. andinus

Slender wheatgrass, slender wild rye

No

Elymus trachycaulus var. trachycaulus

Slender wheatgrass No

Yes

(See 

comments)

All species yield edible grains, but hairs on seeds must first be singed (Kirk 1970).

Elymus x macounii Quack grass NoElymus x pseudorepens

Thickspike wheatgrass No

Elymus x saxicolous Wild rye No
80 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Epilobium brachycarpum Field willow herb No Yes (See comments) Navajo

(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Young shoots may be boiled or mixed with other raw greens for salad. Fresh or dried leaves may be used for tea. Stems also may be used to make broth (Kirk 1970).

Epilobium ciliatum var. ciliatum

Fringed willow herb Yes

Epilobium halleanum Hall willow herb NoEpilobium leptophyllum Alpine fireweed NoEquisetum laevigatum Smooth horsetail

Yes

Eastern Keres(Castetter 1935); Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Navajo (Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977) Cones and sweet pulp are edible 

(Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970). Silicacovered stems may be used from scrubbing cookware (Kirk 1970).

No Hopi (Fewkes 

1896);Eastern Keres(Castetter 1935); Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Hispano(Moore 1977) Equisetum arvense Field horsetail

No

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Erigeron acris var.asteroides Bitter fleabane No

Navajo

(Dunmire and 

Tierney 1997)

Erigeron divergens var. divergens

Spreading fleabane No

Erigeron eximius Sprucefir fleabane NoErigeron flagellaris Trailing fleabane NoErigeron formosissimus

Beautiful fleabane No

Erigeron glabellus var. glabellus

Streamside fleabane No

Erigeron lonchophyllus Shortray fleabane NoErigeron modestus Prairie fleabane NoErigeron speciosus Oregon fleabane NoErigeron subtrinervis var. subtrinervis

Threenerve fleabane No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 81 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Eriogonum racemosum var. racemosum Redroot buckwheat Yes Yes (See comments) Jémez

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Many species have edible seeds. Stems may be eaten raw or cooked before plant flowers (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970). No

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Hopi(Castetter 1935)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997;Wyman and Harris 1951);

Northern Tiwa

(Krenetsky 1964);Tewa (Ford 1992); Ute(Chamberlin 1909); Western Keres (Swank 1932); ZuniStevenson 1915)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Erodium cicutarium Red-stem filaree

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Jémez (Cook 

1930); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Leaves and stems may be eaten raw as greens or cooked as potherbs (Kirk 1970). At Jémez, leaves were pounded and mixed with watermelon seeds to prevent fungus during storage (Cook 1930).

No

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951);Hispano (Trigg 1999)

Erysimum capitatum var. capitatum

Western wallflower Yes

Hopi (Colton 1974); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Western Keres (Swank 1932)
82 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Eupatorium herbaceum Western throughwort Yes Navajo (Vestal 1952); Zuni

(Stevenson 1915); Hispano(Ford 1975)

Tewa(Stevenson 1912)

No Eastern Keres

(Lange 1959)

Euphorbiabrachycera Horned spurge No

PreColumbian?(Dunmire and Tierney 1997;Eastern Keres(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Eastern Keres(Lange 1959);Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Southern Tiwa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Tewa(Stevenson 1912); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980;Stevenson 1915);Hispano? (Trigg 1999)

Used as livestock feed; Euphorbia sp. said to increase milk production in cows and goats (Trigg 1999).

Fallugia paradoxa Apache plume Yes

Eastern Keres(Matthews 1992); Navajo(Vestal 1952);Hispano(Moore 1977)

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Vestal 1952)

Festuca arizonica Arizona fescue Yes Yes

(See 

comments)

Seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997). Festuca thurberi Thurber fescue Yes

Fragaria vesca Woodland strawberry Yes

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Berries are edible raw or cooked. Leaves may be used for tea (Kirk 1970). No Navajo and Ute

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo (Vestal 1952) Fragaria virginiana Virginia strawberry No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 83 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Galium aparine var. echinospermum Cleavers goosegrass No Yes (See comments) Navajo (Vestal 1952); Hispano

(Ford 1975)

Seeds may be roasted, ground, and used to make a drink resembling coffee. Stems may be used for bedstraw. Roots of many species may be used for making purple dye (Kirk 1970).

Galium boreale Northern bedstraw NoGalium trifidum var.subbiflorum Small bedstraw NoGayophytum diffusum var.strictipes

Gayophytum No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Geranium caespitosum Purple geranium

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Western Keres(Swank 1932);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Jémez (Cook 1930)

Leaves are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964)

Jémez (Cook 1930) Geranium richardsonii Richardson geranium No

Geum aleppicum Yellow avens No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Roots may be boiled to make a beverage (Kirk 1970).

Geum macrophyllum var. perincisum Largeleaf avens NoGeum triflorum var.ciliatum Mountain smoke NoGlyceria striata var.stricta

Fowl manna grass

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Seeds yield an excellent flower. They also may be cooked similar to rice (Kirk 1970).

Gnaphalium exilifolium Slender cudweed No

Navajo (Vestal 1952); Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Hackelia floribunda Many-flowered stickseed Yes Tewa (Ford 1992)
84 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name

Exact

Species

Match?b

Food or 

Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel

Dyes,

Pigments,

Tanning, Soap,

or Crafts

Fiber,

Cordage,

Basketry or 

Matting

Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments

Helianthus rigidus ssp. subrhomboideus Showy sunflower No

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Most Historic Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Hispano? (Trigg 1999)

Hopi (Colton 1974); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Hispano(Moore 1977;Trigg 1999)

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986a)

Seeds may be eaten raw or roasted. Tubers may be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. Seeds yield a black or purple dye; flowers produce a yellow dye (Kirk 1970).

Heracleum sphondylium var. lanatum

Cow parsnip Yes Hispano

(Moore 1977)

Heterotheca villosa var. nana

Hairy false goldenaster No Hispano (Ford 1975)

Heuchera parvifolia Common alumroot No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Raw roots may be used to treat diarrhea (Kirk 1970).

Hieracium fendleri var. fendleri Hawkweed Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Green plant parts and coagulated juice may be chewed as gum (Kirk 1970).

Holodiscus dumosus var. dumosus

Bush mountainspray Yes

Navajo (Vestal 1952); Tewa(Castetter 1935); Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931)

Zuni(Underhill 1979)

One-seeded fruits may be eaten (Kirk 1970).

Humulus lupulus var. neomexicanus Hops Yes Hispano

(Moore 1977)

Hymenopappus newberryi

Newberry white ragweed

Yes Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931)

No

Jémez (Cook 1930); Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931)

Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Hymenoxys hoopesii Orange sneezeweed No

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 85 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Hymenoxys richardsonii var. floribunda Pingue rubberweed Yes Zuni

(Camazine and Bye 1980);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

No

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Ipomopsis aggregata subsp. Formosissima Scarlet gilia No

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Tewa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995;Stevenson 1912); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Hopi (Colton 1974)

Iris missouriensis Blue flag

Yes

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Navajo(Elmore 1944)

No Hispano (Ford 1975)

Iva axillaris var.robustior

Marsh-elder, poverty-weed No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Ute (Chamberlin 1909)
86 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Juncus arcticus var. balticus Arctic rush No Pre-Columbian

(Adams 1980)

Navajo (Mayes and Lacy 1989)

Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931)

Juncus balticus var.montanus

Baltic rush No

Juncus bufonius Toad-rush NoJuncus dudleyi Dudley’s rush NoJuncus ensifolius var.montanus Dagger-leaf rush NoJuncus interior Inland rush NoJuncus longistylis Longstyle rush NoJuncus nevadensis Sierra rush NoJuncus torreyi Torrey’s rush No Pre-Columbian

(Adams 1980)

Navajo (Mayes and Lacy 1989)

Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931)

Juniperus communis var. depressa Common juniper

Yes

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

All species produce edible berries, which may be eaten raw or dried, ground into meal, and cooked as mush or baked as cakes (Kirk 1970). J. communis bark also is edible (Hudspeth 1997).

No

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Hopiand Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997;Vestal 1952)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Navajo andUte (Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Navajo and Ute(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Navajo and Ute(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Juniperus scopulorum

Rocky Mountain juniper Yes

Jémez (Cook 1930); Tewa(Castetter 1935); Ute(Callaway et al. 1986);Western Keres(Swank 1932)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986b)

Koeleria macrantha Junegrass No Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931)

Jémez (Cook 1930)

Seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Lactuca serriola Prickly lettuce

Yes Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Aboveground part of plant may be eaten as greens. Gum present in the roots may be chewed (Kirk 1970).

No

Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Lappula occidentalis var. occidentalis/ L. redowskii

Flatspine stickseed No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 87 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Lathyrus arizonica Arizona peavine No Eastern Keres

(Castetter 1935); Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1941);Tewa (Ford 1992); Western Keres (Swank 1932)

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1941)

Seeds may be used as seasoning. Shoots and leaves collected from young plants may be used as edible green (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970). Pods also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Lepidium densiflorum

Common peppergrass

Yes

Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Lepidium ramosissimum var.bourgeauanum

Bourgeau’s pepperweed No Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997;Stiger 1977)

PreColumbian?

(Stiger 1977);Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931)

Lepidium virginicum var. pubescens

Clasping pepperweed

No

Yes Hispano (Ford 1975)

Lesquerella ovalifolia

Roundleaf bladderpod No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Western Keres(Swank 1932)

Leaves and seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Linum lewisii var. lewisii Prairie flax No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Seeds may be roasted, dried, and ground for use alone or mixed with other foods (Kirk 1970).

Lithospermum multiflorum

Southwestern stoneseed No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Cooked roots are edible (Kirk 1970).

Lonicera involucrata Bracted honeysuckle No Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)
88 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Lotus wrightii Wright’s deervetch Yes Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Lupinus argenteus var. argophyllus

Stemless dwarf lupine No Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997;Wyman and Harris 1941)

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1941)

Lupinus argenteus var. fulvomaculatus

Stemless dwarf lupine No

Lupinus kingii King’s lupine, silky lupine NoMachaeranthera bigelovii var.bigelovii

Bigelow’s tansyaster No Western Keres

(Swank 1932)

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Jémez(Cook 1930);Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Tewa(Stevenson 1912); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980;Stevenson 1915)

Western Keres(Swank 1932)

Mahonia repens Creeping barberry Yes Hispano

(Moore 1977)

Malva neglecta Common mallow

Yes Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo (Mayes and Lacy 1989) Leaves and stems may be boiled (Kirk 

1970). No Tewa (Ford 1992); Hispano

(Moore 1977)

Marrubium vulgare Blue verbena Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

The dried plant, made into a tea, makes a nutritious tonic. In large quantities, however, the tonic has laxative qualities (Kirk 1970).

Matricaria discoidea Disc mayweed Yes Hispano (Ford 1975)

Medicago sativa Buffalo grass No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Seeds may be parched and eaten, or ground into flour (Kirk 1970).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 89 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Melilotus albus White sweet clover Yes Yes (See comments) Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977) Greens and seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997). Melilotus officinalis Yellow sweet clover No Yes (See comments) Mentha arvensis Field mint Yes Eastern Keres

(Castetter 1935); Zuni(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931);Tewa (Ford 1992); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977)

Leaves, used either fresh or dried, make teas (Kirk 1970).

Mentha spicata Spearmint Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Tewa (Ford 1992); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977)

Mimulus glabratus var. jamesii

Wild lettuce, roundleaf monkeyflower

Yes Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931)

Greens may be eaten raw (Kirk 1970).

No

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Mimulus guttatus var. guttatus

Wild lettuce, common monkey-flower

Yes Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931)

No

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Mirabilis oxybaphoides

Smooth spreading fouro’clock

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Roots are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

No Hopi (Colton 

1974); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Tewa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Western Keres(Swank 1932)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Mirabilis comata Hairy-tuft four- o’clock NoMirabilis decipiens Broadleaf four- o’clock NoMirabilis linearis Narrowleaf four- o’clock No
90 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Monarda fistulosa var. menthifolia Mintleaf bee balm Yes Yes (See comments) Most Historic Pueblos

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995;Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Tewa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

The entire aboveground portion of the plant may be used as a potherb (Kirk 1970).

No Hopi (Whiting 1939) Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Muhlenbergia andina Foxtail muhly No Yes

(See 

comments)

Zuni (Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997). Muhlenbergia 

filiformis Pullup muhly NoMuhlenbergia minutissima Annual muhly No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Zuni (Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Muhlenbergia montana Mountain muhly NoMuhlenbergia pauciflora

New Mexico muhly No

Muhlenbergia ramulosa Green muhly NoMuhlenbergia richardsonis

Mat muhly, softleaf muhly No

Muhlenbergia wrightii Spike muhly NoOenothera caespitosa

Stemless evening primrose

Yes Yes

(See 

comments)

Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931)

Spring roots may be cooked (Kirk 1970).

No Hopi (Whiting 

1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980;Stevenson 1915); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Oenothera coronopifolia

Sand evening primrose

No Yes

(See 

comments)

Yes

Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 91 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Opuntia phaeacantha var. phaeacantha Plains prickly pear No Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Fruits and joints may be peeled and eaten raw, boiled and then fried, or stewed (Kirk 1970).

Orobanche ludoviciana

Louisiana broomrape No

Jémez(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951); Tewa(Stevenson 1912); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Western Keres(Swank 1932)

Entire plant, including its roots, is edible raw but is best if first roasted (Kirk 1970).

Oryzopsis hymenoides Indian ricegrass No

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Most Historic Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Seeds are edible raw but are best if dried and then ground for mush or baked cakes (Kirk 1970).

Osmorhiza depauperata Sweet cicely No Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931)

Roots may be used for anise-like flavoring (Kirk 1970).

Oxalis violacea Violet wood sorrel Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Leaves and stems may be eaten either raw or after slight fermentation (Kirk 1970).

Parietaria pensylvanica

Pennsylvania pellitory Yes Hispano (Ford 1975)
92 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Penstemon barbatus var. trichander Scarlet penstemon Yes Hispano (Ford 1975) No Tewa (Ford 1992) Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916); Western Keres

(Swank 1932)

Penstemon inflatus

Crosswhite inflated beardtongue

No

Tewa (Ford 1992)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916);Western Keres(Swank 1932);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Penstemon rydbergii var. rydbergii

Rydberg’s penstemon No

Penstemon whippleanus

Whipples penstemon No

Pericome caudata Mountain leaftail Yes

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Phacelia alba White scorpionweed No

Tewa(Stevenson 1912); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Phacelia heterophylla var.heterophylla

Varileaf phacelia, scorpionweed No

Tewa(Stevenson 1912); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Philadelphus microphyllus Mock orange Yes

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951);Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Tewa (Hill 1982)

Fruits are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Picea engelmannii var. engelmannii

Engelmann spruce

No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Windes and Ford 1996)

Picea pungens Colorado blue spruce

Yes Western Keres

(Swank 1932)

No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Windes and Ford 1996)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 93 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Pinus edulis Piñon pine Yes Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Most Historic Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Hispano(Trigg 1999)

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Hill 1982); Southern Tiwa (Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977; Trigg 1999)

Eastern Keres(Lange 1959)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Elmore 1944)

Hopi (Colton 1965); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbianand Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hopi (Whiting 1939); Ute(Smith 1974)

Nuts are edible and nutritious either raw or cooked (Kirk 1970).

Pinus flexilis Limber pine Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Nuts are edible. Cambium may be eaten as starvation food (Hudspeth 1997).

Pinus ponderosa var.scopulorum Ponderosa pine Yes Zuni (Castetter 1935)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Ford 1992)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997; Turney 1948); Most Historic Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Navajo (Mayes and Lacy 1989)

Cambium may be eaten as starvation food (Hudspeth 1997).

Plantago lanceolata Narrowleaf plantain No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Young plants may be used raw as a salad green or used in cooking as a potherb. Seeds may be parched and ground into meal (Kirk 1970).
94 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Plantago major var. major Common plantain Yes Western Keres

(Castetter 1935)

Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977)

Young plants may be used raw as a salad green or used in cooking as a potherb. Seeds may be parched and ground into meal (Kirk 1970).

Poa fendleriana Bluegrass Yes Pre-Columbian

(Bohrer 1975)

Seeds are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Polygonum aviculare Doorweed

Yes Hispano (Ford 1975)

Seeds of many species may be eaten whole or ground into meal, however, P aviculare is the best. Some species have peppery leaves that may be used as a seasoning, while others may be eaten raw as salad greens or cooked as potherbs. Roots also are edible (Kirk 1970).

No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Polygonum amphibium var.stipulaceum

Water buckweed No

Polygonum convolvulus var.convolvulus

Wild buckwheat, black bindweed No

Polygonum douglasii var. douglasii

Douglass knotweed No

Polygonum erectum Erect knotweed NoPolygonum lapathifolium var.lapathifolium

Curlytop knotweed Yes

Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Populus angustifolia Narrowleaf cottonwood

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Eastern Keres(Lange 1959)

Catkins in some species are edible raw or boiled in stews. Inner bark may be eaten as starvation food (Kirk 1970). Aspen flowers also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

No

Pre-Columbian(WilliamsDean 1986)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hopi (Colton 1974)

Populus tremuloides Quaking aspen Yes

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Ute (Smith 1974)

Southern Tiwa(Jones 1931);Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Elmore 1944);Tewa (Ford 1992)

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Ute (Smith 1974)

Pre-Columbianand Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hopi (Whiting 1939); Ute(Smith 1974)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 95 VCNP Speciesa Common Name

Exact

Species

Match?b

Food or 

Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel

Dyes,

Pigments,

Tanning, Soap,

or Crafts

Fiber,

Cordage,

Basketry or 

Matting

Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments

Potentilla anserina/Argentina anserina

Silverweed cinquefoil No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Roots of P. anserineare good either boiled or roasted; they are similar to parsnips (Kirk 1970).

Potentilla fruticosa/ Dasiphora floribunda/Pentaphylloides floribunda

Shrubby cinquefoil, bush cinquefoil

No

Potentilla gracilis var. pulcherrima Soft cinquefoil NoPotentilla hippiana var. hippiana

Woolly cinquefoil No

Potentilla norvegica subsp. Monspeliensis

Norwegian cinquefoil No

Potentilla pensylvanica var.pensylvanica

Pennsylvania cinquefoil No

Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa

Common choke cherry

Yes

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Ute (Callaway et al. 1986);Jicarilla (Opler 1936)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Western Keres(Swank 1932);Hispano (Ford 1975)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Jicarilla(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Nichols n.d.);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Ute (Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Sour berries are edible raw or cooked. Leaves may be used to make refreshing beverage (Kirk 1970).

No

Navajo(Castetter 1935); Ute(Callaway et al. 1986)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca Douglas fir Yes Yes

(See 

comments)

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997) Fresh needles may be 

steeped for tea (Kirk 1970).

Pseudotsuga mucronata Douglas fir No

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)
96 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Pteridium aquilinum var. pubescens Western bracken Yes Yes (See comments) Navajo (Chinle Curriculum Center 1995) Navajo (Chinle Curriculum Center 1995) Young fronds are edible raw or cooked. Rootstock may be eaten after roasting or boiling (Kirk 1970). Pterospora andromedea Pinedrops Yes Western Keres

(Swank 1932)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Pyrola chlorantha var. chlorantha

Green wintergreen Yes

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Quercus gambelii Gambel oak

Yes

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Eastern Keres(White 1942);Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931);Tewa (Ford 1992); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986b); Hopi(Colton 1974); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997; Turney 1948)

Sweet acorns may be eaten raw or cooked (Kirk 1970). Leaves also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

No

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Ute (Callaway et al. 1986);Jicarilla (Opler 1936)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Ranunculus aquatilis var.diffusa /Ranunculus longirostris

Water buttercup No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Western Keres(Swank 1932)

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Buttercups are toxic raw but are edible when cooked. Seeds may be parched and ground for baked cakes, and roots may be boiled. Crushed and washed flowers yield yellow dye (Kirk 1970).

Ranunculus cardiophyllus

Heart-leaved buttercup No

Ranunculus cymbalaria

Northern seaside buttercup No

Ranunculus inamoenus

Graceful buttercup Yes

Ranunculus macounii

Macoun’s buttercup No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 97 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Ratibida columnifera Prairie coneflower Yes Zuni

(Stevenson 1915)

Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Tewa(Stevenson 1912); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Leaves and flowers may be brewed for tea (Kirk 1970).

No Navajo (Vestal 1952) Hispano

(Moore 1977)

Ribes cereum Western red currant Yes

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997; Stiger 1977); Hopi(Fewkes 1896);Navajo and Ute(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Hopi (Kirk 1970)

Hopi (Whiting 1939)

Pre-Columbian(Nichols n.d.);Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

All species produce edible berries, but some are better than others. Leaves of some species may also be eaten (Hudspeth 1997).

Ribes inebrians Whiskey currant Yes

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Ribes inerme var. inermis

Whitestem gooseberry Yes

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Pre-Columbian(Nichols n.d.);Hopi (Whiting 1936); Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Ribes leptanthum Trumpet gooseberry No Pre-Columbian

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997; Stiger 1977; Turney 1948); Hopi(Fewkes 1896);Navajo and Ute(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Hopi (Kirk 1970)

Hopi (Whiting 1939)

Ribes montigenum Red prickly currant NoRibes wolfii Wolf’s currant NoRobinia neomexicana var.neomexicana

New Mexico locust Yes Jémez (Cook 1930) Hispano (Ford 1975)

Pre-Columbian(Turney 1948);Jémez (Cook 1930); Tewa(Ford 1992);Western Keres(Swank 1932)

Flowers are edible (Hudspeth 1997).
98 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Rorippa nasturtium- aquaticum Common watercress Yes Hispano (Ford 1975) Leaves and stems may be eaten as greens (Hudspeth 1997). No Yes (See comments) Zuni

(Stevenson 1915)

Rorippa curvipes Bluntleaf yellowcress NoRorippa sphaerocarpa

Roundfruit yellowcress No

Rosa nutkana Nootka rose No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Tewa(Ford 1992);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977) Rose hips may be eaten raw or cooked. 

Flower petals, bark, shoots, and leaves also may be eaten (Hudspeth 1997; Kirk 1970).

Rosa woodsii Woods rose Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Northern Tiwa(Krenetsky 1964); Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Tewa(Ford 1992);Ute (Fowler 1986); Hispano(Ford 1975;Moore 1977)

Navajo(Elmore 1944)

Ute (Smith 1974)

Rubus parviflorus var. parviflorus

Western thimbleberry

Yes Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931)

All species produce edible berries, which may be consumed either raw or cooked (Kirk 1970). Shoots and greens also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

No

Navajo(Castetter 1935); Ute(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Rudbeckia laciniata var. ampla

Cutleaf coneflower Yes

Eastern Keres(Castetter 1935)

Hispano(Moore 1977)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 99 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Rumex acetosella Wild dock, red sorrel No Navajo

(Elmore 1944);Eastern Keres(Castetter 1935); Southern Tiwa (Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Hopi (Whiting 1939; Kirk 1970); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Tewa (Ford 1992); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Stevenson 1915); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Hopi andNavajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997;Kirk 1970)

All Rumex species bear edible leaves and stems, but some are more acidic than others. Cooking removes toxins (Kirk 1970).

Rumex salicifolius var. triangulivalvis

Triangle-valve dock No

Rumex crispus Curlyleaf dock Yes

Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Tewa(Castetter 1935)

Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Sagittaria cuneata

Arum-leaved arrowhead, northern arrowhead

Yes Navajo

(Elmore 1944)

Salix bebbiana Bebb willow No

Navajo(Elmore 1944);Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Hispano(Moore 1977)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Ute (Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Southern Tiwa

(Jones 1931);Ute (Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Pre-Columbian,Jicarilla,Navajo, andUte (Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian,Jicarilla,Navajo, and Ute (Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Inner bark is edible with minimum processing as emergency food, but it is more palatable if dried and ground into flour (Kirk 1970).

Salix eriocephala var. ligulifolia /S. ligulifolia

Strapleaf willow No

Salix scouleriana Scouler willow Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Southern Tiwa (Jones 1931); Zuni(Camazine and Bye 1980)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Inner bark is edible with minimum processing as emergency food, but it is more palatable if dried and ground into flour (Kirk 1970).

Sambucus racemosa var. microbotrys Red elderberry No Ute (Callaway et al. 1986) Hispano

(Moore 1977)

Pre-Columbian(Nichols n.d.);Ute 30

Berries are edible, especially if cooked. Bark may be used as diuretic or purgative (Kirk 1970).
100 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Senecio atratus Tall blacktip ragwort No Jémez (Cook 1930); Hopi and Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Stevenson 1915); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986b)

Senecio bigelovii var.bigelovii

Nodding ragwort, Bigelow’s groundsel

No

Senecio bigelovii var.hallii Hall’s ragwort NoSenecio eremophilus var. kingii King’s ragwort NoSenecio wootonii Wooton’s ragwort NoShepherdia canadensis Buffalo berry No

Ute (Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Bitter berries are edible if cooked and sweetened (Kirk 1970).

Sidalcea candida var. candida

White checkerberry No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Aboveground part of plant is edible as cooked green (Kirk 1970).

Silene drummondii var. drummondii

Drummond’s campion, catchfly No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Young shoots may be used as a potherb. The complete aboveground part of plant of some species is edible if boiled (Kirk 1970).

Silene menziesii var.menziesii Menzie catchfly NoSilene scouleri var.pringlei Hall’s catchfly NoSisymbrium altissimum Tumble mustard No Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Seeds may be parched and ground. Young plants may be used as a potherb (Kirk 1970).

Sisymbrium loeselii Loesel thimble mustard No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 101 VCNP Speciesa Common Name

Exact

Species

Match?b

Food or 

Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel

Dyes,

Pigments,

Tanning, Soap,

or Crafts

Fiber,

Cordage,

Basketry or 

Matting

Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments

Solanum ptycanthum Eastern black nightshade No

Eastern Keres(Castetter 1935; White 1942); Hopi(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Southern Tiwa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995; Jones 1931); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Stevenson 1915); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Navajo(Elmore 1944); Zuni(Stevenson 1915); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Eastern Keres(Lange 1959)

Tubers are edible when cooked (Kirk 1970). Zuni eat S. triflorum berries even though they are said to be poisonous.

Solanum triflorum Cutleaf nightshade

Yes

Western Keres(Castetter 1935); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Tubers are edible when cooked (Kirk 1970). Zuni eat S. triflorum berries even though they are said to be poisonous. No

Eastern Keres(Castetter 1935; White 1942); Hopi(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Southern Tiwa(Dunmire and Tierney 1995; Jones 1931); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Kirk 1970;Stevenson 1915); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Navajo(Elmore 1944); Zuni(Stevenson 1915); Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Eastern Keres(Lange 1959)
102 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Solidago missouriensis var. missouriensis Missouri goldenrod No Hopi (Castetter 1935) Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo

(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Western Keres (Swank 1932); Zuni(Stevenson 1915)

Western Keres

(Swank 1932)

Young leaves may be used as a potherb. Dried leaves and fully expanded flowers may be brewed for tea (Kirk 

1970).

Solidago nana Baby goldenrod NoSolidago nemoralis var. longipetiolata Gray goldenrod NoSolidago wrightii var. adenophora

Wright’s goldenrod No

Sonchus arvensis Field milk thistle Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Young leaves and stems may be used for greens (Kirk 1970).

Sparganium angustifolium

Narrow-leafbur reed No Pre- Columbian?

(Jones and Fonner 1954)

Bulbous stem base and rhizome tubers are edible when cooked (Kirk 1970).

Sparganium emersum

Common bur reed No

Sphaeralcea fendleri var. fendleri

Fendler’s globe mallow No

PreColumbian?(Dunmire and Tierney 1995, 1997);Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Hopi(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Hispano(Moore 1977)

Buds are edible (Hudspeth 1997). 

Sporobolus cryptandrus Sand dropseed No

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1995,1997); Hopi(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Pre-Columbian(Magers 1986a)

Seeds may be eaten raw but are best if parched and ground into flour for baking (Kirk 1970).

Stellaria longipes var. longipes

Long-stalk chickweed No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Tips of young plants may be boiled like spinach (Kirk 1970). Roots also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Stipa comata var.intermedia

Needle-andthread No Pre-Columbian

(Bohrer 1975)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 103 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Stipa lettermanii Letterman’s needlegrass No Pre-Columbian

(Bohrer 1975)

Symphoricarpos oreophilus

Mountain snowberry No

Pre-Columbian(Minnis and Ford 1977)

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Taraxacum laevigatum

Red-seeded dandelion No

Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916)

Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916);Western Keres(Swank 1932);Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Flowers are edible if boiled to remove bitterness. Roots are edible raw or cooked. They also may be used to make tonics, mild laxatives, and diuretics (Kirk 1970).

Taraxacum officinale Common dandelion Yes

Taraxacum taraxacun

Common dandelion No

Thalictrum fendleri Fendler’s meadow rue Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1941);

Western Keres

(Swank 1932);

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Plants produce edible greens (Hudspeth 1997).

Thelypodium wrightii var. wrightii Wright’s mustard

Yes

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Tewa (Robbins et al. 1916)

No Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Townsendia eximia Townsend’s aster No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo (Bryan and Young 1940)

Trifolium longipes var. reflexum

Long-stalked clover No

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Trifolium pratensevar. pratense

Red clover No

Trifolium repens White clover NoTrifolium wormskjoldii var. arizonicum

Springbank clover No
104 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Typha angustifolia Narrow-leaf cattail Yes Yes (See comments) Pre-Columbian

(Lang 1986)

Starchy root is edible if roasted, boiled, or dried and ground into meal (Kirk 1970). Pollen and greens also may be eaten (Hudspeth 1997). Cattail down may be used to dress wounds, pad cradleboards, and stuff pillows (Kirk 1970).

No

Hopi (Whiting 1939); Navajo(Vestal 1952)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Navajo (Vestal 1952); Ute(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Urtica dioica var. procera

Common stinging nettle No

Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo(Wyman and Harris 1941)

Ute (Callaway et al. 1986)

Boiled young shoots and stems may be eaten like spinach. Roots yield yellow dye (Kirk 1970).

Vaccinium myrtillus var. oreophilum

Myrle whortleberry Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Berries are edible either raw or cooked (Kirk 1970). Leaves also may be eaten (Hudspeth 1997).

Valeriana edulis var.edulis

Thickleaf valerian, tobacco root

Yes

Yes

(See 

comments)

Roots are edible if roasted for a day. Cooked roots then may be eaten without further processing or may used to make soup or ground into flour for bread. Seeds edible raw but best if parched (Kirk 1970).

Verbascum thapsus Common mullein Yes

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Verbena macdougalii Mountain blue vervain

Yes Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Seeds may be roasted and ground; best if first leached (Kirk 1970). No

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Veronica americana American brooklime No Yes

(See 

comments)

Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Leaves and stems may be used as salad greens and potherbs (Kirk 1970). 

Veronica peregrina var. xalapensis

Purslane speedwell No
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 105 VCNP Speciesa Common Name Exact Species Match?b Food or Beverage Medicine Smoking or Chewing Construction or Fuel Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or Crafts Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or Matting Tools Edible Parts and Other Comments Vicia americana var. americana American vetch Yes Eastern Keres

(Castetter 1935); Western Keres (Swank 1932)

PreColumbian?(Jones and Fonner 1954);Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Young stems and seeds may be boiled or baked (Kirk 1970).

Viguiera multiflora var. multiflora /Heliomeris multiflora var. multiflora

Showy goldeneye No Navajo (Vestal 1952)

Viola adunca

Early blue violet, western dog violet

No Yes

(See 

comments)

Hispano (Ford 1975)

Leaves and stems may be eaten as greens (Kirk 1970). Buds also are edible (Hudspeth 1997).

Viola canadensis Canadian violet NoViola pedatifida Birdfoot violet NoWoodsia oregana var. cathcartiana Western cliff fern No Navajo (Vestal 1952)Yucca baccata var.baccata Broadleaf yucca

Yes

(See

Pre-Columbian(Fry and Hall 1986); Most Historic Groups(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Hispano (Ford 1975; Moore 1977)

Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995); Hopi,Navajo, andUte (Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

Pre-Columbian(Adovasio and Gunn 1986;Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Hopi (Dunmire and Tierney 1997); Most Historic Groups(Bell and Castetter 1941;Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Pre-Columbian(Dunmire and Tierney 1997);Most Historic Pueblos(Dunmire and Tierney 1995)

Large, pulpy fruits may be eaten raw, roasted, dried, or ground into meal. Seeds, flowers, buds, and young flower stalks also are edible raw, boiled, or roasted (Kirk 1970).

Zigadenus elegans Mountain death camus No Navajo

(Wyman and Harris 1951)

Navajo(Dunmire and Tierney 1997)

 a Genera are listed in alphabetical order. Species within genera usually follow alphabetical order; however, some deviations from this rule occur to simplify data presentation among taxa with similar 

documented uses. 

b “Exact Species Match” signifies whether the published ethnobotancial references specifically identify plant species known to occur in the VCNP (“yes”) or describe plant uses documented by genera or a 

closely related species (“no”). 
106 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

5.70

Table 5.2. Summary VCNP ethnobotanical inventory.

VCNP species Exact species match?a

Major Uses Raw Count Yes No

Raw Count 350 125 225

Food or Beverage 290 87 203

Medicine 286 104 183

Smoking or Chewing 25 11 14

Construction or Fuel 30 12 18

Dyes, Pigments, Tanning, Soap, or

Crafts 67 27 40

Fiber, Cordage, Basketry or

Matting

18 8 10

Tools 58 22 36

a “Exact Species Match” signifies whether the published ethnobotanical references

specifically identify plant species known to occur in the VCNP (“yes”) or describe plant uses

documented by genera or a closely related species (“no”).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 107

Introduction

Adolf Bandelier described the Valles Caldera in the 

mid-1880s:

The Valles Mountains separate the northern section of the 

Queres district from that claimed by the Jémez tribe. Against 

the chain of gently sloping summits which forms the main 

range from the peak of Abiquiu to the Sierra de la Palisada 

in the south abuts in the west an elevated plateau, containing 

a series of grassy basins to which the name of “Los Valles” 

(the valleys) has been applied. Permanent streams water it, 

and contribute to make an excellent grazing region of this 

plateau. But the seasons are short. For snow fills the passes 

sometimes till June and may be expected again as early as 

September (Bandelier 1892:200).

Writing circa 1911, U.S. Surveyor William Boone Douglass 

noted:

The soil of the valleys is a rich black loam, that may be 

classed as first rate. At many points in the higher lands the 

soil is almost as good. This coupled with a copious supply 

of moisture, produces a heavy growth of grass, making the 

grant ideal for grazing purposes. The lands, perhaps, have 

other agricultural values, especially that in the lower valleys, 

but the high altitude, a mean of about 9,000 ft. [2,744 m] 

above sea level, tends to prevent the maturing of crops 

(Douglass and Neighbour n.d.:83).

Having again surveyed the Baca Location No. 1 (Baca 

Location) in 1921, Cadastral Engineer Charles W. Devendorf 

concluded,

The soil is generally a very rich black loam, but in some 

of the valleys it is a gravelly brown loam, and in much of 

the mountain country is more or less thin and stony. In the 

rougher mountainous portions the soil is largely bare, broken 

lava rock and huge boulders...At this high elevation, 8,000 

to 12,000 ft. [2,439–3,659 m], the rainfall is very heavy, 

also the snow fall...In the spring of 1921 the period between 

spring and autumn frosts at my camp was about 60 days. It is 

probably shorter on the higher mountains (Osterhoudt et al. 

1921:98–99).

These characteristics have ensured that the Valles Caldera 

will never be ground for conventional farming. At the same 

time, these qualities make the Valles perhaps the finest summer 

pasture in the Southwest.

Cattle and Sheep

Permanent Hispanic settlement began in New Mexico in 

1598 with the arrival of Don Juan de Oñate at the head of 

a major colonizing expedition. Oñate brought horses, sheep, 

goats, and cattle. Oñate’s breeder sheep flocks thrived, and 

sheep again dominated the fledgling New Mexican livestock 

industry after Diego de Vargas’ Reconquest in the 1690s. In 

comparison, Hispanic New Mexico never became a center of 

cattle ranching. “Perhaps the single greatest retarding factor 

was the presence of a substantial established population of 

Pueblo Indian irrigation farmers” (Jordan 1993:146). Jordan 

contends that the Franciscan missions established in New 

Mexico in the 1600s, including that at Jémez Pueblo, blocked 

the development of a large-scale cattle industry in order to 

protect the fields and crops of the Indians as well as their 

own agricultural enterprises based on Indian labor (Jordan

1993:146; see also chapters 5 and 9 for discussions of Jémez 

Pueblo’s traditional relationship with the Valles Caldera).

After the Reconquest, Governor Vargas began to make land 

grants, a practice that continued through the 1700s. Subsequent 

governors made grants north of Jémez Pueblo and west of the 

Río Grande (Scurlock 1981:135). Hispanics first occupied the 

Rito de los Frijoles in 1780, the year Governor Juan Bautista 

de Anza received a petition from Andrés Montoya to recognize a land grant that former Governor Tomás Veles Cachupín 

had made in 1740 (Morley 1938:150). Although Montoya 

admitted never occupying this grant, de Anza conveyed 

Montoya’s title to the land to his son-in-law, Juan Antonio 

Lujan, who began clearing the still virgin acreage for farming 

(Morley 1938:150–151). Similarly, Governor Chacòn made 

the Cañon de San Diego Grant, immediately southwest of the 

Baca Location in 1798. The first European settlement on this 

grant was probably Cañon, at the confluence of the Río Jémez 

and the Río Guadalupe. By 1821 the Jémez Valley’s Hispanic 

population was 864 (Scurlock 1981:135).

New Mexico’s ranching economy and the lands it occupied gradually expanded during the eighteenth century. 

Chapter 6.

Ranching History

Thomas Merlan and Kurt F. Anschuetz
108 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Herding and pastoralism were the principal means by which 

the region’s Hispanic occupation grew from the time of the 

Reconquest until after the coming of the Anglo-Americans 

in the nineteenth century. Richard L. Nostrand, an authority 

on New Mexico Hispanic history, finds that the Hispanic 

“homeland,” or area of occupation, reached its greatest extent 

about 1900, mainly owing to the sheep industry (Norstrand 

1992).

The need for new pastures was the driving force behind 

this homeland expansion. John O. Baxter (1987:42) notes 

that New Mexico’s sheep industry, while still comparatively small by later standards, was solidly established by 

the mid-1700s. This period also roughly coincides with the 

time when Hispanic travelers and soldiers began crossing the 

Valles Caldera. The Miera y Pacheco Map of 1779 implies the 

presence of cattle and other livestock in the Valles Caldera 

during the latter eighteenth century. In his drawing, made at 

the request of Governor Juan Bautista de Anza, Bernardo 

Miera y Pacheco (1779) identifies the Valle Grande as the 

Valle de los Bacas (Valley of the Cows).

By 1757 the Pueblos and Hispanics of New Mexico 

together owned significant numbers of livestock, including 

seven times more sheep than cattle: 7,356 horses, 16,157 

cattle, and 112,182 sheep (Baxter 1987:42). Diego Padilla, 

who lived south of Albuquerque, owned 1,700 sheep but only 

141 cattle in 1740. Sheep became “the economic hallmark of 

the regional Euroamerican culture” (Jordan 1993:147). The 

region’s Navajo and Ute populations also readily adopted 

these animals into their economies and cultures.

New Mexico’s economy showed little diversification until 

about 1790. It was almost entirely agricultural and pastoral, 

and depended primarily on sheep. As sheep became the acceptable means of exchange for imported consumer goods, a small 

clique of rancher-merchants began to dominate livestock 

marketing within the province and to control other aspects of 

the local economy (Baxter 1987:42). Many of these individuals were either natives of Spain or criollos, born in the New 

World but of Spanish blood.

Partido

The partido system, which was a means of lending capital at 

interest in the medium of sheep, prevailed in New Mexico from 

at least the early eighteenth century until it disappeared with 

the new economic arrangements and dislocations of World War 

II. The partido contract required a partidario (participating 

sharecropper) to return a percentage of the annual increase in 

the sheep herd and a percentage of the sheared wool, as well 

as to compensate the owner for all losses (Scurlock 1982:4). 

Partido came relatively late to the Valles Caldera, however. 

Two prominent land barons of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Maríano Sabine Otero and Frank Bond, were 

largely responsible for the introduction of partido to the Baca 

Location.

The earliest known partido contract in New Mexico dates 

to about 1745. Under this agreement, Captain Joseph Baca of 

Albuquerque received 417 ewes from Lieutenant Manuel Sáenz 

de Garvisu for a period of 3 years (Baxter 1987:29).

Despite the early introduction of partido following the 

Reconquest, livestock production remained at a subsistence 

level throughout the Spanish colony until the 1770s. After 1780, 

New Mexico began to produce a truly exportable surplus in 

numbers such that the trade significantly aided New Mexico’s 

economy rather than depleting it, as had earlier been the case. In 

1788 Governor Fernando de la Concha estimated the number of 

New Mexican sheep sold in Chihuahua at 15,000 head valued at 

about 30,000 pesos. Six years later:

“[a friar noted] 15 to 20,000 sheep leave this province 

annually, and there have been some years when up to 25,000 

left.” In 1803 Governor Chacon estimated the number of 

cattle and horses going to market annually in Sonora and 

Nueva Vizcaya at more than 600 annually, plus 25 to 26,000 

sheep and goats. In 1827 Colonel Antonio Narbona reported 

that there were 5,000 cattle, 240,000 sheep and goats, 

550 horses, 2,150 mules, and 300 mares in New Mexico 

(Gutiérrez 1991:319–320).

At the end of the century, sheep marketing involved provincial 

merchants who brought their livestock to La Joya de Sevilleta, 

the last settlement north of the Jornada del Muerto. November 

was the traditional departure date. As exports increased, 

however, the dealers began to favor August when summer rains 

improved grazing and filled waterholes. The caravans that took 

sheep to market, called conductas or cordones, that went to 

Nueva Vizcaya were escorted by detachments of soldiers from 

the Santa Fe presidio to guard against Indian attack.

In 1786, after signal military victories, Governor de Anza 

negotiated the Comanche Peace at Pecos, which also brought 

a period of peaceful relations with Apaches and some other 

nomads (but not the Navajo who were unrelenting in their 

raids on Hispanic settlements in the Río Puerco). In addition, 

the reforms and development promoted by the ministers of 

King Charles III (the so-called “Carlist reforms”) encouraged 

economic diversification among Hispanics of New Mexico. 

After nearly a hundred years of living as subsistence farmers, 

artisans and skilled artisans began to set up shops, and some 

cultivators began switching to herding sheep, cattle, and other 

livestock. Together, these peaceful relations and economic 

developments encouraged the expansion not only of the 

Spanish colonial population but also of the territory’s livestock industry during the 1790s.

The Nineteenth Century

The increase in numbers of livestock, especially sheep, 

created a need for new pastures on New Mexico’s frontiers. 

Ranchers began to move onto the plains between the Sandia 

and Manzano mountains, and sometimes founded villages. In 

the period between 1818 and 1824, several rancher-merchant 

families from Santa Fe and the Río Abajo also requested 

land grants on the Pecos in what are now San Miguel and 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 109

Guadalupe counties. This expansion persisted for more than 

half a century, until the arrival of Anglo-American ranchers 

along New Mexico’s margins checked and pushed it back.

By the 1820s the sheep population had grown to over 

200,000, not counting Navajo and other Indian herds. 

Hispanic herdsmen were pushing out into the borderlands of 

northeastern New Mexico and as far as the Texas panhandle 

in search of pasture. In 1832 there were 240,000 sheep in the 

department but only 5,000 cattle and 850 horses.

Around this time, Hispanics probably were regularly using 

the lush high-altitude grazing lands that became the Baca 

Location for summer grazing (Scurlock 1981:134–135), 

but there is no record of permanent settlement until much 

later. Manuel Abrego established a ranch at Sulphur 

Springs in 1856. This operation might represent the first 

Anglo-American settlement near Redondo Creek (Huning 

1973:63–64).

As discussed in Chapter 4, the U.S. Congress confirmed 

the Baca Location to the Baca Land Grant heirs in 1860, 

although the title was not delivered until the Baca Location 

was surveyed in 1876. This timing coincides with the development of huge single-owner sheep herds made possible by 

increased protection by the U.S. Army and the subjugation 

of the Navajos and other nomadic Indians in the 1860s and 

1870s. Like other previously little-known areas next to the Río 

Grande Valley, the Baca Location became a principal resource 

for sustaining the continued growth of the New Mexican livestock industry (Scurlock 1981:137).

Between the 1860 Congressional authorization and the 

1876 survey and patent of the land grant, Baca heirs and other 

Hispanic pastores (an inclusive term that can refer to the 

owners of the sheep and their peones, or employees) appear 

to have run sheep in the Valles Caldera. As reported by Los 

Alamos historian and author Craig Martin:

Use of the Baca Location by the Cabeza de Baca family and 

their neighbors probably centered not on the Valle Grande 

but on the smaller valles [valleys] along the north rim of the 

Valles Caldera. In summer...[small family groups of herders] 

set up sheep camps on the Valle Toledo (then called the Valle 

Santa Rosa), the Valle San Antonio, and the Valle de los 

Posos. Dates carved on aspen trees still testify to the use of 

these back valleys as sheep camps before the beginning of 

the twentieth century. Utilizing the tall grasses of the valleys, 

the herders ran small flocks, probably no larger than several 

hundred animals apiece (Martin 2003:33, italics in the 

original).

The major user apparently was Tomás Dolores Baca, 

grandson of the original grantee, Luis María Cabeza de Baca 

(chapter 4). Meanwhile, his older brother, Francisco Tomás, 

claimed to have obtained the rights from other heirs in the 

1860s. Including the land rights then obtained by his children, 

the Francisco Tomás Baca family claimed to have established 

ownership of an undivided one-third interest in the entire 

Baca Location by the early 1870s (chapter 4). Other heirs as 

well as other pastores from the San José, and Cañon de San 

Diego Grants might have used the Baca Location for summer 

grazing. No available documentary evidence shows how the 

land was shared.

Despite their uses of the Baca Location for grazing, the 

Baca family heirs permitted members of Jémez Pueblo to 

run sheep and horses in the Valles Caldera’s rich grasslands 

(Martin 2003:33). The Jémez use of these valley ranges for 

herding was apparently a long-lived tradition that dated back 

to the early Spanish colonization of New Mexico (Martin 

2003:16). The horse herd, considered by the Jémez to belong 

to the whole community, was especially valuable, as witnessed 

by the fact that the Pueblo’s War Captain oversaw the care 

of the animals. The War Captain appointed men to take the 

horses into the Valles Caldera each spring to graze, with 

instructions to ensure that they did not allow the animals to 

damage pastures by overgrazing. The stockmen would bring 

the horse herd back to the pueblo in August in time for the fall 

harvest.

Surveyor General H. W. Atkinson documented ranching 

on the Baca Location by 1876. In the “General Description” 

concluding their report, which Atkinson signed, the government surveyors describe the Baca Location as:

. . . finely adapted for stock growing, raising a fine rank 

growth of grass especially in the interior which is filled with 

several small valleys and fine streams containing myriads 

of trout. The soil in the valley is rich but on account of its 

altitude is too cold to raise any kind of grain or vegetables. 

There are no settlers living upon the Grant. Large herds of 

sheep are kept here during the summer, but not during winter 

as the cold is too severe. The east and north boundaries run 

along the summit of the Valles mountains and are high and 

slightly broken. The grant contains an abundance of pine and 

aspen timber (Sawyer and McBroom 1876:14–15).

The arrival of the Denver and Río Grande Railroad and 

the establishment of a New Mexico terminal at Española in 

1881 created the modern labor market and introduced cash 

into what had been a barter economy (Weigle 1975:118–123). 

The 1935 Indian Land Research Unit of the Office of Indian 

Affairs gives an account of how the railroad gave the Bond 

Brothers their start:

Among the gentlemen opening stores were Scott and 

Whitehead, who in partnership had the commissary contract 

with the railroad company...Early in 1883 the railroad 

company changed its mind and decided to extend its line 

into Santa Fe and to build its roundhouse in Alamosa. This 

left the storekeepers in Española faced with the prospect 

of another dead railroad town...In what must have been a 

minor panic, all the merchants sold out. Two young brothers, 

George W. and Frank Bond, were working for Scott and 

Whitehead, and these men decided to buy out the stock and 

the tent of Scott and Whitehead...The Bonds, shrewder than 

the rest, saw the folly of depending for long-range growth 

upon the railroad. If they were to grow rich in this country 

they must do so on the one product that could be sold 
110 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

elsewhere for cash. Their commercial operations, therefore, 

led inevitably to livestock. In 1883 they had bought up 40 

acres [16 ha] of land adjacent to the railroad depot for 

$200 and proceeded to build the facilities for shipping stock. 

Soon after that they began extending credit on livestock 

mortgages, and their herds began to be built up. At first they 

concentrated on cattle, but these proved to be less profitable 

than sheep. The grazing land open for free use at that 

time appeared limited, as did the prospects in the grazing 

industry. The Bond herd increased, and soon they entered 

into the system of renting out sheep on a sharecropper basis. 

The partidario, or sharecropper, system, under which most 

of the sheep industry is carried on in New Mexico today, is 

as old as Spanish colonization and may have been originally 

an outgrowth of the Spanish colonial encomienda system, 

whereby the labor of Indians was given to certain grantees, 

together with grants of land...The Bonds apparently found 

this system profitable, and their growth since 1883 has 

been phenomenal. Today this corporation has extended its 

operations until it covers a good portion of northern New 

Mexico and controls a good share of the sheep industry.

The growth of Española has paralleled the growth of the 

Bond Co . . . (Weigle 1975:119–120).

The arrival of the railroad greatly accelerated economic 

and environmental change in the Territory of New Mexico. 

In his discussion of environmental change and degradation on 

and around the Pajarito Plateau after 1880, Rothman states 

that American influence “telescoped into a few years much 

more environmental and cultural change than Spanish practices had produced in nearly three hundred years” (Rothman

1989:188). (See chapter 4 for Rothman’s [1989:205–206] 

conclusions on changing land use patterns and how these 

affected and were affected by grazing.)

Craig D. Allen (1989) emphasizes historic human interactions with natural processes. In a short section titled 

Anthropogenic Disturbances, he discusses livestock grazing. 

He states that the extremely high historic stocking rates 

have led to gross alterations in the species composition of 

local vegetation associations, that continuous grazing has 

also caused marked reductions in herbaceous plant and litter 

ground cover, that overgrazing has been seen as a major cause 

of soil erosion and arroyo cutting, and that overgrazing in 

the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries effectively 

suppressed previous surface fire regimes throughout the landscape (Allen 1989:145–149).

The earliest homesteads between Redondo Creek and La 

Cueva were those of John Kelly and Polito Montoya, who 

established their ranches by 1883. Subsequent homesteads 

around La Cueva include those of N. R. Darey, Angelien 

Eagle, J. S. Eagle, and S. D. Thompson (USDA Forest Service 

1883–1913).

Maríano Otero and his son, Frederico J. (F. J.), acquired 

the Baca Location in 1899 (chapter 4). With their acquisition 

of the property, the Valles Land Company began to use the 

ranch as summer range for large numbers of horses, cattle, and 

sheep (Martin 2003:44). Martin observes further:

Although they mostly dealt in real estate, the Oteros were 

also experienced sheepherders. The partners registered a 

new brand on June 8, 1899, and brought sheep to the ranch 

that first summer...In a typical pattern of use, the Oteros 

grazed cattle and horses on the large valles and grazed sheep 

in the mountains. For lambing grounds the Oteros used the 

meadows above Sulphur Springs. One benefit of this location 

was that the herders could use the acidic water from the 

springs to rid the sheep of scab and ticks (Martin 2003:44; 

emphasis in the original).

The Twentieth Century

In 1909 Frederico J. (F. J.) Otero sold the Baca Location 

to the Redondo Development Company, but he continued to 

lease the Location until 1917 for grazing sheep (chapter 4). 

F. J. Otero did not renew his grazing lease in 1917, and that 

year the G. W. Bond and Brothers Company leased the Baca 

Location from Redondo Development Company for $500 a 

month. The Bond Brothers used the ranch for summer grazing, 

while wintering their sheep on the Ramón Vigil Land Grant 

(which they bought in 1919) and the Alamo Ranch northwest of Bernalillo. The Baca Location lease required the 

Bonds to make certain improvements; they spent $3,054.20 

on fencing and other work in 1918. In late 1918 Frank Bond 

entered into a contract to buy the Baca Location from the 

Redondo Development Company. G. W. Bond and Brothers 

Company continued to lease the Baca Location from 1918 

to 1926 (Kelly 1972:6–7; Otero 1935:237; Wentworth 

1948:239–241).

G. W. Bond and Brothers made their highest profits in wool 

and sheep in 1909 and 1912, establishing partido arrangements 

throughout the region. They sustained heavy losses of sheep 

in the severe winter of 1914–1915 (Grubbs 1960–1962). 

Their greatest profits were made well before they bought the 

Baca Location and the Ramón Vigil land grants or the Alamo 

Ranch. Despite further losses on the tract during the severe 

winter of 1918–1919, the Bonds continued to develop their 

operations there.

After entering into the 1918 contract to buy the Baca 

Location, the Bond brothers permitted local Pueblos continued 

access to the property for ceremonial pilgrimages, limited 

hunting, and the construction of certain traditional log structures for shelter, hunting rites, and related purposes up to 1963 

(Wezlowski 1981:115). A misunderstanding between G. W. 

Bond and Brothers Company and Jémez Pueblo led to the 

arrest of members of three Jémez Pueblo families for illegal 

grazing around 1920, however. Even though the court proceedings, which were held in Española, determined in favor of the 

Indian defendants, Frank Bond ended the unwritten agreement 

that allowed the Pueblos to pasture their cattle and horses in 

the Valles Caldera.

Changing patterns of land use in the region made the 

Valles Caldera increasingly valuable for grazing and timber. 

Hal Rothman (1989) notes that the Anglo-American owners 

leased the timber rights on the Ramón Vigil Land Grant to H. 

S. Buckman, a lumberman from Oregon, in 1898. Buckman 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 111

began large-scale cutting of the Plateau forests with devastating effect. “Buckman’s timber enterprise destroyed 

what remained of the native ecosystem on the Vigil Grant” 

(Rothman 1989:203). Rothman explains further that decline 

in the quality of forage, the extension of the national forests 

and the loss of open land forced many Hispanics to run sheep 

on shares, a business dominated by Frank Bond. (Rothman 

1989:209)

Bond acquired so much public and private grazing land 

that small herders, who could not find enough pasture for their 

stock, had to sign partido agreements with him. Bond’s system 

tended to impoverish these small herdsmen. Partidarios took 

his sheep along with their own, and Bond made the herders 

fully responsible for the animals in their care. Their own stock 

served as collateral. Bond collected a fee for range use from 

the partidarios, “usually 300 pounds of wool and 25 lambs 

per 100 ewes (Martin 2003:65). Partidarios also had to outfit 

themselves from his store, where he charged a flat 10 percent 

interest rate. With expenses mounting, most partidarios were 

lucky to keep their own sheep at the end of a contract. As 

Bond’s empire grew, he became the most influential man 

in the Española Valley (Rothman 1989:209–210; see also 

Weigle 1975:219).

Use of the Baca Location remained seasonal despite the 

increased herding activity. William Boone Douglass noted:

The grant is without permanent habitation. During the 

summer months, the owners maintain a cattle ranch, and 

near the SE. Cor. is a dairy ranch. The members of both 

ranches leave before winter sets in. In the valleys to the 

south and West without the bounds of the grant, permanent 

settlements are found, where the lands appear to be 

cultivated with a profit (Douglass and Neighbour n.d.).

Historian Dan Scurlock (1981) notes that there were 73 

Bond employees on the Baca Location in the summer of 1918. 

He lists the employees identified by informants or found in the 

Bond and Son business records; all but 3 of the employees were 

Hispanic or had Hispanic surnames. Most were sheepherders 

(pastores), camp tenders (camperos), or camp suppliers (caporales). That summer there were 17 sheep camps and 1 cattle 

camp on the Baca Location. The average number of sheep 

per camp was 1,257 (Scurlock 1981:144, 147). Clyde Smith, 

who was born on a homestead at Battleship Rock in1899 and 

worked for Maríano S. Otero as a young man, estimated that 

there were over 100,000 sheep on the Baca Location during 

the summers of 1917 and 1918 (Scurlock 1982:4). In taped 

interviews with Scurlock made in 1970, Smith provided a 

detailed account of life as a shepherd in the Valles Caldera. 

(See entry for Scurlock [1982] for an extensive excerpt of 

this interview; see also Martin [2003:60–61] for a concise 

discussion of herding practices, camp structure, and aspen tree 

carving as a pastime.)

Ledger entries from November 23, 1918, to September 

8, 1919, refer to the Baca Location (Bond and Son 1918–

1919). These documents show that individuals were grazing 

small numbers of stock, such as “35 cows and 8 horses” and 

“6 cows and 1 horse” (Bond and Son 1918–1919:1) on the 

Baca Location. The ledgers also indicate fees paid to Bond 

and Nohl Co. and balances due. The base price for grazing 

a horse or cow was $1.25 for the summer season (Bond and 

Son 1918–1919).

There is some surviving correspondence about the Baca 

Location from this period. Herman Wertheim, writing for 

Vicente Armijo from Domingo, New Mexico on June 19, 

1918, enclosed a voucher for $116 in payment for grazing 

of 116 head of cattle taken to the Baca Location on June 12 

(Bond and Son 1918–1921).

Moses Abouselman sent payments of $17 for 17 head 

of cattle and $65 for 65 head of cattle grazing on the Baca 

Location. Another letter refers to 14 head (Bond and Son 

1918–1921).

Moses Abouselman wrote on June 10, 1918, that it was his 

understanding that he would pay 50 cents per head of cattle 

for the month of May or $1.25 for the season (i.e., “through 

the summer”). Abouselman wrote a letter dated June 14, 1918, 

on behalf of José Antonio Pecos of Jémez Pueblo. Pecos 

requested permission to put his horses on “the grant.” There is 

some correspondence from the Quemado Sheep Company at 

Peña Blanca (Bond and Son 1918–1921).

Life as a herdsman, both for the laborer and owner, was 

uncertain. The good times experienced during the summers of 

1917 and 1919 did not last. Frank Bond’s son-in-law, Charles 

H. Corlett, who worked as manager of the Baca Location for 

about a year and was later to become a renowned general in 

the U.S. Army during World War II, describes the great difficulties confronting the Valles Caldera herdsmen in 1919:

Because of the severe winter of 1919 many cattle and sheep 

died of starvation. Frank Bond was beside himself with 

worry and nearly out of his mind. John Davenport [known as 

“Juan Largo” by his Hispanic friends (Scurlock 1981:144)] 

was overworked and somewhat discouraged as a result of the 

dreary winter, did not object when Bond made me manager, 

but became my loyal and valued assistant. I resigned my 

commission as lieutenant colonel (temporary) in the Army of 

the United States and became a stockman...After about four 

months at La Jara, the headquarters of the Baca, Amy and I 

moved down into the valley and occupied my mother’s house 

(Corlett 1974:46–47).

The Forest Service had instituted a program of predator 

control in the Jémez Mountains in 1916 (Barker 1970). The 

U.S. Biological Survey (later renamed the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service) had been trapping predators, mainly gray 

wolves, in the mountains before 1916. Elk, mule deer, turkey, 

and prairie dogs were reduced or eliminated in and around the 

Baca Location by the Forest Service program of hunting and 

poisoning. Consequently, gray wolves, mountain lions, and 

coyotes preyed increasingly on cattle and sheep.

The U.S. Biological Survey continued to hunt predators, 

primarily gray wolves and mountain lions, from Chama south 

to the Baca Location and in the mesas and canyons to the 

south and west. John Davenport killed the last native New 

Mexican gray wolf in the Valle Grande in 1932 (Scurlock 

1981:148).
112 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Frank Bond and the G. W. Bond and Brothers Company 

completed their purchase of the Baca Location, with a half 

interest in the mineral rights, in 1926 (Chapters 3 and 7). 

Redondo Development Company retained its full timber 

rights on the tract for 99 years (Scurlock 1981:144; see also 

Chapter 4).

Most of the pastores, camperos, and caporales who worked 

on the Baca Location between about 1910 and 1950 lived in 

the locality. Records show that they came from San Ysidro, 

Cuba, Regina, Chamita, Española, Cow Springs, Santa Fe, 

Peña Blanca, Bernalillo, Vallecito de los Indios, and Velarde 

(Scurlock 1981:144).

In its study of the area carried out in March through July 

1935 (originally published as the Tewa Basin Study), the Indian 

Land Research Unit of the Office of Indian Affairs discussed 

the Bond Brothers and how they adopted the partido system. 

Case History No. III describes the partido arrangement under 

which Lazaro Salazar ran his sheep on the Baca Location:

Lazaro Salazar has been renting Bond’s sheep since 1924. 

He has 300 of Bond’s sheep and 900 of his own. Lazaro rents 

Bond’s sheep only to have the right to use the Baca Location 

(owned by Bond) to graze his sheep at $.25 per head. Lazaro 

is an exceptional sheep herder and has been able to stay 

clear of debt. This he attributed to the fact that only onefourth of his sheep holdings belong to Bond. When, as is the 

case with all of the herders, it is necessary to borrow from 

Bond to finance the herding operations, a contract is made 

calling for the sale of lambs and wool to the Bond Company 

at a price to be set by them. In 1934 Bond limited Lazaro’s 

grazing privileges on the Baca Location to 1,200 sheep. He 

feels that because of the fact that the ratio of his own sheep 

to Bond’s sheep is too great he will be crowded off the Baca 

Location (Indian Land Research Unit of the Office of Indian 

Affairs, in Weigle 1975:219).

Following lambing season, the herds were driven to 

shearing camps, maintained by Bond at Paseo del Norte, 

which is just south of the junction of Highway 4 and the road 

to the ranch headquarters, and at San Antonio Springs and at 

El Cajete (Scurlock 1981:144). Some shearers (trasquiladores) came from adjacent villages and others came from as 

far away as Mexico.

A shearer could shear 50 to 100 sheep each day and was 

paid 25 cents for each animal sheared. About 500 pounds of 

wool could be stuffed into a gunnysack. Ten or 12 sacks made 

a freight load, which was hauled by a four-horse or mule team 

and wagon across the Baca Location through Santa Clara 

Pueblo to Bond’s Española store, or through La Cueva to 

Jémez Springs. Jémez Pueblo freighters then hauled the wool 

from Jémez Springs to Bernalillo or Albuquerque (Scurlock 

1981:144).

Lorin Brown (1978:158). gives a detailed account of 

his visit to a pastor, Basilico Garduño, at his camp “in the 

shadow of El Cerro Redondo (Round Peak), near Jémez Hot 

Springs.” Garduño worked for a patrón, presumably Frank 

Bond. The patrón visited the camp later, but Brown offers 

no details concerning him. Brown does, however, record 

Garduño’s conversation about his former patrón, Don 

Maríano [Otero].

My father and I both worked for Don Maríano, who first 

owned those springs, that is, the grant on which they are 

located. He was muy rico, a man of many sheep and much 

land. We used to lamb in the grassy valley just above the 

springs and dip the sheep in troughs built just below the main 

sulphur spring. We used nothing else except the very water 

from the spring to rid the sheep of scab and ticks. It was 

much better than this stuff we have to use nowadays (Basilico 

Garduño, in Brown 1978:166).

Brown describes the shearers, who arrived once a year, as 

“itinerants, shearing sheep on a commission basis all over the 

state and into Colorado” (Brown 1978:171).

Franklin Bond assumed ever greater oversight of the 

family business dealings in northern New Mexico following 

the decline in his father’s (Frank Bond) health and subsequent moves, first to Albuquerque and then to California. 

Because wool prices declined in 1939–1940, he added 

cattle to the Baca Location ranching operation. World War 

II brought great demand for uniforms, briefly boosting the 

price of wool.

Frank Bond died on June 21, 1945, just weeks before 

Japan’s unconditional surrender ended World War II. Soon 

afterward, commercial manufacture of synthetic fibers developed during the war caused the sheep industry to collapse 

again (Martin 2003:67). Franklin Bond increased the number 

of cattle on the Baca Location, and began leasing rangeland 

to cattle ranchers who terminated the traditional partidos with 

local men in favor of cowboys who worked as employees (see 

Martin 2003:67–68).

Even the Bond family hired between 5 and 15 cowboys for 

the ranching season. Martin reports:

The ranch hands would be up at 4 AM for a hearty breakfast 

and arrive at the corrals at 5 AM. Out of the herd of 50, 

each cowboy was assigned six or seven horses—enough for 

a week of hard riding. On trail by sunup, the employees rode 

up to 20 miles [32 km] a day, checking the cows and calves, 

inspecting the watering holes, and tending other ranch 

chores. Branding operations were run at Black Corrals 

near Cerro La Jara in the Valle Grande. During branding 

time cowboys rode out before sunrise to round up cattle. By 

afternoon they returned with the stock, the fires were hot, and 

the branding began. In the 1940s and early 1950s, cowboys 

and sheepherders received $90 per month. Skilled horse 

trainers could make $125 per month. Meals were served at 

the bunkhouse and consisted of lamb, beef, potatoes, chili, 

and fresh pie twice a day (Martin 2003:67).

In the early 1950s, the Baca Location supported some 

30,000 sheep and 5,000 cattle (Martin 2003:69). After 

Franklin Bond’s death in 1954 at the age of 52, the trend 

toward replacing family sheep herds with cattle owned by 

lessees continued. By the late 1950s, ranchers ran as many as 

12,000 cattle on the ranch (Martin 2003:67).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 113

Sam King and his younger brother, Bruce (who later served 

three 4-year terms as governor of New Mexico in the 1970s, 

80s and 90s), obtained a 5-year lease of the Baca Location 

grass in 1959. The King brothers helped remove the last of 

the Bond sheep from the Valles Caldera, ending this important 

part of the Baca Location’s history.

In 1960, the King brothers ran 3,100 head of cattle, which 

they trucked into the Valles Caldera from their lower elevation 

ranches, during the summer and early fall. Martin describes 

the operation:

Starting in mid-September, cowboys rode out each morning 

to round up the cattle spread over extensive rangeland. It 

took two weeks to herd the cows and calves into the large 

pastures of the Valle Grande. In early October heifers were 

cut from the herds and moved to the loading pens at the old 

Bond shearing camp near the headquarters road. Seven 

trucks, all loaded in two hours, took the yearlings to market 

in Denver. The Kings trucked the calves to feedlots near their 

home ranch in Stanley, and kept the cattle on the Alamos 

Ranch near Albuquerque, which they had purchased from the 

Bonds for winter range (Martin 2003:69–70).

The King brothers offered to buy 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) 

of the Baca Location (they had just bought the Alamo Ranch 

and could not make an offer for the entire land grant). The 

Bond Estate, however, refused to divide the property (Bruce 

King, in Martin 2003:70).

Instead, James Patrick Dunigan, owner of Dunigan Tool 

and Supply Company in Abilene, Texas, bought the Baca 

Location from the Bond Estate in 1963 (see also chapter 4, 

“Divided Rights Part II: James Patrick Dunigan vs. New 

Mexico Timber” section). After honoring existing grazing 

lease contracts, Dunigan started running his own cattle on the 

ranch in 1965.

In his 1968 testimony before 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, 

J. B. Harrell, Jr., a Dunigan employee, states that Dunigan 

ran about 7,000 yearling steers on the Baca Location. The 

ranching season ran from about April 15 to November 15, 

depending on weather conditions (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, 

Inc. 1967). Most of these animals belonged to Texas ranchers 

who trucked their herds to the Valles Caldera. Under the terms 

of their grazing contracts, lessees paid Dunigan a per head fee 

at the end of the ranching season based on the animal’s weight 

gain (Martin 2003:103).

The following year, while making his statement before 

10th Circuit Court of Appeals for the same case, Dunigan was 

asked about the range improvement and ranching programs 

that his companies had initiated:

Collectively, when the partners and representatives of 

Dunigan Tool & Supply Company in a management capacity, 

took a look at the ranch and decided upon a course of 

fencing, developing water, creating areas in which to put 

our cattle, and we had committed ourselves at this point to 

a steer operation...we felt that we’d get a movement of our 

steers up into the high county with the proper techniques of 

salts and minerals and with the development of spring tanks, 

and we purchased a D-8 Caterpillar and in accordance with 

plans, proceeded to build sixty-five earthen stock tanks on the 

ranch. At the time we came to the Baca Location there was a 

total of six tanks..., besides the running water in streams and 

natural springs (James Patrick Dunigan, in Baca Co. v. NM 

Timber, Inc. 1967).

Dunigan reported that his newly constructed stock tanks 

captured flows from intermittent springs, streams, and draws, 

and that some features were placed in high country grassland 

areas that previous ranchers had not used.

Under Dunigan’s ownership, therefore, ranching operations were expanded into new topographic settings to allow 

more effective use and long-range management of available 

grasses. At the beginning of the ranching season, Dunigan 

separated the cattle among the Valle Grande, Valle Toledo, 

Valle de los Posos, and Valle Seco, as well as the lower elevations along the streams in the San Luis and Santa Rosa areas 

of the Baca Location (J. B. Harrell, Jr., in Baca Co. v. NM 

Timber, Inc. 1967). Dunigan explained that he adopted this 

practice because grass comes early to these low-lying elevations and grows well under sub-irrigation through stream 

diversions (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967) Dunigan 

needed to develop alternative pastures in the higher elevations 

to maintain the productivity of the valley-bottom pastures 

over the entire ranching season. He reasoned that by starting a 

program of high country grazing about the middle of June:

. . . we will get the growing season benefits in our valleys and 

then in the valley in the fall, we have that summer’s growth 

that we can bring to our shipping point and, of course, the 

cattle won’t hurt the grass after it is matured and had its 

growth undisturbed (James Patrick Dunigan, in Baca Co. v. 

NM Timber, Inc. 1967).

Besides building stock tanks and salt- and mineral-lick 

stations to develop high-elevation grasslands for range use, 

Dunigan ran fences along the north side of the Valle San 

Antonio to help direct the movement of steers into the high 

country (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967).

Dunigan’s overall fencing program was ambitious. The 

ranch built fences for the first time along the north and east 

boundaries of the Baca Location to reduce losses resulting 

from livestock wandering onto the Santa Fe National Forest. 

It also fenced the south side of the Valle San Antonio to 

hold cattle in the valley-bottom pasture when the livestock 

returned from the uplands. Dunigan indicated that his ranch 

planned to build other cross fences throughout the Baca 

Location to allow implementation of pasture deferral and 

rotation to improve range conditions over the long term 

(Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967). Dunigan’s goal was 

to allow individual pastures to lie fallow about once every 

4 years.

Baca Land and Cattle Company worked with the U.S. Soil 

Conservation Service and consulted with Texas Technological 

College on ways to improve the Baca Location’s rangeland. 

One of these collaborations consisted of an experimental 

plot of 14 grasses to develop cool season varieties to 
114 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

inter-seed with the native species (James Patrick Dunigan, 

in Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967). The introduction of 

diverse cool-season grasses would reduce damage to pastures 

during grazing, and had the potential to lengthen the livestock 

season by producing useful grass earlier in the spring and later 

in the fall. Dunigan also hoped that he could use cool-season 

grasses to reclaim abandoned logging road cuts and other 

disturbed areas.

Under Dunigan’s ownership, use of the Baca Location was 

not limited to cattle. In the 1960s and 1970s, Dunigan diversified his operation to include commercial elk hunts (Chapter 5), 

geothermal exploration (Chapter 8), and leases for Hollywood 

filming (Martin 2003:106–110). He also experimented with 

training thoroughbreds at high altitude to see if he could 

improve their performance in races at lower elevations.

In 1977 Dunigan built a large stable for thoroughbreds 

about a mile [1.6 km] north of the headquarters area and 

on the western border of the Valle Grande. The stable 

enclosed 18 stalls in two parallel rows. Paddocks enclosing 

many acres extended from the stable area toward Jaramillo 

Creek. A one-bedroom apartment was attached to the stable 

so that trainers never had to be far from their charges. 

However, Dunigan’s death in 1980 ended the experiment with 

inconclusive results (Martin 2003:104).

Today

Grazing has continued on the Baca Location since its acquisition by the Federal Government. An interim cattle grazing 

program began in the summer of 2002 on 23,380 acres (9,461 

ha) in the Valles Grande, Toledo and San Antonio, and Cerro 

Seco pastures, with a maximum defined capacity of 2,000 

animal units.

References

Allen, Craig D.

1989 Changes in the Landscape of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation. Wildlife 

Resource Science, University of California, Berkeley.

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Bailey, Vernon

1913 Life Zones and Crop Zones of New Mexico. North American Fauna 35. U.S. Department 

of Agriculture (USDA), Bureau of Biological Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Government 

Printing Office.

Bandelier, Adolf F.

1892 Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the Southwestern United States, 

Carried on Mainly in the Years from 1880 to 1885, pt. 2. American Series IV. Papers of the 

Archaeological Institute of America. Cambridge, MA: John Wilson and Son.

Barker, Elliott

1970 Western Life and Adventures 1889–1970. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, Calvin 

Horn Collection.

Baxter, John

1987 Las Carneradas: Sheep Trade in New Mexico 1700–1860. Albuquerque: University of New 

Mexico Press.

Bond and Son

1918–1919 Ledger. Item 103. Bond, Frank, and Son Records. Albuquerque: Center for Southwest 

Research, General Library, University of New Mexico.

1918–1921 Quemado Sheep Company 1918–1921. Carton 181. Bond, Frank, and Son Records. 

Albuquerque: Center for Southwest Research, General Library, University of New Mexico.

Brown, Lorin W.

1978 Hispano Folklife of New Mexico: The Lorin W. Brown Federal Writers’ Project Manuscripts. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 115

Corlett, Charles H.

1974 Cowboy Pete. Santa Fe, NM: Sunstone Press.

Douglass, William Boone, and Hugh M. Neighbour

n.d. Restorative Survey of the Baca Location No. 1. Microfiche on file: Santa Fe, NM: State Office, 

Bureau of Land Management.

Grubbs, Frank H.

1960–1962 Frank Bond: Gentleman Sheepherder of Northern New Mexico. New Mexico Historical 

Review 35:168–99; 35:293–309; 36:128–58, 230–243, 274–345; 37:43–71.

Gutiérrez, Ramón A.

1991 When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality and Power in New 

Mexico 1500–1846. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Huning, Franz

1973 Trader on the Santa Fe Trail: Memoirs of Franz Huning, with Notes by His Granddaughter, 

Lina Fergusson Browne. Albuquerque, NM: University of Albuquerque, Calvin Horne 

Collection.

Jordan, Terry G.

1993 North American Cattle Ranching Frontiers: Origins, Diffusion and Differentiation. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Kelly, Daniel T., with Beatrice Chauvenet

1972 The Buffalo Head: A Century of Mercantile Pioneering in the Southwest. Santa Fe, NM: 

Vergara Publishing.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

Miera y Pacheco, Bernardo

1779 Plano de la Provincia Interna de Nuebo Mexico que hizo por mandado de el Tnte. Coronel de 

Caballeria, Gobernador y Comte. General de dha Prov.a Don Juan Bap.ta de Ansa. On file. 

Santa Fe: Map Room, Angélico Chávez History Library, Palace of the Governors, Museum 

of New Mexico.

Morley, Sylvanus

1938 Appendix II: The Rito de los Frijoles in the Spanish Archives. In Pajarito Plateau and Its 

Ancient People. Edgar L. Hewett, ed. Pp. 149–154. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico 

Press.

Nostrand, Richard L.

1992 The Hispano Homeland. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Osterhoudt, L. A., W. V. Hall, and Charles W. Devendorf

1921 Independent Resurvey of the Baca Location No. 1. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe, NM: State 

Office, Bureau of Land Management.

Otero, Miguel Antonio

1935 My Life on the Frontier. Albuquerque, NM: Press of the Pioneers.

Rothman, Hal

1989 Industrial Values and Marginal Land: Cultural and Environmental Change on the Pajarito 

Plateau. New Mexico Historical Review 64:185–211.

Sawyer, Daniel and McBroom, William H.

1876 Field Notes of the Survey of Baca Location No. One, in New Mexico, being Grant made to 

the heirs of Luis Maria Baca by act of Congress approved June 21, 1860. Surveyed by Daniel 

Sawyer and William H. McBroom, U.S. Dep. Surs., under their Contract No. 68, of April 15, 

1876. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe, NM: State Office, Bureau of Land Management.

Scurlock, Dan

1981 Euro-American History of the Study Area. In High Altitude Adaptations along Redondo 

Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, 

eds. Pp. 131–160. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

1982 Pastores of the Valles Caldera: Documenting a Vanishing Way of Life. El Palacio 88(1):3–11.
116 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1883–1913 Forest Homestead Records. Albuquerque, NM: Land Status Office, Southwest Region.

Weigle, Marta, ed.

1975 Hispanic Villages of Northern New Mexico. Santa Fe, NM: Lightning Tree.

Wentworth, Edward Norris

1948 America’s Sheep Trails. Ames: Iowa State College.

Weslowski, Lois Vermilya

1981 Native American Land Use along Redondo Creek. In High-Altitude Adaptations along 

Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. 

Winter, eds. Pp. 105–127. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New 

Mexico.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 117

Establishing the Foundations for a 

History of Leveraged Buyouts

During their cadastral survey preceding confirmation of the 

Baca Location No. 1 (Baca Location) to Luis María Cabeza de 

Baca’s heirs in 1876, Daniel Sawyer and William H. McBroom 

noted that the grant “contained an abundance of pine and aspen 

timber” (Sawyer and McBroom 1876:14–15).

Commercial timbering approached the Baca Location 

from lower elevations accessible to railroads. H. S. Buckman, 

a lumberman from Oregon, leased the timber rights on the 

nearby Ramón Vigil Land Grant in 1898. He logged the grant 

rapidly, destroying what was left of its native ecosystem 

(Rothman 1989:203).

In 1905 a Presidential proclamation created the 1,237,205-

acre (501,000-ha) Jémez Forest Preserve, today part of the 

Santa Fe National Forest. The purpose of this preserve was 

to prevent indiscriminate logging and to manage the forest 

reserves for the benefit of the public. Through its permit and 

fee provision requirements, this executive action brought 

about notable changes in land use, and increased the use of 

private land holdings, which were not subject to Federal oversight.

The Baca Location’s timber holdings accordingly increased 

in value. In a 1907 assessment, the land grant’s rich forests 

included 425 million board feet of white pine and between 15 

and 25 million board feet of spruce, a supply so abundant that 

it could “keep 6 to 8 mills busy for 35 to 60 years” (Laughlin 

Papers 1907).

After years of arguments with his brothers over the disposition of the property (Martin 2003), F. J. Otero sold the 

Baca Location to Redondo Development Company (based 

in Warren, Pennsylvania) on October 16, 1909. Its president, 

Edward D. Wetmore, later described himself as a capitalist in 

the lumber industry (1930 Federal Census, Warren County, 

Pennsylvania, in Martin 2003:47). Wetmore’s enterprise 

reportedly bought the property for $300,000, a sum that far 

exceeded the tract’s assessed ranchland value of $53,000 

(Bernalillo County, New Mexico 1849–1903). The disparity 

suggests that Wetmore and his investors were speculating on a 

resource other than pasture. More than likely, they were speculating on the Baca Location’s timber.

Redondo Development Company investigated developing a commercial logging operation on the Baca Location, 

but ultimately decided against it. The impediment was the 

heavy capital investment needed to develop the roads and 

other infrastructure for hauling timber from this still-remote location (Martin 2003:47). Instead, Wetmore used 

his connections to mortgage the Baca Location on April 1, 

1915, to a bank in his hometown, the Warren Savings Bank, 

for $175,000. Redondo Development Company reserved the 

right to harvest and sell timber from the land for a stipulated 

total of not less than $175,000. This stipulation suggests 

the now-familiar device of the leveraged buyout, which 

is a strategy where a buyer pays for a property by selling 

parts of itself. What the land could be expected to earn from 

renewable resources, such as pasture, and its market price 

(reflecting its speculative value) were getting further and 

further apart, something to be expected in a region where 

the cash and market economy was still young. Wetmore 

apparently was looking for another way to raise money from 

the Baca Location other than ranching, but the calculation 

concerning the timber was a fateful one.

The Severing of Timber Rights 

from Grazing Rights

George W. and Frank Bond, the biggest wool and sheep men 

in the region, leased the grazing rights to the Baca Location 

in 1917. In March 1918, Frank Bond made an inquiry about 

buying the tract. He proposed to give Redondo Development 

Company a 50-year timber right. Wetmore asked for a longer 

period, and this, together with the Bond brothers’ simultaneous commitment to buy the Ramon Vigil Grant, and wartime 

market uncertainties, led the Bonds to put the matter off. With 

the end of the World War, the brothers took up the negotiation again. In a contract dated December 17,1918, they agreed 

that Redondo Development Company would retain a 99-year 

right to the timber, and one half the mineral interests (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Trial record on file, National 

Archives, Rocky Mountain Region, 8NN-021-89-022 #5648, 

FRC#76L0201, box 110A; see also Bond and Son 1918–

1919; Scurlock 1981:144). The Bond brothers were to pay a 

total of $400,000 for the property by the end of 1925; the deed 

of sale would not be executed until 1926.

The Bonds took the deed on April 8, 1926. With ownership 

came the deed’s requirement that they maintain the property’s 

timber reserves.

Chapter 7.

Industrial Timbering

Kurt F. Anschuetz and Thomas Merlan
118 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

As part of the consideration for this conveyance, and this 

conveyance is made upon the express understanding, 

covenant and agreement of the second party [the Bond 

brothers], that they will at all times hereafter exercise due 

care and use all reasonable means to protect the timber, 

trees and wood upon said premises from fire, and during the 

grazing season will keep at least three men riding in and 

about said timber, and will at all times co-operate with the 

United States Forestry Service, and the agents and employees 

of the party of the first part [Redondo Development 

Company] to protect said timber from fire, and this shall be 

a covenant running with the land and be binding upon the 

heirs, executors, administrators and assigns of the parties of 

the second part (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967).

Under the terms of their purchase contract, the Bond 

brothers could cut only timber sufficient “for building houses, 

sheds, barns, corrals and fences, and also such dead and down 

timber as may be necessary for firewood” (T. P. Gallagher, 

Jr., in Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Answers of New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., to Interrogatories, October 16, 1964, box 

110A). Clearly, the Bond brothers bought the Baca Location 

as stockmen. The terms of the sale were designed to ensure 

that they would conduct their livestock operations in ways 

that did not adversely affect the timber.

The Early History of Timbering 

on the Baca Location

By 1900, several small sawmills were processing timber 

from the Cañon de San Diego Land Grant or under permit 

from the Jémez Forest Preserve in the upper Río Jemez Valley 

(Scurlock 1981:142, citing Kintzinger 1978 and Smith 1979). 

Jim Smith ran a water turbine-powered mill at Battleship Rock 

from the late nineteenth century to about 1912. Surveyors noted 

that the Freelove sawmill, which was on San Antonio Creek to 

the northwest of Redondo Creek, was working between 1913 

and 1914. Lew Caldwell started a sawmill on his homestead 

at Vallecito de los Indios in 1925. The Hughes brothers started 

a mill at Ponderosa farther downstream in 1930 (Scurlock 

1981).

Guy H. Porter and his son, Frank H., established the White 

Pine Lumber Company in 1922. They invested $2,000,000 to 

build a sawmill at Bernalillo and a rail line from this mill to 

San Ysidro near Zia Pueblo (Scurlock 1981:148). By 1924, 

White Pine Lumber Company mill was in operation and 

the company extended its line—known first as the Santa Fe 

Northwestern and subsequently as the Santa Fe Northern—to 

Porter, the operation’s main logging camp in Guadalupe 

Canyon. Like some other area mills, White Pine Lumber 

Company processed lumber primarily from private holdings 

on the Cañon de San Diego Land Grant. By 1927 White Pine 

Lumber Company averaged 145,000 board feet of lumber 

daily, until a shortage of timber forced a reduction in production levels (Scurlock 1981:148, citing Southwest History 

Class 1976:66–67). To restore its timber output, White Pine 

Lumber Company extended its tracks from Porter to various 

landings higher up Guadalupe Canyon, following the Río 

Vacas (Scurlock 1981:148, citing Weinstein 1979). The White 

Pine Lumber Company cut about 100 million board feet of 

lumber from the beginning of its major operations in 1924 

until its shutdown in 1931. With the onset of the Depression 

and a drop in demand for lumber, economic conditions forced 

the company to close.

While White Pine Lumber Company failed, New Mexico 

Lumber and Timber Company, which had also worked the 

110,000-acre (44,515-ha) Cañon de San Diego Land Grant 

since 1922, expanded its operations. The company’s president, 

T. P. Gallagher, Jr., bought White Pine Lumber Company later 

that year and continued working its timber rights in the upper 

San Diego Land Grant through 1936, depleting the tract’s 

commercial timber reserves (Scurlock 1981:138, 148, citing 

Southwest History Class 1976). Before exhausting its timber 

rights, however, New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company 

began searching for new privately owned tracts.

The Baca Location was the company’s obvious choice. Not 

only was the tract rich in timber, the introduction of logging 

trucks and the Civilian Conservation Corps’ construction of 

the first graded road between Los Alamos and Cuba in 1935 

freed commercial loggers from the heavy expense of building 

a rail line. Redondo Development Company had waited 26 

years for the conditions that would make its investment profitable (Vernon Glover, personal communication 2002, in 

Martin 2003:85).

Redondo Development Company, with the approval of 

Warren Savings Bank and Trust Company, sold the logging 

rights on the Baca Location to the Firesteel Lumber Company 

on July 19, 1935, for $150,000. On tax assessment forms filed 

between 1931 and 1935, Firesteel’s owner, Robert Anderson, 

had variously claimed that the Baca Location had anywhere 

from 270 to 312 million board feet of commercially valuable 

timber (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A; see 

also chapter 4).

New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company immediately 

signed an agreement with Firesteel Lumber Company and 

began the first industrial logging on the Baca Location (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A; see also chapter 4). 

The company’s president, T. P. Gallagher, Jr., decided to log 

the stands of ponderosa pine, white fir, and Douglas fir that 

had been growing largely untouched on Redondo Border and 

Banco Bonito, and between Redondo Creek and Vallecito de 

los Indios for countless generations. According to Gallagher, 

the logging focused exclusively on this timber because it could 

be cut “in high grade because of economic reasons and because 

it could be sold in the market” (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 

1967, box 110A; see also Vernon Glover, in Martin 2003:85). 

The “economic reasons” included the great size of the trees 

and the comparatively flat terrain.

A sawmill in Redondo Meadow handled the logs, and the 

lumber was shipped on the good downhill grades through 

Jemez Springs to the railroad landing at Cañones. Anderson 

reported that 42 million board feet of timber was cut in 1935 

(Glover 1990:36, in Martin 2003:85–86).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 119

As the U.S. emerged from the Great Depression and 

trucking of timber became practical, the mortgage on the Baca 

Location’s timber changed hands among banks, agencies, and 

speculators (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of 

Title to Timber Interest, box 110A). In the short term, mortgage holders moved to consolidate their interests. Warren 

Savings Bank and Trust Company sold Redondo Development 

Company’s bond of $130,000 and first mortgage on the Baca 

Location timber rights to Blue Diamond Trading Corporation 

of New York on May 26, 1936. The Reconstruction Finance 

Corporation received Redondo Development Company’s 

1933 promissory note for $65,000 from Warren Savings Bank 

and Trust Company on May 28, 1936. It immediately reassigned the note to Warren Savings Bank.

New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company established 

a logging camp, called Camp Redondo or Redondo Camp, 

for about 25 employees and their families near the mouth of 

Redondo Creek. The camp consisted of 12 by 16 foot (3.7 by 

4.9 m) log cabins, transportable skid-mounted frame houses, 

sheds, stables, a mess hall, a log schoolhouse, and miscellaneous huts and tents (Scurlock 1981:148, citing Darnell 1979 

and Weinstein 1979). The remnants of some of these structures, particularly those of the log cabins (e.g., sites BG-24, 

BG-25, BG-27, BG-28, and BG-29) and the old schoolhouse 

(site BG-26), are visible today. Dick Cotton, a New Mexico 

Timber Company employee who arrived at Camp Redondo 

from Missouri in 1937, built and lived in an outlying cabin 

(site BG-19) (Scurlock 1981:148, citing Darnell 1979 and 

Smith 1979).

Interviews with two of the New Mexico Lumber and Timber 

Company’s surviving logging supervisors, Henry Darnell 

(1979) and Yale Weinstein (1979), showed that employees 

included “Anglos from Arkansas, Oklahoma, and northeast 

Texas, Mexican nationals, and local Hispanos” (Scurlock 

1981:148). While Anglo-American employees presumably 

received preferential consideration in company housing, the 

former employees noted, “The Mexicans built their own huts 

at the main camp or lived in tents near the active tree cutting 

sites (Scurlock 1981:148, citing Darnell 1979 and Weinstein 

1979).

During its relatively brief history, Camp Redondo saw 

significant change in logging technology and organization. 

During its first year or two, the camp was home to fellers

(timber cutters), as well as skidders (horse and mule team 

drivers) and barn dogs (skidding team supervisors) alike 

(Scurlock 1981:148).

Martin succinctly describes the early logging operations:

The easiest, least expensive logging centered on the 

ponderosa stands. Limitations of equipment and the difficulty 

of moving logs on steep terrains kept sawyers off steep 

slopes. The company constructed rough roads through the 

grasslands that reached the quality [ponderosa] pine stands 

without requiring extensive engineering plans. Sawyers made 

their cuts with two-man saws that were most easily used 

at chest height. Pushing and pulling and using wedges to 

keep a saw from binding, a team could fell even the largest 

pines in several hours. (The tall stumps left by the sawyers 

are distinctive of this era.) Felled trees were skidded—

dragged—by teams of horses or by machinery to loading 

areas. Lacking cranes to lift the logs onto the backs of trucks, 

the loading areas often were flat landings excavated into 

hillsides. Even the largest diameter logs could be rolled from 

the hill onto the flatbed trucks, which sat by the depressions 

(Martin 2003:86–87).

The introduction of more powerful and efficient logging 

trucks and caterpillar tractors, however, saw the transformation 

of the area’s logging industry and changes in the demography 

and social structure of Camp Redondo. The logging trucks 

and tractors quickly replaced the draft animals. With families 

replacing single men, Henry Darnell moved to the log schoolhouse (BG-26) as early as 1936 (in Scurlock 1981:148, citing 

Darnell 1979).

The loggers hauled their timber to the Porters’ old railway 

in Guadalupe Canyon until the winter of 1940–1941. When 

winter storms destroyed the rail bed, trucks began hauling the 

logs all the way to the Bernalillo mill (Scurlock 1981).

Weather permitting, logging and associated work ran 

nonstop from May to March. “Off-days were whenever the 

weather was too inclement to work. On these days employees 

played cards or went to Billy Mann’s bar in Jemez Springs” 

(Scurlock 1981:148, citing Weinstein 1979).

Logging had clear-cut Redondo Border and Banco Bonito 

by the late 1930s. In addition, small, unmarketable trees 

were often knocked down and left on the ground. Recalling 

these heady days (while attempting to downplay the fact that 

his logging operation was returning to the practice of clearcutting two decades later), Gallagher proudly testified in 

the 1960s that his loggers left this desolated tract to natural 

restoration (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A). 

Nonetheless, the record still visible on the ground reveals 

Gallagher’s testimony that his operations had clear-cut the 

forests since the beginning. The size of some surviving trees 

reveals that loggers actually left “a few old giants...to provide 

a seed source for regeneration” (Martin 2003:87, citing Craig 

Allen, personal communication 2002).

The success of this initial enterprise inspired another 

flurry of business transactions. Anderson formally transferred 

all his rights, title, and interest in the Baca Location timber 

to A. I. Kaplan of New York on December 31, 1936 (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A). Shortly thereafter, 

Blue Diamond Trading Corporation sold its renewal note and 

assigned the bond to Calumex Corporation, based in Delaware, 

on October 14, 1937. Kaplan, who was the largest investor in 

New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company, in turn assigned 

all his rights, title, and interest to New Mexico Lumber and 

Timber Company (T. P. Gallagher, Jr., President) on September 

16, 1938 (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of 

Title to Timber Interest, box 110A). Redondo Development 

Company deeded all of its Baca Location No. 1 timber rights 

to New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company on December 

31, 1939. New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company subsequently mortgaged the timber to the Reconstruction Finance 

Corporation for $182,436.52 at 5 percent interest per year 

(Deed, December 31, 1939, Redondo Development Company 
120 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

to New Mexico Timber, Inc., in Abstract of Title of Timber 

Interest in and to the Baca Location No. 1, Baca Co. v. NM 

Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A; see also chapter 4).

Camp Redondo closed in 1939. Most of the Valles 

Caldera’s logging activity shifted to the northwest part of the 

Baca Location. Loggers built more roads and several sawmills 

in the new locale. Small-scale, intermittent logging continued 

in the Redondo Creek area.

In a corporate reorganization, New Mexico Lumber and 

Timber Company assigned all of its rights to New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., on April 30, 1940. T. P. Gallagher, Jr., continued 

to serve as the enterprise’s president (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, 

Inc. 1967, box 110A). On June 27, 1940, the Reconstruction 

Finance Corporation recognized the satisfaction of the mortgage and bond dated May 15, 1930. It released the mortgage 

on the Baca Location timber on January 16, 1942.

New Mexico Timber, Inc., continued intensive, large-scale 

operations in the Valles Caldera through World War II. Logging 

sites included Redondo Peak, El Cajete, and the Jaramillo 

drainage. Gallagher stated that his corporation started cutting 

spruce at this time because economic conditions favored its 

marketability (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Answers 

of New Mexico Timber, Inc., to Interrogatories, October 16, 

1964, box 110A).

The Intensification of Timbering

From 1946 through the mid-1960s, New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., harvested thousands of nursery trees in addition to the 

great ponderosa pine, spruce, and fir timbers. Gallagher stated 

that these trees consisted primarily of blue spruce, Engelmann 

spruce, Douglas fire, white fir, and ponderosa pine transplants. Following State of New Mexico laws regulating the 

commercial logging industry, the trees felled were 12 inches 

(30 cm) or larger in diameter. Logging operations often left 

four of these larger trees per acre (.4 ha) to reseed the cut tracts 

(Martin 2003:88).

Gallagher’s timber men also harvested thousands of 

young white fir, Douglas fir, and spruce trees for sale as 

Christmas trees in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. In 1961 New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., ran advertisements in the Albuquerque 

Journal and the Santa Fe New Mexican during the month 

of November to promote the sale of two sizes of Christmas 

trees—up to 8 feet (2.4 m) tall, and from 8 to 12 feet (2.4–3.7 

m) tall. In 1962, the company entered into a contract with 

the Pueblo of Jémez, which cut and sold Christmas trees 

as a tribal business enterprise (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, 

Inc. 1967, Answers of New Mexico Timber, Inc., to 

Interrogatories, October 16, 1964, box 110A). These enterprises do not appear to have been very successful. By the late 

1960s, the Christmas tree business was operated mainly by 

the Los Alamos Boy Scouts, who cut thousands of trees each 

Holiday season for sale primarily to residents of Los Alamos 

(Los Alamos Monitor 1970:1).

By 1963, Gallagher’s logging operations had cut more than 

25,000 acres (10,000 ha) of timber, including 15,000 acres 

(6,000 ha) of ponderosa pine and 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of 

spruce-fir and mixed conifer stands. “The base of the eastern 

and northern caldera rims, the lowermost slopes of Cerros 

del Medio, Cerros del Abrigo, and the Cerros de Trasquilar 

were extensively logged during the later years of this period” 

(Martin 2003:87).

During the four operating seasons from 1960 to 1963 

alone, New Mexico Timber, Inc., processed 14,575 thousand 

board feet of finished spruce lumber. Most of this harvest, 

7,915 thousand board feet (54.3%), however, happened in 

1963. In addition to the finished spruce lumber, New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., and Bernalillo Log & Lumber Company cut 115 

thousand board feet of pulpwood and sold nursery stock and 

Christmas trees (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Answers 

of New Mexico Timber, Inc., to Interrogatories, October 16, 

1964, box 110A).

This 3.5-fold increase in logging on the Baca Location was 

a product of several notable events. The first was a change 

in regulations governing New Mexico’s logging industry. The 

second was the opening of new markets for previously noncommercial wood resources. The third was a renewed effort 

by various Federal, State, and local interests to create a new 

national park that would center on the Valle Grande. The last 

event was a change in the ownership of the Baca Location.

In 1962 the New Mexico Legislature redefined the legal 

minimum size limits for tree harvests. Depending on the 

species, the new laws allowed loggers to begin cutting trees as 

small as five inches (12.5 cm) in diameter.

This legislative change gave previously unmarketable stands 

of small trees commercial timber value. For the first time, New 

Mexico Timber, Inc. could harvest the small-diameter spruce 

and fir trees growing on the Baca Location’s many steep 

slopes to supply a new pulpwood mill in Snowflake, Arizona, 

scheduled to open early in 1963 (Martin 2003:87–88). At the 

beginning of the 1963 timber harvest season, New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., announced that it had signed a contract with 

the mill’s operators “to cut millions of dollars worth of pulpwood...on the Baca Ranch” (Martin 2003:88–89).

Along with its pulpwood expansion, New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., began to seek commercial markets for aspen logs from 

the Baca Location. Gallagher noted that his company had 

cut aspen since 1950, but it did so only on an experimental 

basis (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Answers of New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., to Interrogatories, October 16, 1964, 

box 110A). In 1964 the company signed a major contract to 

begin harvesting the Baca Location’s aspen groves.

The movement begun in 1961 to create a “Valle Grande 

National Park” was one in a series of initiatives dating back to 

1888 to place major parts of the Valles Caldera in public ownership and to protect its natural and cultural resources (chapter 

4). The National Park Service (NPS), under the watchful eye 

of area residents concerned about the still-expanding, highly 

visible damage that logging was inflicting on the scenic 

landscape of the Valles Caldera, lobbied for the proposal. If 

approved by Congress, the initiative would have linked the 

Valle Grande with the Bandelier National Monument under 

NPS administration and given most of the Baca Location to the 

Forest Service. Gallagher was adamant in his opposition to the 

park plan, and said again that his company owned the timber on 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 121

the Baca Location and intended to log it all. In a letter to New 

Mexico Senator Clinton P. Anderson that October, Gallagher 

stated, “The government would find itself in a rather strange 

position if they bought only the Valle Grande meadow, and 

found us later operating portable sawmills, spewing slabs and 

sawdust across the national park” (Martin 2003:77).

James Patrick Dunigan 

vs. 

New Mexico Timber Revisited

On January 11, 1963, James Patrick Dunigan of Dunigan 

Tool and Supply Company, Abilene, Texas, with the backing 

of a group of investors, bought the Baca Location. Dunigan 

created a new entity, the Baca Land and Cattle Company, to 

operate the property, making it clear that he intended to use 

the tract as a ranch.

Increased timbering greeted Dunigan’s acquisition of the 

Baca Location. His relations with T. P. Gallagher over the next 

decade were usually antagonistic. Their dispute took place in 

an economic environment in which “The activities of the livestock business and timber business have become less and less 

compatible...because of the various attempts of both businesses to eliminate manpower” (Mr. Bigbee, Esq., reading 

a quote attributed to T. P. Gallagher, Jr., in Baca Co. v. NM 

Timber, Inc. 1967, box 100A).

Martin does not believe that Dunigan’s purchase of the 

Baca Location had much to do with the increased volume 

and expanded focus of Gallagher’s logging activity in 1963 

(Martin 2003:87). Martin correctly points out that the change 

in the legal definition of harvestable trees was Gallagher’s 

main incentive. Nonetheless, Dunigan’s ideas about conservation and the concern of area residents undoubtedly contributed 

to the intensification of logging operations. Although he 

held legal timber rights on the Baca Location through 2017, 

Gallagher had reason to know that public sentiment and 

government action might soon curtail his operations.

It is clear that Dunigan was interested in long-term conservation and went to great lengths to restore and sustain the 

property’s scenic qualities. He made range improvements and 

built erosion control features in an effort to address the cumulative effects of three decades of timber cutting. In 1975 he 

agreed to listing of the Baca Location by the National Park 

Service as a National Natural Landmark (NNL). Although the 

property’s stated significance was its geological structure, not 

its scenic beauty, the listing implied the owner’s intention to 

preserve the Baca Location (chapter 4).

Dunigan was also well aware that Federal, State, and local 

interests were considering the possibility of creating a “Valle 

Grande National Park” to preserve the tract’s environmental 

values (see chapter 4). While Dunigan’s investors proposed 

various development plans for the Valles Caldera, including a 

ski resort, a racetrack, and a resort community of home sites 

and stores, he remained committed to his idea of maintaining 

the property as a working ranch and sustaining the Valle 

Grande’s beauty (Martin 2003:80–82).

In an effort to restrain or to halt logging of the Baca 

Location, Dunigan sued New Mexico Timber, Inc., in Federal 

district court on May 12, 1964, to obtain recognition of his 

successor interest in the 99-year timber lease. Having lost this 

initial round, he appealed the case to the 10th Circuit Court 

of Appeals in 1967. In a series of depositions for this case, 

James Patrick Dunigan, J. B. Harrell, Jr., who was a Dunigan 

employee, and T. P. Gallagher, Jr., each offered insight into the 

modified logging practices used by New Mexico Timber, Inc., 

after Dunigan’s purchase of the Baca Location.

After meeting with Gallagher in 1963, Dunigan reported 

finding that New Mexico Timber, Inc., had just begun cablelogging and clear-cutting of spruce stands in the Burrita area 

(Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A). Rather than 

cutting trees one at a time, lumbermen working steep slopes 

covered by small-diameter trees strung a stout cable between 

closely spaced logging roads. As they dragged the cable, they 

could quickly—and indiscriminately—knock over all timber 

standing in their path.

Once the trees were stripped from the soil, swampers lopped 

off the branches. Heavy equipment piled the trucks. A convoy 

of trucks carried off the valuable logs (Martin 2003:90).

Dunigan stated that from its first chain and boom logging 

area in 1963, New Mexico Timber, Inc., moved eastward along 

the ridges bordering the north side of the Burrita. By the time 

of his testimony in 1969, the chain and boom clear-cut area 

had expanded to include the areas around “Indian Point and 

Cerra de Polita” and to reach “Los Posos” and “the back side 

of Medio” on the hill slopes enclosing the Valle San Antonio 

and the Valle Toledo (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, 

box 110A; Los Alamos Monitor 1972:1). In his deposition 

a year earlier, Harrell noted that New Mexico Timber, Inc., 

had clear-cut approximately 8,500 acres (3,440 ha) of forest 

using the chain and boom method since 1963 (Baca Co. v. 

NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A).

Dunigan also complained that for the lumbermen to 

cable-log on steep slopes, New Mexico Timber, Inc., had 

begun building roads at close intervals of just 200, 300, or 400 

feet (61, 91, or 122 m) through timber stands to accommodate 

equipment and cable. The previous practice, Dunigan asserted, 

was for loggers to build their access and haul roads at intervals 

averaging between one-quarter to one-half mile (400–800 m). 

Some substantial timber stands were being serviced by just 

one road, while others required closer spacing and converging 

trails (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A).

In his testimony T. P. Gallagher initially held that topographic factors, not logging methods, dictated his logging road 

intervals (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A). As 

we noted earlier, Gallagher testified that his operations had 

clear-cut the Baca Location’s timber stands beginning in 

1935. Under direct examination, Gallagher was somewhat 

evasive as he answered attorneys’ questions about his logging 

practices after 1963. Under continued questioning Gallagher 

admitted that his timbering since Dunigan bought the ranch 

was “somewhat different than it was prior to 1960,” including 

the introduction of chain and boom “operations...on the north 
122 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

side of the Baca location” (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, 

box 110A) around 1961. Gallagher also acknowledged that 

the crane operation required the construction of roads at closer 

intervals than had logging conducted without this equipment 

in previous decades.

Along with clear-cutting and logging road construction, 

the issue of slash and other logging debris was a focal point of 

the dispute between Dunigan and Gallagher. Chain and boom 

logging:

. . . left behind three- to six-feet [.9–1.8 m] high piles of 

jumbled limbs, brush, and debris...[that] were formidable 

barriers to livestock and wildlife. The slash piles and 

remaining snags increased the fire danger in the area to 

unacceptable levels (Martin 2003:90).

In his 1968 deposition before the 10th Circuit Court of 

Appeals, Dunigan described how this issue proved divisive 

from the start of his relationship with Gallagher. His comments 

also reflect the fact that New Mexico Timber, Inc., held an 

exclusive lease on the property’s forests, including rights to 

all timber, trees, and wood, for another 50 years.

On the matter of slash and debris, Mr. Gallagher said that at 

this point I was starting to get into his pocket, any time we 

talked about spending over three or four hundred dollars in 

a given season, and that he was totally unwilling to consider 

any form of slash disposal and/or erosion control beyond 

spending the limited amount of money on thank-you-ma’ams 

[erosion control road berms], and following that statement 

he reminded me of the fact that he owned all the timber, trees, 

and wood on the grant and that he also owned anything that 

poked its head up out of the ground until midnight of the last 

day of his timber reservation in the year 2017 and that—that 

is the way it was and there wasn’t anything that anybody 

could do about it (James Patrick Dunigan, in Baca Co. v. 

NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A).

Dunigan complained bitterly that chain and boom clear-cut 

areas were useless for ranching. He testified that because 

downed slash, severed treetops, and old fallen logs completely 

covered the ground, the newly logged tracts were inaccessible 

to livestock (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A).

In a 1970 interview, Sam Bailey, who served as New 

Mexico Timber, Inc.’s forester, succinctly summarized the 

logging company’s view. Bailey acknowledged that New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., had harvested the majority of the Baca 

Location’s original 68,000 wooded acres (27,200 ha) since 

1935. He maintained, however, that only half of the harvested 

acreage had “been subjected to the present ‘clear cutting’ 

techniques” (Los Alamos Monitor 1970:1). Bailey said that 

the rest of this acreage, most of which had been harvested 

before 1963, had been selectively logged of large, thickstemmed trees only.

Bailey defended his company, saying that clear-cutting was 

the most common method of harvesting spruce and fir in New 

Mexico, and that cable logging caused much less damage to 

young trees (i.e., those under 5 inches [12.5 cm] in diameter). 

Nevertheless, Bailey acknowledged:

That a freshly clear cut area looks pretty bad, but he claimed 

that time, even a few years, quickly heals the scars...He 

said that the slash, which is obviously ugly in the newly 

logged regions, is soon covered by secondary growth if it 

is left alone. He said that an attempt to gather and haul off 

the limbs and tops would be wholly impractical. “There 

just aren’t enough trucks.” Burning the slash, Bailey noted, 

would simply kill the secondary growth (Los Alamos 

Monitor 1970:1).

Lastly, Bailey stated that, with the Court of Appeal’s decision still pending, New Mexico Timber, Inc., was not about to 

invest in the new equipment needed to replace the contested 

cable-logging and clear-cutting technique.

Faced with mounting damage and the onset of erosion that 

accompanied the blading of logging roads, Dunigan implemented range restoration programs that New Mexico Timber, 

Inc., had refused to undertake. Although New Mexico Timber 

repeatedly told Dunigan that he had no right to do so, Dunigan 

had his employees close and reclaim skid trails and logging 

roads in clear-cut tracts, using a bulldozer to push slash and 

abandoned down timber into eroded gullies (James Patrick 

Dunigan, in Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A). 

Dunigan also testified that some of his earthen tanks served a 

dual purpose, to capture and hold water for livestock and to 

control erosion caused by logging roads and a few other areas 

of natural disturbance. He also collaborated with the U.S. Soil 

Conservation Service and the Texas Technological College 

to develop cool-season grasses that might be used to reseed 

logging road scars.

The uncertainty of the still-pending court case was one 

issue. Another was the growing public protest against logging 

operations in the Valles Caldera. The Los Alamos Monitor 

reported that the State of New Mexico had begun considering

. . . a new set of regulations, apparently aimed at logging, on 

the Baca. These regulations would cause drastic changes in 

the handling of slash and formalize a requirement for seeding 

and water barring roads (Los Alamos Monitor 1970:1).

These developments convinced Gallagher that New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., would not be allowed to continue cable-logging 

and clear-cutting on the Baca Location for another 47 years. 

To take full advantage of its timber rights, using the most profitable methods then allowed, New Mexico Timber, Inc., began 

“cutting trees on the property at a ferocious rate, 24 million 

board feet of lumber per year” (Los Alamos Monitor 1970:1). 

Achieving these production levels on the Baca Location, 

required the company to employ 175 men and operate 2 mills 

in 1970. The number of employees rose to 300 over the next 2 

years (Los Alamos Monitor 1970:1, 1972:1).

Logging moved into the Valle Grande in 1971 (Los Alamos 

Monitor 1972:1). Road scars and clear-cut areas were now 

visible to anyone traveling State Road 4. Area residents grew 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 123

angrier. In 1970, the Los Alamos Monitor reported that within 

7 years,

Virtually every tree on the ranch that can be sawed into two 

by fours will have been cut down. And it will take nature 40 

to 50 years to restore in main the appearance of the ranch 

(Los Alamos Monitor 970:1).

The Monitor reported even more alarming news to environmentalists and others who hoped that they would some 

day enjoy public access to the Baca Location. In a sidebar 

accompanying its main article, the newspaper noted that the 

harvesting of the Baca Location’s timber could be completed 

“within three years by going to two or three shifts a day at New 

Mexico Timber’s mills” (Los Alamos Monitor 1970:1).

By 1971, less than 10 years since it had begun intensifying 

its cutting of the larger pine trees—using chain and boom 

logging on steep slopes to harvest smaller diameter trees for 

pulpwood products, and working aspen groves—New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., had graded over 1,000 miles of interlocked, 

maze-like roads. Although the hill slopes enclosing the Valle 

Toledo were the major area of impact, chain and boom logging 

also occurred on the north side of Cerro Redondo (Martin 

2003:93). By a historical irony, logging came back to its point 

of beginning: one of the last areas to be clear-cut on the Baca 

Location was reached from a work camp at the headwaters of 

Redondo Creek. Camp Redondo located near the mouth of the 

creek had served as the base of operations for some of New 

Mexico Lumber and Timber Company’s earliest logging operations on Redondo Border and Banco Bonito.

Dunigan eventually won several relatively minor restraints 

on logging, as well as limited damages, through the appeals 

process (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A; see 

also chapter 4). In March 1971 the 10th Circuit Court of 

Appeals upheld U.S. District Judge H. Vearle Payne’s June 

5, 1969, finding that New Mexico Timber, Inc., should lay 

slash in ways that would not hinder the movement of livestock and wildlife, cut down dead and living trees that were 

likely to blow over, and build water bars on abandoned roads 

to reduce their erosion. This decision, however, did not question the company’s right to continue clear-cutting on the Baca 

Location (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, Abstract of 

Title to Timber Interest, box 110A; see also chapter 4).

The Court of Appeals also upheld Judge Payne’s award 

of $202,278.30 in compensatory damages and interest to 

Dunigan’s Baca Land and Cattle Company. This judgment, 

however, covered only the 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) that New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., had logged between the time that 

Dunigan had begun his suit in 1964 and the date of Judge 

Payne’s finding. If the judgment had covered the entire area 

logged since 1935, “then Dunigan might have been awarded 

$2.6 million” (Los Alamos Monitor 1970:1).

Just as in Judge Payne’s court, Dunigan was denied the 

third count of his suit. This argument sought to limit New 

Mexico Timber, Inc.’s, harvest of trees to those that were 

mature in 1918, the time at which Redondo Development 

Company separated the Baca Location’s timber rights from 

the land when selling the property to the Bond brothers (Baca 

Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 1967, box 110A; see also chapter 4). 

The message was decisive: clear-cutting, albeit with a few new 

restrictions governing the disposition of slash and the treatment of logging roads, would continue on the Baca Location.

Dunigan was not satisfied with the Court of Appeals 

decision. He directed his attorneys to file suits for damages 

covering the entire area logged by New Mexico Timber, Inc., 

since 1935. Dunigan and Gallagher wearily prepared to renew 

their 8-year court battle. They also began negotiations for the 

sale of the timber rights. The Baca Land and Cattle Company 

bought the Baca Location timber rights from New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., on July 1, 1972, for $1,250,000, just 2 days 

before the parties were scheduled to return to court (Martin 

2003:93).

In a joint statement announcing the sale of the timber rights 

and the cessation of logging, Dunigan and Gallagher stated, 

“The transaction settles all litigation between the parties” 

(Los Alamos Monitor 1972:1). A representative for New 

Mexico Timber, Inc., added that half of the company’s 300 

employees might be laid off, although some crews would be 

kept active “hauling already cut logs from the area, reseeding 

the logging roads and cleaning up the slash” (Los Alamos 

Monitor 1972:1).

Dunigan’s purchase of the Baca Location’s timber rights 

did not mean the end of all logging. When cutting resumed 

under his stewardship, however, operations were limited to 

the salvage of vigas on Redondo and Redondito Peaks.

The Persistence of the 

Timbering Tradition

In 2001, the Valles Caldera National Preserve issued 

permits to haul timber on South Mountain, as well as to 

obliterate and rehabilitate 4.9 miles (7.8 km) of old logging 

roads on a 100.1-acre (40.5-ha) tract. This work was allowed 

to complete a timber project that was in progress when the 

Federal Government bought the ranch.
124 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

References Cited

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Bernalillo County, New Mexico

1849–1903 Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office Records. Accession No. 1974-034. 

Reels 1–33. Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Bond and Son

1918–1919 Ledger. Item 103. Bond, Frank, and Son Records. Albuquerque: Center for Southwest 

Research, General Library, University of New Mexico.

Darnell, Henry

1979 Interview of October 25, 1979. Dan Scurlock, interviewer. Tape BG-8. In Dan Scurlock’s 

possession, Fort Sumner, NM.

Glover, Vernon

1990 Jemez Mountains Railroads: Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. Santa Fe: Historical 

Society of New Mexico.

Kintzinger, Paul

1978 Cuba Extension Railroad (The Second Division). Sandoval County Review 1(5):17.

Laughlin Papers

1907 Unsigned letter to L. W. Dennis, Chicago, Illinois, August 14, 1907. Napoleon B. Laughlin 

Papers, Accession No. 1959–131, Box 10, Folder 145. Santa Fe: State Records Center and 

Archives.

Los Alamos [NM] Monitor

1970 Baca Location to Change. Los Alamos Monitor, December 17:1.

1972 Baca Location Timber Is Sold to Ranch Owner. Los Alamos Monitor, June 30:1.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

Rothman, Hal

1989 Industrial Values and Marginal Land: Cultural and Environmental Change on the Pajarito 

Plateau 1880-1910. New Mexico Historical Review 64:185–211.

Sawyer, Daniel and McBroom, William H.

1876 Field Notes of the Survey of Baca Location No. One, in New Mexico, being Grant made 

to the heirs of Luis Maria Baca by act of Congress approved June 21, 1860. Surveyed by 

Daniel Sawyer and William H. McBroom, U.S. Dep. Surs., under their Contract No. 68, of 

April 15, 1876. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe: State Office, Bureau of Land Management.

Scurlock, Dan

1981 Euro-American History of the Study Area. In High Altitude Adaptations along Redondo 

Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, 

eds. Pp. 131–160. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

Smith, Clyde

1979 Interviews of September 28 and 29, and October 2, 1979. Dan Scurlock, interviewer. Tapes 

BG-3B, 4, 5, and 6. In Dan Scurlock’s possession, Fort Sumner, NM.

Southwest History Class

1976 Viva el Pasado. Bernalillo, NM: Bernalillo High School.

Weinstein, Yale

1979 Interview of September 25, 1979. Dan Scurlock, interviewer. Tape BG-1. In Dan Scurlock’s 

possession, Fort Sumner, NM.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 125

Introduction

The Valles Caldera is the result of the youngest major 

volcanic episode in the creation of the central Jémez volcanic 

field. This geological feature is a diverse suite of basaltic 

through rhyolitic rocks, which erupted from some time less 

than 13 million years ago to no later than .13 million years 

ago. It represents some of the greatest volcanic activity documented in the earth’s history.

The vast heat content and the high subsurface temperatures 

associated with shallow, crystallizing magma cause convection 

of hot groundwaters in overlying rocks. These hot convecting 

waters usually form surface hot springs and fumaroles. At the 

Valles Caldera, a hydrothermal system at temperatures of 428 

to 572 oF (220 to 300 oC) exists at depths of 1,968 to 8,200 

feet (600 to 2,500 m) in caldera-fill ignimbrites and pre-caldera andesites (Dondanville 1971). Acid-sulfate springs, mud 

pots, and fumaroles at Sulphur Springs issue from the west 

side of the central resurgent dome of the Valles Caldera. Hot 

waters leach soluble constituents from fresh volcanic rocks 

and from older rocks. As temperature, pressure, and chemical 

environment change, hydrothermal minerals are deposited in 

favorable structures and horizons within the hydrothermal 

system. Many of the world’s precious and base metal ores are 

mined from the eroded remnants of ancient calderas. Early 

Jémez volcanic rocks in the Cochití Mining District south of 

the caldera contain gold deposits that were mined at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Two reservoirs have been drilled in the Valles hydrothermal system: the Redondo Creek and the Sulphur Springs 

reservoirs (Goff et al. 1988). The deep reservoir fluids are 

neutral-chloride; they contain about 16 to 58 ounces per ton 

(500–1,800 mg/kg) total dissolved solids (TDS) (Goff et al. 

1988). About 16 miles (10 km) from the Valles Caldera, two 

sets of neutral-chloride hot springs discharge along the precaldera Jémez fault zone at Soda Dam and Jémez Springs. 

These springs have strong chemical similarities to the deep 

fluids within the caldera. The conclusion generally drawn 

from this is that a hydrothermal outflow plume travels out of 

the caldera in the subsurface along the Jémez fault zone and 

within adjacent sedimentary rocks toward the springs (Goff et 

al. 1988:6041).

The silver and gold deposits of the formation were exploited, 

with modest success, about a century ago. The hydrothermal 

resources of the caldera have been the focus of more recent 

development.

Historical Overview

Fray Gerónimo de Zárate Salmerón served as the resident 

missionary at the Jémez Pueblo of Giusewa, between 1618 

and 1626. He subsequently prepared a report of his observations in or after 1629. Salmerón emphasizes the mineral 

wealth of New Mexico and states that he filed on many 

mineral locations in the Jémez Mountains (Ayer 1916:217). 

None of these filings, however, led to any known mining in 

the region.

John Wesley Powell first described rocks of the Jémez 

Mountains region during reconnaissance work performed in 

the 1880s (Powell 1961 [1885]). The region was known at the 

time as the Tewan Plateau. Powell recognized it as an extensive volcanic field that had erupted many types of volcanic 

rocks including voluminous deposits of ash. J. P. Iddings

(1890) presented petrographic and chemical data for some of 

Powell’s samples, including Bandelier Tuff and some quartzbearing basalts.

About 1881 Miguel Antonio Otero and his nephew, 

Maríano Sabine Otero, jointly acquired the Jémez Springs. 

Maríano also pursued development of Sulphur Springs as a 

second commercial resort. Maríano became “excited about 

the possibilities of mining sulfur, an idea that he probably 

borrowed from John W. Walton, a miner who had staked out 

a claim along the Baca Location’s western boundary in 1865” 

(Martin 2003:42). In 1898 Maríano filed a mineral claim for 

a 19-acre (7.6 ha) parcel next to Walton’s tract. According to 

the 1876 U.S. Government survey, the Sulphur Springs were 

just outside the west boundary of the Baca Location No. 1 

(Baca Location) (Sawyer and McBroom 1876). The resurvey 

of 1911, however, determined that the Sulphur Springs were 

inside the tract.

The Oteros formed a development company to operate the 

Jémez Springs resort, with Miguel Otero as president, and 

Maríano Otero and various officials of the Atchison, Topeka 

and Santa Fe Railroad serving on the company’s board of 

directors (chapter 3). They began building new bathhouses, 

a hotel, and other improvements, while the railroad surveyed 

and graded a branch that would bring tourists from Bernalillo 

to Jémez Springs. The hotel and bathhouses at Jémez Springs 

were completed in 1882. The death of Miguel Antonio Otero 

later that year stopped the development of a spur railroad, 

but visitors continued to reach the resort by stage. Plans to 

make Jémez Springs into a major resort were dropped (Otero 

1935:237–238, 241–277).

Chapter 8.

Industrial Mineral Extraction and Geothermal Exploration

Thomas Merlan
126 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Although he gave up the plans that he had shared with his 

uncle to enlarge the Jémez Springs resort, Maríano did not 

quit his resort and mineral interests upstream. He established 

a 10-acre (4 ha) resort at Sulphur Springs in 1901 (Scurlock 

1981:153). He first built bathhouses over the largest springs. 

Building through 1902, Maríano added a hotel for the steady 

stream of visitors who traveled from Jémez Springs to the 

Sulphurs (Martin 2003:44).

In 1900 Otero established an experimental plant for 

refining sulfur at Sulphur Springs. Pleased with the trial run, 

Maríano began planning to expand his mining and milling 

works to achieve production levels of up to 15 tons (1,361 

kg) of refined sulphur per day. To get new equipment to the 

site, Otero began negotiations with influential Santa Feans 

in June 1902 to improve transportation over the Jemez 

Mountains between his Sulphur Springs operations and Santa 

Fe (Martin 2003:42–43). He claimed that the capital investment to rebuild the old military road through the Cañon de 

Valle Pass and several other unimproved trails would benefit 

both Jemez Spring and Santa Fe. The Territorial government 

was not interested. Maríano made a deal with entrepreneurs in 

Santa Fe; he would fund construction of 13 miles (20.8 km) 

of road himself, and they would pay for the remaining 2 miles 

(3.2 km) of the project (Martin 2003:43).

Otero miscalculated the quantity and availability of the 

sulphur at his mine. Through 1903, sulphur was abundant 

near the surface. By 1904, however, the mining operations 

had exhausted the surface resource and Otero needed to begin 

tunneling. Poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas rapidly built up 

in the mineshaft (Martin 2003:44–45), and to make matters 

worse, prevailing sulfur prices dropped so low that the venture 

was no longer profitable (Boyd 1938:14–14, 35–39). G. R. 

Mansfield notes, “Old sulphur mill at Sulphur Springs hills 

built 1902. From 1902–1904, 200,000 lbs. [90,718 kg] of 

sulphur were produced here. Same locality as No. 426” (U.S. 

Geological Survey 1918–1925, G. R. Mansfield, #428). 

Maríano Otero died in a buggy accident near Jémez Springs in 

1904. G. R. Mansfield photographed the resort in April 1918 

(U.S. Geological Survey 1918–1925); a fire destroyed the 

buildings, probably in the 1970s. In 1983, Goff and Bolivar 

mention the destruction of the Sulphur Springs resort by fire 

as having occurred “several years ago” (Goff and Bolivar 

1983:32).

Gold and silver were discovered about 5 miles (8 km) south 

of the Baca Location in 1889. Development of major mines 

and the founding of the boomtowns of Albemarle, Allerton, 

and Bland followed circa 1894. The demand for lumber led 

to the establishment of several sawmills (Scurlock 1981:140; 

see also chapter 6).

Gold claims were first staked in the Cochití Mining District 

in the southeast Jémez Mountains in 1893. The 2 largest 

mines, Lone Star and Albemarle, produced ore from quartz 

veins in altered volcanic rocks from about 1897 to 1903 and 

from 1914 to 1916 (Lindgren et al. 1910). About 185,000 

tons (167,829 metric tons) of ore grading about 0.2 ounce per 

ton (6 mg/kg) gold and 4 ounces per ton (124 mg/kg) silver 

have been mined from the district, “but only recently [i.e., the 

late 1980s] have workers realized that the deposit was formed 

in an earlier hydrothermal system of the Jémez Mountains 

volcanic field” (Goff and Gardner 1988:5997).

C. S. Ross of the U.S. Geological Survey first began 

surveys in the Jémez Mountains in the 1920s (Ross 1931, 

1938; see also Goff and Gardner 1988:5997). Ross returned 

to the area in the mid-1940s to continue geologic mapping and 

volcanic studies with R. L. Smith, and again in 1954 with R. 

A. Bailey (Goff and Gardner 1988:5997). These investigations resulted in a series of papers on ash flow tuffs, eruption 

mechanisms, ring dikes, resurgent cauldrons, and ash flow 

magmatism (Ross and Smith 1960; Smith 1979; Smith and 

Bailey 1966, 1968).

The first geothermal well drilled in the Valles Caldera in 

1960 was not meant to be such: it was an oil test well on the 

west flank of the resurgent dome. The Westates–Bond 1 well 

struck superheated water about 392 oF (200 oC) at shallow 

depths, but found no oil (Dondanville 1971). Three more 

wells followed in the 1960s in the same general area.

Union Oil Company of California drilled a well (Baca 

4) in the resurgent dome in 1970. In July 1978 the U.S. 

Department of Energy (DOE), Union Oil Company of 

California (Unocal), and the Public Service Company of 

New Mexico (PSCNM) began a jointly sponsored cooperative geothermal demonstration project. The project drilled 

20 more wells over the next 4 years. When this project ended 

by mutual agreement in January 1982, Unocal’s predictions concerning the resource (up to 400 Mwe of electrical 

capacity) had not been met. To the partnership’s disappointment, only 20 Mwe had been proven. Only 2 of the 

13 exploratory wells drilled by Unocal were successful. 

Although all the wells yield superheated water, most were 

not sufficiently permeable to be considered production wells 

(Goff 2002:9). Because the DOE provided funding to the 

project, its results are available to the public and represent 

“one of the most extensive, publicly available data bases of 

any drilled caldera system in the world” (Goff and Gardner 

1988:5997).

In all, about 40 deep exploration and research wells, 

including those described above, were drilled in the Valles 

Caldera in the Redondo Creek and Sulphur Springs reservoir 

during the period between 1959 and 1983, defining a small, 

but hot (572 oF [300 oC]), neutral-chloride, liquid-dominated 

geothermal system (Goff and Janik 2002:300; Goff et al. 

1988). “The system proved to be too small in volume for 

economic development” (Goff and Janik 2002:301).

The Fenton Hill Hot Dry Rock demonstration project, 

designed and built by Los Alamos National Laboratory, 

followed in the 1980s (Goff and Bolivar 1983:39). The first 

hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal experiments were performed 

on the west margin of the Valles Caldera (Goff and Janik 

2002:300). Four deep wells were drilled to depths as great 

as 7.2 miles (11.6 km) to determine whether electricity 

could be generated commercially from a man-made reservoir. High development costs and continuing low prices for 

fossil fuels finally ended this project in 1998 (Goff and Janik 

2002:300]).

“The HDR concept was developed and tested in 

Precambrian crystalline rocks beneath the west margin of the 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 127

caldera from 1972 to 1998” (Goff and Janik 2002:304). Cold 

water was pumped down an injection well, forced through artificially fractured reservoir rocks, and extracted from a nearby 

production well. The cold water dissolved minerals lining 

the fractured rocks and absorbed CO2 and other gases while 

reaching thermal equilibrium (T ≥ 320 oF [160 oC]). Depth of 

circulation was greater than 8,200 feet (2.5 km) (Goff and 

Janik 2002:304–305).

The geothermal and HDR experiments were followed in 

the 1980s by a broad array of investigations of processes in 

magmatism, hydrothermal systems, and ore deposit mechanisms. The DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences sponsored 

investigations, designated as part of the Continental Scientific 

Drilling Program, that led to papers describing the hydrothermal system; the collapse, resurgence and location of 

calderas, the evolution of volcanism and tectonics, and the 

geophysical structure of the caldera. (Goff and Gardner 

1988:5997-5998). The first corehole was drilled in August 

1984, and a workshop followed that October to organize a 

scientific drilling program. A second corehole was drilled 

in September 1986, and a third in 1988 (Goff and Gardner 

1988:5998).

The demonstration project led to legal challenges by the All 

Indian Pueblo Council and the State of New Mexico, which 

contended that the project would deplete or dry up the water 

flow from the hot springs and aquifers in San Diego Canyon. 

This issue was never resolved in court because the project 

ended. Goff concludes, however, that this view is correct—a 

hydrothermal outflow plume from the Valles reservoir feeds 

the hot springs in San Diego Canyon (Goff et al. 1988; Goff 

2002:10).

The exploitation of the mineral resources of the Valles 

Caldera for profit both precedes and follows scientific and 

theoretical studies. Nonetheless, after many years of work and 

considerable expense, only 20 Mwe of geothermal reservoir 

capacity have been proven in the Valles Caldera. Estimates of 

undeveloped capacity range as high as 1,000 Mwe but remain 

unsubstantiated. The shallow heat within the Valles rocks is 

vast, but extraction of large quantities of hot fluids from these 

rocks has proven difficult (Goff 2002:10).

Mining of precious metals in the early twentieth century met 

with modest results and was abandoned. Geothermal exploration with a view to commercial development has shown small 

capacity. It appears fair to conclude that the acquisition of the 

Valles Caldera by the Federal Government in the year 2000 as 

a permanent public resource and park is a mature judgment of 

the resources and best use of the lands.

References

Ayer, Mrs. Edward E., trans.

1916 The Memorial of Fray Alonso de Benavides. Chicago, IL: Privately printed.

Boyd, Dick

1938 Jemez High Country. New Mexico Magazine 16 (9):14–15, 35–39.

Dondanville, R. F.

1971 The Hydrothermal Geology of the Valles Caldera, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Open file 

consultant report. Santa Rosa, CA: Union Oil Co.

Goff, Fraser 

2002 Geothermal Potential of Valles Caldera, New Mexico. Geo-Heat Center Bulletin 23(4): 7-12. 

Klamath Falls: Oregon Institute of Technology.

Goff, Fraser E., and Stephen L. Bolivar

1983 Field Trip Guide to the Valles Caldera and Its Geothermal Systems. Tech. Rep. LA-9963-

OBES. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Goff, Fraser, and Jamie N. Gardner

1988 Valles Caldera region, New Mexico, and the Emerging Continental Scientific Drilling 

Program. Journal of Geophysical Research 93(B6):5997–5999.

Goff, Fraser, and Cathy J. Janik

2002 Gas Geochemistry of the Valles Caldera Region, New Mexico and Comparisons with Gases 

at Yellowstone, Long Valley and Other Geothermal Systems. Journal of Volcanology and 

Geothermal Research 116:299–323.

Goff, Fraser, Lisa Shevenell, Jamie N. Gardner, Francois-D. Vuataz, and Charles O. Grigsby

1988 The Hydrothermal Outflow Plume of Valles Caldera, New Mexico, and a Comparison with 

Other Outflow Plumes. Journal of Geophysical Research 93 (B6):6041–6058.

Iddings, J. P.

1890 On a Group of Rocks from the Tewan Mountains, New Mexico, and on the Occurrence of 

Primary Quartz in Certain Basalts. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 66.
128 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Lindgren, Waldemar, Louis C. Graton, and Charles H. Gordon

1910 The Ore Deposits of New Mexico. Department of the Interior, United States Geological 

Survey, Professional Paper 68. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

Otero, Miguel Antonio

1935 My Life on the Frontier. Albuquerque, NM: Press of the Pioneers.

Powell, J. W.

1961 [1885] The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons. New York: Dover 

Publications. (Originally published as Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its 

Tributaries: Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, Under the Direction of the Secretary of 

the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.)

Ross, Clarence S.

1931 The Valles Mountain Volcanic Center of New Mexico. Transactions of the American 

Geophysical Union 12:185–186.

1938 The Valles Volcano, New Mexico. Washington Academy of Sciences Journal 28:417.

Ross, Clarence S., and Robert L. Smith

1960 Ash-Flow Tuffs: Their Origin, Geologic Relations and Identification. Professional Paper 366. 

Washington, DC: Geological Survey.

Sawyer, Daniel and McBroom, William H.

1876 Field Notes of the Survey of Baca Location No. One, in New Mexico, being Grant made to 

the heirs of Luis Maria Baca by act of Congress approved June 21, 1860. Surveyed by Daniel 

Sawyer and William H. McBroom, U.S. Dep. Surs., under their Contract No. 68, of April 15, 

1876. Microfiche on file. Santa Fe, NM: State Office, Bureau of Land Management.

Scurlock, Dan

1981 Euro-American History of the Study Area. In High Altitude Adaptations along Redondo 

Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, 

eds. Pp. 131–160. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

Smith, Robert L.

1979 Ash-Flow Magmatism. Special Paper 180. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America.

Smith, Robert L., and Roy A. Bailey

1966 The Bandelier Tuff: A Study of Ash-Flow Eruption Cycles from Zoned Magma Chambers. 

Bulletin of Volcanology 29:83-104.

1968 Resurgent Cauldrons. In Studies in Volcanology A Memoir in Honor of Howel Williams. 

Memoir 116. Robert R. Coats, Richard L. Hay, and Charles A. Anderson, eds. Pp. 613–662. 

Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

U.S. Geological Survey

1918-1925 (2006, June 30) Home page of U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library, U.S. 

Department of the Interior. [Online]. Available: http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov. [2007, 

January 23].
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 129

Introduction

The land use history of the Valles Caldera National 

Preserve (VCNP), as represented in the documentary record 

maintained in various archives and libraries, focuses primarily 

on the Hispanic and Anglo-American occupation of the locale 

subsequent to 1860. In an act of June 21, 1860, the U.S. 

Congress authorized the Baca Land Grant heirs to choose as 

many as five square tracts of “vacant land” (i.e., places where 

there was neither permanent residence nor formally claimed 

ownership) to replace the 496,447-acre (200,901-ha) grant to 

which they had agreed to extinguish their rights in favor of the 

town of Las Vegas (U.S. Congress, House 1860; U.S. Public 

Law 167 1860). Luis María Cabeza de Baca’s heirs selected 

5 substitute tracts, each measuring 99,289 acres (40,180 ha). 

Each tract appears as a distinctive square on land grant maps. 

The first of their selections encompassed the Valle Grande, 

Valle San Antonio, Valle Santa Rosa, and Redondo Creek 

(chapter 4).

This sequence of legislative actions changed the Valles 

Caldera from an unspecified tract of “vacant land” to a legally 

defined entity known today as the Baca Location No. 1 (Baca 

Location). With the conveyance of formal rights to Luis María 

Cabeza de Baca’s heirs as the tract’s lawful owners, executive, legislative, and judicial authorities immediately viewed 

the Baca Location as consisting of occupied land, even 

though for decades the property would not support sustained 

year-round habitation. Moreover, the land and its individual 

resources, including pasturage, timber, minerals, and game 

animals, gained formal status (through the issuance of legal 

title to the land grant) as properties over which the land grant’s 

authorized owners alone controlled rights to access, use, and 

disposition.

The legal definition of the Baca Location as a land grant 

whose owners held exclusive property rights has had significant and lasting consequences. The first consequence concerns 

access and use rights. Specifically, it was no longer legal (as in 

earlier decades; chapter 5), for entrepreneurs such as trappers 

or hay cutters, to enter the Baca Location without consideration. Also, as is illustrated throughout the discussions of 

subsistence plant gathering, hunting, mineral collecting, and 

agricultural practices (chapter 5) and ranching (chapter 6) 

after 1860, it is clear that the Baca Location’s owners have 

variously exercised their rights to permit, deny, or tolerate 

these activities by others.

The second consequence was that the land grant’s owners 

possessed the right to sever particular access and use rights 

from the land. The legislative actions of the U.S. Congress 

rendered obsolete the traditional aboriginal view that the 

Valles Caldera was a place imbued with certain inseparable 

qualities whereby resources, including the land, water, plants, 

animals, and minerals, obtained meaning in relationship to one 

another (see below). The definition of the Baca Location, built 

upon the Western idea that the land and its resources were 

discrete, quantifiable commodities, occurred just as the United 

States was incorporating the Territory of New Mexico into its 

national economy and society. By the late nineteenth century, 

new business opportunities, created by a combination of local 

growth and increased access to major markets in the Midwest 

and East, were on the horizon. Many of New Mexico’s natural 

resources became more attractive although historically they 

had been of little commercial value because of the lack of 

demand and the inaccessibility of their locations, including 

those in the Valles Caldera area. Commodity trading increased 

in existing markets and was fueled by speculation on future 

market conditions. During the second decade of the twentieth 

century, the Redondo Development Company, then the owner 

of the Baca Location, severed the timber and mineral rights 

from the ranch land (chapters 4, 6, 7, and 8).

The land use history of the Baca Location between 1860 

and 2000 saw the owners of the land grant’s various rights 

enter into contracts whereby one or more rights to the land and 

its other resources were recognized, leased, mortgaged, sold, 

and bitterly contested in court. With a few notable exceptions, these actions offered the promise of benefit only for 

the individuals who already possessed a sanctioned interest 

in the land grant. For example, chapter 4 provides discussion of the history of the partition suit brought by Joel Parker 

Whitney against Maríano Sabine Otero and others (Whitney v. 

Otero 1893). chapter 7 similarly reviews the contest between 

James Patrick Dunigan and T. P. Gallagher, Jr., over the Baca 

Location’s timber rights (Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc., 1967, 

box 110A).

The emphasis on rights and benefits for individuals 

following the legal designation of the Baca Location in 1860 

represents a transformation in ideas about the occupation 

Chapter 9.

The Valles Caldera National Preserve as a Multi-Layered 

Ethnographic Landscape

Kurt F. Anschuetz
130 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

and use of this land. For countless generations, the region’s 

aboriginal populations had recognized that the Valles Caldera 

constituted common lands that offered benefits to multiple 

communities. While it is conceivable that various groups might 

have claimed preferential use rights to particular resources 

at certain times, there were no economic, social, or political 

institutions that sanctioned assertions of outright ownership of 

the land until the U.S. Congress allowed Luis María Cabeza 

de Baca’s heirs to claim alternate grant lands in compensation for the extinguishment of all rights to their contested Las 

Vegas property.

The legal determination by the U.S. Congress in 1860 that 

the Valles Caldera was “vacant land” overlooked traditions 

of land use and occupation dating back to the beginning of 

human history in the region (chapter 2). As discussed in chapters 2 and 5, Native American populations have visited the 

VCNP for innumerable centuries. Since about the seventeenth 

century, aboriginal people have been joined by Hispanics who 

settled the river valleys surrounding the Jémez Mountains. 

Together, Native Americans and Hispanics cut wood for shelters and fuel, gathered native plants for food and medicine, 

hunted game animals, harvested birds for food and feathers, 

and collected various other resources, such as obsidian, clay, 

and stone slabs for making piki (paper bread) griddles. Some 

groups even practiced agriculture in and around the high altitude Valles Caldera during times of drought, for example, 

during late pre-Columbian times and again in the eighteenth 

century.

As documented through archaeology, history, ethnohistory, 

and ethnography, these many pursuits were undertaken on a 

relatively small scale and entailed only brief stays between 

the early spring and late fall. Although the few existing documentary records emphasize the economic aspects of these 

activities, among Native American and Hispanic populations 

alike, these doings frequently had important social and ritual 

purposes as well. While chapter 5 focuses discussion mainly 

on subsistence, the present essay provides a framework for 

a fuller understanding of the social and ideational contexts 

underlying the traditional land use activities in the VCNP that 

predominated before 1860, but persisted afterward in obscurity.

The thesis of this chapter is that Valles Caldera represents 

a multi-layered ethnographic landscape with which people of 

culturally diverse communities—Native American, Hispanic, 

and Anglo-American—maintain meaningful relationships for 

their own purposes as part of a dynamic cultural process. This 

thesis, in part, derives from the discussion of the landscape 

approach presented in appendix II. In this supplementary 

essay, I argue that landscape goes beyond a simple emphasis 

on the built environment and considers the cultural-historical traditions through which traditional, land-based people 

have occupied and modified their community lands in their 

own terms, both materially and ideationally. As the renowned 

geographer Carl O. Sauer (1925:46) notes, “The cultural 

landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape by a culture 

group. Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, 

the cultural landscape is the result.” Building on Sauer’s 

foundations, I add that landscapes are a potent mechanism 

with which communities record the memory of their culture 

and history (appendix II).

This chapter’s thesis also derives from the examination of 

how landscapes represent dynamic cultural process presented 

in appendix III. This appendix considers how the people 

construct and sustain continuity in their landscape affiliations despite substantive changes in their natural, economic, 

social, and political environments and explores the role that 

community traditions play in shaping this course of action. 

As recognized by archaeologist Stewart Peckham (1990:2), 

traditions generally relate to people’s valued understandings 

of “how they became who they are.” For our present purposes, 

I hasten to add that traditions unify how a community creates 

and occupies its landscapes across the dimensions of space 

and time (appendix III, after Anschuetz 1998b:47).

Distinguishing Land Use Traditions: 

Landscapes as Memory and 

Landscapes of Memory

All humans remember and celebrate cultural-historical 

memories through the traditions sustained by their cultural 

communities. As I observe in appendix II, every community imbues its landscape with intrinsic meaning based on 

its cultural patterns of perception and interpretation (after 

Anschuetz 1998b:44–58). These perceptions include not only 

the community understandings of its physical environment 

and resources, but time and how people interact with their 

cultural-historical memories to create and sustain their traditions (e.g., see Ortiz 1991). Other customs, including many of 

the vernacular (qua common, indigeneous) land use activities 

pursued by Native American and Hispanic groups within the 

Valles Caldera (chapter 5), may simultaneously be informed 

by, and serve to establish, the veracity of oral traditions. For 

this reason, it is useful to examine the substantive differences 

in the ways in which Anglo-American and traditional Native 

American and Hispanic land-based communities generally 

organize and interact with their cultural-historical memories in constructing their landscapes (following Ferguson 

2002:4.5–4.7).

Landscape is a cultural process entailing interaction 

between relatively static representations of geographical 

space and dynamic cultural and social factors that underlie the 

construction of these representations (after Ingold 1993:738; 

see also appendix III). Landscapes, therefore, are more than 

the built environment (Tallbull and Deaver 1997) or a cultural 

resources site (Cleere 1995). T. J. Ferguson (2002:4.5–4.6) 

explains further, “Landscapes have complexity and power 

because they are created by people through experience and 

engagement with the world.” Barbara Bender (1993:2) adds, 

“Landscape has to be contextualised. The ways in which 

people—anywhere, everywhere—understand and engage 

with their worlds depend on the specific time and place 

and historical conditions.” Lastly, Keith H. Basso (1996:7) 

observes that landscapes are “a venerable means of doing

human history...a way of constructing social traditions and, 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 131

in the process, personal and social identities.” Examinations 

of how cultural communities construct their landscapes, 

therefore, should focus on what landscapes do in service 

of the group rather than what they are or what they mean 

(Ferguson 2002:4.6; Mitchell 1994:1; Whittlesey 1997:20; 

see also appendix II).

Since the arrival of the Spanish in the region more than 

400 years ago, the dominant uses (i.e., activities that were the 

most visible and had the greatest material or legal impact) of 

the Valles Caldera and the documentary history of these uses 

have both complied with, and been informed by, a Western 

view of landscapes. From a Western perspective, “land is part 

of a historical process that produces enduring images, place 

names, and events. Land use and the people using the land 

change through time” (Ferguson 2002:4.5).

To use the terminology proposed by anthropologist 

Susanne Küchler (1993), Western cultural traditions construct 

understandings of landscapes of memory. Operating within 

this world view, Anglo-American communities characteristically view history and landscapes in terms of enduring images 

inscribed on the land. By virtue of having history materially 

etched into their surfaces, landscapes:

. . . can be measured, described, and depicted. Defined in 

terms of landmarks of ecological, historical, or personal 

validity, landscape is a widely shared and accessible means 

to transmit cultural knowledge regarding the past and future 

(Küchler 1993:85).

Through graphic representations, such as the map that 

cartographer Bernardo Miera y Pacheco (1779) made of 

the Valle de los Bacas (Valley of the Cows) in the late eighteenth century, and the many written accounts (including 

the present volume) documenting the land use history of 

the Valles Caldera, the idea of the landscape’s inscribed 

surface is rendered in material forms that are characteristically replete with inferred, interpreted, or assigned meanings 

and values. As such, these representations of landscapes 

of memory validate—and reify—the personal, social, and 

political remembrances that the dominant Euro-American 

community chooses to honor and perpetuate (after Ferguson 

2002:4.5). Moreover, this world view tends to cast history as 

a series of completed events that people can learn from—and 

build upon—so as not to repeat the mistakes of those generations that preceded us (after Santayana 1905:284; see also 

Anschuetz 2000:2, 2004:11).

Many land-based cultural communities that do not ascribe 

to a Western world view, in comparison, construct and occupy 

landscapes as memory (Küchler 1993). In these landscapes, 

activities that occur, places where these actions are undertaken, 

and names that are assigned to recall the significance and 

meaning of these places are “integrated in a process that acts 

to freeze time; that makes the past a referent for the present. 

The present is not so much produced by the past but reproduces itself in the form of the past” (Morphy 1993:239–240). 

According to Ferguson, in both their conceptualization and 

occupation, landscapes as memory:

. . . are a template in the processes by which traditions 

are constructed and transmitted. Rather than validating 

pre-existing memories by inscription, non-European 

cultural landscapes form an essential part of the memories 

themselves. They do not represent memory; they are memory. 

In this view, the land is as important as the human activities 

that occurred on and marked the land in the past (Ferguson 

2002:4.5).

Landscapes as memory are “maps in the mind” (Basso 

1996:43). They are also much more. Writing about Native 

American landscapes as memory, Ferguson (2002:4.6) 

observes that “landscapes often are conceptualized in a verbal 

discourse that has moral dimensions. Place names and stories 

associated with landscapes serve as metaphors that influence how the members of a society view themselves.” Young 

(1987:4–9, cited in Ferguson 2002:4.6) adds that points on 

the land evoke the image of places, the emotions and moral 

values associated with them, and the stories that they embody. 

Moreover, natural features, places, and landscapes possess 

the power to symbolize and recall the ancient past, thereby 

projecting the past into the contemporary, human world. 

Places and landscapes evoke stories of the people from the 

beginning of their history by evoking the emotions associated 

with these rememberances (Ferguson 2002:4.6).

In communities that construct landscapes as memory, the 

people adopt a view of history that is not cast exclusively in a 

past that is never again to be repeated. The members of these 

communities live their history not only to learn from it but

also to repeat it (Anschuetz 2000:2).

Building Blocks of Land Use 

Traditions in Constructing 

Landscapes as Memory

(adapted from Anschuetz 2001:2.13–2.35, 

2002a:3.3–3.15)

The interrelated themes of breath, center, emergence, 

movement, and connectedness generally are shared among 

the Southwest’s many Native American groups (e.g., see 

Anschuetz 2002a,b; Ferguson 2002; Kelley and Francis 

2002) and important in developing an understanding of the 

continuing relationships that indigenous communities maintain with their traditional homelands. Moreover, northern New 

Mexico’s traditional Hispanic communities possess a system 

of cultural values and beliefs that generally corresponds to the 

understanding of landscape that forms the structure of Native 

American world views and is based on spiritual ecology (after 

Cajete 1993–1994, 1994, 1999).

The undertaking of these themes is relevant to this study of 

the Valles Caldera’s land use history because these themes are 

axiomatic to the way the people construct and sustain coherent 

senses of place and time within these landscapes today 

despite the ever-changing conditions that characterize their 

worlds. In part, this examination is useful for comprehending 
132 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

the cultural logic that underlies how land-based communities 

construct landscapes as memory. In addition, the framework developed for this task will be useful for understanding 

aspects of the important cultural relationships that various 

chroniclers, historians, and anthropologists have observed in 

their accounts concerning the land use practices among the 

traditional communities that maintain associations with the 

VCNP.

Breath

In writing about the theme of breath, Gregory Cajete, a 

Santa Clara Pueblo resident and educator, observes:

American Indians believe it is the breath that represents the 

most tangible expression of the spirit in all living things. 

Language is an expression of the spirit because it contains 

the power to move people and to express human thought 

and feeling. It is also the breath, along with water and 

thought, that connects all living things in direct relationship. 

The interrelationship of water, thought (wind), and breath 

personifies the elemental relationship emanating from “that 

place that the Indians talk about,” that place in the Center 

where all things are created (Cajete 1994:42).

Elsewhere in his volume, Look to the Mountain: An Ecology 

of Indigenous Education, Cajete (1994:43) expands on the 

idea of breath in essential relationship to language, learning, 

and senses of place through reference to the poem, That’s the 

Place Indians Talk About, written by the Acoma poet, Simon 

J. Ortiz (1992:321–324). Ortiz’s verse examines the spiritual 

connections that Native Americans have with special places in 

their lives and on their landscapes.

By talking about those special places, they connected their 

spirit to them through their words, thoughts, and feelings. 

I remember thinking about how beautifully simple, yet how 

profound, this metaphor was. It illustrates the special quality 

and power the spirit has to orient us through the breath of 

its manifestations in language, song, prayer, and thought 

(Cajete 1994:43).

Cajete (1994:43) elaborates, “Breath—consciously formed 

and activated through language, thought, prayer, chanting, 

ritual, dance, sport, work, story, play, and art—comprised the 

parameters of communication.”

Based on his work among the Hopi, one of the Pueblo 

groups that maintains an affiliation with the VCNP (chapter 

1), linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf (1956a [1940]) suggested 

that language simultaneously conditions how people perceive 

the reality of their landscapes and helps structure all of their 

activities, including, for example, their land use practices. In 

speaking of breath and language, Cajete (1994:45) observes, 

“As is true in all languages, Indian metaphors reflect the nature 

of reality they see and to which their mind has been set through 

experience and cultural understanding.” Cajete (1994:44) 

extends Whorf’s logic of breath and language beyond humans 

when he writes that for many Native Americans, “Language 

as prayer and song has a life energy that can influence other 

energy and life forms toward certain ends.”

In retelling a lesson that she learned from her grandmother, 

Rina Swentzell, another Santa Clara Pueblo author, offers an 

explanation that supports and helps further explain Cajete’s 

point:

Gia Kuhn said that a place breathes in and incorporates 

thoughts and feelings of all beings who enter its space. She 

said that we remain a part of any place we visit—any place 

we breathe or leave our sweat. That is why we must think 

and move carefully wherever we go, because we become one 

with the place and, therefore, influence its spiritual quality 

(Swentzell 1993:144).

An additional aspect of language warrants further elaboration. Language is a principal medium for cultural learning and 

experience. Through his identification of the fundamental linkages between language and breath, however, Cajete (1994:43) 

recognizes that Native American languages are expressions of 

spirit. He adds that Indian languages characteristically lack a 

specific word for religion. Rather, the idea of spirit that is so 

deeply ingrained in the processes of language, learning, and 

experience underlies an understanding of the world through a 

perspective that Cajete terms spiritual ecology.

According to Cajete (1993–1994:6), the essence of spiritual ecology is the traditional relationship and participation 

of indigenous people with place that includes not only the 

land itself, but also the way people perceive the reality of their 

worlds and themselves. Although he refers to Pueblo culture 

to illustrate his point, Cajete ascribes to the view that spiritual 

ecology, as manifest through breath and language, is a characteristic among traditional land-based communities. “The 

land has become an extension of Pueblo thought and being 

because, as one Pueblo elder states, ‘it is this place that holds 

our memories and the bones of our people...this is the place 

that made us!’ ” (Cajete 1993–1994:6).

Rather than a religious doctrine, spiritual ecology is an 

expression of spirit as an orientation toward a living process. 

It is not a static intellectual structure (Cajete 1994:43–44). 

Tito Naranjo and Rina Swentzell effectively illustrate Cajete’s 

point:

In the Tewa Pueblo language there is a word which means 

“seeking life.” That word incorporates the most basic 

concept of Pueblo thinking, that human life is about the 

search for harmony and balance, about breathing and 

walking carefully and sensing the connectiveness between 

polarities in the human and natural worlds (Naranjo and 

Swentzell 1989:257–258).

In constructing their landscapes, the people of traditional 

land-based communities in general draw upon the spiritual 

power of breath and language to sustain paramount traditions 

of relationship, not only for renewal and for remembering, but 

also to perpetuate the spiritual ecology of the world as a whole 

(Cajete 1993–1994:7; see also discussion by Carmichael

1994; Saile 1977). People make a place as much as a place 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 133

makes people. Among people who construct landscapes as 

memory through their thoughts, speech, and activities, the land 

is a reflection of their very soul (after Cajete 1994:84). Cajete 

(1994:83) refers to this projection of the human sense of soul 

and the archetypes contained therein as “ensoulment.”

As an outside observer, Sophie D. Aberle portrays the 

objective, material importance of the relationship between the 

Pueblos and their landscapes to which Cajete (1993–1994; 

1994) and Naranjo and Swentzell (1989) refer. Although her 

description lacks the poetry used by writers from traditional 

land-based communities, it effectively conveys the objective 

quality of their ties to the land:

Land being the basis of Pueblo economy, to understand the 

Indian’s relation to his soil is vital. The years of contention 

over boundaries, titles to grants, and legislation influence 

the Indian’s habit of thought as well as his laws...Land in the 

eyes of the Indian is his most precious possession (Aberle 

1948:5).

In their literary treatise of Native American writers and 

their landscapes, other outsiders, Patricia Clark Smith and 

Paula Gunn Allen convey their comprehension of the spirituality of these landscape connections:

For American Indians, the land encompasses the butterfly 

and ant, man and woman, adobe wall and gourd vine, trout 

beneath the river water, rattler deep in his winter den, the 

North Star and the constellations, the flock of sandhill cranes 

flying too high to be seen against the sun. The land is Spider 

Woman’s creation; it is the whole of the cosmos (Smith and 

Allen 1987:176).

Center

Cajete (1994) and Ortiz (1992) express the idea of center 

as both “that place Indians talk about” and “that place where 

all things are created.” Traditional land-based communities 

view the land as inseparable from their very existence and 

identity, the idea of center has inseparably intertwined physical geographical and spiritual referents.

The definition of center necessarily depends on a comprehension of orientation, which Cajete (1999:6) identifies as a 

key and sacred concept among Native Americans. “Orientation 

is more than physical context and placement...It is about how 

the human spirit understands itself” (Cajete 1994:49). The 

comprehension of sacredness among many cultures, including 

the traditional Native American and Hispanic communities that maintain a close cultural association with the Valles 

Caldera, is a quality inherent to places as a metaphysical 

process based on timeless tradition. It is not strictly associated 

with some particular feature or object (after Hubert 1994:12). 

Within such cultures, sacred locations defined through orientation cannot be deconsecrated or made secular and profane.

In defining center, community traditions transmit ideas 

regarding the “rightful orientation to the natural world” 

(Cajete 1994:37, italics in original) through reference to seven 

cardinal directions: East, West, North, South, Zenith, Nadir, 

and Center (fig. 9.1). Through the association of cardinal directions with particular environmental phenomena, traditional 

communities build mental orders, which seem “less to control 

the environment than to control the world within” (Johnson 

1995:200). That is, by defining direction and placement, the 

people construct a knowable world out of sometimes capricious, often dangerous, and ever-changing surroundings.

9.1—The seven directions and the four levels of the 

cosmos within a construction of landscape as 

memory (adapted from Swentzell 1990: figs. 3-4).
134 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Laguna Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko explains how 

traditional people impose order through their thoughts on the 

disorder of the world in which they live:

The land, the sky, and all that is within them—the 

landscape—includes human beings. Interrelationships 

in the Pueblo landscape are complex and fragile. The 

unpredictability of the weather, the aridity and harshness 

of much of the terrain in the high plateau country explain 

in large part the relentless attention the ancient Pueblo 

people gave to the sky and the earth around them. Survival 

depended upon harmony and cooperation not only among 

human beings, but also among all things—the animate and 

the less animate, since rocks and mountains were known on 

occasion to move (Silko 1995:157).

Drawing from the perceptions and experiences of its people 

with their physical and spiritual worlds, each community traces 

its orientation by associating symbols, ranging from mountains, hills, other natural phenomena, colors, animals, plants, 

spirits, and holy winds (which are other traditional conceptualizations of breath and thought), with each direction (e.g., 

see Benally et al. 1982; Reichard 1963). Ortiz (1972:142) 

identifies “the dominant spatial orientation” inward, toward 

the metaphor of center. For the Pueblo (as well as the Navajo, 

Apache, and Ute), “all things are defined and represented by 

reference to a center” (see fig. 9.2).

As a way of knowing, thinking, and orientating, it [the 

spiritual ecology of place] proceeds in concentric rings from 

the location of the family household, to the segment of the 

village the household is located in, to the village as a whole, 

to the land immediately surrounding the village, then to 

the mountains and other geographic features that form the 

recognized boundaries of each Indigenous group’s territory 

(Cajete 1994:47).

It is necessary to emphasize that the assemblage of cardinal 

directions not only includes the usual compass bearings, but 

also ideas of multiple, layered realms (after Saile 1977:76, 

1989:173). For example, the Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and 

Ute communities ascribe the cardinal directions (East, West, 

North, and South) to the physical world in which the people 

live. This landscape represents the middle world. They also 

recognize Zenith to refer to the upper spirit world in which 

supernatural beings and powers associated with the sun, sky, 

clouds, eagles and other birds, and the stars live. Nadir is the 

lower world, home of the spirits of the ancestors and supernatural beings and powers associated with lakes, springs, caves, 

and some burrowing animals.

Many kinds of physiographic features (e.g., mountains, 

hills, lakes, caves, and springs) and culturally constructed 

features (e.g., houses, plazas, and shrines) in the natural world 

serve as conduits through which people communicate with 

the upper and lower world realms (Saile 1989:173). Rising 

from the ground and reaching into the sky, mountains and 

hills represent physical intersections between the earth and 

the sky (Saile 1977:76; see also Blake 1999) (fig. 9.3). As an 

ecological metaphor and a symbol of higher thought, mountains and hills often co-occur “with the metaphors of pathway, 

pilgrimage, and cardinal orientations forming the boundaries 

of a sacred place” (Cajete 1994:92). Springs and caves are 

other important portals to the lower world (e.g., see Ellis 

1964:32: Saile 1977: fig. 4) (fig. 9.2).

9.2—A schematic view of a landscape as memory, 

version 1 (adapted from Ortiz 1969: 13–28).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 135

The idea of center unifies the middle, upper, and lower 

realms of the cosmos. Through a creative, meaningful process 

based on its traditions of relationship with its natural and 

supernatural worlds, each community places its people at the 

center of its cosmos through their occupation of the middle 

world (after Cajete 1994; Naranjo and Swentzell 1989; 

Ortiz 1969; Swentzell 1988) (figs. 9.2 and 9.4).

In addition, through the conceptualization of their communities as occupying the physical center of the middle world in 

reference to this system of seven cardinal directions, the residential hub of their landscape lies “at the intersection of the 

horizontal and vertical regions of the physical and symbolic...

universe” (Swentzell 1988:15).

An example drawn from Pueblo ethnography illustrates 

how this system of landscape as memory incorporates essential ideas of space and time. In the living world, the most 

easily understood physical representation of center is the 

village plaza (or oldest plaza if the Pueblo has several of these 

features) (figs. 9.4 and 9.5). As expressed in Pueblo architectural traditions, plazas are enclosed in the horizontal dimension 

by terraced house structures (fig. 9.5), just as the nearby rising 

hills surround a village and the distant mountains embrace the 

whole of a Pueblo’s physical world (figs. 9.2 and 9.3). In this 

sense, the Pueblo concept of space is manifest primarily in an 

objective (i.e., quantitative) reality. “It includes all that is or 

has been accessible to the senses, the present as well as the 

past, but it excludes everything that we call the future” (Tuan 

1977:120). This objective realm has certain other fundamental 

conceptual limits. The Pueblo conceptualization of the world 

includes a subjective realm that is knowable through the 

9.3—Cross section of a landscape as memory (adapted from Saile 1990:fig. 5-9; also see Saile 1977: fig. 4).

9.4—A schematic view of a landscape as memory, version 2 

(adapted from Ortiz 1969:fig. 2, used with permission of 

University of Chicago Press).
136 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

communities’ coherent bodies of qualitative cultural-historical knowledge. Yi-Fu Tuan (1977:121) notes further, “As the 

objective horizontal plane stretches away from the observer to 

the remote distance, a point is reached at which details cease 

to be knowable” (fig. 9.6).

Pueblo understandings of their landscapes are similar to 

their comprehensions of the cosmos as a whole because they 

incorporate subjective realities in their natural and supernatural realms alike. Tuan (1977:121) explains that the periphery, 

as the borderland between the objective and the subjective 

realms of the Pueblo world, “is the timeless past, a country 

told about in myths.” Moreover, Pueblo authors observe 

that their kin “believe that past and future come together 

in the present—or in the center” (Naranjo and Swentzell 

1989:257). Residential settlements do not constitute the only 

centers within such landscapes, however. A center occurs 

wherever “harmony, balance, and grounding happen. It is 

where opposites come together to create cyclic movement and 

flowingness” (Naranjo and Swentzell 1989:257). Symbolic 

openings (e.g., caves and shrines) and other portals to the 

supernatural realm of the cosmos (e.g., lakes and springs) 

are other kinds of centers (fig. 9.3). Speaking of the Pueblos, 

Naranjo and Swentzell state:

These openings represent, again, an effort to connect this 

level of existence with that below. Each of the openings...is 

a special healing place. Each is the primary point of energy 

flow [or, to use Cajete’s (1994) term, spiritual power (see 

above)] between the simultaneous levels of the Pueblo world 

(Naranjo and Swentzell 1989:262).

The Apache (Anschuetz 2002b; Basso 1996; Carmichael 

1994; Farrer 1991, 1992), Navajo (Kelley and Francis 

1994, 2002), and some land-based Hispanic communities 

(Anschuetz 2002c; Enson 1995), among others, share similar 

understandings of center, centeredness, and flowingness of 

spiritual power as forming an interconnected web of relationship that ties the earth, the heavens, and the underworld into 

a whole.

Based on this body of ethnographic work, it is safe to 

generalize that within Native American conceptualizations 

of landscapes as memory, center cannot be comprehended 

without reference to periphery, and vice versa. Moreover, as I 

consider next, the idea of center simultaneously refers to the 

themes of emergence, movement, and connectedness, just as 

it does to the theme of breath, as portrayed in its reference to 

spiritual power.

Emergence

The Native American theme of center refers to a place on 

the landscape with a point of connection and a flow of life 

energy among the many levels of the world. The idea of center 

simultaneously refers to the place where people emerged from 

the underworld (Naranjo and Swentzell 1989:262).

The relevance of the idea of emergence in these landscape 

constructions is much deeper than simply equating center with 

the beginning of human time in the physical world that traditional people know today. Emergence, a concept imbued with 

a sense of timelessness through the sanctity of ritualized tradition, refers to both the becoming of the people and of their 

landscape.

9.5—The plaza, enclosed by terraced houses and with 

a kiva in the middle, as a center in a Pueblo landscape (adapted from Swentzell 1990:fig. 3-7).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 137

The origin myths recorded among many Native American 

communities, including the Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and Ute, 

exhibit striking similarities. Both the idea of world levels and 

the intrinsic ahistoricism of the myths are important. Each 

origin myth:

. . . in some fashion, tell[s] of the emergence of crude 

unfinished people from the lower levels until they reach the 

light of the upper and present world...Supernatural beings 

and spirits helped the people in their ascent and showed 

them how to undertake the tasks necessary for their survival 

(Saile 1977:76).

Just as with the people, the succession of worlds, which 

the people have occupied, has become increasingly complete 

in form. Turning to Pueblo ethnography to illustrate this idea:

Each world metaphorically represents a stage of natural 

evolution through which human beings learn how to become 

more human. Pueblo people believe that they emerged from 

an earth navel, a place of mountains looked upon lovingly by 

the sun and the moon (Cajete 1999:15).

Ortiz (1969:16) similarly refers to the idea of becoming, or 

being fully formed. Among Pueblo origin myths, for example, 

the world before emergence is described as moist, green, 

and unripe, whereas the world after emergence is dry, hardened, and ripe. The process of becoming complete (for the 

people and the land alike) is a gradual one that “is said to have 

continued long after emergence” (Ortiz 1969:17).

In their myths and community histories, traditional 

communities trace the process of becoming through the 

successive levels of their world and their movements 

through the present-day world. In doing so, they are not 

concerned with questions addressing objective facts of 

beginnings or origins. Instead, such historical constructions 

focus on movement according to the recurrence of traditional patterns, such as activities linked to the annual cycle 

(Parsons 1996, 1:17 [1939]). Given the emphasis on repetitive 

action in these narratives, many authors characterize 

these stories as a historical (e.g., Ortiz 1969:143; Tuan 

1977:121–122). Parsons (1996 [1939], 1:102–103) observes, 

“A formula such as ‘it came up with them’ or ‘thus it was 

from the time they came up’ gives authenticity to precious 

things as well as a starting point back of which there is no 

call to search.”

Pueblo ethnography again provides useful perspective. 

The sense of timelessness that obtains from the ahistoricism of emergence is a quality associated with the process 

and power of healing spaces. Swentzell (1991:178) explains, 

“Simultaneous levels of existence, as told in Pueblo emergence stories, are a part of daily reality and understanding.” 

Moreover:

. . . sensing and feeling the whole more easily satisfies the 

Pueblo person’s curiosity. To know the details is extraneous. 

To sense the large relationships that exist between the parts 

of a defined whole and to feel their relevance is enough. 

To know through feeling, intuiting, is to be a strong Pueblo 

person (Swentzell 1991:178).

With its inalienable association with a healing space, then, 

emergence is not only the center of space. It also is the center 

of time (after Ortiz 1969:143).

9.6—A schematic view of objective and subjective realms of the cosmos within a landscape as 

memory (adapted from Tuan 1977:fig. 15, used 

with permission of University of Minnesota Press). 

As Tuan explains in his figure notes, the objective 

realm is the horizontal space within the cardinal 

grid. At the distant edges, the objective realm 

merges with the subjective realm, which is represented by the vertical axis.
138 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Movement

The archaeological and documentary records of the Valles 

Caldera are replete with discussion of the transitory use of the 

locale by Native American and Hispanic groups over time. 

This system of short-term land use is unsurprising, given 

that the Baca Location has always been peripheral to settings 

of major settlement. Then again, the permanency of settled 

village life among the traditional people who have associated with the Valles Caldera historically also appears to be 

overstated. The settlement patterns of hunting and gathering 

groups and farming communities alike were usually fluid. For 

example, Linda Cordell writes of the dynamic occupational 

histories of early Pueblo villages:

Their inhabitants seemed to come and go, the settlements 

themselves changing both size and configuration in response 

to social forces we barely understand. In my mind, the 

shifting locations of population and the modification of 

community layout that suggest the incorporation and 

dispersal of groups of people are signs of a social landscape 

with far fewer constraints than any we know in the region 

today. They are mirrored in the fluidity and lack of formality 

that seem to characterize the patterns of exchange in 

ceramics. They seem to be part of a larger but much more 

open social world in which the notion of abandoning a 

dwelling or a site may have been of minimal importance, 

perhaps something to have been embraced rather than 

resisted (Cordell 1998:64).

Cordell’s (1998:64) observation that among the Pueblo, 

movement was “something to have been embraced rather than 

resisted” is perceptive. More than an adaptive strategy whereby 

people merely responded to changes in their economic, social, 

and political environments, ethnography documents that 

movement is another big idea of Pueblo culture. In turn, it 

simultaneously informs and motivates land use patterns.

As stated by Tewa authors in a variety of documentary 

contexts, “movement is the revered element of life” (Naranjo 

and Swentzell 1989:261). Another Tewa author adds, 

“Movement, clouds, wind and rain are one. Movement must 

be emulated by the people” (Naranjo 1995:248). In talking 

about the process of people’s movement through a sequence 

of places, Swentzell observes:

They did not settle in place for a long time, but rather 

emulated the movement of the seasons, winds, clouds, and 

life cycles by moving frequently. They responded to the 

movement of floods, droughts, and social tensions. The 

movement of clouds told them how they should move on the 

ground (Swentzell 1993:145).

Leland C. Wyman (1962:78, 1965:105) offers additional 

insights into the importance of movement among southwestern 

land-based communities. For example, in his opening discussion of the geography of the Navajo Windway myths, he notes 

that in speeches made by Navajo tradition keepers:

. . . movement is described in great detail; he lives 

conceptually and linguistically in a “universe in motion.” 

In his myths the heroes and supernaturals restlessly 

undertake long journeys during which many place names are 

mentioned, even spots merely passed by, and stopping at a 

spring for a drink of water is an occasion for giving the place 

a name . . . (Wyman 1962:78).

The task now at hand is to examine movement as both a 

cosmological and landscape concept. First, the movement 

of people across their landscapes complies with traditional 

patterns of relationship with their worlds. Second, the movement of life energy among the landscape’s many centers 

interconnects the natural and supernatural worlds of the 

cosmos (see also discussion of breath above).

Pueblo authors again provide invaluable perspective about 

patterns shared by the Navajo, Apace, and Ute. With regard to 

the cosmological aspect, Cajete observes that Pueblo people 

recount their forebears’ movements in their oral traditions 

to sanctify the timeless principles of spiritual ecology that 

underlie their respective communities’ senses of place:

In the stories Pueblo elders tell, the ancestors journeyed 

many times and settled in many places, including Chaco 

Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Canyon de Chelly. And each 

time they stopped they established a relationship to the 

place in which they settled, and they learned from each of 

these places. They came to understand something about 

the essence of these natural places and something about 

the delicate environmental balance of nature in such 

places. They settled by lakes and came to understand the 

nature of water and its importance and sanctity in an arid 

environment. They came to understand that water was one 

of the foundations for maintenance of life on earth. They 

settled near mountains and came to understand the nature 

of mountains in terms of the way they provide a context, an 

environment in which Pueblo people and other living things 

could live (Cajete 1999:13–14).

Silko (1995:158) notes that in tracking their movements, 

“Whatever the event or the subject, the ancient people 

perceived the world and themselves within that world as part 

of an ancient, continuous story composed of innumerable 

bundles of other stories.” Cajete (1994:91) adds, “In this sense, 

the landscape is like a textbook of ecological meaning, interpreted through the traditional stories and activities of tribes.” 

The oral narrative, based on metaphor and ritual performance, 

“became the medium through which the complex of...knowledge and belief was maintained” (Silko 1995:158) across the 

generations. Through these stories Pueblo, Navajo, and other 

traditional land-based community people hear who they are 

(after Silko 1995:128; see also Peckham 1990).

Importantly, the identification of prominent geographic 

features and landmarks in each community’s narratives exists 

primarily for ritual purposes (Silko 1995:162). To pursue 

Cajete’s (1994, 1999) and Silko’s (1995) reasoning, these 

narratives are most important for their affirmation of spiritual 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 139

ecological principles and not for their comprehensive environmental or historical detail.

As I discussed previously, the oral traditions maintained 

among communities that construct landscapes as memory 

possess the quality of timelessness. Moreover, the question of 

whether or not the people actually journeyed through the places 

identified in a community’s oral traditions at a particular time 

is irrelevant. For example, Naranjo (1995:248) notes, “With 

migration, movement is the essential element, not where they 

stopped or which path they took.” Silko (1995:161) adds, “the 

continuity and accuracy of the oral narratives are reinforced 

by the landscape—and the...interpretation of that landscape 

is maintained.”

In considering these ethnographic patterns, the relationships between people and their histories of movement through 

landscapes as memory are both important and beyond question (after Swentzell 1991). Silko explains:

The myth, the web of memories and ideas that create an 

identity, is a part of oneself. This sense of identity was 

intimately linked with the surrounding terrain, to the 

landscape that has often played a significant role in a story 

or in the outcome of a conflict (Silko 1995:167).

The second aspect of the concept of movement among 

communities that construct landscapes as memory—namely, 

the flow of life energy among the many centers defined in 

their landscape constructions—reinforces the essence of spiritual ecology as the traditional relationship and interactions of 

the people with their places. Nowhere is this idea more openly 

manifest than in communities’ conceptualizations of the interrelationships among movement, breath, and center.

The Tewa understanding of “seeking life” illustrates these 

relationships succinctly (see Cajete 1994:45–46; Naranjo and 

Swentzell 1989:257–258; see also Laski 1959). On the one 

hand, a Pueblo’s plaza (or oldest plaza, if there are several), as 

the center of all centers for the community and a focal healing 

place, is the terminus of all blessings that emanate from the 

shrines scattered across the landscape. The plaza is one part 

of the link between the supernatural and natural realms of the 

Pueblo cosmos. On the other hand, the people, through the 

sacred power and solemn petitions of their public and individualistic rituals in their subscription to a living process (see 

above), channel blessings back across the landscape through 

a hierarchy of shrines of direction even as they receive blessings from the supernatural world.

In this metaphorical ebb and flow of energies between the 

cosmos’ natural and supernatural realms, the blessings that 

emanate from the living world and intersect the underworld 

undergo a transformation in power through the renewal of 

their supernatural associations. These strengthened blessings 

renew the cycle of movement from the plaza center upon their 

return to the community. The power of the blessings builds 

upon itself yet again as the goodness manifest in the public 

ceremony, private ritual and everyday action that people 

demonstrate in their conduct once more flows outward from 

the village center. Just as the power of Pueblo ritual accumulates through the act of controlled, repetitive action (e.g., see 

Whorf 1956b [1939]), the power contained in blessings apparently also accumulates within itself through its renewing cycles 

of movement between the cosmos’ natural and supernatural 

realms. Therefore, through this system of continually reproducing, continually invigorating life force energies, people’s 

actions help sustain harmony between the contrasting/complementary realms of the cosmos. Ortiz (1969:22) explains, “By 

the system of ideas at work here, everything good and desirable stays within the...world.”

Connectedness

The sense of intrinsic connectedness between northern 

New Mexico’s traditional people and the worlds in which 

they live is the general basis of their spiritual ecology and the 

specific basis of their understandings of healing and seeking 

life. Naranjo and Swentzell illustrate the importance of the 

idea of connectedness:

For Pueblo people, the building, the landscape, the region, 

all together are the physical expressions of their beliefs. 

These things form the invisible link between the spiritual and 

material parallels of their lives. The building, the landscape, 

the region make up the world within which people live. It 

is a holistic and symbolic world. It is a description of the 

physical environment in terms of what it should be like or 

what feels right, rather than what makes sense or what is 

rational (Naranjo and Swentzell 1989:261).

Swentzell explains further how the theme of connectedness informs the common idea among Native American 

communities that spiritual power—the very force of life 

itself—permeates everything in their world, including objects 

that Western traditions consider inanimate:

That connection is—creativity from the source..., the powa-ha, literally “water-wind-breath.” It is that energy that 

flows from everybody, everything—plants, stones. That’s why 

everything takes on life in that world. We all breathe of the 

same breath the plants do, the rocks do. And so the world 

itself takes on a different structure (Swentzell 1989a:25).

Swentzell (1989b:12) adds, “All of life, including walls, 

rocks and people, were part of an exquisite, flowing unity” 

(see also Cajete 1994; Silko 1995; Tiller 1983).

Connectedness is one of the big ideas shared by people who 

build and sustain landscapes as memory. It is not surprising 

that they communicate these perceptions of their life in relationship with the land in their oral traditions and through their 

ritual, symbols, and everyday activities. Drawing from Pueblo 

ethnography, Cajete introduces the focal understanding of 

connectedness in terms of the “theology of place,” which is 

characteristic among the people of traditional Native American 

and Hispanic communities alike:

It is through these symbols and participating with the 

land in a kind of symbolic dance that Pueblo people have 

traditionally maintained the memory of their relationship 
140 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

to the places. Through traditional art forms..., which are 

replete with designs based on their relationship to the 

land, its plants, animals, Pueblo people have symbolized 

their sense of identity as a people of place. This continual 

establishing of relationship is not only for renewal and for 

remembering to remember who they are as a people, but 

is also an attempt to perpetuate the spiritual ecology of 

the world as a whole. This is the complex of relationship, 

symbolism, attitude, and way of interacting with the 

land that comprises the Pueblo theology of place (Cajete 

1999:15).

We now can begin to grasp some of the most meaningful 

elements embodied in constructions of landscape as memory. 

To understand the ideas of breath, center, emergence, and 

movement within a spiritual process of healing, it is necessary first to possess an explicit comprehension of periphery in 

the relationship between the natural and supernatural realms 

of the cosmos. People who construct and interact with landscapes as memory create a whole that is greater than the sum 

of its parts by uniting their world through a system of social 

and symbolic dualism (after Ortiz 1969).

In the process of acculturation into their communities of 

birth, “children learn about connections to the earth through 

virtually every experience in their culture” (Trimble 1993:170). 

So pervasive is this world view that early in their lives, children comprehend ideas of center and periphery along with 

their interdependence to form a whole. For example, a young 

Santa Clara Pueblo girl, Rose Bean, remarks, “A Pueblo is 

more than physical buildings and landscape...It’s living in a 

circle with a kiva in the middle” (in Hucko 1996:44; see also 

Swentzell 1989b).

Individuals acquire sophistication in their knowledge and 

understanding of these traditional themes and apply them to 

their everyday activities when they became adults and contributing members of their communities. Nora Naranjo-Morse, a 

Santa Clara Pueblo artist, “speaks of the circle that connects 

her with her clay people—a circle that takes in thousands of 

years of history and connections to clouds and mountains, 

spirits and underworlds. The Pueblo people live and pray and 

dance and shape pots to maintain these connections” (Trimble 

1993:119).

Witherspoon (1977, 1983) and Wyman (1983) similarly 

explain that the Navajo live their daily lives and observe 

their ceremonies through a complex system of beliefs about 

the dynamics of the universe. To earn their living, the Navajo 

attempt to influence the physical manifestation of the world 

for the benefit of all people through the orderly demonstration 

of traditional knowledge about the web of interrelationships 

between the natural and supernatural realms of the cosmos. 

Just as among the Pueblos, the cultural ideal among the 

Navajo is to draw upon their cultural traditions for knowledge about how to structure all of their actions, including 

their land use activities, to sustain connectedness and balance 

throughout the whole of their cosmos.

The analogy of the Pueblo’s Earth-Mother bowl and 

Sky-Father basket pair (figs. 9.7 and 9.8) helps convey this 

essential idea of connectedness. Bowls and baskets are efficient 

9.7—A Pueblo view of the Earth-Mother as a bowl (from 

Swentzell 1990:fig. 3-2).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 141

9.8—A Pueblo view of the world as a sphere, with the 

Sky-Father-Basket atop the Earth-Mother-Bowl 

(adapted from Swentzell 1990:fig. 3-1).

containers. Together, they form a coherent, protective sphere. 

(Farrer’s [1991, 1992] discussion of Apache world view 

suggests that Athapaskan groups possess similar ideas about 

their cosmos consisting of a protective sphere that embraces 

all life.) The breakage and subsequent loss of a bowl’s rim 

and body sherds, and the tearing of the basket’s woven 

fabric, however, compromise the vessels’ forms and functions. Such damage also ruins the sphere’s integrity and its 

ability to sustain its contents. So, too, landscapes that become 

fragmented lose their power. No longer able to sustain relationships and connectedness in the harmony of a whole, 

the spiritual thought process is rendered incomplete and its 

healing power is diminished.

Cajete (1993–1994, 1994, 1999) has commented extensively on the ill effects that plague traditional land-based 

communities when the wholeness of their landscape constructions is not respected and the people lose their sense of spiritual 

ecology. While acknowledging the world is inherently ever 

changing, Swentzell observes:

Transformation is a part of life, and is a very part of life, 

but it has to be transformed in terms of continuing...When 

you leave behind the past it is detrimental not just to yourself 

but to the world at large. Because you leave behind respect, 

connectedness—which is love (Swentzell 1989a:28)

Landscapes as Memory and 

Vernacular Land Use History 

in the VCNP

As discussed earlier, people understand themselves to be an 

integral part of the land within a world view that encompasses 

the idea of landscape as memory. As such, the people’s history, 

culture, and the very essence of their spiritual being is intrinsic 

to the landscape. Silko eloquently expresses this perspective:

So long as the human consciousness remains within the 

hills, canyons, cliffs, and the plants, clouds, and sky, the 

term landscape, as it has entered the English language, is 

misleading. “A portion of territory the eye can comprehend 

in a single view” does not correctly describe the relationship 

between the human being and his or her surroundings. This 

assumes the viewer is somehow outside or separate from the 

territory she or he surveys. Viewers are as much a part of the 

landscape as the boulders they stand on (Silko 1995:156, 

italics in original).

To extend this cultural logic fully, communities that create 

landscapes as memory do not define themselves only in terms 

of the intimate relationships among the myriad of places and 
142 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

features found extending from the center to the periphery of 

their natural world. This landscape approach simultaneously 

unites the middle realm of the cosmos with the supernatural 

worlds above and below within a process of becoming that 

transcends time, whereby the past is a referent for the present 

and the landscape is the recollection and celebration of age old 

tradition itself. In stating their relationship with their culture 

history over time, the people of traditional land-based communities reveal that they recollect their history not only to learn 

from it but also to repeat it so as to renew and reassert the 

veracity of their traditions (Anschuetz 2002a:3.42–3.43). In 

this way, communities periodically restate their relationships 

with the cosmos and its power (Saile 1977:79). Landscape 

features, therefore, are more than products of history. They 

represent the media through which the devotion of living of, 

and for, one’s cultural community is sustained across the generations despite the inevitability of change in the natural world.

For many Pueblo and Navajo communities, as well some 

Apache, Ute, and northern New Mexican Hispanic communities, the natural and cultural resources of the VCNP traditionally 

are elements of landscapes that refer simultaneously to the 

physical and metaphysical realms of the cosmos. Physical 

environmental features, including the volcanic mountains that 

enclose the Valles Caldera, springs, caves, shrines, streams, 

plants, animals, vistas, and the hollow of the great caldera itself, 

contribute to the construction of the landscape in terms of each 

community’s cultural-historical traditions. Informed by the 

interrelated themes of breath, center, emergence, movement, 

and connectedness, these environmental features are more than 

just an assemblage of objective attributes. Physical features 

embody metaphysical referents through which associated 

traditional community sustain their cultural identities. They do 

this through their geographic association with the subjective 

realm of the Valles Caldera as a periphery of their landscapes. 

The people of the traditional Native American and Hispanic 

communities variously gathered, hunted, and collected the 

material resources of this locality to sustain their economic 

livelihoods (see chapter 5). They relied on the symbolic qualities of these land use activities and their material products to 

sustain their communities economically, socially, and ideationally as living cultural entities.

The following discussion considers several prominent landscape elements present within the VCNP that have helped 

organize and give meaning to the land use activities of communities traditionally associated with this location. As noted in 

chapter 5, comparatively few details are available concerning 

the vernacular land use of the Valles Caldera because of common 

oversight involving mundane practices and the compelling need 

of secrecy to protect ritual and spiritual power. Consequently, 

the following discussion cannot be, and does not pretend to 

be, a comprehensive ethnographic inventory and assessment 

of how individual Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, Ute, or Hispanic 

communities interacted with particular landscape features. 

Instead, this narrative consists of ethnographic insights into 

how particular groups have interacted with the VCNP in the 

past to recall, verify, and reaffirm traditions important to their 

history, culture, and identity. In most cases, I cite ethnographic 

and other commentaries that identify the Valles Caldera locality 

directly. To help illustrate the importance of their relationship 

with the Valles Caldera settings, I refer to accounts of community relationships with analogous landscape features, such as 

mountains and volcanic calderas with which some of the associated communities are affiliated.

The categorization of particular feature types for the 

purposes of structuring this discussion is troublesome in the 

sense that it breaks a unified whole into its major constituent 

elements. This organizational device, therefore, fragments 

important connective relationships, which define a whole that 

is clearly greater than its parts, as discussed.

Mountains

Mountains within landscapes

Among cultural communities everywhere, but especially 

among those that construct landscapes as memory:

. . . [m]ountains are spiritually and culturally significant 

landscapes that evoke emotions ranging from awe and fear to 

reverence and wonder. Towering crags, violent storms, rare 

flora and fauna, snow-capped peaks, and serrated ridges 

all contribute to a mystical sense of the sublime. [Blake

1999:487]

A rich body of ethnographic information demonstrates that 

Pueblo communities and the other Native American groups 

affiliated with the VCNP regard mountains with reverence for 

more than just their plant, animal, and mineral resources (table 

9.1). The mestizos, criollos, and many other mixed-blood 

people that make up a large proportion of the rural Spanish 

colonist population (e.g., see Anzaldúa 1987:5; see also 

Mörner 1967; Wolf 1959) almost certainly shared the views 

of the indigenous communities concerning the sanctity of 

the southwestern mountains (see Anschuetz 2002c:7.7–7.8). 

This shared vision is the product of the blending of the structure and symbolic content of Indian and of Iberian (i.e., 

Catholic) religious belief (e.g., Anzaldúa 1987:25–39; Ingham 

1986:180–193; Rodriguez 1994:143–148).

Among all these communities, summits signify the borderland between the objective and the subjective realms (Tuan 

1977:120). Alfonso Ortiz (1972:157) explains, “the further one 

ranges outward from a particular village or group of villages, 

the greater is the tendency to attribute characteristics opposite of normal to anything of symbolic value, even if only by 

surrounding it with an aura of sacredness and mystery.” The 

power inherent in the landscape becomes potentially more 

dangerous and uncontrollable at greater distances from the 

center, and at greater depths or heights (after Saile 1977:77). For 

the region’s Native American and traditional Hispanic communities, “The mountain, as ecological metaphor and symbol 

of higher thought and attainment, is often integrated with the 

metaphors of pathway, pilgrimage, and cardinal orientations 

forming the boundaries of a sacred place” (Cajete 1994:92).

All 16 Pueblo communities living along the Río Grande 

Valley and its major tributaries (Cochití, Isleta, Jémez, 

Nambé, Picurís, Pojoaque, Sandía, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 143

San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, 

Tesuque, and Zía), maintain significant associations with the 

Jémez Mountains (e.g., Douglass 1917; Ellis 1956, 1974; 

Harrington 1916; Ortiz 1969; Weslowski 1981; White 

1942, 1960, 1962). The Jémez use the Towa name Wavema to 

refer generally to the mountainous region to the north of their 

Pueblo (Weslowki 1981:117). (As I discuss later, the Jémez 

also use the name Wavema to designate Redondo Peak. The 

differentiation of the name to designate the Jémez Mountains 

as a whole or to identify Redondo Peak specifically is contextually dependent within speech acts.) Most names for most 

places known by individual Pueblo communities in the Jémez 

Mountains rarely have been documented by outsiders. Among 

those who construct landscapes as memory, appellations “exist 

in people’s hearts and souls and history and oral tradition, and 

in their love” (Ortiz 1992:338).

Despite the fact that the Jémez Mountains are far outside 

the core areas of their respective homelands, the Pueblos of 

Hopi and Zuni maintain memories of northern New Mexico in 

their landscape traditions. The Hopi recall cultural-historical 

connections to specific settlements in the Tewa Basin on the 

east flanks of the Jémez Mountains (e.g., see Poling-Kempes 

1997:19–20; Yava 1978:27–28, 44–45.). Anthropologists have 

documented a Zuni ethnogeography that includes at least four 

Jémez Mountains sites in or near the Valles Caldera (Ferguson 

and Hart 1985:Map 15—Traditional Zuni Hunting Area [site 

31], Map 16—Traditional Zuni Plant Collection Area [sites 31 

and 93], and Map 18—Traditional Zuni Religious Use Area 

[sites 31, 48, 93, and 94]). There are Zuni cultural sites on 

the east side of the Jémez Mountains in proximity to the Río 

Grande Valley, as well.

The Navajo similarly view the Jémez Mountains as generally delimiting the eastern margin of their aboriginal homelands. 

Frederick W. Sleight (1950), who relies on translation of 

the place-name sisnádjini as “Horizontal black belt” (Haile 

1938:66), states that the description embodied in this term can 

easily be applied to the Jémez Mountains in general. “When 

viewed from deep within the old Navajo country, the Jémez 

Range appears as an extended, level black belt on the eastern 

horizon, and is the only mountain mass on the eastern side of 

the Navajo domain with this appearance” (Sleight 1950:391). 

Sleight’s statement, however, is not simply the random 

observation of an outsider. Of interest are commentaries made 

by medicine men with whom Sleight worked. These informants 

note that sisnádjini (1) is visible on the eastern horizon from 

the Lukachukai Mountains in northwestern New Mexico, (2) 

appears as “that long line of mountain” (unidentified informant) 

on the eastern side of the Navajo homeland, and (3) can be 

seen on the north horizon from Albuquerque’s heights (Sleight 

1950:394; see also Wyman 1962:81).

Sallie Brewer provides the recollections offered by 

Peshlakai Etsedi of a conference at which Navajo leaders, 

including Nah Zizii, Hosteen Iltsuee Etsosa (Marriano), 

Hostin Be Dah Gah, and Becenti, agreed upon the territory 

that their people would occupy following their release from 

Bosque Redondo in the late 1860s:

These men decided that the Navajos would have the country 

between Sisnajinee [Black Belt in the Jémez Mountains], 

Zoet Zilth [Mount Taylor], Nahtah Ah Say Ay [Corn Stairs or 

Mount Thomas], Do Ko-osteed [Suspended by Yellow Shell 

or San Francisco Peaks], Nahto Zilth [Tobacco Mountain or 

Buckskin Mountain near Grand Canyon], Nah Ah Tsees Ahn 

[Navajo Mountain] and Devehn Tsah (Brewer 1937:61).

The association with the Jémez Mountains is stronger 

among Pueblo and Navajo communities that identify particular 

summits within this range as their east mountain of cardinal 

direction. All six of the Tewa Pueblos (Nambé, Pojoaque, San 

Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Clara, Tesuque) recognize Tsikumu

(a.k.a. Cerro Chicoma [Obsidian Covered Mountain]) as their 

West Mountain in their landscape constructions (Harrington 

1916; Ortiz 1969). This summit is just beyond the northeast corner of the Baca Location. Within the Valles Caldera, 

Redondo Peak (a.k.a. Pelado) is the North Mountain for 

Jémez Pueblo. The Jémez use the name Wavema (Father of 

All Northern Mountains [Harper 1929:Section 2, p. 30]) to 

designate this summit (Sando 1982:11) and the entire mountain region north of their community (Weslowski 1981:117). 

Some Navajo communities historically identified this same 

summit, which they know by the name sisná ̇djiní, as their 

Holy Mountain of the East (Amsden 1934:123; Brewer 1937; 

Goddard 1933:11; Keur 1941:8; Linford 2000:242–243; 

Matthews 1897:78; Sleight 1950:passim)9.1.

9.1 For other Navajo communities, some authors, notably Benally 

and others (1982) and Haile (1938:66, 1950:112, 114), identify 

Sierra Blanca in southern Colorado as the Holy Mountain of the 

East. Several authors (Reichard 1963:452–453; Sleight 1950; 

Wyman 1962:70) recount the debate over the identification. 

Sleight [1950] concludes that different Navajo communities 

probably identify different peaks as their Holy Mountain of the 

East for a variety of reasons related to their specific location and 

historical experience.

Table 9.1. Native American cultural communities associated with the VCNP that view mountains as places of sanctity and power.

Cultural community References

Pueblo Blake 1999; Ellis 1956; Hewett and Dutton 1945; Hewett and Mausy 1940; Ortiz 1969; Page and Page 1982; 

 Parsons 1996 [1939]; Saile 1977

Navajo Blake 1999; Kelley and Francis 1994; 2002; Witherspoon 1977, 1983

Apache Basso 1996; Buskirk 1986; Carmichael 1994; Farrer 1991; Mails 1974; Opler 1946; Schaafsma 2001

Ute James A. Goth, in Wright 2000; Hillstrom 1998; Liljeblad 1986; Romeo 1985; Wroth 2000
144 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The preceding discussion of the themes of breath, center, 

emergence, movement, and connectedness stated that traditional communities define themselves within their cosmos 

through their identification of mountains of cardinal direction. The mountains of cardinal direction, therefore, are not 

just geographical referents. These summits are “an essential component to a system of cultural meaning at both a 

community and regional scale, sustaining people in physical and spiritual terms” (Blake 1999:488). On the one hand, 

they establish foundations upon which the communities 

construct their senses of timelessness in their occupation of 

the land itself. Charles Avery Amsden (1934:123). refers to 

this quality in his statement that each mountain of cardinal 

direction specifies “the cosmic limit in that direction as seen 

through the mist of tradition.” On the other hand, the mountains of cardinal direction convey more than privilege and 

legitimacy in a community’s occupation and use of the land 

through their reference to timeless tradition; they entail lasting 

obligations for present and future generations. Mountains of 

cardinal direction, as some of the most holy places within a 

group’s landscape, “have a special power to make holy spirits 

accessible to mortals and bring together the Navajo origin 

legends, ways of life, and the correct pursuit of those ways” 

(Blake 1999:502–503).

Among the Jémez, regardless of their use of the placename Wavema to denote either the Jémez Mountains generally 

or Redondo Peak specifically, the mention of their “Northern 

Mountains” collectively or the “Father of All Northern 

Mountains” is imbued with great cultural meaning. In turn, 

the Valles Caldera landscape simultaneously possesses 

multiple levels of significance informed by Jémez Pueblo oral 

traditions of emergence and migration. According to Jémez 

tradition keepers, the Towa’s forebears lived among other 

native people in the underworld in some unearthly form under 

the guidance of the spiritual powers. “These beings taught 

them all the ceremonials as explicit dictates for how they 

should live on the newly formed lands. The Towa brought 

these traditions with them when they emerged to the present 

earth as human beings” (Weslowski 1981:118).

At the time of the Towa forebears’ Emergence upon the 

surface of this world, which is the place that the Jémez 

remember as Wanatota, somewhere far north of their present-day Pueblo, the spiritual powers created the original four 

mountains of cardinal direction for the people. They did this for 

the people so the Jémez would have appropriate places upon 

which they could fulfill their solemn obligations. These peaks 

included “Yellow-Flint Mountain” to the east, “Blue-Flint 

Mountain” (i.e., Wavema) to the north, “Red-Flint Mountain” 

to the west, and “Black-Flint Mountain” to the south (after 

Parsons 1925:137; Weslowski 1981:119). The people were 

always to visit these holy summits over the span of the yearly 

cycle to make prayers and to offer feather blessings, asking 

the spiritual powers for their continued assistance and giving 

thanks for the goodness that they had already received.

As the Towa forebears moved south through a series of 

migrations that would eventually bring them to the present-day 

site of Jémez Pueblo, the people would always designate 

cardinal mountains of directions, including Wavema, at each 

of the homelands that they occupied along their long journey 

(Weslowski 1981:117). The designation of Redondo Peak as 

Wavema immediately followed the Towa forebear’s arrival in 

the upper Río Jémez Valley seven centuries ago (chapter 2), 

(see Sando 1982:11).

The Jémez have perpetuated the history of their community through the many levels of ritual associated with the 

mountains of cardinal direction (and other places of power 

created at the time of Emergence, or inhabited or visited by 

the Towa forebears during their migrations). They also recall 

the spiritual instructions, which their forebears accepted and 

to which they still are bound, as to how to live within and to 

use their homelands within the precepts set forth at the time of 

Emergence (Weslowski 1981:119–120).

Today, the Jémez still visit Redondo Peak throughout the 

year. Societal duties are performed on all sides of the peak and 

in the adjacent valleys” (Weslowski 1981:117). Weslowski 

explains further:

. . . that this peak is used regularly by the underworld’s 

chief’s society. This group is greatly respected as a 

ceremonial supervisor and conserver of custom...The 

underworld chiefs made a pilgrimage to Redondo Peak 

every June to begin the summer series of rain retreats and 

ceremonies . . . (Weslowski 1981:117, citing an unnamed 

consultant; Parsons 1925:63, and her own field notes; see 

also Ellis 1964).

The Jémez, just as their Towa forebears, sustain the flow 

of power and harmony between the natural and supernatural realms of the cosmos through their perpetuation of 

their cultural-historical memory and the fulfillment of their 

obligatory traditions. Within this living landscape tradition, 

Redondo Peak and the Jémez Mountains together symbolize 

the cardinal direction North, Emergence, and the many places 

the Jémez occupied and visited on their migrations. For the 

Jémez, the Northern Mountains—the Jémez Mountains generally and Redondo Peak specifically—recall the origins and 

ends of natural life and the eternity of all spiritual life. The 

North is “the place from which the people came and whence 

the newborn still come” (Parsons 1925:125). Today the 

further association of spiritual powers with North (as the place 

of Emergence) and the souls of the deceased (as the direction where the first Towa lived and died), partially informs 

the cultural rationale linking the Northern Mountains with 

the cloud people, the katsinas, and the dead (Ellis 1964:19; 

Parsons 1925; Weslowski 1981:123). Finally, the additional 

essential connection of these many supernatural beings with 

moisture in its varied material and ethereal forms (e.g., rain, 

snow, clouds, and breath), contributes to the Jémez view of the 

Jémez Mountains as “the home of the flowing water” and “the 

perpetuators of rainfall” (Weslowski 1981:122). One community member gracefully summarized this relationship: “Water 

and mountains are intertwined as beneficial places. The mountains are the source of energy of existence. We receive energy 

from the places we believe in” (in Weslowski 1981:122).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 145

In her examination of this web of relationships, Weslowski

(1981:123) reports that the North encompasses the whole of 

Jémez Pueblo aboriginal lands. In this world view, Redondo 

Peak, as Wavema, and its valleys represent the totality of 

Jémez’ culture and history. Continued occupation and use of 

the Valles Caldera for traditional game hunting, plant gathering, mineral collection, and ritual activities is compulsory 

for sustaining the Pueblo cultural identity.

There is some variability in the identification of the Holy 

Mountain of the East among the communities of the Navajo 

Nation. Nonetheless, even among the groups that specify 

the location of sisnádjiní as someplace other than the Valle 

Grande, the Jémez Mountains generally, and the great caldera 

especially, are basic to the ceremonial repertoire through 

which the Diné recount, enact, and reaffirm their own emergence traditions.

Just as among the Pueblo, the Navajo holy mountains figure 

prominently in Navajo creation tales. To pick up Washington 

Matthews’ comprehensive account of the Navajo Creation 

Story at the point before the people emerge onto the Fifth 

World (which is the present world):

First Man and First Woman, Black Body and Blue Body, set 

out to build the seven [sic] sacred mountains of the present 

Navajo land. They made them all of earth which they had 

brought from similar mountains in the fourth world. The 

mountains they made were Tsĭsnadzĭ́ni [sisná ̇djiní] in the 

east, Tsotsĭl (Taylor, San Mateo) in the south, Dokoslíd (San 

Francisco) in the west, Depĕ́ntsa (San Juan) in the north, 

with Dsĭlnáotĭl, Tsolíhi, and Akĭdanastáni (Hosta Butte) in the 

middle of the land.

Through Tsĭsnadzĭ́ni [sisnádjiní], in the east, they ran a bolt 

of lightning to fasten it to the earth. They decorated it with 

white shells, white lightning, white corn, white clouds, and 

he-rain. They set a big dish or bowl of shell on its summit, 

and in it they put two eggs of the Pigeon to make feathers for 

the mountain. The eggs they covered with a sacred buckskin 

to make them hatch (there are many wild pigeons in this 

mountain now). All these things they covered with a sheet of 

daylight, and they put Rock Crystal Boy and Rock Crystal 

Girl into the mountain to dwell (Matthews 1897:78–79).

Mountains as stories

In this account and other Navajo Emergence accounts (e.g., 

Benally et al. 1982:8; Klah 1942; O’Bryan 1956:24, 26; Van 

Valkenburgh and Begay 1938:30–31), authors establish a 

subjective quality of timelessness in the Navajo conceptualization of the holy mountains. That is, the sacred peaks were 

created and re-created through the succession of worlds from 

the beginning of time to the present. These stories and various 

pictorial representations of these summits (e.g., Harrison 

Begay, in Gill 1983:fig. 1) also allow the identification of the 

many symbols that the Navajo associate with each of these 

peaks. For example, Gladys Amanda Reichard (1963:chart 

1) documented the symbolic associations of sisnádjiní, the 

Holy Mountain of the East (table 9.2).

The care invested in detailing these many associations 

is not a mere literary device. “The order and character of 

the world and of the place of human beings in that world, 

including their relationships with one another and with all 

other living things, is defined in these stories” (Gill 1983:505). 

These written and graphic depictions also establish the principles with which the Navajo define their relationship with 

the physical geography, which includes the VCNP, of the 

world in which they live.

The Jémez Mountains and Redondo Peak figure in other 

Navajo oral traditions as important places within the Navajo 

construction of the landscape as memory. On the one hand, 

these stories are important vehicles for encoding information about the physical appearance and resources available 

at these locations (e.g., Coolidge and Coolidge 1930). More 

importantly, in many stories, mention of these summits is 

independent of their geographic location. They are important because they help perpetuate the memory of the cultural 

history of the Navajo people since time immemorial. These 

stories explain how the world and the people became what 

they are today. Leland C. Wyman (1962: 78–80) observes 

that these narratives emphasize the underlying importance of 

locality and the even greater significance of the movement 

of characters in Navajo oral traditions. They also remind the 

Navajo of the spiritual obligations for living properly, which 

may include ritual use of the Jémez Mountains generally, and 

the Valles Caldera specifically, both now and in the future.

Table 9.2. Symbolic Associations for Sisnádjiní, the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East (adapted from Reichard 1963:Chart 1).

Mountain attribute Associated symbol

color: white

fastened by: lightning

covered by: daylight, dawn

jewel: whiteshell, whiteshell with belt of dark cloud

bird: pigeon, white thunder

vegetation: spotted, white corn

sound: thunder in young eagle’s mouth

peopled by: Rock Crystal Boy, Rock Crystal Girl, Whiteshell Boy, Whiteshell Girl, Dawn Boy, Dawn Girl

moved by: spotted wind

extra gifts: white lightning, dark cloud, male rain, white corn

guardian deity:: xa ̇ctc ́é ́δγan
146 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

For example, in his account of the Navajo Creation Story, 

Hasteen Klah (1942) refers to Nehochee-otso, a large hollow 

place on the top of the Jémez Mountains where Tseh-nagi

(Rolling Rock) lived. This monster was “a great striped rock 

which could roll very quickly in any direction, and killed 

people by rolling on them” (Klah 1942:71). The story of 

the destruction of Rolling Rock establishes that the Navajo 

view the Jémez Mountains as a portal between the natural and 

supernatural worlds of the cosmos:

Nayenezgani, the Hero Twin Monster Slayer, traveled to 

the Jemez Mountains to kill Tseh-nagi in his quest to rid 

the world of the monsters that plagued the people. When 

Nayenezgani tried to approach Tseh-nagi, the Rock began to 

roll towards him and he shot his lightning arrow at the Rock 

from the east, but could not hit it, and the Rock then rolled 

back to its den. Then Nayenezgani shot at it from the south 

and managed to knock a little splinter from it while the Rock 

pursued him. He then approached the Rock from the west 

and the same thing happened, and also from the north, and at 

the end he only managed to knock off a few pieces and could 

not injure it, and meanwhile it kept chasing him while he was 

barely able to avoid it.

At his home at Huerfano the magic kehtahn [prayer stick] 

began to burn very brightly, which showed that Nayenezgani 

was in great danger. So they [other immortals] sent hail, big 

rain, and cyclones to attack the Rock. And the water soaked 

it, and Hashjeshjin [the Fire God] burnt it with his fire, and 

then hit it with a stone knife, and large pieces were broken 

off it. The Rock tried to escape them, but they chased it into a 

mountain from which it burst out as though from a volcano, 

and finally they chased the Rock four times around the earth, 

while it grew smaller and smaller, until at last it fell into the 

Grand Canyon, where it is now (Klah 1942:93–94).

In her account of the Mountainway origin story, Mary C. 

Wheelwright (1946:78–79) reports that the Jémez Mountains 

are the place where the Youth, who has become a medicine 

man, visits the Kisahni (a Pueblo group that Wheelwright 

identifies as the Hopi in a sidebar). Here he finds two individuals, who learn the Tohe ceremony that he performs during 

his visit:

The medicine man said to these two that they must have 

ceremonies given over them before they could be medicine 

men, and have the Jish or medicine pouch. They said they 

would have these ceremonies up on Tsilth Klizhin, the Dark 

Mountain (Jemez Mountain). So all the Kisahni People left 

their homes to go to this place, and there they built a hogahn 

with twelve upright posts. It was a very big hogahn called 

Taytah-haskahni. After this was finished they built another 

hogahn for the cooking of food during the ceremony, and 

sent someone out to collect herbs and everything needed 

for the Wohltrahd, and wood to make the Tse-panse hoops; 

so now they were prepared to start the ceremony that night 

(Wheelwright 1946:79).

The Jémez Mountains are also the setting where two 

akananillis (Meal Sprinklers) depart in the Mountainway 

origin story (Wheelwright 1946; Wyman 1975). The runner 

who goes to the west to the White Mountain Apaches is Asheen 

Tsiskai, whose name derives from the fact that “he was a racer 

on the plains and valleys, running from the Dark Mountain 

[the Jémez Mountains] down the valley to the south, and then 

north to Debehentsah before the sun rose in the morning” 

(Wheelwright 1946:80). The other runner is Kah-jes-tyinee 

(Sleeps to Noon, [a.k.a. Valley Boy]), who is believed by all 

Navajos other than his grandmother to be a lazy youth but 

was transformed into a perfect young man by being named a 

Meal Sprinkler. Kah-jes-tyinee variously runs east or north to 

the Jicarilla Apaches and the Río Grande Pueblos in different 

accounts of the Mountainway origin story (cf. Wheelwright 

1946; Wyman 1975).

Wyman (1975:238) identifies the Meal Sprinklers’ starting 

place as “behind Black Mountain.” This place-name is a likely 

reference to the Jémez Mountains in general and may even 

refer more specifically to the Valle Grande, which is “behind” 

the Jémez Mountains.

According to Wyman (1975), when recounting the details 

of his journey, Valley Boy speaks of his visits to the Pueblos of 

Santo Domingo and Zía to obtain these communities’ pledges 

to arrive back home before the close of the Mountainway 

ceremonial. On the last leg of his journey, Valley Boy (a.k.a. 

Sleeps to Noon [Kah-jes-tyinee]) ran from Zía Pueblo up into 

the Jémez Mountains, climbed its summit (possibly Redondo 

Peak), and visited a supernatural being before returning to the 

race’s starting point.

Next he set out towards the Black Mountain range again, and 

required much time before he arrived at its base. He went up 

to the summit, where he found a narrow canyon and came to 

a waterfall. Suddenly the Ye’i granduncle gave his call. He 

descended down into the canyon and there called to him with 

his whistle. He [Valley Boy] entered his [the Ye’i’s] home . . . 

(Wyman 1975:240).

Wheelwright’s (1946) version of the Mountainway origin 

story concludes when Kah-jes-tyinee returns to his people in 

the Jémez Mountains. He arrives just before his counterpart, 

Asheen Tsiskai.

The Navajo traditionally re-enact parts of these narratives both symbolically and literally. Wheelwright (1946) 

notes that Akananillis go out on the ninth (and last) night 

of the Mountainway ceremony to summon the people to the 

corral dance in a symbolic recreation of this tale. Richard 

F. Van Valkenburgh (1940:9) reports that one Navajo tradition keeper, Maríano Chávez of Torreon, once told him about 

a man who ran from the Chuska Mountains to the Jémez 

Mountains and who started building a number of rock shrines 

along the way.

Matthews (1887:451) describes prayer sticks, made “of 

nothing more than a few sticks and feathers, with the occasional addition of strings and beads” used as offerings in the 

Mountainway and other ceremonials that recall the origin 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 147

stories. He includes an illustration of a prayer stick that 

belongs to:

. . . klèdji-qaçàl, or chant of the night. It is sacred to the 

Youth and the Maiden of the Rock Crystal, divine beings who 

dwell in Tsisnàtcini [sisnádjini], a great mountain north of 

the Pueblo of Jemez (Matthews 1887:452).

Matthews’ figure caption explains:

The original is in the National Museum at Washington. It 

consists of two sticks coated with white earth and joined by 

a cotton string a yard long, which is tied to each stick by 

a clove hitch. A black bead is in the center of the string; a 

turkey feather and eagle feather are secured with the clove 

hitch to one of the strings (Matthews 1887:fig. 58).

In his discussion of Windway repertoires, Wyman (1962) 

reports that Horizontal Black Belt (sisnádjiní [Redondo 

Peak?]) was the home of a Talking God, while the Black 

Range (Jémez Mountains) not only was shattered by Thunder, 

but was the home of the Black Ant People. In reference to the 

part of the Windway myth concerning cotton chord divination, Wyman (1965) notes that Horizontal Black Belt was one 

of the homes of the Small Bird People. He repeats the association of the Ant People with the Black Range in his retelling of 

the Red Antway ceremonial.

The Blessingway repertoire mentions both the Jémez 

Mountains and the Valles Caldera. Through his documentation of three versions of the myth, Wyman reveals that the 

Navajo view the Jémez Mountains as the home of Bear, a 

potent symbol of wisdom (Wyman 1970:330, 456). In his 

version of the Blessingway myth, River Junction Curly (in 

Wyman 1970:554) refers to a place called “the Hollow Gap 

at the upper end of Black Mountain (Jemez Range)” when 

telling of Monster Slayer’s destruction of the monsters that 

plagued the people. Based on this description, “Hollow Gap” 

might refer to the Valle Grande.

Later in his account, River Junction Curly tells about 

Monster Slayer and the Twelve Roaming Antelopes (which 

were terrible beasts that killed people) at Dark Mountain 

(the Jémez Mountains) (in Wyman 1970:569–571). Monster 

Slayer gave chase to the Twelve Roaming Antelopes with the 

intent of destroying them to rid the world of their evil. Klara 

B. Kelley (personal communication, Gallup, NM, 2003) speculates that Monster Slayer might have trapped the Twelve 

Roaming Antelopes in the Valle Grande. Kelley suggests that 

the caldera symbolizes a primordial antelope trap.

River Junction Curly’s story is notable because it tells that 

Monster Slayer spares the terrible antelope beasts after receiving 

their word that they will become peaceful game animals that 

humans can hunt for food (Wyman 1970:570–571). In doing 

so, this narrative not only explains the origin of the antelope 

as docile game animals, but also places their original home in 

the Jémez Mountains.

Haile (1947) reports that toward the end of the third day 

of the Shootingway ceremonial, the singer recites a prayer 

for each of the eight sticks that he makes. Haile recounts the 

basic prayer and provides a synoptic summary of additions, 

including mention of the Jémez Mountains:

Additions to this prayer are concerned with place names 

of Shootingway and holy young man: may good conditions 

come to me from jarring mountain; from rock extending 

to the skies...from trees extending up the mountain side...

from floating feather, Jemez range and other Shootingway 

localities (Haile 1947:170).

Water

Water resources, such as ponds and springs, are portals to 

the underworld through which blessings pass into the supernatural realm of the cosmos. In return, the spiritual powers 

provide their assistance to the natural world by bringing forth 

water from the underworld, which is the source of all lifegiving moisture in the cosmos. The Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, 

and Ute associate lakes, springs, rivers, and clouds with supernatural beings (Basso 1996; Carmichael 1994:91–93; Ellis 

1964:32; Hillstrom 1998; Kelly and Francis 1994; Ortiz 

1969; Romeo 1985). Each of these groups views these water 

sources as conduits fed by the great underground ocean that is 

the source of all moisture in the natural world (e.g., Parsons 

1996 [1939]; see also Hewett and Dutton 1945:29). The 

underworld is manifest variously as breath, wind, clouds, rain, 

snow, seep moisture, spring water, and rivers. Cloud flowers 

grow over mountains. Springs feed ponds found below the 

summits of the mountains of direction. Rivers are umbilical 

cords from the mountains, through which the underworld 

helps sustain life energy in the living world (after Anschuetz 

1998b:450; see also Simmons 1969:39). Consequently, water 

is a powerful ritual medicine (Ellis 1956:56–57; Parsons 

1996 [1939]:352, 416, 453–454)

The people of Jémez Pueblo look to their Northern 

Mountains (i.e., the Jémez Mountains) as “the home of the 

flowing water” and “the perpetuators of rainfall” (Weslowski 

1981:122). Collectively, the lakes, springs, rivers, and clouds 

associated with Wavema symbolize the cardinal direction 

North and are referred to by a ceremonial name that translates as “North...side where the sacred water stands” (Harper 

1929:Section 2, p. 9).

The Jémez also consider springs to be “the doorways to 

the homes of the clouds” (Weslowski 1981:123). While all 

springs are highly revered, those associated with Wavema

in the south-central part of the Valles Caldera are held with 

even greater regard as shrines. “Springs located on the mountains are utilized along with the very sacred shrine at the top” 

(Weslowski 1981:117). In addition, springs along Redondo 

Creek, which drains from Wavema, are visited regularly “by 

societal groups or individuals for the offering of prayer. Young 

men who train in the mountains as ritual runners sometimes 

bath in some of these pools as well” (Weslowski 1981:117).

Besides the springs directly on Redondo Peak, the hot 

springs within the Valles Caldera contribute to the area’s 

significance and justify the need by the Jémez for continuing 

ritual pilgrimage (Harper 1929:Section 2, p. 33). Weslowski 

reports:
148 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

There are hot mineral springs to the north and west of 

Redondo Creek that have long been used for therapeutic 

purposes...One Jemez consultant recalled that other Indians 

(Pueblo and non-Pueblo) came to these baths as well, some 

traveling for very long distances (Weslowski 1981:117).

Laurie Collier Hillstrom (1998) includes a Ute story titled 

“Smoking Waters” that talks about Ute cosmology and the 

origins of hot springs. Although this passage does not identify 

the Valles Caldera, the account explains why the Ute groups, 

which briefly visited this locality for seasonal hunting on a 

stop over place during their journeys from the north to Santa 

Fe and the Río Grande Valley, would have been drawn to the 

area’s hot springs. According to their oral traditions, mountain hot springs possess the power to soothe the sick and the 

weary and heal the wounded because they are a gift of love 

and peace made by a medicine man who did not wander from 

the proper path of living in accordance with Ute cultural traditions.

As discussed in chapter 5, the Jémez are known ethnographically to collect water and other products found alongside 

streams, ponds, and springs at Redondo Peak for use in rites 

back in their communities (e.g., Ellis 1956:67, 1964:32; 

Friedlander and Pinyan 1980:28; Weslowski 1981:114, 

115). Navajo traditionalists are also known to have collected 

water from their Holy Mountains of the East and South 

(Reichard 1963: 452–453; Sleight 1950:380–381; Wyman 

1970:20), which might include Redondo Peak.

Caves

As is illustrated in figure 9.3, caves are another of the 

portals of communication between the natural and supernatural worlds that are closely associated with mountains. 

Perceptible air movement in and out of caves is understood 

as the earth breathing (Brunnemann 1995:29; Schaafsma 

1987:4; see also Simmons 1982:8). Grottoes are connected 

physically and metaphysically by passages through the 

underworld (e.g., Curtis 1926:172; Usner 1995:16; see 

also Evans et al. 2001:33; Page and Page 1982:187). Also, 

people emerged from the world below through openings in 

the earth’s crust.

Florence Hawley Ellis (1956:57) reports that hunters from 

the Pueblos of Jémez, Santa Ana, and Zía formerly hunted 

deer in the high country of the Jémez Mountains, including the 

Valles Caldera. Some hunts were made by men from the individual Pueblos; others by hunters from two or three Pueblos. 

When the hunts involved men from all three communities, the 

participants visited shrines maintained at caves and springs 

within their shared hunting territory. The different Pueblo 

communities customarily took turns directing the hunts and 

leading the requisite ceremonies in a cave, which was marked 

with an eagle on its ceiling. Although Ellis does not specify 

the cave’s location, the great importance of the Valles Caldera 

to each of these communities suggests that the grotto was near 

Redondo Peak.

Ellis further offers useful ethnographic detail about the 

ritual pilgrimages by the members of the Jémez Underworld 

Chiefs Society into the Valles Caldera. The society, consisting 

ideally of 12 members, is a highly secretive organization that 

relies heavily on seclusion.

Their name refers to their relationships with the underworld. 

They use underground chambers, such as hidden caves 

beneath waterfalls or high in the mountains, for initiations, 

and shrines, although their meetings are held in the home 

of their chief in the village. Springs or lagoons, the home of 

their patron, the plumed serpent, also are used as places of 

initiation, for the society members are supposed to associate 

with the supernaturals of the underworld in springs and 

caves and to prophesy the future for the Pueblo, on the 

basis of what they have seen below the water or on the 

walls or floors of caves, or of what they have heard in such 

underground contacts (Ellis 1964:32).

Despite the secrecy of these rites, Jémez Pueblo pilgrimages to Valles Caldera area caves were general knowledge. 

Writing a general interest piece for New Mexico Magazine, 

Betty Woods says that the Jémez were avid piñon nut hunters. 

Further, the community’s medicine men went into the canyon 

lands below Vallecito “to gather herbs and mix their wonderworking potions...we can suppose that ancient Indian 

medicine men came to the same canyons for their healing 

herbs and went to the caves for ceremonial making of medicine” (Woods 1942:30).

Volcanoes, Calderas, and Lava Rock

There is no specific mention of the Valles Caldera in the 

available ethnohistorical or ethnographic literature concerning 

traditional Native American and Hispanic community beliefs 

about volcanoes, calderas, and lava rock. Nevertheless, there 

are several Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and Hispanic references 

suggesting that the Valles’ volcanoes, calderas, and lava rock 

contribute to the landscape associations of several Native 

American communities.

Among Pueblo and Navajo communities alike, giants, 

witches, or gigantic monsters variously terrorized the people 

far back in time. These groups consequently sought the assistance of the Warrior Twins who, in those days, were living 

among the people (Curtis 1926; Cushing 1896, 1920; Kelley 

and Francis 2002; Reichard 1963;White 1935). The warriors 

chased the giants and fought them. When they finally killed 

the evil beings, the people saw nearby volcanic peaks and 

their caves belch smoke, if not also lava and fire, which hardened the earth (e.g., Curtis 1926:172; cf. Cushing 1896:398, 

1920:32–33).

These oral traditions indicate that lava, whose flows are 

traceable from definable peaks, is associated with water, 

moisture, life’s essence, and movement. First, when people 

emerged onto the surface of the living world, they found it was 

still moist (unripe), moving or flowing, and in need of hardening so the people might occupy the land (Cushing 1967:14 

[1883]). Second, at least some Río Grande Pueblos conceptualize flowing lava as “hot water.” For example, the Tewa 

tell a story that fire and water flowed from the volcanic peaks 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 149

at Black Mesa (between the Pueblos of San Ildefonso and 

Santa Clara), Cabezón Peak in the Río Puerco Valley of the 

East, and Tsimayo in the Santa Cruz Valley after the Warrior 

Twins killed one of the monsters that stalked the earth (after 

Johnson 1995:300; see also Cushing 1896:398 for a similar 

story maintained by Zuni Pueblo). Third, Zuni Pueblo and 

Navajo people characterize lava flows as the hardened blood 

that gushed from the lethal wounds inflicted on the giants 

by the Warrior Twins (Cushing 1896:398–399; Kelley and 

Francis 2002:5.21–5.23; Reichard 1963:22).

Considered as an assemblage, these accounts indicate that 

Native American groups have long recognized that lava once 

was a flowing liquid. Moreover, they interpret the patterns of 

movement frozen in the rock in terms of the flow of water 

that they observe in streams and rivers in their everyday lives. 

Through this system of associations, lava beds combine with 

mountains, water, and caves in the communities’ knowledge 

of their landscapes to form complex interwoven cosmological relationships that help explain the ideas of breath, center, 

emergence, movement, and connectedness.

Kelley and Francis (1994:125) state that volcanic calderas 

“are important in the songs, prayers, and stories of many ceremonial repertoires that involve the power of thunder and 

lightning (which seeks depressions and lava rock) and wind.” 

The association of calderas with thunder and lightning is of 

additional interest, given the rumbling and fiery explosions 

associated with some volcanic eruptions.

Concerning the topic of lava rock, Pueblo tradition-keepers 

consider this resource to possess essential spiritual qualities. In some instances, lava beds and flows define places of 

worship (Anschuetz 2002b:3.31–3.32). Lava beds, and the 

lava tubes that occur within them, are important because they 

simultaneously serve as arrays and portals for communication with the powerful spiritual beings, the deceased, and the 

souls of “people and animals yet to come” (Weahkee 1997:2; 

see also Phillip Lauriano, in Brunnemann 1995:29 and in 

Schwingendorf 1995:1). Within holy places on their landscapes, exposures of lava rock can contribute to the healing 

properties of these locations (Anschuetz 2002b:3.31–3.32; 

after Naranjo and Swentzell 1989).

Navajo informants similarly disclose that basalt is the best 

type of rock for use in their all-important sweat lodge rituals 

(Kelley and Francis 2002:5.23). The special quality of lava 

rock derives, in part, from it association with the blood of the 

monsters killed by the Warrior Twins.

Western Apache ethnographies provide references to 

the power contained within volcanic rock. For example, 

among the Cibecue Apache “a large lightweight red pumice 

stone was kept at one camp to ward off lightning” (Buskirk 

1986:106). Other associations of rocks of volcanic origin as 

protection against harm include the observance among the 

White Mountain Apache of people placing obsidian “at the 

four corners of a field to keep away lightning and ‘bad things’ 

” (Buskirk 1986:106).

Some traditional Hispanic community groups use volcanic 

rock to adorn local graves, shrines, and churches (Jaime 

Chávez, in Hartranft 1989). This material also is favored 

for ritual hearths and sweat lodges (Anschuetz 2002c:7.22). 

These practices demonstrate “a spiritual connection between 

the community and lava rocks” (Brunneman 1997:51). As 

explained by some consultants, the steaming rock used in 

sweat lodges refers to “breath of our ancestors” (Pablo A. 

Lopez and Phil Crazy Bull, letter to Steve Thomas, Open 

Space Division, City of Albuquerque, October 24, 1997, in 

Anschuetz 2002c:7.22).

Shrines

In her discussion of shrines and other special power 

points that Pueblo people characteristically build on their 

landscapes, Ellis (1994:104) offers several relevant observations about how traditional communities generally interact 

with such features. Foremost, “shrines clearly are central to 

the practice of Pueblo religion, whether located within the 

village or at a distance.” She adds, “Communication with 

Earth Mothers and other types of [supernatural beings]...is 

primarily through shrines. They are locations where the spirits 

are believed to be at hand, or possibly live, thus a shrine area 

may be small like a sipapu in a kiva or quite large” (Ellis 

1994:103). In this definition, Ellis implicitly refers to the ideas 

of center, healing place, and the healing process that Pueblo 

authors (e.g., Cajete 1994; Naranjo and Swentzell 1989) 

identify as critical to understanding their communities’ traditions and relationships with the land and its resources. That 

is, careful consideration of “rightful orientation” (after Cajete 

1994:37) within the complexity of Pueblo understandings 

of breath, center, emergence, movement, and connectedness 

imbue places with special qualities, such as (but not necessarily limited to) sacredness, and mark them as middle places 

or shrines.

First, among traditional communities that prescribe to landscapes as memory, physical visits to places for communication 

with the supernatural realms of their cosmos are not a precondition for sustaining the special quality of these locations. 

Second, buffer areas that are “necessarily and consistently” 

(Ellis 1994:110) free from trespass are required to maintain 

the sanctity of the power points that the people perceive and 

sustain on their landscapes. Finally, Ellis (1994:104) observes, 

“Shrines that have fallen out of present use remain sacred and 

revered, since each shrine is like a telephone receiver, whose 

line communicates with the supernatural switchboard even 

when rarely employed. Each shrine contains a sacred power 

to be respected and never desecrated.” Shrines are loci of 

powers until they are destroyed or their vital contextual associations that are inherent to the place they occupy are altered 

(see Hubert 1994:12).

When Ellis (1994) characterizes shrines as places “where 

the spirits are believed to be at hand” and recognizes that 

shrines are not defined by size or construction criteria, she 

departs from traditional materialist anthropological constructs 

(e.g., Fewkes 1910:558) that view shrines as formally defined 

features (either by geology or cultural construction) within 

which people physically deposit sacred offerings or erect 

certain kinds of markers. Rather, Ellis contributes to a refined 

anthropological definition of shrines that recognizes (1) that 

the prayers directed outward from the community’s centers 
150 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

represent offerings, and (2) the idea that whole localities can 

be understood by the people as special places where communication with the supernatural powers of the cosmos can 

converge, transform, and reradiate outward.

The best known constructed Pueblo shrine within the 

Valles Caldera is on top of Redondo Peak. U.S. Surveyor 

William Boone Douglass (1917) first reported this feature 

and provides a comprehensive description (1917:357–362): 

two sketch maps (1917:figs. 7 and 8), and two photographs 

of the shrine, which he designates as the “La Sierra de la Bola 

shrine” (1917: figs. 9 and 10). He describes finding a broken 

metate at the shrine during his visit, and tells of a local Hispanic 

resident who found a heavy cast silver ornament buried within 

the feature (Douglass 1917: fig. 6), which apparently resembles styles made at the end of the seventeenth century. This 

latter offering suggests that area Hispanics might also have 

made solemn pilgrimages up this mountain, just as they still 

do at Tsikumu.

Douglass (1917:358) reports that people from the Towa 

Pueblo of Jémez, the Keres Pueblos of Cochití, Santo 

Domingo, and Zía, the Southern Tiwa Pueblo of Sandía, and 

the Tewa Pueblos of San Ildefonso, San Juan, and Santa Clara 

are known to visit the shrine “every year during August.” Ellis

(1956, 1974:157) subsequently added the Keres Pueblos of 

San Felipe and Santa Ana, and the Tewa Pueblos of Nambé, 

Pojoaque, and Tesuque to this list of Pueblo communities 

that made pilgrimages to the summit of this peak. She further 

implies that the Navajo made use of the Pueblo shrine for their 

own purposes.

Joe S. Sando, the well-known Jémez Pueblo historian, 

notes that the shrine on the crest of Wavema (Redondo Peak) 

is only one of the most important shrines outside the core area 

of Jémez Pueblo owned by the community. He describes the 

parcel: “a ‘generous’ area, four feet by four feet, [1.2 by 1.2 

m] is set aside by the ‘benevolent’ owner [i.e., James Patrick 

Dunigan] of the surrounding timber and grazing area. The 

only reason it is set aside is that it contains a visible shrine” 

(Sando 1982:11).

Douglass (1917:344–357: figs. 1–5) provides a comprehensive description and illustration of the other widely known 

shrine located on the top of Cerro Chicoma, just outside the 

northeast corner of the Baca Location. Pueblo and Navajo 

communities alike visited this shrine, just as they did the 

one atop Redondo Peak, through at least the mid-twentieth 

century. Douglass states that the directional orientation of the 

six trails (awu-mu-waya [“rain-roads”]) radiating from northeast to south out of the shrine’s center represent the spirit 

trails and pilgrimage routes of the Pueblos of Taos, San Juan, 

Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Cochití, and Jémez. The final 

opening, which leaves the shrine from the northwest, represents the pathway through which the Navajo visit this holy 

place. At the very least, the Jémez and the Navajo usually 

would have needed to cross the Valles Caldera to access this 

holy place during their pilgrimages. The presence of a nearby 

rock cairn and wood cross demonstrates that local Hispanics 

climb this summit to make their own prayers and offerings 

(Author’s personal observation, Río Grande Foundation for 

Communities and Cultural Landscapes, Santa Fe, 2001).

Available ethnographic accounts for the Jémez (e.g., Ellis 

1956, 1964; Weslowski 1981) refer to the presence of many 

more community shrines throughout the Valles Caldera. The 

specific physical attributes and the locations of these features, 

however, are not known by outsiders. Ellis (1956:56–58) 

notes that the members of particular societies, such as the 

Underground Chiefs Society, built and maintained some 

shrines. The participants of communal hunts consisting of men 

from the Pueblos of Jémez, Santa Ana, and Zía jointly used 

other shrines, and individuals from the community privately 

made prayer places for their own purposes.

Although they do not mention either Redondo Peak or Cerro 

Pelado specifically, Richard F. Van Valkenburgh and Scotty 

Begay (1938) discuss Navajo shrines and the kinds of offerings 

the people typically leave in them. Their account is broadly 

applicable to the kinds of healing places and types of offerings 

that the Pueblos would use in the Valles Caldera area:

Many types of shrines exist. Some are simple, while others 

are elaborate. Among the various types of shrines are stone 

cists or boxes, sealed enclosures, walled or unwalled springs, 

cienegas or pools, natural concavities and peculiarities 

in rock formations, caves, and rock shelters...and simple 

monuments of rough stone...

In many shrines are found objects which have been either 

transported to or are natural parts of the shrine and become 

a part of the shrine itself. In some instances these act as 

altars or receptacles for altar paraphernalia. Some of these 

are boulders with natural or worked concavities, incised 

or painted images or carved or uncarved wood or stone. 

Occasionally anthropomorphic or geometric figures are 

found on the walls or boulders of the shrine.

Offerings made to these shrines may be practically anything: 

Prayer sticks of assorted types, semi-precious stones such 

as turquoise, malachite, lignite, or native jet, beads of these 

stones, native red and yellow garnets, obsidian and chert 

flakes, flaked implements, smooth banded stones, petrified 

wood, fossils, arrowshafts, lengths of reed and wood, 

stone and semiprecious stone fetishes, both painted and 

unpainted, metal objects, whole pottery vessels (sometimes 

as a stationary part of the shrine) and sherds, and very often 

simple monuments of rocks, twigs and branches of trees (Van

Valkenburgh and Begay 1938:29–30).

In a subsequent publication, Van Valkenburgh (1940:6,9) 

discusses another common Navajo shrine, tsenadjihih, whose 

name means “picking up and putting on stones.” Although 

tsenadjihih are not as dynamic as shrines on the holy mountains or kethan (prayer stick) depositories, the Navajo revere 

these features and account for their origin in Blessingway 

mythology. One of his consultants told of a man who ran from 

the Chuska Mountains to the Jémez Mountains. “He picked 

up rocks and started a number of tsenadjihih. One is on the 

old Navajo trail by Jemez Hot Springs, and another is near 

Cabezon” (in Van Valkenburgh 1940:9).

Van Valkenburgh (1940:9) elaborates that Navajo made 

tsenadjihih and made prayers for success and luck “while 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 151

passing over a trail to some destination where he or she 

considers luck is needed...” He adds:

Turquoise and other sacred stones make the prayer effective, 

but an improvised prayer and offering will also work. Burned 

rocks are never placed on a tsenadjihih. Warriors used 

Yucca baccata leaves with the points directed toward their 

enemies. If the wind is blowing, a rock is placed over the 

twig to hold it on the pile. Nothing that has been struck by 

lightning, whirlwinds, or touched by snakes or bears should 

be placed on a tsenadjihih. It would bring misfortune (Van 

Valkenburgh 1940:9, emphasis in the original).

Available ethnographic information indicates that the 

traditional communities do not view the sanctity of the Valles 

Caldera simply as a location for a series of individual, society, 

and community shrines. Instead, the groups that associate with 

Redondo Peak and the Valle Grande understand this landscape 

as a whole, as a center of communication between the natural 

and supernatural worlds. As Weslowski makes clear, the Valles 

Caldera itself is a shrine:

The mountain and the surrounding lands for some distance 

are recognized as a prominent religious location. Again, 

the Towa explain that the actual physical boundaries of 

the constructed shrine do not define the sacred value of 

this ritual location. Rather, the marker provides a symbolic 

point of reference for designating a large area as spiritually 

significant (Weslowski 1981:122).

Trails

In 1851, the U.S. Army improved an existing road between 

Santa Fe and the Valles Caldera, a distance of 40 miles (64 

km), to facilitate the transport of hay harvested in the Jémez 

Mountains to supply Ft. Marcy (chapter 5). This road crossed 

the Río Grande at present-day Buckman, ascended the Pajarito 

Plateau via Mortandad Canyon, and traversed the Sierra de los 

Valles through Cañon del Valle. Similarly, chapter 8 discusses 

the contract between Maríano Sabine Otero and the Santa 

Fe business community in the early 1900s to rebuild the old 

military road through the Cañon del Valle Pass, as well as 

several other unimproved trails. Otero claimed that this effort 

would benefit both the Jémez Springs and Santa Fe communities, as well as his sulphur mining operations at Sulphur 

Springs. Additionally, chapter 7 mentions that in 1935 the 

Civilian Conservation Corps built the graded road between 

Los Alamos and Cuba to free commercial loggers from the 

great capital investment of having to lay railroad tracks as a 

precondition to opening forests for timbering. The interested 

reader should also see Craig Martin’s (2003:xv, 18, 22, 49) 

history of the Baca Location for examples of maps showing 

sections of major historic trails.

Each of these observations and maps is important in tracing 

the foundations of commercial development of the Valles 

Caldera over the past 150 years. The documentary record, 

however, is generally silent (beyond the cursory mention of 

“unimproved” pathways) about the presence and use of the 

many trails used by local Native American and Hispanic residents in their occupation of this locality. Even in his famed 

map of 1779, cartographer Bernardo Miera y Pacheco

(1779) showed no established routes providing access to the 

Valle de los Bacas (Valley of the Cows).

As the present discussion illustrates, the Valles Caldera has 

been a focus of significant human occupation for millenia. Still, 

most of the physical pathways or trails used for economic, 

social, or cultural practices are invisible now, even to a trained 

eye. Carrillo and others (1997:132–133), however, report that 

Tewa populations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 

used a trail that started in Santa Clara Canyon to reach Navajo 

and Hispanic communities to the west and north. Apparently 

used only during the warm season, this upland route allowed 

travelers to avoid flooded areas along the Río Chama valley.

The trail left Santa Clara and traveled up the Cañada de 

Santa Clara to the headwaters of the canyon near Tsichoma 

Peak. From here the western branch of the route briefly 

headed in a southwestern direction and then down the Río 

de los Indios to the Río San Antonio. The Río San Antonio 

is located in the Valle de San Antonio across the northern 

third of Baca Location Number 1. This creek continues in 

a western direction toward the western edge of the Jemez 

Range. At one point a traveler can turn off this western 

branch and head south toward San Diego Canyon at Jemez. 

The other branch of the trail continues northward to Río del 

Oso, passes San Antonio de los Vallecitos, and swings in a 

western direction toward Polvadera Creek where it continues 

in a northern direction along the creek until it reaches the 

Piedra Lumbre Valley. A traveler can branch off the trail at 

Vallecitos and travel in a northerly direction (Carrillo et al. 

1997:133).

In his account of the shrine on top of Cerro Chicoma, 

Douglass (1917) reports that there also exist many spirit trails 

throughout the Jémez Mountains. Although many spirit trails 

do not leave a physical track, they are significant features in 

the cognitive maps maintained among the Native American 

communities that include the Valles Caldera in their constructions of landscape as memory.

For example, John Peabody Harrington (1916) provides 

sufficient information about the linguistic structure of the Tewa 

language concerning the ideas of breath, water, people, and 

pathways. This suggests that Tewas (and likely other Pueblo 

people) conceptualize the movement of people and their breath 

along trails as a phenomenon analogous to the movement of 

water along a stream course. Recent ethnographic study at the 

Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque’s West Mesa 

makes clear the associations between spiritual trails, volcanic 

mountains within holy places, and the caves and lava outcrops 

associated with these summits (Anschuetz 2002b:3.33–3.34). 

Together, these features represent key parts of an interrelated 

communication nexus between the natural and supernatural 

realms of the cosmos. Several other observers report that 

the souls of the deceased and the prayer blessings of people 

travel along spirit trails (Brody 1998:26; Evans et al. 2001:17; 

Weahkee 1997:7). Ethnographic evidence suggests further 
152 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

that within this system of belief, key mountains within holy 

places (such as Redondo Peak and Cerro Chicoma) serve as 

obvious guideposts and visual markers for people, their blessings, and the souls of the dead in their journeys from the 

center to the periphery of their landscapes (after Evans et al. 

2001:18). Based on ethnographic analogy explaining the function of the spirit trails radiating outward from the shrine on 

top of Cerro Chicoma (Dr. Richard I. Ford, personal communication, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, 

Ann Arbor, 1991), the spiritual beings, their blessings, and the 

clouds follow these same pathways to those people who made 

prayers and offerings asking for assistance.

Plants, Animals, and Minerals

Chapter 5 reviews what little is known about specific vernacular plant gathering, game hunting, and mineral collecting 

activities of Native American and rural Hispanic communities that maintain associations with the Valles Caldera. 

Unquestionably, many of these activities, such as gathering 

piñon nuts, hunting deer and elk, and collecting materials 

for making pottery, have important economic functions. 

Nevertheless, each of these actions, in combination with gathering medicinal herbs, hunting eagles and other birds (Tyler 

1979), and quarrying specific kinds of stones slabs for making 

piki griddles, relate to the web of relationships informed by 

each community’s cultural-historical understandings of its 

landscape. Widely known (but rarely seen) pilgrimages that 

Pueblo of Jémez still makes into the Valles Caldera throughout 

the year demonstrate how the themes of breath, center, emergence, movement, and connectedness motivate and inform a 

host of highly specific land use activities.

The harvest of particular plant, animal, and mineral resources 

from certain locations for use on site, at some distant shrine, 

or back in a community center might be dictated by the need 

to perpetuate timeless traditions in accordance with a group’s 

construction of its landscape as memory. The people bring the 

life energies of material resources from the distant realms of 

their natural world to mix with those of their communities’ 

centers as a part of pilgrimage and through the characteristic 

act of carrying certain plant and animal products back to their 

villages (after Swentzell 1991). Community members give 

new life energies in exchange for those they harvested from 

their landscape’s periphery. Their intent is to preserve the 

whole of the cosmos by using selected products from particularly revered locations in village ceremonies (after Anschuetz 

1992). The significance of such plant, animal, and mineral 

products, therefore, might derive exclusively from their association with the Valles Caldera generally, or from one of its 

many defined landscape features, such as Redondo Peak.

To re-emphasize: the significance of plants, animals, and 

minerals for use within constructions of landscape as memory 

is contextually dependent. The differing bodies of traditional 

knowledge sustained among—and within—each of the associated communities defines the significance of certain products 

and the need of access to these products at particular times and 

places within the Valles Caldera. Consequently, the culturehistory of many land use activities defies generalization based 

on Western criteria for floral, faunal, and geological classification.

Lastly, there are suggestions in the available ethnographic 

literature that some communities introduced corn to the Valles 

Caldera to fulfill their obligations. For example, W. W. Hill 

discusses ritual actions associated with the induction of a 

Navajo headman into office during the Chief Blessingway:

According to Slim Gambler, it was customary for the newly 

elected man to journey to the four sacred mountains and 

plant corn at each one. White corn was planted at Pelado 

Peak (Blanco Peak) in the east, yellow corn at Mt. Taylor in 

the south, blue corn at the San Francisco Peaks in the west, 

and variegated corn at the San Juan Mountains (La Plata 

Mountains) in the north (Hill 1940:27).

This account, therefore, suggests that some headman initiates from Navajo communities might have ritually planted 

corn in the Valles Caldera.

Summary and Conclusions

The land use history of the VCNP was motivated, organized, and lived through two contrasting views of the world. 

The perspective constructs landscapes of memory and dominates the available documentary record that was imposed 

across the northern Southwest with the beginning of European 

colonization in the late sixteenth century. These accounts characteristically view history and landscapes in terms of enduring 

images inscribed on the land. Moreover, the Western world 

view tends to cast history as a series of completed events that 

we can learn from—and build upon—to avoid the mistakes of 

those generations that preceded us.

In comparison, Native American communities, whose 

existence predates the establishment of the Spanish colony 

of Nuevo Mexico in 1598, maintain traditional histories 

and cultural identities that construct landscapes as memory. 

Hispanic groups that have incorporated aspects of the Native 

American world view into their own landscape understandings through the processes of mestizaje and syncretism also 

construct landscapes as memory. In this world view, age-old 

traditions underlie the construction of mental maps whose 

temporal and spatial dimensions are defined by moral principles that project the past into the present and future. Members 

of these communities live their history to repeat the positive 

lessons that their ancestors learned in their lifetimes rather 

than viewing the past as a resource for learning from previous 

generation’s failings so that humanity may avoid commiting 

the same mistakes in the future.

Documentary accounts usually trace the land use history of 

the Valles Caldera in terms of the rights that specific individuals obtained and exercised during their respective tenures as 

owners of the Baca Location. Therefore, most of the preceding 

chapters in this volume (chapters 3—sketch of documentary history, 4—history of the Baca Location, 6—ranching 

history, 7—industrial timbering history, and 8—industrial mineral extraction and geothermal exploration history) 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 153

implicitly embrace a landscape of memory perspective. The 

constructions of the pre-Columbian past (chapter 2) and the 

history of vernacular plant gathering, game hunting, mineral 

collecting, and agriculture (chapter 5) focus primarily on 

topics concerning economic activity. These narratives necessarily ascribe to a view of history as a series of distinctive 

events and patterns of activity. Most attempts to break out of 

this perspective fail because transitory activities do not leave 

a lasting footprint on the ground for archaeologists to observe 

later. Further, the secrecy that still surrounds the practice of 

some culturally significant land use activities poses an additional obstacle to the comprehensive evaluation of traditional 

land histories. Consequently, the examination of relationships 

sustained over time and maintained among seemingly disparate actions is minimized.

This chapter has examined several interrelated themes basic 

to understanding how traditional Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, 

Ute, and Hispanic communities have occupied the Valles 

Caldera across the generations and into the present through 

constructions of landscapes as memory. These themes, which 

are based on cultural rather than economic precepts, encompass commonly shared ideas about breath, center, emergence, 

movement, and connectedness.

After establishing a generalized cultural framework for 

addressing constructions of landscapes as memory, this discussion then considered selected landscape elements within the 

Valles Caldera. These features, which include mountains, 

water, caves, volcanoes, calderas, lava rock, shrines, trails, 

plants, animals, and minerals, serve as focal points for physical 

and metaphysical interaction. The assertion that landscapes 

constructed as memories constitute a dynamic cultural process 

is demonstrated through the consideration of how traditional 

communities are known ethnographically to have interacted 

with these landscape elements. In combination, these discussions establish the foundations for an understanding of how 

associated traditional communities sustain culturally important relationships with the Valles Caldera that require the 

continuance of certain age-old land use traditions.

Evaluation of traditionally associated communities’ land 

use histories and practices warrants consideration of several 

interrelated issues. These concerns, which recognize that the 

natural environment is more than just an economic resource, 

follow.

Communities understand themselves to be integral parts 

of a living historical-ecological process in which the people 

are as much of a part of the land as the land is part of the 

people over time. Communities project their sense of soul 

onto the Valles Caldera landscape. The Valles Caldera, therefore, is more than a geographic place that communities visited 

to obtain various material resources. It is an essential part of 

peoples’ histories and cultural identities.

Communities maintain a refined system of cultural logic 

that places great emphasis on orientation within a matrix 

of intertwined geographical and cosmological referents. 

Communities view the Valles Caldera as a sanctified place 

imbued with spiritual qualities through this framework of 

ideas. The cultural importance of the Valles Caldera as a place 

that the people talk about in their origin myths dates back to 

the beginning of a community’s history.

Many communities use the Valles Grande to define the 

geographic orientation their cultural landscape by associating the Jémez Mountains with some cardinal direction (e.g., 

North among the Río Grande Pueblos and East among some 

Navajo groups historically). They view the Valles Caldera 

as a conceptual periphery on their cultural landscapes in this 

process. Communities, in turn, use the Valles Caldera as a 

reference for establishing periphery to delimit their center.

Communities associate the mountains, springs, caves, 

shrines, streams, and the hollow of the Valles Grande with 

a borderland where the sky, the earth, and underworld intersect. The Valles Caldera is a place of power because it is 

a location where the objective world (i.e., the earth) meets 

the subjective realms of the cosmos (i.e., the heavens and 

the underworld). Communities characteristically include the 

Valles Caldera in a system of mythological belief about a 

timeless place where the past and future come together in 

the present (after Naranjo and Swentzell 1989:257; Tuan 

1977:121).

The Valles Caldera is a symbol of a community’s cultural 

traditions and history that inform the people of “how they 

became who they are” (after Peckham 1990:2). The Valles 

Caldera as physical place within the landscape evokes certain 

emotions and moral values (after Ferguson 2002:4.6) just as 

the stories that traditional communities tell about this place. 

As such, the Valles Caldera as a landscape feature recalls the 

communities’ moral obligations to sustain their traditions to 

perpetuate their cultural identity into the future.

Communities interact with the Valles Caldera through offsite references in stories, songs, and prayers and periodic 

onsite visits through structured orders of cultural knowledge. 

Direct visits include game hunting, plant gathering, mineral 

and other resource collecting, and ceremonial pilgrimage. 

Hunting, gathering, and collecting expeditions, which might 

superficially appear to relate to mundane economic activity, 

might include a mix of important social and ceremonial 

action.

The cultural-historical significance of the Valles 

Caldera does not depend on permanent residence, largescale land altering activity, or public ceremonial display. 

Temporary, small-scale expeditions for hunting, gathering, 

collecting, and pilgrimage to this place are important to 

many communities for maintaining and reaffirming their 

cultural identities.

Characteristically, there is variability among community 

members in their access to traditional cultural knowledge. No 

individual is likely conversant with the entire corpus of this 

wisdom. It is important to recognize this fact when addressing 

issues concerning the significance of Valles Caldera to traditional communities. Individuals associated with various 

societies and institutions within a particular community might 

have different understandings of the significance of landscape 

features and products. They might also stipulate the need to 

visit this place at different times and places for markedly 

contrasting purposes.
154 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

References 

Aberle, Sophie D.

1948 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico: Their Land, Economy, and Civil Organization. Memoirs 

70. Menasha, WI: American Anthropological Association.

Amsden, Charles Avery

1934 Navajo Weaving: Its Technic and History. Santa Ana, CA: Fine Arts Press, in cooperation 

with Southwest Museum.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1992 Corn in the Flow of Life: Further Consideration of Hopi Concepts of Zea Mays. Paper 

presented at the 15th Annual Conference of the Society of Ethnobiology, Washington, DC, 

March 25-27 1992.

1998b Not Waiting for the Rain: Integrated Systems of Water Management by Pre-Columbian 

Pueblo Farmers in North-Central New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of 

Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms.

2000 The Past Is Not a Pickle: Use of Archaeological Resources in Sustaining Northern New 

Mexico Community Traditions. Paper presented at the 99th Annual Meeting for the 

American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, November 16, 2000.

2001 Understanding San Juan Pueblo’s Traditional Homelands as a Cultural Landscape. In San 

Juan Pueblo’s Enduring Associations with Its Traditional Homelands: Archaeological, 

Historical, and Ethnographic Documentation of the Tewa Cultural Landscape, by Kurt F. 

Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, and Thomas W. Merlan. Pp. 2.1–2.37. Community and Cultural 

Landscape Contribution IX. Prepared on Behalf of the People of San Juan Pueblo through 

Grant to No. 90NA712801 made to the Pueblo by the Administration for Native Americans. 

Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

2002a A Healing Place: Río Grande Pueblo Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph National 

Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph National Monument 

Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, Harris Francis, 

Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 3.1–3.47. Community and Cultural Landscape 

Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, Petroglyph National Monument, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, 

NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

2002b A Place of Power at the Edge: Apache Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph National 

Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph National Monument 

Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, Harris Francis, 

Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 6.1–6.18. Community and Cultural Landscape 

Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, Petroglyph National Monument, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, 

NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

2002c Contested Commons: Nuevomexicano and Hispano Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph 

National Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph National 

Monument Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, Harris 

Francis, Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 7.1–7.28. Community and Cultural 

Landscape Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, Petroglyph National 

Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 14431CX712098003 (RGF 

109B). Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

Outsiders might discount a community’s cultural-historical 

construction of a landscape as memory if they impose their 

own objectified material reference on the Valles Caldera. For 

example, the culture-history of many land use activities defies 

generalization based on Western criteria for floral, faunal, and 

geological classification. As a landscape feature, the Valles 

Caldera represents an essential stage and symbol of a living 

cultural process that is not usually recognized by documentary histories that focus on the land use histories of particular 

environmental features and resources.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 155

2004 The Challenge of Enchantment: Thinking About Landscapes of Memory

as History for Communities to Live By. Paper presented at Connecting Communities: UPA, 

Network in Our Community, 2004 Conference of the Usability Professional’ Association, 

Marriott City Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 7–11, 2004.

Anzaldúa, Gloria

1987 Borderlands: La Frontera. San Francisco, CA: Aunte Lute Books.

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Basso, Keith

1996 Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language among the Western Apache. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Benally, Clyde, with Andrew O. Wiget, John R. Alley, and Garry Blake

1982 Dinéjí Nákéé ́ Nááhane ́: A Utah Navajo History. Monticello, UT: San Juan School District.

Bender, Barbara

1993 Introduction, Landscape—Meaning and Action. In Landscape Politics and Perspectives. 

Barbara Bender, ed. Pp. 1–17. Oxford: Berg.

Blake, Kevin

1999 Sacred and Secular Landscape Symbolism at Mount Taylor. Journal of the Southwest 

41:487–509.

Brewer, Sallie Pierce

1937 The “Long Walk” to Bosque Redondo, as Told by Peshlakai Etsedi. Museum of Northern 

Arizona Museum Notes 9(11):55–62.

Brody, J. J.

1998 It Begins and Ends with the Landscape. In Voices from a Sacred Place: In Defense of 

Petroglyph National Monument. Friends of the Albuquerque Petroglyphs and Sacred Sites 

International. Verne Huser, ed. Pp. 26–27. Seattle, WA: Artcraft Printing.

Brunnemann, Eric

1995 Archeological Reconnaissance of a Lava Tube Shrine Located within the Boundary of 

Petroglyph National Monument. Park Papers Petr-03. Albuquerque, NM: Petroglyph 

National Monument.

1997 Historic Cross-Glyphs on the Albuquerque West Mesa. Albuquerque, NM: Petroglyph 

National Monument. Unpublished MS.

Buskirk, Winfred

1986 The Western Apache: Living with the Land Before 1950. Norman: University of Oklahoma 

Press.

Cajete, Gregory

1993–1994 “An Ensouled and Enchanted Land:” Theology of Place in Northern New Mexico. 

In Cuaderno de la Resolana: A Río Arriba Bioregion “Pullout” Workbook. Juan Estevan 

Arellano, ed. Pp. 6–9. Arellano 6 (Winter). Embudo, NM.

1994 Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education. Durango, CO: Kivakí Press.

1999 “Look to the Mountain”: Reflections on Indigenous Ecology. In A People’s Ecology: 

Explorations in Sustainable Living. Gregory Cajete, ed. Pp. 1–20. Santa Fe, NM: Clear 

Light.

Carmichael, David L.

1994 Places of Power: Mescalero Apache Sacred Sites and Sensitive Areas. In Sacred Sites, Sacred 

Places. David L. Carmichael, Jane Hubert, Brian Reeves, and Audhild Schanche, eds. Pp. 

89–98. London: Routledge.

Carrillo, Charles M., Kurt F. Anschuetz, Richard D. Holmes, and Susan Perlman

1997 Historic Overview of the Project Area. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 

119–138. Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.
156 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Cleere, H.

1995 Cultural Landscapes as World Heritage. Conservation and Management of Archaeological 

Sites 1:63–68.

Coolidge, Dane, and Mary Roberts Coolidge

1930 The Navajo Indians. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Cordell, Linda S.

1998 Before Pecos: Settlement Aggregation at Rowe, New Mexico. Anthropological Papers 6, 

Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.

Curtis, Edward S.

1926 The North American Indian: Being a Series of Volumes Picturing and Describing the Indians 

of the United States, the Dominion of Canada, and Alaska, vol. 17. The Tewa, the Zuni, 

Mythology. Norwood, MA: Plimpton Press.

Cushing, Frank Hamilton

1896 Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths. In Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology 

to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Pp. 321–447. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Government Printing Office.

1920 Zuni Breadstuff. Indian Notes and Monographs Vol. 8. New York: Museum of the American 

Indian.

1967 [1883] Zuni Fetishes. Las Vegas, NV: KC Publications.

Douglass, William Boone

1917 Notes on the Shrines of the Tewa and Other Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. In Proceedings 

of the Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists. Frederick W. Hodge, ed. Pp. 

344–378. Washington, DC: International Congress of Americanists.

Ellis, Florence Hawley

1956 Anthropological Evidence Supporting the Land Claim of the Pueblos of Zia, Santa Ana, and 

Jemez. Santa Fe: Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico. Unpublished MS.

1964 A Reconstruction of the Basic Jemez Pattern of Social Organization, with Comparisons to 

Other Tanoan Social Structures. Publications in Anthropology 11. Albuquerque: University 

of New Mexico Press.

1974 Navajo Indians I: An Anthropological Study of the Navajo Indians. New York: Garland 

Publishing.

1994 Pueblo Religious Patterns, Especially Types of Shrines and Areas for Collecting Herbs and 

Other Religious Necessities. Andrea Hawley Ellis, ed. In Artifacts, Shrines, and Pueblos: 

Papers in Honor of Gordon Page. Meliha S. Duran and David T. Kirkpatrick, eds. Pp. 

101–112. Archaeological Society of New Mexico 20. Albuquerque: Archaeological Society 

of New Mexico.

Enson, Beth

1995 Defending a Land-based Cultural Heritage: Albuquerque’s West Mesa, the Petroglyph 

National Monument, and the People of Atrisco. The Workbook 20(1):2–10.

Evans, Michael J., Alexa Roberts, and Peggy Nelson

2001 Ethnographic Landscapes. CRM 24(5):53–56.

Farrer, Claire R.

1991 Living Life’s Circle: Mescalero Apache Cosmovision. Albuquerque: University of New 

Mexico Press.

1992 “...By You They Will Know the Directions to Guide Them”: Stars and Mescalero Apaches. In

Earth and Sky: Visions of the Cosmos in Native American Folklore. Ray A. Williamson and 

Claire R. Farrer, eds. Pp. 67–74. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Ferguson, T. J.

2002 Western Pueblos and the Petroglyph National Monument: A Preliminary Assessment of the 

Cultural Landscapes of Ácoma, Laguna, Zuni, and Hopi. In “That Place People Talk About”: 

The Petroglyph National Monument Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, 

T. J. Ferguson, Harris Francis, Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 4.1–4.24. 

Community and Cultural Landscape Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park 

Service, Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 

14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities 

and Cultural Landscapes.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 157

Ferguson, T. J., and E. Richard Hart

1985 A Zuni Atlas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Fewkes, J. Walter

1910 Shrines. In Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Bureau of American Ethnology 

Bulletin 30, vol. 2. Frederick Webb Hodge, ed. Pp. 558–559. Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office.

Friedlander, Eva, and Pamela J. Pinyan

1980 Indian Use of the Santa Fe National Forest: A Determination From Ethnographic Sources. 

Ethnohistorical Report Series 1. Albuquerque, NM: Center for Anthropological Studies.

Gill, Sam D.

1983 Navajo Views of Their Origin. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 502–505. Vol. 10 of 

Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

Goddard, Pliny Earle

1933 Navajo Texts. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 

34(1):1–179. New York: American Museum of Natural History.

Haile, Father Berard

1938 Origin Legend of the Navajo Enemy Way: Text and Translation. Yale University Publications 

in Anthropology 1. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

1947 Prayer Stick Cutting in a Five Night Navajo Ceremonial of the Male Branch of Shootingway. 

Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

1950 Part One: Legend of the Ghostway Ritual in the Male Branch of Shootingway. Saint 

Michaels, AZ: St. Michaels Press.

Harper, Blanche Wurdack

1929 Notes on Documentary History, the Language, and the Rituals and Customs of the Jemez 

Pueblo. Master’s Thesis. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.

Harrington, John P.

1916 The Ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians. In Twenty-Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau 

of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1907–1908. W. H. 

Holmes, ed. Pp. 29–636. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Hartranft, Michael

1989 Westland Watchdog Chaves Sees Role as Vital. Albuquerque Journal, December 30: E2.

Hewett, Edgar J., and Bertha P. Dutton, eds.

1945 The Pueblo Indian World: Studies on the Natural History of the Río Grande Valley in Relation 

to Pueblo Indian Culture. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico and School of American 

Research.

Hewett, Edgar L., and Wayne L. Mauzy

1940 Landmarks of New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Hill, W. W.

1940 Some Aspects of Navajo Political Structure. Plateau 13(1):23–28.

Hillstrom, Laurie Collier

1998 Ute. In The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, vol. 2. Sharon Malinowski and 

Anna Sheets, eds. Pp. 38–43. Detroit, MI: Gale.

Hubert, Jane

1994 Sacred Beliefs and Beliefs of Sacredness. In Sacred Sites, Sacred Places. David L. 

Carmichael, Jane Hubert, Brian Reeves, and Audhild Schanche, eds. Pp. 9–19. London: 

Routledge.

Hucko, Bruce

1996 Where There Is No Name for Art: The Art of Tewa Pueblo Children. Santa Fe, NM: School of 

American Research.

Ingham, John M.

1986 Mary, Michael, and Lucifer: Folk Catholicism in Central Mexico. Austin: University of Texas 

Press.
158 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Ingold, T.

1993 The Temporality of Landscape. World Archaeology 25:152–174.

Johnson, George

1995 Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order. New York: Vintage Books.

Kelley, Klara Bonsack, and Harris Francis

1994 Navajo Sacred Places. Bloomington: Indiana University Press

2002 Chézhin Sinil (Rock-That-Defends): Navajo Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph National 

Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph National Monument 

Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, Harris Francis, 

Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 5.1–5.30. Community and Cultural Landscape 

Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, Petroglyph National Monument, 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, 

NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

Keur, Dorothy Louise

1941 Big Bead Mesa: An Archaeological Study of Navajo Acculturation, 1745–1812. Memoirs of 

the Society for American Archaeology, 1. Menasha, WI. (Reprinted Millwood, NY: Kraus 

Publishing Company, 1974).

Klah, Hasteen

1942 Navajo Creation Myth: The Story of the Emergence. Recorded by Mary C. Wheelwright. 

Navajo Religion Series, Vol. 1. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art.

Küchler, Susanne

1993 Landscape as Memory: The Mapping of Process and Its Representation in a Melanesian 

Society. In Landscape Politics and Perspectives. Barbara Bender, ed. Pp. 85–106. 

Providence, RI: Berg.

Laski, Vera

1959 Seeking Life. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society 50. Philadelphia, PA: American 

Folklore Society.

Liljeblad, Sven

1986 Oral Tradition: Content and Style of Verbal Arts. In Great Basin. Warren L. D’azevedo, ed. 

Pp. 641–659. Vol. 11 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

Linford, Laurance D.

2000 Navajo Places: History, Legend, Landscape: A Narrative of Important Places on and near the 

Navajo Reservation, with Notes on Their Significance to Navajo Culture and History. Salt 

Lake City: University of Utah Press.

Mails, Thomas E.

1974 The People Called Apache. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

Matthews, Washington

1887 The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony. Fifth Annual Report, Bureau of American 

Ethnology. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

1897 Navajo Legends. Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society 5. Menasha, WI: American 

Folk-Lore Society.

Miera y Pacheco, Bernardo

1779 Plano de la Provincia Interna de Nuebo Mexico que hizo por mandado de el Tnte. Coronel de 

Caballeria, Gobernador y Comte. General de dha Prov.a Don Juan Bap.ta de Ansa. On file. 

Santa Fe: Map Room, Angélico Chávez History Library, Palace of the Governors, Museum 

of New Mexico.

Mitchell, W. J. T.

1994 Introduction. In Landscape and Power. W. J. T. Mitchell, ed. Pp. 1–4. Chicago, IL: University 

of Chicago Press.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 159

Morphy, Howard

1993 Colonialism, History, and the Construction of Place: The Politics of Landscape in Northern 

Australia. In Landscape Politics and Perspectives. Barbara Bender, ed. Pp. 205–243. Oxford: 

Berg.

Mörner, Magnus

1967 Race Mixture in the History of Latin America. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.

Naranjo, Tessie

1995 Thoughts on Migration by Santa Clara Pueblo. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 

14:247–250.

Naranjo, Tito, and Rina Swentzell

1989 Healing Spaces in the Pueblo World. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 13(3–

4):257–265.

O’Bryan, Aileen

1956 The Dîné: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 163. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

Opler, Morris E.

1946 Mountain Spirits of the Chiricahua Apache. Masterkey 20:125–131.

Ortiz, Alfonso

1969 The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being, and Becoming in a Pueblo Society. Chicago, IL: 

University of Chicago Press.

1972 Ritual Drama and the Pueblo World View. In New Perspectives on the Pueblos. Alfonso Ortiz, 

ed. Pp. 135–161. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

1991 Through Tewa Eyes: Origins. National Geographic 180(4):6–13.

Ortiz, Simon J.

1992 Woven Stone. Tucson: University of Arizona.

Page, Suzanne, and Jake Page

1982 Hopi. New York: Abradale Press and Harry N. Abrams.

Parsons, Elsie Clews

1925 The Pueblo of Jemez. Papers of the Phillips Academy Southwestern Expedition 3. New 

Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

1996 [1939] Pueblo Indian Religion. 2 vols. Lincoln: University of Nebraska. (Originally published 

Chicago: University of Chicago Press.)

Peckham, Stewart

1990 From this Earth: The Ancient Art of Pueblo Pottery. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press.

Poling-Kempes, Lesley

1997 Valley of the Shining Stone: The Story of Abiquiu. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Reichard, Gladys Amanda

1963 Navajo Religion: A Study of Symbolism. Bollingen Series, 18. Princeton, NJ: Princeton 

University Press.

Rodríguez, Sylvia

1994 The Taos Fiesta: Invented Tradition and the Infrapolitics of Symbolic Reclamation. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Romeo, Stephanie

1985 Concepts of Nature and Power: Environmental Ethics of the Northern Ute. Environmental 

Review 9(2):150–170.

Saile, David G.

1977 Making a House: Building Rituals and Spatial Concepts in the Pueblo Indian World. 

Architectural Association Quarterly 9(2–3):72–81.

1989 Many Dwellings: Views of a Pueblo World. In Dwelling, Place and Environment: Towards 

a Phenomenology of Person and World. David Seamon and Robert Mugerauer, eds. Pp. 

159–181. New York: Columbia University Press.

Sando, Joe S.

1982 Nee Hemish: A History of Jemez Pueblo. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
160 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Santayana, George

1905 The Life of Reason; Or, The Phases of Human Progress, vol. 1: Introduction and Reason in 

Common Sense. New York: Charles Scribner’s Son.

Sauer, Carl O.

1925 The Morphology of Landscape. University of California Publications in Geography 2:19–54.

Schaafsma, Polly

1987 Rock Art and Associated Archaeological Sites of the Las Imagines Archaeological District, 

West Mesa, Albuquerque: Statement of Significance. Santa Fé: Laboratory of Anthropology, 

Museum of New Mexico. Unpublished MS.

2001 Draft: The Historical Rock Art at Hueco Tanks State Historical Park: An Ethnographic 

Assessment. Santa Fé: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes. 

Unpublished MS.

Schwingendorf, Wende

1995 Petroglyph Goals Considered. Albuquerque Journal, Metro Plus, September 5: 1.

Silko, Leslie Marmon

1995 Interior and Exterior Landscapes: The Pueblo Migration Stories. In Landscape in America. 

George F. Thompson, ed. Pp. 155–169. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Simmons, Marc

1982 Albuquerque: Narrative History. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Simmons, Suzanne

1969 Sandia Pueblo: Persistence and Change in a New Mexican Indian Community. Ph.D. 

dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico.

Sleight, Frederick W.

1950 The Navajo Sacred Mountain of the East: A Controversy. El Palacio 58:379–397.

Smith, Patricia Clark, with Paula Gunn Allen

1987 Earthly Relations, Carnal Knowledge: Southwestern American Indian Women Writers and 

Landscape. In The Desert Is No Lady: Southwestern Landscapes in Women’s Writing and 

Art. Vera Norwood and Janice Monk, eds. Pp. 174–196. New Haven, CT: Yale University 

Press.

Swentzell, Rina

1988 Bupingeh: The Pueblo Plaza. El Palacio 94:14–19.

1989a The Butterfly Effect: A Conversation with Rina Swentzell. El Palacio 95:24–29.

1989b Remembering Tewa Houses and Spaces. Native Peoples The Arts and Lifeways 3(2):6–12.

1990 Pueblo Space, Form, and Mythology. In Pueblo Style and Regional Architecture. Nicholas C. 

Markovich, Wolfgang F.E. Preiser, and Fred Sturm, eds. Pp. 23–30. New York: Van Nostrand 

Reinhold.

1991 Levels of Truth: Southwest Archaeologists and Anasazi/Pueblo People. In Puebloan Past and 

Present: Papers in Honor of Stewart Peckham. Meliha S. Duran and David T. Kirkpatrick, 

eds. Pp. 177–181. Archaeological Society of New Mexico 17. Albuquerque: Archaeological 

Society of New Mexico.

1993 Mountain Form, Village Form: Unity in the Pueblo World. In Ancient Land, Ancestral Places: 

Paul Logsdon in the Pueblo Southwest. Pp. 139–147. Santa Fé: Museum of New Mexico 

Press.

Tallbull, W. V., and Deaver, S.

1997 Living Human Values. In Native Americans and Archaeologists: Stepping Stones to Common 

Ground. Nina Swidler, Kurt E. Dongoske, Roger Anyon, and Alan S. Downer, eds. Pp. 9–10. 

Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.

Tiller, Veronica E.

1983 Jicarilla Apache. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 440–461. Vol. 10 of Handbook of North 

American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

Tuan, Yi-Fu

1977 Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Tyler, Hamilton A.

1979 Pueblo Birds and Myths. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 161

Trimble, Stephen

1993 The People: Indians of the American Southwest. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research 

Press.

U.S. Congress, House

1860 H.R. Doc. No. 14, 36th Cong., 1st sess., 45.

U.S. Public Law 167

1860 An Act to Confirm Certain Private Land Claims in the Territory of New Mexico. 36 th. Cong., 

1st sess., June 21, 1860.

Usner, Don

1995 Sabino’s Map: Life in Chimayo’s Old Plaza. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press.

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F.

1940 Sacred Places and Shrines of the Navajo. Part II: Navajo Rock and Twig Piles, Called 

Tsenadjihih. Museum of Northern Arizona Museum Notes 11(3):29–34.

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F., and Scotty Begay

1938 Sacred Places and Shrines of the Navajo. Part I: The Sacred Mountains. Museum of Northern 

Arizona Museum Notes 11(3):29–34.

Weahkee, Laurie

1997 Statement in Opposition to S. B. 633, Submitted by the Petroglyph Monument Protection 

Coalition. Albuquerque, NM: SAGE Council. Unpublished MS.

Weslowski, Lois Vermilya

1981 Native American Land Use along Redondo Creek. In High-Altitude Adaptations along 

Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. 

Winter, eds. Pp. 105–127. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, University of New 

Mexico.

Wheelwright, Mary C.

1946 Hail Chant and Water Chant. Navajo Religion Series 2. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of 

Ceremonial Art.

White, Leslie A.

1935 The Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico. Memoirs 43. Menasha, WI: American 

Anthropological Association.

1942 The Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico. Memoirs 60. Menasha, WI: American 

Anthropological Association.

1960 The World of the Keresan Pueblo Indians. In Culture in History: Essays in Honor of Paul 

Radin. Stanley Diamond, ed. Pp. 53–64. New York: Columbia University Press.

1962 The Pueblo of Sia, New Mexico. Bulletin 15. Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 

DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Whitney v. Otero

1893 Joel Parker Whitney v. Mariano S. Otero et al. Civil Case No. 3632. Records of the U.S. 

Territorial and New Mexico District Courts for Bernalillo County. Accession No. 1959–124. 

Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Whittlesey, S. M.

1997 Archaeological Landscapes: A Methodological and Theoretical Discussion. In Vanishing 

River: Landscapes and Lives of the Lower Verde Valley. The Lower Verde Valley 

Archaeological Project: Overview, Synthesis, and Conclusions. S. M. Whittlesey, R. CiolekTorrello, and J. H. Altschul, ed. Pp. 17–28. Tucson, AZ: SRI Press.

Whorf, Benjamin Lee

1956a [1940] Science and Linguistics. In Language, Thought and Reality: Selected Writings of 

Benjamin Lee Whorf. J. B. Carroll, ed. Pp. 207–219. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology Press.

1956b [1939] The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Languages. In Language, Thought 

and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf, edited by J. B. Carroll, pp. 134–159. 

Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
162 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Witherspoon, Gary

1977 Language and Art in the Navajo Universe. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

1983 Language and Reality in Navajo World View. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 570–578. 

Vol. 10 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.

Wolf, Eric

1959 Sons of the Shaking Earth. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Woods, Betty

1942 The Blonds of Vallecito. New Mexico Magazine 20(10):10, 30.

Wright, Cathy

2000 Traditional Cosmology, Ecology and Language of the Ute Indians, from an Interview with 

James A. Goth. In Ute Indian Arts and Culture: From Prehistory to the New Millennium. 

William Wroth, ed. Pp. 27–52. Colorado Springs: Taylor Museum of the Colorado Springs 

Fine Arts Center.

Wroth, William

2000 Ute Indian Civilization in Prehistory and the Spanish Colonial Period. In Ute Indian Arts and 

Culture: From Prehistory to the New Millennium. William Wroth, ed. Pp. 53–72. Colorado 

Springs: Taylor Museum of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

Wyman, Leland C.

1962 The Windways of the Navajo. Colorado Springs: Taylor Museum of the Colorado Springs 

Fine Arts Center.

1965 The Red Antway of the Navajo. Navajo Religion Series 5. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of 

Ceremonial Art.

1970 Blessingway, with Three Versions of the Myth Recorded and Translated from the Navajo 

People by Father Berard Haile, O.F.M. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

1975 The Mountainway of the Navajo, with a Myth of the Female Branch Recorded and Translated 

by Father Berard Haile, O.F.M. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

1983 Navajo Ceremonial System. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 536–557. Vol. 10 of 

Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

Yava, Albert

1978 Big Falling Snow: A Tewa-Hopi Indian’s Life and Times and the History and Traditions of 

His People. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Young, M. Jane

1987 Toward an Understanding of “Place” for Southwestern Indians. New Mexico Folklore Record 

16:1–13.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 163

The land use history of the Valles Caldera National 

Preserve (VCNP) extends back in time thousands of years. 

Given the great length of time involved and the many culturally diverse communities—Native American, Hispanic, and 

Anglo-American—that have interacted with this place, it is 

not surprising that this history evidences tremendous technological and organizational variability in how people have 

used and constructed affiliations with the VCNP. Nonetheless, 

throughout this long history, the VCNP was, and continues to 

be, peripheral to major centers of residential settlement and 

areas of intensive economic land use.

The archaeological record is a principal medium for tracing 

the human occupation of the Valles Caldera before the arrival 

of European explorers in 1540 and the subsequent establishment of the Spanish colony in 1598 . Using artifacts and other 

durable material traces that survive the ravages of time (e.g., 

obsidian debitage, chipped stone tools, charred botanical 

materials, a few fragments of animal bone, and the remnants 

of stone fieldhouses), archaeologists have constructed a 

history of land use by Archaic period hunters and gatherers 

(5500 B.C.–A.D. 600) and pre-Columbian Pueblo Indians 

(A.D. 600–1600), who are among the forebears of the people 

of the Pueblo of Jémez and the other Pueblo communities 

(chapter 2).

Investigators cite the hunting of game, the gathering of 

plant resources, and the collection of obsidian for the manufacture of stone tools as the main reasons for the short-term, 

warm-season use of the locale.

Archaeological evidence also documents that Pueblo 

groups from the upper Río Jémez Valley farmed the Banco 

Bonito within the VCNP during the Classic Period (A.D. 

1300–1600). In addition, by tracing the broad distribution of 

Jémez obsidian across the northern Southwest from archaeological sites dating to the late Pleistocene and the early 

Holocene, researchers infer that Paleoindians were the first 

people to visit the caldera.

As documented by Governor Juan de Oñate, who had passed 

through the Valles Caldera on his way from San Juan Pueblo 

to the Jémez Pueblo of Giusewa during the first years of his 

administration of the New Mexican colony, Spanish colonial 

authorities clearly were aware of this place (chapter 3). Even 

though the colony expanded its settlement reach following the 

Pueblo Revolt (1680–1692), the presence of Navajo raiders, 

who periodically raided Hispanic and Pueblo settlements near 

the Valles Caldera, were major impediments to the regular 

occupation of the VCNP during the Late Spanish Colonial 

period (1692–1821). Punitive military expeditions led to 

further exploration of this locality and its natural resources. 

As exemplified by the Miera y Pacheco Map of 1779, it is 

certain that this knowledge of the Valles Caldera and its rich 

grasslands had drawn the attention of New Mexican herders 

and ranchers by the third quarter of the eighteenth century. 

By 1800, Hispanics began using the lush grazing lands that 

eventually were to become the Baca Location No. 1 (Baca 

Location) and the VCNP.

The Mexican period (1821–1846) is notable in the Valles 

Caldera’s land use history for two reasons. First, this period 

saw the introduction of a new cultural community to the 

Valles Caldera landscape: Anglo-Americans entered the area 

as trappers as part of a highly regulated trading partnership 

between New Mexico and the United States. The second was 

the Mexican government’s issuance of two land grants, the 

Luis María Cabeza de Baca Grant (1821) and the Town of Las 

Vegas Grant (1835), that embraced the same acreage along the 

Gallinas River of north-central New Mexico (chapter 3).

The start of the U.S. Territorial period (1846–1912) saw 

the U.S. Army fighting the nomadic tribes of the Southwest 

and forcing them to settle on reservations. With the decline 

of threats by Native America raiders, Anglos and Hispanics 

began large-scale—although seasonal-commercial use of the 

Valles Caldera. The ill-fated hay-cutting expedition led by 

Santa Fe entrepreneurs Robert Nesbit and Hiram R. Parker in 

1851 under contract to the U.S. Army was the first recorded 

commercial venture in this locality under the new administration (chapter 3). The questionable circumstances of both 

Nesbit and Parker’s contract and their claimed losses following 

the attack of their haying party by a group of Navajo raiders 

was a harbinger of the self-interest profiteering that was to 

profoundly shape the Valles Caldera’s land use history over 

the subsequent 150 years.

The overlapping Las Vegas land grant rights, created by 

Mexican authorities during their brief administration and 

subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Congress in 1860 during 

the U.S. Territorial Period, forever changed the legal basis of 

land use rights in the Valles Caldera (chapter 4). To resolve 

the land grant conflict, María Cabeza de Baca’s heirs relinquished their Las Vegas claim in 1860 in exchange for U.S. 

Congressional authorization to select an equal amount of 

land in five square blocks elsewhere in the Territory of New 

Mexico. The first block they chose was the Baca Location in 

Chapter 10.

Summary and Conclusions

Kurt F. Anschuetz
164 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

the Valles Caldera, to which they formally received title in 

1876 after the New Mexico Surveyor General completed the 

survey of the property.

These legislative actions transformed the Valles Caldera 

from an unspecified tract of “vacant land” to a legally defined 

entity known today as the Baca Location. With the conveyance of formal rights to Luis María Cabeza de Baca’s heirs, 

executive, legislative, and judicial authorities viewed the 

Baca Location as consisting of occupied land, even though 

the property still would not support sustained habitation by 

anyone for decades. Moreover, through the issuance of legal 

title to the land grant, the land and its individual resources, 

including pasturage, timber, minerals, and game animals, 

gained formal status as properties over which the land grant’s 

authorized owners alone controlled rights of access, use, and 

disposition (chapter 9).

The legal definition of the Baca Location as a land grant 

whose owners held exclusive property rights has had significant and lasting consequences. The first effect concerned 

access and use rights. Specifically, it was no longer legal for 

Native American communities and private entrepreneurs, such 

as trappers or hay cutters, to enter the Baca Location without 

consideration (chapter 5). The second consequence was that 

the land grant’s owners possessed the right to sever particular 

access and use rights from the land (chapters 6, 7, and 8). The 

legislative actions of the U.S. Congress rendered obsolete the 

traditional aboriginal view that the Valles Caldera was a place 

imbued with certain inseparable qualities whereby resources, 

including the land, water, plants, animals, and minerals, 

obtained meaning in relationship to one another (chapters 

5 and 9). The definition of the Baca Location, built on the 

Western idea that the land and its resources were discrete, 

quantifiable commodities, occurred just as the United States 

was incorporating New Mexico into its national economy and 

society (chapter 3).

New business opportunities, created by a combination of 

local growth and increased access to major markets in the 

Midwest and East, were becoming apparent in New Mexico 

by the late nineteenth century. As the Valles Caldera became 

increasingly attractive as an economic property, speculation 

on future market conditions and commodity trading led to yet 

another transformation in the landscape’s uses and political 

status.

Motivated by self-interest, two of Luis María Cabeza de 

Baca’s grandsons, Francisco Tomás Baca and Tomás Dolores 

Baca, claimed inflated interests in the Baca Location. In transferring their interests to fierce competitors unrelated to the 

Baca family, the Baca brothers established the legal basis for 

the partition suit of 1893, which Joel Whitney brought against 

Maríano Sabine Otero and others. In its resolution, the partition suit led to the extinction of all the rights that Luis María 

Cabeza de Baca’s heirs had in the Baca Location. Through a 

series of suspect legal dealings and business transactions, the 

tract became the exclusive property of Maríano Sabine Otero 

and his family (chapter 4). 

Following Otero’s death, the Redondo Development 

Company acquired the Baca Location in 1909. This corporation subsequently severed the timber and mineral rights from 

the ranch land in 1915 when it first mortgaged the tract’s timber 

rights to raise capital for other business interests (chapter 4; 

see also chapters 6, 7, and 8). With the development of roads, 

sawmills, and other infrastructure that made this once remote 

tract accessible to development, this action provided the foundations for the most intensive use of the Valles Caldera in its 

history. Moreover, the segregation of land rights from timber 

and mineral rights made the Valles Caldera a battleground for 

competing commercial interests.

The more than century-long use of the Valles Caldera’s rich 

rangeland for herding sheep underwent modification when 

George W. and Frank Bond purchased the Baca Location’s 

surface rights in 1918. The terms of the purchase contract, 

however, stated that Redondo Development Company would 

retain a 99-year right to the property’s timber and one-half 

of its mineral interests (chapter 6). The Bond brothers were 

allowed to cut only sufficient timber for building necessary 

ranch facilities and for use as fuel. Clearly, the Bond brothers 

bought the Baca Location as stockmen, and the terms of their 

purchase agreement were designed to ensure that their livestock operations would not adversely affect the property’s 

timber value.

Although the Bond brother’s business was based on the 

traditional partido system of sharecropping sheep they greatly 

intensified the intensity of grazing on the tract to earn huge 

profits, often at the expense of the partidarios (sharecroppers) 

who ran sheep on their ranchlands, until the end of World War 

II. With the decline in wool prices following the war, the Bond 

family business operations shifted to cattle ranching and the 

leasing of range rights to independent interests, including the 

King family.

The Bond estate subsequently sold the Baca Ranch to 

James Patrick Dunigan in 1963. Under Dunigan’s stewardship, the Baca Ranch saw a variety of range improvements 

within a business enterprise based, in part, on more effective 

use and long-range management of available grasses (chapter 

6). Dunigan also diversified his ranch land operations in the 

1960s and 1970s to include commercial elk hunts (chapter 5), 

geothermal exploration (chapter 8), and leases for Hollywood 

filming. He also experimented with training thoroughbreds at 

high altitude to see if he could improve their performance in 

races at lower elevations.

The Redondo Development Company had waited 26 years 

for the conditions that would make its investment in the 

Baca Location fully profitable. Its sale of the tract’s surface 

grazing rights to the Bond Brothers in 1918 was just one part 

of their long-term strategy. Redondo Development Company 

expected additional profits from the income that the timber 

would bring when loggers could economically transport 

timber to sawmills. After all, with the development occurring 

throughout New Mexico at the time, the depletion of nearby 

private timber holdings, and the restrictions increasingly 

imposed by the U.S. Government on loggers working federal 

lands, the Redondo Development Company realized that the 

Baca Location’s timber had a waiting market.

The commercial introduction of efficient logging trucks was 

a key technological innovation; costly railroad investments 

no longer were necessary. The Civilian Conservation Corps’ 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 165

construction of an improved road that linked Los Alamos with 

Jémez Springs in 1935 fulfilled the final economic requirements. Redondo Development Company sold its 99-year 

timber right to Firesteel Lumber Company, which, in turn, 

immediately transferred its interest New Mexico Lumber and 

Timber Company. The Valles Caldera, which represented the 

last large tract of rich timberland in the Jémez Mountains held 

in private ownership (therefore, not subject to federal restrictions), finally opened to commercial logging that same year 

(chapter 7).

The timber operations initially harvested mature ponderosa pine, white fir, and Douglas fir, leaving stands of smaller 

diameter pulpwood trees alone. In addition, loggers left a 

few mature trees in cutting areas for natural reseeding. In 

the late 1950s and early 1960s, the public outcry over the 

logging operations began to grow and talk of incorporating 

the Valles Caldera as the center of a new national park generated interest. In addition, Dunigan, a developer and rancher 

with environmental interests who was antagonistic to the 

logging industry (and vice versa), purchased the Baca Ranch 

in 1963 (chapter 7).

Consequently, T. P. Gallagher, Jr., the president of the 

reorganized New Mexico Timber, Inc., began to fear that his 

business interest would never realize the 2017 maturity date 

of Redondo Development Company’s original 99-year timber 

lease. Simultaneously, plans for a pulp mill in the region and 

a change in New Mexico law permitting the harvest of trees 

as small as five inches (12.5 cm) in diameter created a market 

for previously non-commercial wood resources. In addition, the 

decade-long attempt by New Mexico Timber, Inc., to develop 

a market for aspen logs began to enjoy success. Within this 

changing economic, social, and political environment, Gallagher 

intensified his logging, including the use of clear-cutting practices based on chain and boom tree harvesting technologies, to 

maximize his logging profits. In combination, competing land 

use values among logging, ranching, and environmental interests fueled the most concentrated cycle of destructive land use 

activity in the Valles Caldera’s history (chapter 7).

Dunigan and Gallagher engaged in a protracted cycle of 

lawsuits over the validity of the 99-year timber lease and the 

damages inflicted on the environment during logging. They 

resolved their conflict in 1970 when Dunigan’s business, Baca 

Land and Cattle Company, bought the Baca Location’s timber 

rights from New Mexico Timber, Inc., in 1972, just two days 

before the parties were scheduled to return to court for a 

renewed round of litigation (chapter 7). Following this transaction, Dunigan and his estate allowed only limited logging 

activity.

The hope of striking gold and silver was a motive in the 

Spanish colonization of New Mexico. Although the prospectors did not find great mineral wealth in the Jémez Mountains, 

they located sufficient quantities of sulphur that caused 

Maríano Sabine Otero to launch short-lived sulphur mining 

operations at the beginning of the 1900s. In addition, interest 

in geothermal development in the VCNP is now more than 

four decades old. With some of the VCNP geothermal rights 

still remaining in private ownership and the federal mandate 

for the VCNP to become a economically self-sustaining 

enterprise, geothermal development continues to represent a 

potential land use activity.

The occupation of the Valles Caldera by Native American 

and local Hispanic groups for small-scale hunting, gathering, 

and mineral collecting, as well as for ritual purposes, is underrepresented in the documentary record (chapters 5 and 9). For 

example, ethnographic resources demonstrate that Pueblo 

communities have clearly sustained cultural and historical 

affiliations with the Valles Caldera throughout the Historic 

period and into the present. These communities include neighboring settlements (e.g., the Pueblos of Jémez, Santa Clara, 

and Zía), as well as villages located at great distances (e.g., the 

Pueblo of Zuni in west-central New Mexico) (chapters 1 and 

9). Just as with the Pueblos, available documentary evidence 

indicates that Apache, Navajo, Ute, and Hispanic groups made 

periodic visits to the Valles Caldera.

Historical and ethnohistorical documentary records often 

overlook the occupation of the Valles Caldera by traditional, 

land-based Native American and Hispanic communities 

because it places comparatively low value on commonplace, 

subsistence level economic activity. Ethnographic accounts, 

however, reveal that the region’s Native American and 

Hispanic communities used the Valles Caldera for food, medicines, and other economic or recreational purposes. In the 

process of their interactions, traditional communities have 

developed a comprehensive knowledge of this tract’s environment and the resources that it offers. For instance, this study 

finds that of the more than 500 native plant species identified 

in the VCNP, 350 taxa were used, or are likely to have been 

used, by Native American and Hispanic communities that 

maintain associations with this place for secular and ceremonial purposes (chapter 5).

Available ethnographic information, which has recorded 

valuable insights into aspects of the oral traditions and histories 

maintained by Native American and Hispanic communities, 

also indicates that many culturally diverse peoples hold the 

Valles Caldera in regard for important social and cultural 

reasons that transcend economic concerns. These groups have 

interacted with this tract, not as wilderness, but as an essential 

part of their respective community’s landscapes (chapters 5 

and 9). Their visits to the Valles Caldera were not undertaken 

just to satisfy some material need, nor was this locality merely 

a convenient stopover during long journeys across the Jémez 

Mountains. The mountains, water, caves, volcanoes, calderas, 

lava rock, shrines, trails, plants, and minerals encompassed by 

the VCNP boundaries have helped organize and give meaning 

to the land use activities of communities traditionally associated with this location.

When viewed in combination through an anthropological 

perspective, available historical, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic evidence pertaining to the Valles Caldera’s land use 

history reveals that this locale is a multi-layered landscape. 

Today, diverse Native American, Hispanic, and AngloAmerican communities maintain meaningful relationships 

with the Valles Caldera for their own purposes (chapter 9; see 

also appendices II and III).

Although seldom visible to casual observers who visit the 

VCNP today primarily to experience the location’s majesty 
166 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

first-hand, the Valles Caldera land use history is part of a 

dynamic cultural process. Subtle social and ideational contexts, 

which do not attract much public attention, underlie how each 

community has interacted historically with the Valles Caldera 

and used its many resources. A significant challenge for the 

management of the VCNP is the recognition, acceptance, and 

valuation of the cultural diversity inherent in living land use 

traditions that contribute to the Valles Caldera being much 

more than just a scenic mountain landscape
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 167

Aberle, Sophie D.

1948 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico: Their Land, Economy, and Civil Organization. 

Memoirs 70. Menasha, WI: American Anthropological Association.

In the introduction, Aberle emphasizes the importance of the relationship between the 

Pueblos and their ethnographic landscapes:

Land being the basis of Pueblo economy, to understand the Indian’s relation to his 

soil is vital. The years of contention over boundaries, titles to grants, and legislation 

influence the Indian’s habit of thought as well as his laws...Land in the eyes of the 

Indian is his most precious possession. (p. 5)

Aberle adds that before the Europeans’ introduction of legal concepts for the private 

ownership of land, “Land was probably owned communally as is all the range and some 

agricultural land today, with small farms controlled by generations of the same family, but 

always with the tacit approval of the head man of the tribe” (p. 7).

Adams, Eleanor B., ed. 

1954 Bishop Tamarón’s Visitation of New Mexico, 1760. Publications in History, 15. Santa 

Fe: Historical Society of New Mexico.

Bishop Tamarón visited New Mexico in 1760. He briefly described Jémez Pueblo.

Adams also includes two letters of Bishop Crespo describing his visitation of 1730. Crespo 

notes that Jémez is “five leagues from the Navahos” (p. 98). Nesbit and Parker note the 

proximity of Jémez Pueblo to Navajo country in 1851 (see entry for Church n.d.).

Adams, Karen R.

1980 Pollen, Parched Seeds and Prehistory: A Pilot Investigation of Prehistoric Plant 

Remains from Salmon Ruin, A Chacoan Pueblo in Northwestern New Mexico. 

Contributions in Anthropology, 9. Portales, NM: Eastern New Mexico University Press.

Adams offers a wealth of ethnobotanical information for plants found in archaeological 

contexts. Major plant groups from Adam’s study also found in the Valles Caldera National 

Preserve (VCNP) today include the amaranth (Amaranthus sp.), cactus (Opuntia sp.), 

goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.), sunflower (Artemesia sp. and Helianthus sp.), mustard 

(Descurainia sp.), sedge (Scirpus sp.), spurge (Euphorbia sp.), grass (Oryzopsis sp.), rush 

(Juncus sp.), buckwheat (Eriogonom sp. and Polygonom sp.), potato (Physalis sp.), and 

cattail (Typha sp.) families.

Adovasio, J. M., and J. D. Gunn

1986 The Antelope House Basketry Industry. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope 

House. Don P. Morris, ed. Pp. 306–397. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the 

Interior, National Park Service.

The authors discuss archaeological evidence for the pre-Columbian use of Yucca baccata in 

basketry.

Akins, Nancy J.

1993 Traditional Use Areas in New Mexico. Archaeology Notes 141. Santa Fe: Museum of 

New Mexico, Office of Archaeological Studies.

Relying heavily on materials generated by land claims litigated by the Indian Claims 

Commission (ICC), Akins addresses traditional use areas of aboriginal groups in New 

Mexico. The author states that given a number of reasons, “The boundaries identified in the 

Appendix I.

Annotated Bibliography

Kurt F. Anschuetz and Thomas Merlan
168 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

ICC cases are not always equivalent to an aboriginal or traditional use area” (p. 4). The land 

claims were based on exclusive use and occupancy of an area at the time the U.S. assumed 

political sovereignty over the Southwest in 1848. Akins implicitly recognizes this and 

notes, “No attempt was made to include areas that might be claimed on the basis of remote 

ancestry” (p. 9). Given the inherent limitations of information compiled for land claims 

cases, Akins considers only shrines and ancestral villages as traditional cultural properties 

associated with a community’s aboriginal use areas.

In this overview, Akins discusses traditional (Indian) associations with all regions of 

New Mexico. She identifies the Baca Location No. 1 (Baca Location) as entirely within 

the aboriginal lands of the Jémez people and lists shrines in and near the Baca Location 

important to the Pueblo (including Wa-ve-ma; a.k.a. Cerro Redondo) (pp. 62–69). She 

references archeological evidence that suggests the first arrival of Towa speakers in this 

general area dates to ca. a.d. 1300–1325 (see entry for Ford et al. 1972).

Further inspection of Akins’ compiled map information reveals that the following Indian 

communities included the Valles Caldera locality within their far-reaching aboriginal 

territories: Jicarilla Apache (pp. 70–77), Navajo (pp. 107–113), San Ildefonso Pueblo (pp. 

126–131), San Juan Pueblo (pp. 132–138), Santa Ana Pueblo (pp. 139–141), Santa Clara 

Pueblo (pp. 145–148), Santo Domingo Pueblo (pp. 150–153), Tesuque Pueblo (pp. 163–

165), Ute (pp. 168–174), and Zía Pueblo (pp. 181–186).

Allen, Craig D.

1989 Changes in the Landscape of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation. 

Wildlife Resource Science, University of California, Berkeley.

This dissertation examines the landscape ecology of the Jémez Mountains in and around 

Bandelier National Monument. The objectives of the study were to document and explain 

current landscape patterns, to identify and explain historic landscape changes and to discuss 

the implications of landscape change for local land management, in particular, Bandelier 

National Monument.

Allen emphasizes historic human interactions with natural processes. In a short section (pp. 

145–149) titled “Anthropogenic Disturbances,” he discusses livestock grazing. He concludes 

that (1) the extremely high historic stocking rates have led to gross alterations in the species 

composition of local vegetation associations (p. 147), (2) continuous grazing has caused 

marked reductions in herbaceous plant and litter ground cover and overgrazing has been seen 

as a major cause of soil erosion and arroyo cutting, and (3) overgrazing in the late nineteenth 

and early twentieth centuries effectively suppressed previous surface fire regimes throughout 

the landscape.

The accompanying references are extensive, and relate mainly to natural history and ecology.

Amsden, Charles Avery

1934 Navajo Weaving: Its Technic and History. Santa Ana, CA: Fine Arts Press, in 

cooperation with Southwest Museum.

Amsden follows Matthews (1897) in defining the Navajo landscape:

Each of the four cardinal points has its sacred mountains, the cosmic limit in that 

direction. North is marked by a mountain (not surely identified) in the San Juan range 

of southwestern Colorado; South by Mount San Mateo, later called Mount Taylor in 

the region of Laguna; East by a peak in the Jemez Mountains, thought by Matthews to 

be Pelado; West by the San Francisco Peaks, just north of Flagstaff, Arizona. (p. 123) 

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1998a Genesis of Centers Within a Whole: Considering Community Formation Within 

the Tewa Cultural Landscape. Paper presented at Representing Common Destinies: 

History and the Social Construction of Community in the Southwest, sponsored by 

Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico, and the Southwest Center, 

University of Arizona General Library, Albuquerque, November 6, 1998.

In this short paper, Anschuetz elaborates on the Tewa concept of center in traditional 

community landscape constructions. Centers are formally understood negative spaces, 

such as plazas and caves. In the Pueblos’ world view, centers are understood and sustained 

through their many-tiered relationships and connectedness to peripheries.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 169

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1998b Not Waiting for the Rain: Integrated Systems of Water Management by PreColumbian Pueblo Farmers in North-Central New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation. 

Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: University 

Microfilms.

This archaeological study deals primarily with the tactics and strategies of agricultural 

production by Tewa Pueblo people in upland settings of the Tewa Basin. Anschuetz’s 

evaluation of the settlement dynamics observed archaeologically in the Lower Río Chama 

Valley—one of the places of intensive Tewa occupation between the late thirteenth and 

sixteenth centuries—is germane to the VCNP land use history study because it develops a 

landscape framework for considering archaeological traces in terms of what Pueblo people 

say about their world.

Anschuetz draws from a variety of Tewa ethnographic literature for ideas about Pueblo 

people’s understandings of their cultural landscapes and their senses of place and time across 

expansive homelands in the face of ever changing natural, social, and cultural environmental 

conditions. This study considers the Tewas’ understandings about movement as an intrinsic 

part of all life in their cosmos to be congruent with the people’s material need to shift 

residence in response to changing environmental conditions. In doing so, this work provides 

a useful review of the Pueblos concepts of center, periphery, process, and connectedness.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1998c The View from Atop Tsi Mayoh: Reflections on Spanish Colonial History; Refractions 

of Pueblo Tradition. Paper presented at Pecos Conference, Pecos National Historical 

Park, August 13–16, 1998.

Anschuetz reviews traditional archaeological and historical constructions that characterize 

late pre-Columbian Pueblo and early Historic period Pueblo landscape occupation in terms 

of the abandonment of major tracts of the communities’ traditional homeland areas. He offers 

a landscape approach as an alternative perspective for viewing the archaeological record of 

Pueblo history. The paper neither casts static descriptions of Pueblo architecture, features, 

and artifacts as sufficient measures of culture nor depends on interpretive frameworks that 

view the Pueblos continued occupation of their traditional homelands only in terms of 

habitation sites.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., and Cherie L. Scheick

1998 Unveiling Archaeological Terra Incognita: Evaluating Time, Place-making and 

Tradition through a Cultural Landscape Paradigm. Paper presented at the 63rd 

Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Seattle, March 25–29, 1998.

Anschuetz and Scheick examine how the cultural landscape construct, as defined in 

explicitly anthropological terms, provides an umbrella for integrating diverse studies 

of human behavior, both past and present. They suggest that this construct provides a 

framework for evaluating the ideationally informed grammars that helped structure the 

composition and distribution of the material traces making up the archaeological record. 

They frame the argument that landscape, as a material construct that communicates 

information and serves as a kind of historical text, embodies fundamental organizing 

principles that refer to the forms and structures of activities as people interact with the land, 

its waters and other resources, as well as one another. They suggest further that the cultural 

landscape offers an integrative framework for examining how past communities of people 

organized time, space, and activity in their day-to-day interactions with their physical, social, 

and ideational environments.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., Richard W. Wilshusen, and Cherie L. Scheick

2001 An Archaeology of Landscapes: Perspectives and Directions. Journal of Archaeological 

Research 9:157–211.

The authors, building upon the preliminary framework offered by Anschuetz and 

Scheick (1998), contribute further to a comprehensive landscape approach in explicitly 

anthropological terms. They trace the development of the landscape idea over its history 

in the social sciences and examine the compatibility between this concept and traditional 

anthropological practice. They call for practitioners to adopt a common terminology and 

methodology to build a construct paradigm that will allow them to use a landscape approach 

as a “pattern which connects” human behavior with particular places and times. They suggest 

understandings of settlement ecology, ritual landscapes, and ethnic landscapes not only will 
170 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

contribute toward the definition of a construct paradigm but also will facilitate dialogue with 

traditional communities.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

2002a A Healing Place: Río Grande Pueblo Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph 

National Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph National 

Monument Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, 

Harris Francis, Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 3.1–3.47. Community 

and Cultural Landscape Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, 

Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 

14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande Foundation for 

Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

This discussion provides a review of the ideational and organizational principles of the 

traditional landscape constructions generally shared among New Mexico’s 16 Río Grande 

Pueblos (i.e., Cochití, Isleta, Jémez, Nambé, Picurís, Pojoaque, Sandia, Santa Ana, San 

Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, and Zía). 

The themes of center, breath, emergence, movement, and connectedness are relevant to the 

VCNP Land-Use History Project.

Anschuetz provides insights into why the Río Grande Pueblos consider shrines, volcanoes, 

caves, trails, plants, and animals to be important landscape features. He also reviews 

community concerns about the protection and management of these landscape elements.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

2002b A Place of Power at the Edge: Apache Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph 

National Monument. In That Place People Talk About: The Petroglyph National 

Monument Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, 

Harris Francis, Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 6.1–6.18. Community 

and Cultural Landscape Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, 

Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 

14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande Foundation for 

Communities and Cultural Landscapes. 

This essay examines the founding principles of the traditional landscape constructions 

sustained by Apache communities. The discussion focuses on how places at the edge of the 

Apache landscape, such as the Jémez Mountains, are the source of power for sustaining life 

throughout the cosmos.

Anschuetz considers the cultural significance of mountains, caves, lava rocks, plants, 

animals, and minerals. He reviews community concerns about the protection and 

management of these features.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

2002c Contested Commons: Nuevomexicano and Hispano Cultural Landscapes and the 

Petroglyph National Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph 

National Monument Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. 

J. Ferguson, Harris Francis, Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 7.1–7.28. 

Community and Cultural Landscape Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park 

Service, Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract 

No. 14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande Foundation for 

Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

This chapter addresses the landscape constructions of New Mexico’s traditional Hispanic 

communities. It finds that through cultural processes of mestizaje and religious syncretism, 

northern New Mexico’s rural Hispanic communities have incorporated the ideas of center, 

periphery, and ensoulment found among the region’s cultural diverse aboriginal people into 

their own understandings of landscape.

Anschuetz’s review of important Hispanic landscape elements includes many of the kinds 

of features found in the VCNP, including shrines, lava rock, plants, animals, minerals, and 

vistas. Just as the authors of the other chapters in this volume (see entries for Anschuetz 

2002a,b; Ferguson 2002; and Kelley and Francis 2002), he reviews community concerns 

about the protection and management of these features.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 171

Arnon, Nancy S., and W. W. Hill

1979 Santa Clara Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 296–307. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Santa Clara 

Pueblo.

Ayer, Mrs. Edward E., trans.

1916 The Memorial of Fray Alonso de Benavides. Chicago, IL: Privately printed.

Father Custodian Benavides wrote this report in 1630 and revised it 4 years later, to 

induce King Philip IV of Spain to send more missionaries to New Mexico and to build 

more churches. Although his population figures for the New Mexico pueblos were grossly 

exaggerated, his general and comparative descriptions are valuable because so few preRevolt sources exist. Benavides briefly describes Jémez Pueblo (pp. 24–25).

Notes include a background on fray Gerónimo de Zárate Salmerón, who served in New 

Mexico between 1618 and 1626, and prepared a report of his observations in or after 1629. 

As the resident missionary at Jémez Pueblo, Benavides prepared a catechism in Towa. He 

emphasizes the mineral wealth of New Mexico and states that he filed on many mineral 

locations in the Jémez Mountains (p. 217).

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.

1967 Baca Land and Cattle Company and Dunigan Tool and Supply Company, and George W. 

Savage, Trustee Under Liquidating Trust Agreement, v. New Mexico Timber, Inc., and T. 

Gallagher and Co., Inc. 384 F.2d 701 (10th Circuit Court of Appeals). 8NN-021-89-022 

#5648, Federal Records Center (FRC) #76L0201, boxes 110 and 110A. Denver, CO: 

National Archives, Rocky Mountain Region.

Circuit Judges Warren L. Jones and John J. Hickey heard the appeal. Their opinion notes that 

the trial court granted summary judgment for the appellees (defendants) on the first two of 

three counts of the complaint. For Count I, the judges established the company’s interest in 

a deed and contract conveying timber rights for 99 years to the company’s predecessors in 

title. For Count II, they recognized damages for timber cut in violation of the terms of the 

“instruments” (that is, the deed of 1918 and the agreement of 1926). The court permitted 

an immediate appeal of their decisions for Counts I and II. It also directed that Count III, 

seeking damages for wasteful logging practices, be tried by a jury.

 The Court of Appeals dismissed the plaintiffs’ appeal because it was not appealable. The 

court explained this by saying that plaintiffs had a different legal theory for each count of 

their complaint but applied these different theories to the same set of facts. “Therefore, 

because each theory of the appellants arises out of the same transaction or occurrence, the 

pragmatic approach which all circuits apply directs us to conclude that the trail court’s ruling 

is not appealable.”

Bailey, Vernon

1913 Life Zones and Crop Zones of New Mexico. North American Fauna 35. Washington, 

DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey.

Bailey made a reconnaissance in the Valle Grande in 1906. This volume is a part of a series 

intended to encourage immigration to New Mexico by disseminating information about areas 

suitable for agriculture.

Bailey assigns the Valles Grande, San Antonio, and Santa Rosa to the Transition Life Zone.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe

1889 Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. 17. History of Arizona and New Mexico 1530–

1888. San Francisco, CA: The History Company.

Although Bancroft’s work has been greatly amplified by later generations of historians, his 

histories are still standard references. This volume covers Arizona and New Mexico from the 

beginnings of Spanish exploration to the late 1880s.

In his discussion of the last years of colonial administration (pp. 283–309), Bancroft covers 

early Anglo-American forays into New Mexico. Anglo-American and French Canadian 

trappers who tried to take furs into colonial New Mexico as well as traders who ventured 
172 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

into the province were sometimes arrested and their goods confiscated. The Anglos 

established trade with an independent Mexico after 1821.

Bandelier, Adolf F.

1892 Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the Southwestern United States, 

Carried on Mainly in the Years from 1880 to 1885, pt. 2. American Series IV. Papers of 

the Archaeological Institute of America. Cambridge, MA: John Wilson and Son.

This summary of Bandelier’s early and immensely influential investigations in Southwestern 

archeology, prehistory, and ethnography contains a section on “The Country of the Jemez” 

(p. 200 ff.). Bandelier describes the area then as being used mainly for summer grazing, with 

only marginal agricultural development, and traditionally related to Jémez Pueblo:

The Valles Mountains separate the northern section of the Queres district from that 

claimed by the Jemez tribe. Against the chain of gently sloping summits which forms 

the main range from the peak of Abiquiu to the Sierra de la Palisada in the south 

abuts in the west an elevated plateau, containing a series of grassy basins to which 

the name of “Los Valles” (the valleys) has been applied. Permanent streams water it, 

and contribute to make an excellent grazing region of this plateau. But the seasons 

are short. For snow fills the passes sometimes till June, and may be expected again as 

early as September. During the three months of summer that the Valles enjoy, however, 

their appearance is very lovely. Heavy dews fall daily, and rains are common. The 

high summits are seldom completely shrouded for more than a few hours at a time, 

and as soon as the sun breaks through the mist, the grassy basins shine like sheets 

of malachite. Flocks of sheep dot their surface, and on the heights around the deep 

blue tops of the regal pines mingle with the white trunks and light verdure of the tall 

mountain aspens. It is also the country of the bear and the panther, and the brooks 

team with mountain trout.

The descent to the east towards Santa Clara is through a long and rugged gorge, over 

a trail which beasts of burden must tread with caution, while towards Cochiti the 

paths are still more difficult. On the west a huge mountain mass, the Sierra de la Jara, 

interposes itself between the principal valley, that of Toledo, and the Jemez country. 

Both north and south of this mountain the heights are much less considerable; still 

the clefts by which they are traversed are none the less narrow, and the traveler is 

compelled to make long detours in order to reach the Jemez River.

The country inhabited by the Jemez tribe lies west of the Valles... (pp. 200–201)

(See also entries by Akins 1993, and Lange and Riley 1966.)

Barker, Elliott

1970 Western Life and Adventures 1889–1970. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 

Calvin Horn Collection.

Barker describes the program of predator control instituted by the Forest Service in 1916. 

The Forest Service program of hunting and poisoning reduced or eliminated elk, mule deer, 

turkey, and prairie dogs in and around the Baca Location. Therefore, gray wolves, mountain 

lions, and coyotes increasingly preyed on cattle and sheep.

Basso, Keith H.

1996 Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

This definitive work about Western Apache landscape ideas and relationships serves as a 

compelling example of how people interact with their physical and social environments and 

how these relationships resonate through the structure and organization of a group’s social 

institutions. Basso embraces the premise that “what people think about the environment—

how they perceive it, how they conceptualize it, or...how they ‘actively construct’ it” (p. 67) 

with meaning is relevant. Basso adds that people, not their social institutions, make and act 

on cultural meanings. He addresses the issue of landscape constructions as the nexus of the 

intersection of a group’s senses of place and time.

Baxter, John O.

1987 Las Carneradas: Sheep Trade in New Mexico 1700–1860. Albuquerque: University of 

New Mexico Press.

Baxter describes the introduction of sheep into New Mexico in 1598 and the origins and 

growth of the sheep trade in the province, through the colonial and Mexican periods and 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 173

into the American (Territorial) period. Although he does not mention the Valles Caldera, his 

overview provides valuable background information for understanding sheep raising in our 

study area.

During the summer and fall of 1757 New Mexico’s governor, Francisco Antonio 

Marín del Valle made an official visitation of the area within his jurisdiction. The 

inspection team included the region’s most famous eighteenth-century cartographer, 

Bernardo Miera y Pacheco. Using information gathered during the tour, don 

Bernardo produced a detailed map of New Mexico...On the map’s margins Miera y 

Pacheco appended supplementary data...According to his tabulation, 5,170 Spaniards 

residing in New Mexico possessed 2,543 horses, 7,832 cattle, and 47,621 ganado 

menor (sheep and goats). The Pueblo and Hopi Indians, who numbered almost 

9,000, owned 4,813 horses, 8,325 cattle, and 64,561 ganado menor. Obviously, New 

Mexico livestock had thrived since the Reconquest and the industry rested on a solid 

foundation at mid-century. (p. 42)

As sheep became increasingly acceptable as a means of exchange for imported 

consumer goods, a small clique of rancher-merchants began to dominate livestock 

marketing within the province and to control other aspects of the local economy. 

Another important development for New Mexico comerciantes was the emergence of 

Chihuahua as their leading trading point and the consequent decline of Parral. (p. 42)

Bell, Willis H., and Edward F. Castetter

1941 The Utilization of Yucca, Sotol, and Beargrass by the Aborigines in the American 

Southwest. Ethnological Studies in the American Southwest 7. University of New 

Mexico Bulletin. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.

The authors discuss the use of yucca in basketry among many ethnographic groups in the 

Four Corners region.

Benally, Clyde, with Andrew O. Wiget, John R. Alley, and Garry Blake

1982 Dinéjí Nákéé ́ Nááhane ́: A Utah Navajo History. Monticello, UT: San Juan School 

District.

Benally and others relate the creation of the Navajo mountains of cardinal direction in the 

creation of the Fourth World. Following his creation of the pairs of Holy People (Diyin 

Dine ́é),

First Man took out the inner forms of the sacred mountains, which he had brought 

up from the Third World. In the east, he placed the White Mountain (Sis Naajinii). 

He covered it with Dawn, Dark Cloud, Male Rain, and Dark Water. He fixed it to the 

earth with a bolt of Lightning. He then sent Dawn Boy and Girl there... (p. 8)

This tale establishes the special subjective quality of timelessness in the Navajo 

conceptualization of the Holy Mountains. That is, the mountains were created and re-created 

through the succession of worlds from the beginning of time to the present.

Benally and others (p. viii) further elaborate on the symbolic associations of the four 

principal cardinal mountains in a schematic diagram:

Benally and others follow Haile (1938) rather than Matthews (1897) (see also entry for 

Sleight 1950) in associating the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East with Blanca Peak in 

southern Colorado rather than with Redondo Peak in the VCNP.

Bernalillo County, New Mexico

1849–1903 Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office Records. Accession No. 1974-034. Reels 1–33. 

Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Grantor-Grantee and Grantee-Grantor indices on Reels 1–4 show acquisition of interests 

within the Baca Location by Maríano Sabine Otero and his son, Frederico J. (F. J.). For 

example, the deed for the sale of lands in the Baca Location by Leandro Sanchez and wife 

to Maríano Otero on April 7, 1890, indexed in reel 3, is in book 12, p. 509 (reel 20, frames 

259–260). Numerous transactions show that the Baca heirs sold their land piecemeal and 

the Oteros eventually bought up these interests, finally forming the Valles Land Company in 

1899. (Note: The corporate name “Valles Land Company” appears in the Whitney v. Otero

trial record as early as 1894.)
174 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Blake, Kevin

1999 Sacred and Secular Landscape Symbolism at Mount Taylor. Journal of the Southwest 

41:487–509.

Blake examines the symbolic Native American beliefs about mountains. He maintains that 

the recognition and understanding of these ideas and values is necessary for the sustained 

management of any mountain region (p. 487). In this process, Blake contributes to the 

comprehension of landscape Pueblo and Navajo constructions and how these culturally 

diverse peoples maintain significant associations with mountainous settings within their 

traditional homelands. He also offers several useful observations about traditional Hispanic 

landscape ideas in framing comparisons that illustrate his argument.

Bloom, Lansing B.

1946 [1922] The West Jemez Culture Area. New Mexico Historical Review 21:120–126. 

Originally published in El Palacio 12:19–25.

Bloom offers a cogent description of the Valles Caldera region and recognizes the traditional 

use of this locality by Jémez Pueblo:

Cerro Conejo, Cerro Pino, Cerro Pelado, Cerro Redondo, and Cerra Venado, were 

all mountains of that early Jemez world which extended from the high mesa east of 

Vallecito westward to the Río Puerco, and from the region of the present pueblo of 

Jemez to the San Anton. It was a world of mountain and valley, of towering forest and 

living streams, of high majestic mesas which tapered into many a commanding potrero 

flanked by deep canyons. Even today the Jemez have community rabbit drives in the 

valley, and in the sierras they hunt the deer and bear, the wolf and fox, the gallina 

de tierra and the eagle of the sky. But gone is the buffalo which (if we may trust the 

maps of Miera y Pacheco) formerly ranged the prairie like meadows of the upper 

Valles and the San Anton. The streams still teem with trout; the bluebird still flashes 

in the sunlight which filters down through the royal pines; the bluebells and grasses, 

mariposa lilies and yellow flowers of countless species still wave waist deep in the sun 

drenched glades of the mountains. (p. 121)

Bloom also states that Oñate passed through the Valles Caldera on his way from San Juan 

Pueblo to Jémez Pueblo:

He “descended” thro [sic] the Valles to the pueblos in the Vallecito drainage then 

working to the west over the high mesa land he “descended” from the potrero to the 

“last pueblo” of the province which he associates with the marvelous hot springs. 

Guiusewa is the pueblo meant beyond any reasonable doubt, and the trail from the 

Vallecito down into Hot Springs is still in daily use. (p. 123)

Bloom, Lansing B., and Lynn B. Mitchell

1938 The Chapter Elections in 1672. New Mexico Historical Review 13:85–119.

This article discusses the establishment of the Jémez missions, events before 1680, the 

Pueblo Revolt, and subsequent resettlement of the remnant Jémez population. Bloom and 

Mitchell point out that early Spanish colonial contact with the Jémez Pueblos took place in 

the Vallecito Viejo and the upper Valles, where at least seven Jémez (Towa) Pueblos existed 

(p. 91). (See entry for Schroeder 1979.)

Bohrer, Vorsila L.

1960 Zuni Agriculture. El Palacio 67:181–202.

The author includes discussion of Amaranthus sp. use by the Zuni.

Bohrer, Vorsila L.

1975 The Prehistoric and Historic Role of Cool-Season Grasses in the Southwest. Economic 

Botany 29:199–207.

Bohrer reports on the uses of various grasses, which occur in the VCNP, by various preColumbian and Historic Pueblo groups, among others. Examples include bluegrass (Poa sp.) 

and needle-and-thread (Stipa sp.).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 175

Bolton, Herbert Eugene

1930 Spanish Exploration in the Southwest 1542–1706. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

This is a standard reference work for early Spanish exploration in the North American 

Southwest. Bolton’s history contains the narrative of the Espejo expedition of 1583. Espejo 

describes the Jémez Pueblos (the mountain Pueblo not visited may be Giusewa):

Having traveled one day’s journey to the northwest, a distance of about six leagues, 

we found a province, with seven pueblos, called the Province of the Emexes, where 

there are very many people, apparently about thirty thousand souls. The natives 

indicated to us that one of the pueblos was very large and in the mountains, but it 

appeared to Fray Bernardino Beltrán and some of the soldiers that our numbers 

were too small to go to so large a settlement and so we did not visit it, in order not to 

become divided into two parties. It consists of people, like those already passed, with 

the same provisions, apparel, and government. They have idols, bows and arrows, and 

other arms, as the provinces heretofore mentioned. (p. 182)

Bond and Son

1917 Correspondence. Item 96. Bond, Frank, and Son Records. Albuquerque: Center for 

Southwest Research, General Library, University of New Mexico.

This bound volume of copies of correspondence includes a June 28, 1917, letter (p. 216) to 

Ed Wetmore of the Redondo Development Company, Warren, Pennsylvania. A messenger 

charged $10.00 to contact Mr. Shelton (surveyor); Louis Nohl apologizes for this “exorbitant 

charge.”

In a July 20, 1917, letter (p. 557) to Ed Wetmore, Frank Bond says he cannot find [L. D. 

W.] Shelton. He also is concerned that the Indians (evidently Santa Clara Pueblo) have 

asserted that the Bond interests have built a fence on their land and they intend to cut it. 

Superintendent P. T. Lonergan (Southern Pueblos Agency) states that the only official survey 

is the (Francis) Joy survey.

Bond and Son

1918–1919 Ledger. Item 103. Bond, Frank, and Son Records. Albuquerque: Center for 

Southwest Research, General Library, University of New Mexico.

In this collection are 273 items and cartons. Most documents are numbered single volumes 

or ledgers.

Volume 95 includes a letter, dated March 20, 1918, from Frank Bond to Edward Wetmore. 

In this correspondence, Bond writes that while he would like to purchase the Baca Location, 

his concerns over the ongoing, widespread conflict (World War I) being waged in Europe, 

tempered his appetite for making great investments at this time. Although he withdrew his 

offer to purchase the tract, Bond concludes, “I still want to own the property some day.”

Volume 170 is specific to the Baca Location and details the sheep operations for the year 

1918. Information in this volume reveals that Frank Bond leased the Baca Location in 

1918 for $500 per month. His lease required him to make certain improvements; he spent 

$3,054.20 on fencing and other work in 1918.

A note opposite p. 1 explains the item “Baca Location expense $1221.68” in the first journal 

entry as follows. The Bond-Connell Sheep and Wool Company had an interest in the lease 

and paid one half of it: $1,527.10. Frank Bond paid the other half, prorated to $305.42 per 

year. “At the end of one year the Baca Location was turned over to the Quemado Sheep Co. 

and Mr. Bond’s 1⁄2 or $1527.10 less one year’s prorate or $305.42 leaving $1221.68 was 

assumed by the Quemado Sheep Co.”

Ledger Volume 170 also details sheep operations for 1918. In this year Bond had 73 

employees on the Baca Location. All but three were Hispanic and most were sheepherders 

(pastores), camp tenders (camperos), or camp suppliers (caporales). The Baca Location had 

17 sheep camps and 1 cattle camp in the summer of 1918. The number of sheep per camp 

averaged 1,257.

In 1926 Bond bought the Baca Location and a half interest in the mineral rights. The 

Redondo Development Company (seller) retained a 99-year lease on the timber.
176 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Bond and Son

1918–1919 Ledger. Item 103. Bond, Frank, and Son Records. Albuquerque: Center for 

Southwest Research, General Library, University of New Mexico.

Ledger Item 103 has entries from November 23, 1918, to September 8, 1919. Some entries 

refer to the Baca Location. These entries record individuals grazing small numbers of stock 

“35 cows and 8 horses” “6 cows and 1 horse” (p. 1) on the Location, fees paid to Bond 

and Nohl Company, and balances due. The base price for a horse or cow was $1.25 for the 

summer season.

Bond and Son 

1918–1921 Quemado Sheep Company 1918–1921. Carton 181. Bond, Frank, and Son 

Records. Albuquerque: Center for Southwest Research, General Library, University of 

New Mexico.

Carton 181 contains some correspondence about the Baca Location. Herman Wertheim, 

writing for Vicente Armijo from Domingo, New Mexico, on June 19, 1918, encloses a 

voucher for $116 in payment for grazing 116 head of cattle taken to the Baca Location on 

June 12. Moses Abouselman sends payments of $17 for 17 head of cattle and $65 for 65 

head of cattle grazing on the Baca Location. Another letter refers to 14 head.

A letter from Moses Abouselman dated June 14, 1918, is on behalf of José Antonio Pecos 

of Jémez, who wants to put his horses on “the grant.” In a previous letter on June 10, 1918, 

Abouselman wrote that he understood that he was to pay 50 cents per head of cattle for the 

month of May, or $1.25 for the season (i.e., “through the summer”). Some correspondence is 

from the Quemado Sheep Company at Peña Blanca.

Bond and Son

ca. 1960 Extracts and Notes from Frank Bond Correspondence. Vol. 76a. Bond, Frank, 

and Son Records, Albuquerque: Center for Southwest Research, General Library, 

University of New Mexico.

These extensive excerpts illustrate Frank Bond’s style and business methods. The notes 

contain material on the partido system, the New Mexico Sheep Sanitary Board, scab 

or scabies (mange), and many subjects relating to sheep raising. They discuss the Bond 

companies and numerous partnerships.

Frank H. Grubbs excerpted the items of correspondence contained in this ledger as 

background for his biography of Frank Bond (see entry for Grubbs 1960–1962).

Bowden, J. J.

1969 Private Land Claims in the Southwest. Masters thesis. Houston, TX: Southern 

Methodist University.

Bowden outlines the history of the Luis María Cabeza de Baca Grant and the five Baca 

Locations. Note, however, that Bowden mistakenly places L. M. Baca’s death in 1833. (See 

also entries for U.S. Public Law 167 1860; U.S. Congress, House 1860; and U.S. Congress, 

Senate 1860.)

Boyd, Dick

1938 Jemez High Country. New Mexico Magazine 16 (9):14–15, 35–39.

Boyd notes the natural and geological features of the region. He mentions that the Civilian 

Conservation Corps (CCC) built the road from Los Alamos to Cuba through Valle Grande in 

1935. At the time of the article, the CCC camp in Paliza Canyon was active. Boyd describes 

Sulphur Springs and notes that Maríano Sabine Otero established a plant for refining sulphur, 

but that prevailing prices were so low that the venture was not profitable.

Brandt, Elizabeth A.

1979 Sandia Pueblo. In Handbook of the North American Indians, vol. 9, Southwest. Alfonso 

Ortiz, ed. Pp. 343–350. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Sandia Pueblo.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 177

Brewer, Sallie Pierce

1937 The “Long Walk” to Bosque Redondo, as Told by Peshlakai Etsedi. Museum of 

Northern Arizona Museum Notes 9(11):55–62.

Brewer provides testimony offered by Peshlakai Etsedi, who recounts important details of a 

post–Bosque Redondo conference held at a new fort at Bear Spring, which Ellis (1974:159) 

associates with Fort Lyon and Fort Wingate. At this conference, Nah Zizii, Hosteen Iltsuee 

Etsosa (Marriano), Hostin Be Dah Gah, and Becenti (and possibly other unidentified Navajo 

headmen) climbed to the top of a hill south of Fort Lyon. From this summit:

These men decided that the Navajos would have the country between Sisnajinee 

[“Black Belt” or Pelado], Zoet Zilth [Mount Taylor], Nahtah Ah Say Ay [“Corn 

Stairs” or Mount Thomas], Do Ko-osteed [“Suspended by Yellow Shell” or San 

Francisco Peaks], Nahto Zilth [“Tobacco Mountain” or Buckskin Mountain near 

Grand Canyon], Nah Ah Tsees Ahn [Navajo Mountain] and Devehn Tsah [“Mountain 

Sheep” or San Juan Mountains]. (p. 61; comments in brackets are Brewer’s additions 

from endnote 54.)

Brown, Lorin W.

1978 Hispano Folklife of New Mexico: The Lorin W. Brown Federal Writers’ Project 

Manuscripts. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.

Brown details his visit to a pastor (shepherd), Basilico Garduño, at his camp “in the shadow 

of El Cerro Redondo (‘Round Peak’), near Jemez Hot Springs” (p. 158). Brown describes 

Garduño’s camp, flock, dogs, gear, camp routine, and cooking, and repeats Garduño’s 

explanations of how he predicts the weather by the traditional method of las cabañuelas (p. 

163).

Garduño tells Brown that he will graze his sheep toward El Rito de San Antonio. Brown 

mentions that Garduño works for a patron (a wealthy man who owns much land), who later

visits the camp, but Brown offers no details concerning him.

Garduño talks about his former patrón, don Maríano (Otero):

My father and I both worked for Don Mariano, who first owned those springs, that is, 

the grant on which they are located. He was muy rico, a man of many sheep and much 

land. We used to lamb in the grassy valley just above the springs and dip the sheep in 

troughs built just below the main sulphur spring. We used nothing else except the very 

water from the spring to rid the sheep of scab and ticks. It was much better than this 

stuff we have to use nowadays. (p. 166)

Brown describes the shearers who arrive once a year as “itinerants, shearing sheep on a 

commission basis all over the state and into Colorado” (p. 171).

Brugge, David M.

1983 Navajo Prehistory and History to 1850. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 489–501. 

Vol. 10 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, 

DC: Smithsonian Institution.

This article is a good summary of early Navajo history. Brugge’s figure 1, “Approximate 

Navajo settlement areas,” shows the Valles Caldera portion of the Jémez Mountains to the 

east of the core of the settled Navajo territory. This observation does not necessarily preclude 

temporary Navajo use of the VCNP, however (cf. entry for Douglass 1917).

Bryan, Nonabah G., and Stella Young

940 Navajo Native Dyes: Their Preparation and Use. Washington, DC: Office of Indian 

Affairs.

Bryan and Young’s discussion of Navajo dyes includes mention of the following plant taxa 

found in the VCNP: Artemisia sp., Castilleja sp., Eriogonum sp., Hymenoxys sp., Juniperus 

sp., Prunus sp., Pterospora sp., and Townsendia sp.

Cabeza de Baca, Fabiola

1994 We Fed Them Cactus. 2nd ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

In her history of the renowned Cabeza de Baca family, the author offers a passage about her 

grandfather, Don Tomás Dolores Cabeza de Baca (a.k.a. Tomás D. Baca). This recollection, 

although lacking desired detail, sheds insight on how Maríano Sabine Otero eventually 

gained significant interest in the Baca Location, an interest that he shrewdly leveraged 

against Joel Parker Whitney who initiated the partition suit that eventually stripped all the 
178 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca heirs of any right in the land grant (see entry for Whitney v. 

Otero 1893):

My grandfather, Don Tomás Dolores Cabeza de Baca was running fifteen thousand head of 

sheep on the Plaza Larga country in 1875. In the Pajarito country, where Newkirk is now, he 

ran more than two thousand head of cattle. In those days there were no bonding companies. 

My grandfather was one of the bondsmen of the newly-elected San Miguel County sheriffclerk-treasurer, which offices were held by one man. At the end of his term, the officer was 

short on county funds. Grandfather had to produce $40,000. Ewes were worth one dollar per 

head, cows seven dollars. He sold all his livestock and to make up the balance, he mortgaged 

100,000 acres of his land grant, El Valle Grande in Sandoval county, to Don José Leandro 

Perea [Maríano Otero’s father-in-law] for $10,000. (pp. 72–73)

Cabeza de Baca recalls elsewhere that Tomás D. Baca previously had moved to Las Vegas 

from Peña Blanca in 1865. He owned a mercantile business and ran freight wagons on the 

Santa Fe Trail (p. 80).

Cajete, Gregory

1994 Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education. Durango, CO: Kivakí 

Press.

Cajete, a Santa Clara Tewa educator, is concerned with sustaining traditional cultural 

knowledge as a way for communities to maintain their cultural identity and sense of wellbeing. Cajete explores indigenous education as an attempt “to develop insights into the 

community of shared metaphors and understandings that are specific to Indian cultures, yet 

reflect the nature of human learning as a whole” (p. 21). Chapter 3, The Spiritual Ecology 

of Indigenous Education, and chapter 4, The Environmental Foundation of Indigenous 

Education, are especially relevant to understanding the importance of place held by 

traditional communities in their ethnographic landscape constructions.

To Cajete, indigenous education is an exploration of spiritual ecology. Traditionally, “the 

ultimate goal of Indigenous education was to be fully knowledgeable about one’s innate 

spirituality” (p. 42). The medium for attaining this knowledge is the many-layered spiritual 

connections Indian people feel with special places in their lands and in their lives. These 

connections have roots in mythic times and do not necessarily require material use to sustain 

their validity. “By talking about those special places,...[Indian people] connected their spirit 

to them through their words, thoughts, and feelings” (p. 43). Cajete explains further,

American Indians believe it is the breath that represents the most tangible expression 

of the spirit in all living things. Language is an expression of the spirit because it 

contains the power to move people and to express human thought and feeling. It is 

also the breath, along with water and thought, that connects all living things in direct 

relationship. The interrelation of water, thought (wind), and breath personifies the 

elemental relationship emanating from “that place that the Indians talk about,” that 

place of the Center where all things are created. (p. 42)

By understanding themselves as part of a natural community and an ecological process, 

Indian people express their relationships to the natural world in ways “that only can be called 

‘ensoulment’ ” (p. 83). Cajete defines ensoulment as the projection of the human sense of 

soul on particular entities, phenomena, and places in their natural environments. Moreover, 

by tracing their respective communities’ metaphorical journeys across their landscapes, 

whereby people learned about themselves in relation to their natural world, indigenous 

groups view the landscape as “a textbook of ecological understanding, interpreted through 

the traditional stories and activities of tribes” (p. 91). Disruptions of the intensity and 

intimacy of the relationship between the people of traditional Indian communities and their 

ethnographic landscapes historically resulted in the disastrous loss of meaning and identity 

for individuals, families, and communities as a whole (p. 85).

Cajete, Gregory

1999 “Look to the Mountain”: Reflections on Indigenous Ecology. In A People’s Ecology: 

Explorations in Sustainable Living. Gregory Cajete, ed. Pp. 1–20. Santa Fe, NM: Clear 

Light.

This essay is a condensation of Cajete’s (1994) larger work, Look to the Mountain: An 

Ecology of Indigenous Education. He introduces essential principles about the spiritual 

ecology of Pueblo people, including the ideas of breath, center, emergence, and movement, 

in a clear and cogent manner.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 179

Callaway, Donald, Joel Janetski, and Omer C. Stewart

1986 Ute. In Great Basin. Warren L. D’azevedo, ed. Pp. 336–367. Vol. 11 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of Ute anthropology and history. The authors 

identify the Muache and Capote as the principal Ute bands that traveled seasonally into New 

Mexico’s mountains, with the Muache ranging as far south as Santa Fe. Their map showing 

the geographic expanse of early nineteenth-century Ute territory, however, does not show the 

full extent of the people’s occupation of New Mexico (Figure 1 (p. 337)).

The authors identify Ute uses of the following plants found in the VCNP: Rocky Mountain 

juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), Gambel oak (Quercus 

gambelii), and elderberries (Sambucus sp.) for food. They also mention that the Ute use 

stinging nettle (Urtica sp.) for fiber and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) for 

tools.

Camazine, Scott, and Robert Bye

1980 A Study of the Medical Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians of New Mexico. Journal of 

Ethnopharmacology 2(4):365–388.

The list of Zuni medicinal plants includes the following Valles Caldera native plants, among 

others: milkweed (Astragalus sp.), thistle (Cirsium sp.), buckwheat (Eriogonum sp.), spurge 

(Euphorbia sp.), southwestern stoneseed (Lithospermum multiflorum), Wright’s deervetch 

(Lotus wrightii), Bigelow’s tansy-aster (Machaeranthera bigelovii), narrowleaf four-o’clock 

(Mirabilis linearis), primrose (Oenothera sp.), scorpionweed (Phacelia sp.), piñon (Pinus 

edulis), common plantain (Plantago major), curlyleaf dock (Rumex crispus), and willow 

(Salix sp.).

Carmichael, David L.

1994 Places of Power: Mescalero Apache Sacred Sites and Sensitive Areas. In Sacred 

Sites, Sacred Places. David L. Carmichael, Jane Hubert, Brian Reeves, and Audhild 

Schanche, eds. Pp. 89–98. London: Routledge.

In an insightful overview, Carmichael considers “some of the kinds of sites and places 

considered sacred or sensitive in traditional Mescalero thought” (p. 89). He observes,

A fundamental aspect of traditional Mescalero thought is the belief in the sacred 

character of specific geographical places. Some are important because of the roles 

they played in the mythic time of Mescalero tribal history. Others are sources of 

natural resources required in traditional ceremonies. Most appear to be important 

because they are places of power... (p. 89)

Carmichael examines the thesis that the Apache believe the sacred character of specific 

landscape features from which the people draw power is an essential component of Apache 

self-identity. He explains the Apache idea of power as “a spiritual energy or life force that 

enables an individual to interact with the forces of the natural and supernatural worlds” (p. 

91). His observation, “Belief in the sacred character of specific features of the landscape 

is an essential component of Mescalero self-identity” (p. 96), imparts to the reader the gist 

of how Apache people ensoul their physical worlds through their acquisition of power in 

accord with the structured order communicated through the base metaphor (see Farrer 1991). 

Carmichael similarly provides a framework for unpacking key aspects of the ideational 

organization of places of power within the landscape that structure how Apache people 

obtain the power they need for sustaining balance and harmony.

Carrillo, Charles M., Kurt F. Anschuetz, Richard D. Holmes, and Susan Perlman

1997 Historic Overview of the Project Area. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 

119–138. Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Of interest to the land use history of the VCNP is the report that Tewa populations in the 

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries used a trail that started in Santa Clara Canyon to reach 

Navajo and Hispanic communities to the west and north. Apparently used exclusively during 

the warm season, this upland route allowed travelers to avoid flooded areas along the Río 

Chama valley (p. 132).

The trail left Santa Clara and traveled up the Cañada de Santa Clara to the 

headwaters of the canyon near Tsichoma Peak. From here the western branch of the 

route briefly headed in a southwestern direction and then down the Río de los Indios 
180 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

to the Río San Antonio. The Río San Antonio is located in the Valle de San Antonio 

across the northern third of Baca Location Number 1. This creek continues in a 

western direction toward the western edge of the Jemez Range. At one point a traveler 

can turn off this western branch and head south toward San Diego Canyon at Jemez. 

The other branch of the trail continues northward to Río del Oso, passes San Antonio 

de los Vallecitos, and swings in a western direction toward Polvadera Creek where it 

continues in a northern direction along the creek until it reaches the Piedra Lumbre 

Valley. A traveler can branch off the trail at Vallecitos and travel in a northerly 

direction. (p. 133)

Chama Valley residents apparently ran sheep across the uplands and crossed into the Valle 

San Antonio locality:

During the summer months herdsmen often lived in small tipi-like structures which 

they frequently moved as they herded their animals. The structures were built of hides 

or canvas (Informant F, personal communication 1991). This seasonal movement of 

livestock ensured that fresh grazing land was available and that valuable agricultural 

land was undisturbed by livestock. Documentary data and the oral history of villagers 

in Abiquiu, Cañones, and Youngsville, indicates that the entire area of the OLE line 

was at one time or another used for grazing, with the exception of the steep canyon 

walls. (p. 135)

One Chama Valley resident remembers visiting the Valles Caldera to collect native plants:

I recall gathering piñon nuts, broom grass, and other things in the area of the 

[proposed OLE] power line, especially the Baca Location. Broom grass was a sacred 

plant found in the Baca Location. (p. 137, citing Informant I, personal communication 

1991)

Castañeda, Pedro de

1907 Narrative of the Expedition of Coronado. In Spanish Explorers in the Southwestern 

United States 1528–1543. Frederick W. Hodge, ed. Pp. 273–387. New York: Charles 

Scribner’s Sons.

This is a collection of chronicles of early Spanish exploration. Castañeda describes the visit 

of Captain Francisco de Barrionuevo to the Jémez province in the summer of 1542.

Castetter, Edward F.

1935 Uncultivated Native Plants Used as Sources of Food. Ethnobiological Studies in the 

American Southwest 1. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico.

Castetter reports on ethnographically documented food uses of many native flora species 

that are found in or have close relatives in the Valles Caldera. Examples include the Eastern 

Keres’ use of field mint (Mentha arvensis), sorrel (Rumex sp.), and nightshade (Solanum

sp.). He notes that the Western Keres eat the common plantain (Plantago major). The Zuni 

eat products from the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), while the Navajo consume the 

chokecherry (Prunus sp.).

Chamberlin, Ralph V.

1909 Some Plant Names of the Ute Indians. American Anthropologist 11:27–40.

Chamberlin identifies the medicinal uses of several species that grow in the VCNP. These 

plants include yarrow (Achillea sp.), buckwheat (Eriogonum sp.), and marsh elder (Iva sp.).

Chinle Curriculum Center

1995 Diné Bikeyahdóó Ch’il Nanise’ Altaas’éí: The Purpose and Uses of Plants of 

Navajoland. Chinle, AZ: Chinle Unified School District.

The authors discuss several plants that grow in the Valles Caldera area. These species include 

golden aster (Cicuta maculata), which has medicinal properties. Western bracken (Pteridium 

aquilinum) is both a medicine and a fiber source.

Church, Peggy Pond

n.d. Peggy Pond Church Correspondence. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Historical 

Museum.

Peggy Pond Church was the daughter of Ashley Pond, the founder of the Los Alamos Ranch 

School. She was a published author with a special interest in the history of the Los Alamos 

area. This collection contains items of her correspondence with friends and researchers.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 181

In a letter dated March 22, 1979, to “Art,” Church cites a letter, from Richard Boyd, 

Albuquerque, to Homer Pickens, that Boyd’s widow showed her. A road “made by the Army 

when the Missouri volunteers were stationed at Fort Marcy” ran up Pajarito Canyon to a 

point below the Llano Largo, “alongside Water Canyon on the mesa top and on over the 

mountain from Water Canyon site.” This road was the route used by the soldiers hauling hay 

for draft animals at Fort Marcy. The Army abandoned the road, however, because a fourmule team hauling hay would eat most of the hay on the way to Santa Fe. Then, according to 

Boyd, the U.S. Army established a hay camp “west of Water Canyon on the rim about a mile 

[1.6 km] from the old Ted Mather cabin. You can still find evidence of this camp (1964)...” 

(LAHM-M1991–31–1–39, box 29, folder 5). Church questions her correspondent about “the 

old Ted Mather cabin,” whose location is uncertain.

The Church Papers also include two texts identified as being in the records of the Adjutant 

General (National Archives, Washington, DC). The first is a letter from Robert Nesbit and 

Hiram Parker, dated July 1851, to Colonel Munroe, Commander, 9th Military Detachment. 

Nesbit and Parker held the contract to supply hay to the quartermaster. They bought a train 

of mule wagons from a Mr. Tully, and were engaged in delivering hay from “from what is 

known as the Grande Bioh [sic] some forty miles [64 km] from here.” The “Grande Bioh” 

was the only place where natural hay could be obtained, due to the dryness of the season. On 

the night of July 2, 1851, a large band of Navajos attacked their “substantial” log house and 

corral and stole over 100 horses and mules.

A letter dated July 17, 1851, from B. H. Robertson to 1st Lieutenant L. McLaws states that 

11 Jémez Indians pursued the Navajos. The Jémez party killed 2 Navajos on the border of 

Navajo country and captured four mules. He describes the ranch [of Nesbit and Parker] as 

“built of bottom wood logs...the corral is constructed of large, green cottonwood logs...” 

“The entire number of animals stolen was forty-nine...” (LAHM-M1991–31–1–15, box 28, 

folder 8).

Church also compiled a set of notes that she labeled “Ramón Vigil Grant—Roads Etc.” In 

this she repeats the information derived from the Boyd letter about the hay road and camp 

(LAHM-M1991–31–1–16, box 28, folder 6). 3(See also entry for Parkhurst n.d.)

Cleland, Robert Glass

1950 This Reckless Breed of Men: The Trappers and Fur Traders of the Southwest. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

In this study of the fur trade in the Southwest, Cleland mentions the death of Luis María 

Baca. On June 6, 1827, Governor Manuel Armijo reported that he had confiscated a valuable 

collection of furs belonging to Ewing Young. Armijo invoked an 1824 statute that prohibited 

citizens of the United States from trapping furs in Mexican territory. According to Armijo, 

Luis María Baca had hidden Young’s furs in Baca’s house; Baca shot first, and was shot and 

killed by soldiers of an auxiliary troop (p. 219).

Colton, Harold S.

1974 Hopi Ethnobotany and Archaeological History. New York: Garland Publishing.

Colton reports that Hopi use Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), Gambel oak 

(Quercus gambelii), and Narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus angustifolia) for making tools. 

They eat western wallflower (Erysimum capitatum), sunflower (Helianthus sp.), and fouro’clock (Mirabilis sp.). Gilia (Ipomopsis sp.) is a dye. Each of these plants grows in the 

VCNP.

Colton, Mary-Russell Ferrell

1965 Hopi Dyes. Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona.

Hopi dye plants found in the VCNP include Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) 

and piñon (Pinus edulis).

Cook, Sarah Louise

1930 The Ethnobotany of the Jemez Indians. Masters thesis. University of New Mexico, 

Albuquerque.

Cook identifies 57 native plants, plus lichen, moss and algae, used by the people of Jémez 

Pueblo. She provides cursory information on how the people use each taxon.

Cook’s inventory includes a variety of plants present in the VCNP. Examples include 

bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva ursi), ragweed (Hymenopappus sp.), Rocky Mountain juniper 
182 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

(Juniperus scopulorum), New Mexico Locust (Robinia neomexicana), and ragwort (Senecio

sp.), which produce edible products. Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp.) keeps chili seeds from 

spoiling. Aster (Machaeranthera sp.) has medicinal properties, while junegrass (Koeleria 

macrantha) makes a broom and split geranium epidermis (Geranium sp.) yields a thread for 

sewing moccasins.

Coolidge, Dane, and Mary Roberts Coolidge

1930 The Navajo Indians. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

The authors report the appearance (but not the location) of the Navajo Holy Mountain of the 

East, as described by Long Mustache of Klagetoh in his account of the separation of the Diné 

from their Apache relatives:

In this large country between the Four Holy Mountains the Dineh ́ lived, but the 

different branches of the tribe were always quarreling about what territory they 

should occupy. At that time, over near Zith-nah-jinni, the Holy Mountain of the East, 

there was another called Tramped-Down Mountain because it was flat on top. It was 

full of bushes bearing berries and nuts but Zith-nah-jinni was smooth and barrenlooking, being covered with grass. There were horses there, and deer and other 

game... (p. 8)

Corlett, Charles H.

1974 Cowboy Pete. Santa Fe, NM: Sunstone Press.

Corlett, a career Army officer who rose to the rank of Major General, was Frank Bond’s sonin-law and was briefly the manager of the Baca Location when Bond leased it from Redondo 

Development Company.

Because of the severe winter of 1919 many cattle and sheep died of starvation. Frank 

Bond was beside himself with worry and nearly out of his mind. John Davenport, 

overworked and somewhat discouraged as a result of the dreary winter, did not object 

when Bond made me manager, but became my loyal and valued assistant. I resigned 

my commission as lieutenant colonel (temporary) in the Army of the United States 

and became a stockman...After about four months at La Jara, the headquarters of the 

Baca, Amy and I moved down into the valley and occupied my mother’s house. (pp. 

46–47)

Curtis, Edward S.

1926 The North American Indian: Being a Series of Volumes Picturing and Describing the 

Indians of the United States, the Dominion of Canada, and Alaska, vol. 17. The Tewa, 

the Zuni, Mythology. Norwood, MA: Plimpton Press.

Curtis is often criticized today for staging many of his artistically acclaimed photographs. In 

contrast, the ethnographic observations contained in the volumes are often overlooked.

In this volume Curtis provides information that Tewa communities far from Sandia 

Mountain, such as San Ildefonso, apparently define physiographic analogues within their 

immediate home territories for purposes of most regular pilgrimages and prayers.

Curtis retells a San Ildefonso story about the Warrior Twins who now live on Sandia 

Mountain and protect the communities they watch over. The story, “The War-Gods Destroy 

Tsimayó” (p. 172), is of interest to the VCNP Land-Use History project because of its 

references to the Warrior Twins, giants, mountains, caves, and volcanism.

The Warrior Twins drove away to Shúma the giant that had been plaguing the people of San 

Ildefonso Pueblo. Shúma is the high volcanic mesa south of the village at the beginning of 

the Río Grande Gorge.

There they destroyed him, and smoke was belched forth from Shúma, from Tsimayó 

[Chimayo mountain northeast of the village], from a large cave in a northern 

Mountain, and from the cave in Tún

yo. (p. 172)

Curtis adds that all these smoke-belching features are of volcanic origin. He infers that the 

tale points to the Tewas’ presence in the region at the time these craters were active.

The story is also useful because it reveals the traditional understanding among the Tewa that 

lava rock was once a liquid that flowed from the earth. According to Curtis’ informants, the 

Warrior Twins lived directly among the people. Giants terrorized the people, who sought 

the Warrior Twins’ assistance. The warriors chased the giants and fought them. When they 

finally killed the evil beings, the people saw nearby volcanic peaks and their caves belch 

smoke, if not also lava and fire, which hardened the earth.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 183

Cushing, Frank Hamilton

1896 Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths. In Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of 

Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Pp. 321–447. Washington, 

DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

In this classic ethnography, Cushing provides Zuni Pueblo understandings of volcanism 

through the following poetic account:

That the earth be made safer for men, and more stable,

Let us shelter the land where our children be resting,

Yea! The depths and the valleys shall be sheltered

By the shade of our cloud-shield! Let us lay to its circle

Our firebolts of thunder, aimed to all the four regions,

Then smite with our arrows of lightning from under

Lo! Fire shall belch outward and burn the world over,

And floods of hot water shall seethe swift before it!

Lo! Smoke of earth—stenches shall blacken the daylight

And deaden the senses of them else escaping

And lesson the number of fierce preying monsters!

That the earth be made safer for men, and more stable. (p. 389)

Cushing continues the account in narrative:

Dread was the din and stir. The heights staggered and the mountains reeled, the plains 

boomed and cracked under the floods and fires, and the high hollow places, hugged 

of men and the creatures, were black and awful, so that these grew crazed with panic 

and strove alike to escape or to hide more deeply. But ere-while they grew deafened 

and deadened, forgetful and asleep! A tree lighted of lightning burns not long! 

Presently thick rain fell, quenching the fires; and waters washed the face of the world, 

cutting deep trails from the heights downward, and scattering abroad the wrecks and 

corpses of stricken things and beings, or burying them deeply. Lo! they are seen in the 

mountains to this day; and in the trails of those fierce waters cool rivers now run, and 

where monsters perished lime of their bones (áluwe—calcareous nodules in malpais 

or volcanic tuff) we find, and use in food stuff! Gigantic were they, for their forms 

little and great were often burned or shriveled and contorted into stone. See are these, 

also, along the depths of the world. Where they huddled together and were blasted 

thus, their blood gushed forth and flowed deeply, here in rivers, there in floods; but it 

was charred and blistered and blackened by the fires, into the black rocks of the lower 

mesas (ápkwina, lava or malpais). There were vast plains of dust, ashes and cinders, 

reddened as is the mud of a hearth-place. There were great banks of clay and soil 

burned to hardness—as clay is when baked in the kiln-mound,—blackened, bleached, 

or stained yellow, gray, red, or white, streaked and banded, bended or twisted. Worn 

and broken by the heavings of the under-world and by the waters and breaths of the 

ages, they are the mountain-terraces of the Earth-mother, “dividing country from 

country.” Yet many were the places behind and between these—dark canyons, deep 

valleys, sunken plains—unharmed by the fires, where they swerved or rolled higher—

as, close to the trace of a forest-fire, green grow trees and grasses, and even flowers 

continue to bloom. Therein, and in the land sheltered by the shield, tarried the people, 

awakened, as from fearful dreams. Dry and more stable was the world now, less 

fearsome its long places; since, changed to rock were so many monsters of prey (some 

shriveled to the size of insects; made precious as amulets for the hunter and warrior, 

as told in other talks of our ancient speech). (pp. 389–390)

Cushing, Frank Hamilton

1920 Zuni Breadstuff. Indian Notes and Monographs Vol. 8. New York: Museum of the 

American Indian.

Cushing presents a perspective on Zuni concepts of volcanism that restate the information 

in his “Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths” (see entry for Cushing 1896) in this classic 

monograph of Zuni ethnobotany:

Then said the twin brothers: “Men, our children are poorer than the beasts, their 

enemies; for each creature has a special gift of strength or sagacity, while to men has 

been given only the power of guessing. Nor would we that our children be webfooted 

like the beings that live over the waters and damp places.”

Therefore, they sent all men and harmless beings to a place of security; then laid 

their water-shield on the ground. Upon it they placed four thunderbolts, one pointing 

north, another west, another south, and the other eastward. When all was ready they 

let fly the thunderbolts. Instantly the world was covered with lurid fire and shaken 

with rolling thunders, as is a forest today burned and blasted where the lightning 
184 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

has fallen. Thus as the clay of vessels is burned to rock, and the mud of the hearth 

crackled and reddened by fire, so the earth was mottled and crackled and hardened 

where now we see mountains and masses of rock. Many of the great monsters and 

prey-beings were changed in a twinkling to enduring rock or shriveled into twisted 

idols which the hunter and priest-warrior know best how to prize. Behold! their forms 

along every mountainside and ravine and in the far western valleys and plains still 

endure the tracks of the fathers of men and beings, the children of earth. Yet some of 

the beings of prey were spared, that the world might not become over‐filled with life 

and starvation follow, and that men might breathe of their spirits and be inspired with 

the hearts of warriors and hunters. (pp. 32–33)

Dondanville, R. F.

1971 The Hydrothermal Geology of the Valles Caldera, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. 

Open file consultant report. Santa Rosa, CA: Union Oil Co.

This 36-page report describes the first geothermal well drilled in the Valles Caldera (1960). 

Intended as an oil test well, the Westates-Bond 1 struck superheated water (about 392 oF [200

oC]) at shallow depths. This discovery led to a testing program that was finally abandoned in 

1982 when the thermal capacity proved smaller than expected.

Douglass, William Boone

1917 Notes on the Shrines of the Tewa and Other Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. In

Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists. Frederick W. 

Hodge, ed. Pp. 344–378. Washington, DC: International Congress of Americanists.

Douglass identifies the following locations in his summary map (Plate I): 91—Río Jémez, 

105—Rito de las Indias, 107—Río San Antonio, 106—Shrine of La Sierra de la Bola (a.k.a. 

Cerro Redondo), 108—Sulphur Creek and Hot Springs, 207—Rito Jaramillo, 208—La Jara 

Creek, and 209—Old Fort. He provides a comprehensive description (pp. 357–362), two 

sketch maps (figs. 7 and 8), and two photographs of La Sierra de la Bola shrine (figs. 9 and 

10).

Douglass reports that people from the pueblos of Jémez, Zía, Santo Domingo, Sandia, 

Cochití, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and San Juan are known to visit the shrine “every year 

during August” (p. 358). He describes finding a broken metate at the shrine during his visit 

and tells of a local Hispanic resident who found a heavy cast silver ornament (fig. 6), which 

apparently resembles styles made at the end of the seventeenth century, buried within the 

feature.

Douglass also provides comprehensive description and illustration of the shrine (figs. 1–5) 

located on the top of Tsikumu (a.k.a. Cerro Chicoma), which is just outside the northeast 

corner of the Baca Location (pp. 344–357). Douglass states that the directional orientation 

of the six trails (awu-mu-waya [“rain-roads”]) radiating from northeast to south from 

the shrine’s center, suggest pilgrimages by the Pueblos of Taos, San Juan, Santa Clara, 

San Ildefonso, Jémez, and Cochití. The final opening, which leaves the shrine from the 

northwest, relates to Navajo visits to this holy place.

Douglass, William Boone, and Hugh M. Neighbour

n.d. Restorative Survey of the Baca Location No. 1. Microfiche on file: Santa Fe, NM: State 

Office, Bureau of Land Management.

U.S. Surveyor William Boone Douglass and transitman Hugh M. Neighbour conducted 

an examination survey of the Baca Location between September 7 and October 10, 1911, 

and then carried out a restorative survey between July 29 and October 10, 1912. Although 

their assignment was to find and reestablish the original surveyors’ monuments (see entry 

for Sawyer and McBroom 1876), they determined that the Location contained 90,426 acres 

(36,593 ha)–8,844 acres (3,579 ha) less than found by the original survey. They could not 

find many of the original corners; they also noted that the first surveyors had marked many 

of the grant boundary lines by blazing trees.

Douglass’ concluding “General Description” states:

The Baca Location No. 1 lies in the heart of the Jemez Mountains. In the main, it 

comprises three intermountain valleys, namely: Valle Grande, Valle Santa Rosa and 

Valle San Antonio. The mountain ridges towering above the valleys, from one to two 

thousand feet [305–915 m], wall in a quadrangle approximately twelve miles square 

[31 sq km], and roughly define the boundaries of the grant. The interspace is by no 

means level, but broken by lesser hills, is impassable for wagons, except along the 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 185

favored routes shown on the plat. Four important streams rise in this area. The Río 

Jemez drains the Valle Grande. The Río San Antonio with its tributaries, La Jara and 

Indian Creeks drain the other two valleys. At the South East corner of the grant, rises 

the Rito de los Frijoles; near the NE. Cor. Rises the Santa Clara Creek. All streams 

are tributaries of the Río Grande.

The soil of the valleys is a rich black loam, which may be classed as first rate. At 

many points in the higher lands the soil is almost as good. This coupled with a 

copious supply of moisture, produces a heavy growth of grass, making the grant ideal 

for grazing purposes. The lands, perhaps, have other agricultural values, especially 

that in the lower valleys, but the high altitude, a mean of about 9,000 ft. [2,744 m] 

above sea level, tends to prevent the maturing of crops.

The ridges, densely timbered with fir and spruce, and considerable pine, give good 

timber values.

The mineral values of the grant are unknown, with the exception of valuable mineral 

springs of sulphur, magnesia, alum and iron on the west boundary of the grant. Just 

west of the line is a mineral resort, known as Sulphur Springs. The outcropping stone 

indicated that gold, silver and copper may be found in these hills.

The grant is without permanent habitation. During the summer months, the owners 

maintain a cattle ranch, and near the SE. Cor. is a dairy ranch. The members of both 

ranches leave before winter sets in. In the valleys to the south and West without the 

bounds of the grant, permanent settlements are found, where the lands appear to be 

cultivated with a profit.

The grant may be reached from the following railway points: Buckman and Espanola 

on the D. and R. G. Ry., and Domingo and Bernalillo on the A. T. and S. F. Ry. The 

Espanola and Bernalillo routes are the most feasible for a wagon. (p. 83)

Dozier, Edward P.

1970 Pueblo Indians of North America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Dozier, a Santa Clara Pueblo native and trained anthropologist, provides an invaluable 

overview of Pueblo society, social organization, religion, history, and subsistence. Because 

he explains the historical record from the Pueblo point of view, his account makes it possible 

to understand the Pueblo reaction to and accommodation of the Spanish colonial invasion 

that began in the sixteenth century and led to the creation of contemporary New Mexican 

society.

Dozier discusses contact, the seventeenth century in New Mexico, the Pueblo Revolt, and its 

aftermath.

Dunmire, William W., and Gail D. Tierney

1995 Wild Plants of the Pueblo Province: Exploring Ancient and Enduring Uses. Santa Fe: 

Museum of New Mexico Press.

This volume is an invaluable summary of the ethnobotany of the 19 Pueblos (Ácoma, 

Cochití, Isleta, Jémez, Laguna, Nambé, Picurís, Pojoaque, San Felipe, Sandia, San Ildefonso, 

San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zía, and Zuni) of New 

Mexico. This study is an essential resource for evaluating the cultural significance of native 

plants in the VCNP.

The authors provide accessible discussions of the region’s natural environmental diversity, 

the Pueblos’ history and culture from pre-Columbian to contemporary times, the recognition 

of native flora as living cultural artifacts, and informative ethnobotanical overviews of 

commonly used tree, shrub, grass, grasslike, and herbaceous plant species.

Dunmire, William W., and Gail D. Tierney

1997 Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners. Santa Fe: Museum of New 

Mexico Press.

As a complementary volume to their study, Wild Plants of the Pueblo Province: Exploring 

Ancient and Enduring Uses (see entry for Dunmire and Tierney 1995), the authors provide 

excellent introductions to the ethnobotany of the pre-Columbian Pueblo, and the Historic 

period Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, and Jicarilla peoples of the Four Corners region. 

They again provide readable, informative discussions of the region’s natural environment, 

the Pueblos’ pre-Columbian history, the recognition of native flora as living cultural 

artifacts, and informative ethnobotanical overviews of commonly used tree, shrub, grass, and 

herbaceous plant species.
186 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Dutton, Bertha P.

1938 The Jemez Mountain Region. El Palacio 44:141–142.

In this travel guide, Dutton describes a trip from Coronado State Monument on Highway 44 

to San Ysidro, then on Highway 12 through Jémez Pueblo and north and east into the Valle 

Grande. Boyd’s Ranch is just outside the southeastern rim of the caldera. Dutton describes 

the caldera, formed by volcanic eruptions, as eighteen miles [29 km] long and twelve miles 

[19 km] across. She says that several permanent watercourses originate in the valley, and 

notes that “during the past century, when the U.S. Army had its headquarters in Santa Fe, 

they maintained a wagon road to El Valle Grande and there cut the hay necessary for their 

animal consumption” (p. 142).

Dutton, Bertha P.

1952 Highlights of the Jemez Region...With Notes on What To See and What To Do There... 

El Palacio 59:131–156.

This entry updates Dutton’s (1938) article. Dutton now names the Triple H Ranch just 

outside the southeastern rim of the caldera. She also states that “hundreds of sheep and cattle 

are grazed” in the Valle Grande. Otherwise the entry has not changed from that of 1938.

Dutton describes the Valle Grande:

Past the Triple H Ranch a short distance, one skirts the southeastern rim of El 

Valle Grande, also spoken of as the great Jémez Crater, where, according to some 

geologists, late Tertiary volcanic flows and tuffs were belched forth from the earth 

to extend down the slopes in every direction, in places thousands of feet thick. The 

eruption, or eruptions, caused a great basin or caldera to be formed, eighteen miles 

[29 km] in length and twelve miles [19 km] across. Several small streams derive their 

source from the waters which accumulate there. Stately trees outline the rim, and tall, 

luxuriant grasses grow in the basin, where hundreds of sheep and cattle are grazed. 

During the past century the U.S. Army, when it had its headquarters in Santa Fe, 

maintained a wagon road to El Valle Grande, and there cut the hay necessary for their 

animal consumption. (pp. 154–155; emphasis in the original]

Elsewhere, Dutton describes the summits that bound the Valle Grande. Notably, she 

mistakenly identifies Pelado and Redondo as separate peaks. (Dutton seems to follow 

Harrington [1916:125] and Ellis [1974:166] in equating Pelado with Tsikumu [a.k.a. Cerro 

Chicoma], the Tewa Mountain of the West.)

Conspicuous are the rounded domes of Pelado, Redondo, and other high peaks of the 

Jémez Mountains, ranging from 10,000 to 11,266 feet [3,049–3,435 m] in elevation. 

They are bald on the south sides and timbered on the north. (p. 154; emphasis in the 

original)

Edleman, Sandra A.

1979 San Ildefonso Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 278–295. Vol. 9 of 

Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of San Ildefonso 

Pueblo.

Edleman, Sandra A., and Alfonso Ortiz

1979 Tesuque Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 330–335. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Tesuque Pueblo.

Ellis, Florence Hawley

1956 Anthropological Evidence Supporting the Land Claim of the Pueblos of Zia, Santa 

Ana, and Jemez. Santa Fe: Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico. 

Unpublished MS.

Ellis provides cultural-historical evidence that the Pueblos of Zía, Santa Ana, and Jémez 

traditionally occupied geographic territories that far exceeded their present-day land 

holdings. With respect to the Valles Caldera locality, Ellis writes,

The area around Mt. Pelado [a.k.a. Cerro Redondo], for example, formerly was a 

headquarters district for herding; there are evidences of old camps and corrals with 

potsherds. The area likewise was considered sacred for some distance around 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 187

Mt. Pelado because on the peak was one of their most sacred shrines. The Baca 

location, nearby, was a shrine, a center of eagle and big game hunting, and later an 

area for herding horses. (p. 56)

More generally, Ellis adds,

There were specific places, miles from the present pueblos, from which to collect paint 

materials, red, blue, black, and yellow, as well as petrified wood, obsidian, basalt, 

sandstone, volcanic tuff, and the many types of stone and minerals used in making 

implements and pottery. There were springs, water holes, washes dammed with lines 

of stone to produce garden patch areas. And finally there were the many sacred spots, 

shrines to which groups must go for ceremonies especially pertinent to them, or where 

certain persons must go periodically to deposit prayer offerings. Many of these were 

springs, because water is especially sacred to these people. Some were caves, some 

prominent mesa-hills. (pp. 56–57)

Deer were hunted in the high country north and west of the pueblos; antelope were 

hunted in the plains east of Mesa Prieta; shrines involved with the ceremonies 

necessary for such activities were caves and springs within the areas. On such hunts 

the three pueblos customarily went together, each taking its turn at directing the 

hunting and conducting the requisite ceremonies in a cave in that area still marked 

with an eagle on its ceiling...When the Pueblos acquired flocks and herds, their 

officers exercised similar care in directing where they should be pastured, so that the 

grass would not be eaten down too far in any one spot. Their big hunting and grazing 

areas bear witness to this former land use in that large and small geographic features 

were given names, which people know still, so that districts within them might be 

designated by the war captains as hunting or herding spots for specific periods. 

(pp. 57–58)

Ellis, Florence Hawley

1964 A Reconstruction of the Basic Jemez Pattern of Social Organization, with Comparisons 

to Other Tanoan Social Structures. Publications in Anthropology 11. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Ellis’ study is concerned with what the social structure of the modern Pueblos can contribute 

to the problem of evaluating the relation between the archaeologically visible settlements 

in pre-Columbian culture areas and the contemporary communities. In her review of the 

organization of Jémez Pueblo societies and cults, she provides several useful observations 

for assessing the ethnographic significance of the Valles Caldera landscape.

The Underworld Chiefs Society, consisting ideally of 12 members, is a highly secretive 

organization that relies heavily on seclusion.

Their name refers to their relationships with the underworld. They use underground 

chambers, such as hidden caves beneath waterfalls or high in the mountains, for 

initiations, and shrines, although their meetings are held in the home of their chief in 

the village. Springs or lagoons, the home of their patron, the plumed serpent, also are 

used as places of initiation, for the society members are supposed to associate with 

the supernaturals of the underworld in springs and caves and to prophesy the future 

for the pueblo, on the basis of what they have seen below the water or on the walls or 

floors of caves, or of what they have heard in such underground contacts. (p. 32)

Ellis, Florence Hawley

1974 Navajo Indians I: An Anthropological Study of the Navajo Indians. New York: 

Garland Publishing.

In her discussion of Navajo holy places and shrines, Ellis states, “Mt. Pelado, highest peak 

in the Jemez range, is visited by Zia, Jemez, Santa Ana, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Cochiti, 

and the Tewa Pueblos north of Santa Fe; all leave offerings here” (p. 157). She adds that 

some of the Pueblos’ corpus mountains of cardinal direction, such as Mount Pelado,

claim one or the other of these mountains as boundary markers, and in some cases 

it is apparent that such a high peak, like any other outstanding natural feature, 

could well serve as a marker between two tribal territories or even as a corner 

indicating where more than two came together. But it is also apparent that all the 

tribes which deposit offerings on the top of such a mountain cannot possibly claim 

the entire mountain. A tribe might own the side closest to the rest of its own domain, 

or it might not lay claim to any more of the physical body of the mountain but only 

to a recognized right to deposit offerings upon it, that right presumably having come 

into being through permission of other users of the peak or simply through lack of 

prohibition of such use by other users. (pp. 157–158; emphasis in the original)
188 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The Navajo claim that Mount Pelado, as well as Mount Taylor and the San Francisco 

Mountains, is holy to their people. Ellis observes that this belief apparently is not native to 

Navajo belief; rather, she states, “It definitely is a Pueblo concept and the presence of the 

concept among the Navajo and Jicarilla Apache presumably is the result of borrowing from 

the pueblos” (p. 158).

Ellis, Florence Hawley

1994 Pueblo Religious Patterns, Especially Types of Shrines and Areas for Collecting 

Herbs and Other Religious Necessities. Andrea Hawley Ellis, ed. In Artifacts, Shrines, 

and Pueblos: Papers in Honor of Gordon Page. Meliha S. Duran and David T. 

Kirkpatrick, eds. Pp. 101–112. Archaeological Society of New Mexico 20. Albuquerque: 

Archaeological Society of New Mexico.

This paper is a reiteration of a classified document bearing the same title that Florence 

Hawley Ellis and Andrea Ellis Dodge submitted at court on behalf of the Public Service 

Company and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The published essay is a modified version of 

the introduction to a court document concerning specific areas identified by the Pueblos of 

San Juan, San Ildefonso, and Santa Clara that should be avoided during the construction of 

a proposed high-voltage power line across the Jémez Mountains. This work is important 

because it provides a variety of contextual information for understanding Pueblo statements 

regarding the sanctity of places on their ethnographic landscapes that community members 

identify as possessing special, fragile qualities.

The article is useful for its review of the topic of religious privacy. Ellis identifies the general 

Pueblo belief “that, if their religious concepts and rituals are divulged to outsiders, those 

facets lose power” (p. 101). In her discussion of the basic tenets of Pueblo religion, Ellis 

further explains the difficult situation posed when persons from outside a cultural community 

ask for explanations of religious belief and faith:

the old Pueblo concept contends that if one freely “gives away his religion” (lets it be 

known) to outsiders, it no longer holds as much strength. They recognize that, as any 

secret ceases to hold its mystery, it also becomes emasculated, losing its power, and 

thus becomes useless. (p. 103)

In her discussion of shrines and other special power points on the Pueblos’ ethnographic 

landscapes, Ellis offers several other observations that contribute greatly to the article’s 

usefulness:

Shrines clearly are central to the practice of Pueblo religion, whether located within 

the village or at a distance. (p. 104)

Communication with Earth Mothers and other types of...[supernatural beings]...is 

primarily through shrines. They are locations where the spirits are believed to be at 

hand, or possibly live, thus a shrine area may be small like a sipapu in a kiva or quite 

large. (p. 103)

Shrines that have fallen out of present use remain sacred and revered, since each 

shrine is like a telephone receiver, whose line communicates with the supernatural 

switchboard even when rarely employed. Each shrine contains a sacred power to be 

respected and never desecrated. (p. 104)

Ellis notes that desecration of shrines and other places of great cultural significance to 

Pueblo communities can occur even when a proposed land-altering activity is underlain by 

the best intentions. Modifications to improve a locality, such as the cementing of a spring to 

enhance the flow of water, might represent a profane contamination of a sacred locality that 

renders a place—and its resources—”entirely unusable in a ritual context” (p. 110).

Importantly, Ellis adds that within the Pueblos’ views of their worlds, the physical visitation 

of places held with reverence on their ethnographic landscapes is not a precondition for 

maintaining the special, reverent quality of a place. She reports that shrines “may be directly 

addressed from afar by reverently placing ones [sic] thoughts in the location of the distant 

shrine or by visiting its...substitute” (p. 105) located closer to home or in a less public 

location. Moreover, buffer areas that are “necessarily and consistently” (p. 110) free from 

trespass are required to maintain the sanctity of power points on the Pueblos’ ethnographic 

landscapes.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 189

Elmore, Francis H.

1944 Ethnobotany of the Navajo. Monographs 8. Santa Fe, NM: School of American 

Research.

Elmore documents several plants found in the Valles Caldera area that have economic, 

social or cultural value to the Navajo. Examples include sorrel (Rumex sp.) and willow 

(Salix sp.) as foods, blue flag (Iris missouriensis) as a dye, piñon (Pinus edulis) and quaking 

aspen (Populus tremuloides) as fuelwoods, and woods rose (Rosa woodsii) and nightshade 

(Solanum ptycanthum) as medicines.

Farrer, Claire R.

1991 Living Life’s Circle: Mescalero Apache Cosmovision. Albuquerque: University of New 

Mexico Press.

This volume gives the reader a remarkable and highly useful discussion of Mescalero 

Apache cosmology. Farrer shows how a seemingly simple metaphor—a quartered circle—

represents the richly textured and multilayered idea of life in balance (pp. 26–32, 60–61). 

Farrer maintains that the base metaphor provides “an ever and predictable order that in its 

very existence speaks eloquently of the harmonious universe of Creation” (p. 69). Four 

fundamental themes—the number four, the complementarity inherent in the relationship 

between sound and silence, the dialectical correlation intrinsic in directionality, and the ideal 

of maintaining balance and harmony throughout the cosmos—help explicate the structure 

of Apache world view and the organization of people’s behavior in their day-to-day lives. 

Farrer suggests further that to understand the genesis of the base metaphor in Mescalero 

Apache ideation, and the consequent value that the people place on this idea, illuminates 

aspects of highly patterned behavior among Athapaskan groups generally.

Farrer also includes an informative summary of Mescalero Apache history in an appendix.

Farrer, Claire R.

1992 “...By You They Will Know the Directions to Guide Them”: Stars and Mescalero 

Apaches. In Earth and Sky: Visions of the Cosmos in Native American Folklore. Ray 

A. Williamson and Claire R. Farrer, eds. Pp. 67–74. Albuquerque: University of New 

Mexico Press.

Farrer uses this short, poetic article on Mescalero Apache ethnoastronomy to examine some 

of the potent ways in which the earth and sky are linked and how the people perceive and 

assign meanings in the patterns of the stars to structure their daily thought and to organize 

their activities. In so doing, Farrer provides the reader with additional examples of the power 

of the base metaphor (a seemingly simple quartered circle motif) in understanding key 

aspects of Apache cultural patterning.

Ferguson, T. J.

2002 Western Pueblos and the Petroglyph National Monument: A Preliminary Assessment 

of the Cultural Landscapes of Ácoma, Laguna, Zuni, and Hopi. In “That Place People 

Talk About”: The Petroglyph National Monument Ethnographic Landscape Report, 

by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, Harris Francis, Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie 

L. Scheick. Pp. 4.1–4.24. Community and Cultural Landscape Contribution VIII. 

Prepared for: National Park Service, Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, 

New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe, NM: Río 

Grande Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

Ferguson reviews some of the landscape features important to the Ácoma, Hopi, Laguna, 

and Zuni. He offers valuable discussion about the cultural context and importance of shrines, 

volcanoes and lava, trails, plants, animals, and vistas. He also addresses community concerns 

about the protection and management of these features.

Ferguson, T. J., and E. Richard Hart

1985 A Zuni Atlas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Ferguson and Hart compiled this atlas from anthropological and historical research 

undertaken for litigation of Zuni land claims. The atlas documents 234 land use sites, 

including shrines, ancestral villages, and resource collection areas. Most but not all 

occur within the Zuni claim area, which extends from Mount Taylor in the east to the 

San Francisco Peaks in the west, and from the Río Puerco of the East in the north to the 

Mogollon uplands in the south.
190 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Three maps show four Zuni sites within or near the Valles Caldera. These are Map 15—

Traditional Zuni Hunting Area (Site 31), Map 16—Traditional Zuni Plant Collection Area 

(Sites 31 and 93), and Map 18—Traditional Zuni Religious Use Area (sites 31, 48, 93, and 

94). (Note: Additional Zuni cultural sites are on the east side of the Jémez Mountains where 

they are in proximity to the Río Grande Valley.

Site 31 (He:mushina Yala:we) is in the Jémez Mountains at the southwest margin of the 

Valles Caldera. The Zuni gathered medicinal herbs, collected white powder medicine, 

hunted, and obtained materials used in kiva initiations at this location. In addition, 

He:mushina Yala:we is a place name mentioned in medicine prayers (p. 127).

Site 48 (K’ya:k’yałna’ K’ya:kwayinna) is near the southwest rim of the Valles Caldera. The 

Zuni traditionally collected mud and silt at this place, which also serves as a shrine area (p. 

127).

Site 93 (Dahna K’ohanna) is near San Ysidro and represents a location where the Zuni 

harvested Apache plume and mountain mahogany and collected sand and clays. The Zuni 

also associate Dahna K’ohanna with the Nadir Kiva, with the Longhorn visiting this place 

annually (p. 129).

Site 94 (Ts’iya’a:wa) is along the southern edge of the Jémez Mountain range. The people 

visit this location as a ritual area for prayer offerings (p. 129).

Fewkes, J. Walter

1896 A Contribution to Ethnobotany. American Anthropologist 9:14–21.

Fewkes states that the Hopi eat several genera of milkweed (Asclepias sp. and Astragalus

sp.), horsetail (Equisetum sp.), and currant (Ribes cereum) found growing in the VCNP. In 

addition, he notes that the Navajo use Androsace sp. for medicine.

Ford, Karen Cowan

1975 Las Yerbas de la Gente: A Study of Hispano-American Medicinal Plants. 

Anthropological Papers 50. Ann Arbor, MI: Museum of Anthropology, University of 

Michigan.

This exhaustive compendium of 862 plants provides a baseline inventory of Hispanic 

medicinal folklore. Included are 62 genera that grow in the VCNP.

Ford, Richard I.

1992 An Ecological Analysis Involving the Population of San Juan Pueblo. New York: 

Garland Publishing.

This classic study in Pueblo ethnobotany examines the web of interrelationships that the 

San Juan Tewa maintain with the broad suite of domestic cultigens and native plants that 

they recognize as possessing economic, social, and cultural value. Plants growing in the 

VCNP that the San Juan use exclusively for food include parsley (Cymopterus sp.), peavine 

(Lathyrus sp.), mallow (Malva sp.), and penstemon (Penstemon sp.). The inventory of 

plants with varied food and medicinal uses include native onion (Allium sp.), bearberry 

(Arctostaphylos uva), milkweed (Asclepias sp.), and goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.). Other 

plants with medicinal properties include thistle (Cirsium sp.), buckweat (Eriogonum sp.), 

many-flowered stickseed (Hackelia floribunda), native mint (Mentha sp.), ponderosa pine 

(Pinus ponderosa), Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), native rose (Rosa sp.), and several dock 

and sorrel species (Rumex sp.). Ford also reports the San Juan Tewa use of New Mexico 

locust (Robinia neomexicana) for making wood tools and use of quaking aspen (Populus 

tremuloides) for construction and fuel.

Ford, Richard I., Albert H. Schroeder, and Stewart L. Peckham

1972 Three Perspectives on Puebloan Prehistory. In New Perspectives on the Pueblos. 

Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 19–39. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

The authors use archaeological evidence to argue that Towa peoples ancestral to Jémez 

Pueblo first “moved into the mountainous Jemez country” (p. 25) from the Gallina region 

by a.d. 1250. They state, “Jemez B/W pottery is a direct descendant of the carbon painted 

Gallina B/W pottery, and where lithic artifacts and similarities in burial practice further 

support the connection” (p. 25).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 191

Fowler, Catherine S.

1986 Subsistence. In Great Basin. Warren L. D’azevedo, ed. Pp. 64–97. Vol. 11 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

Fowler reports that the Ute use Woods rose (Rosa woodsii), which grows in the VCNP, as a 

medicine.

Friedlander, Eva, and Pamela J. Pinyan

1980 Indian Use of the Santa Fe National Forest: A Determination From Ethnographic 

Sources. Ethnohistorical Report Series 1. Albuquerque, NM: Center for 

Anthropological Studies.

This small publication provides an introductory overview of documentary sources discussing 

the use of the Santa Fe National Forest by the culturally diverse Indian communities of the 

region. In their introduction, the authors note, “In addition to a general reluctance on the part 

of the Indians to reveal information considered private, including often sacred and secret 

place names, ethnographic research for the most part does not necessarily concern itself with 

the exact location of hunting, fishing, and gathering spots or ritual sites” (p. 2).

Friedlander and Pinyan identify two Pueblo uses of the Valles Caldera in figure 9 (“Known 

use areas of major resources in the study area”); they identify Redondo Peak as a “Religious 

Use Area” and identify a San Ildefonso Pueblo pigment resource area at the northeast margin 

of the Valles. Without citing any source, they state, “One of the most important shrines of the 

Jemez Indians is located on the Peak of Mount Pelado [a.k.a. Cerro Redondo]. The mountain 

and its surrounding area are considered highly sacred. At one time this used to be a favorite 

area for herding” (p. 28). Friedlander and Pinyan (pp. 20, 23) cite Guthe’s (1925) study of 

San Ildefonso pottery as their source for their identification of a site for the procurement of 

a “rare yellow stone” (p. 23) used for making blackware paint. They do not mention Guthe’s 

statement that San Ildefonso potters also obtained an orange-red slip from the same Valles 

Caldera vicinity.

Although they do not specifically mention the Valles Caldera and its mountain peaks, 

Friedlander and Pinyan offer valuable insights into how the Jémez and Zía pueblos 

incorporated the nearby high-altitude settings into their ceremonial lives.

Retreats into the mountains are an important part of ritual life here as well. In 1930, 

initiation into one of the societies required the shamans from several pueblos to go 

into the mountains and gather soapweed (yucca) whips, different kinds of grass, and 

oak for use in the ceremony. For their summer retreats the societies go to collect 

decorative material for the ceremonial chamber: spruce or pinon tree boughs, willow 

branches for prayersticks, oak for kicksticks, if a race is involved, and waterworn 

pebbles to be placed on sand paintings. (White 1962:172, 232)

Water is especially sacred and many of the shrines are springs where groups go for 

ceremonies or where individuals visit periodically to deposit prayer offerings. Other 

shrines are caves or mesa hills. Although most of these are off reservation territory, 

they are visited secretly and people lament having lost them. (p. 28)

Lastly, Friedlander and Pinyan make the important observation that the locations of shrines 

and gathering areas among the Zía, Jémez, and Santa Ana Pueblos often overlapped and that 

the people of these communities together conducted many activities, such as hunting (p. 28; 

see entry for Ellis 1956).

Fry, Gary F., and H. Johnson Hall

1986 Human Coprolites. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope House. Don P. Morris, 

ed. Pp. 165–188. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park 

Service.

Fry and Hall offer archaeological evidence of the pre-Columbian Pueblo use of broadleaf 

yucca (Yucca baccata), a species that grows in the VCNP, for food.

Gill, Sam D.

1983 Navajo Views of Their Origin. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 502–505. Vol. 10 

of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.

Gill provides a useful general summary of Navajo origin mythology. He argues that while 

there are numerous, widely varying stories of cosmic creation and the origin of the Navajo, 
192 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

the accounts in his article are central to understanding the world view of the people. “The 

order and character of the world and of the place of human beings in that world, including 

their relationships with one another and with all other living things, is defined in these 

stories” (p. 505). By extension, these stories also establish the principles by which the 

Navajo define their relationship with the physical geography, including the VCNP, of the 

world in which they live.

Gill provides an illustration of the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East. Rendered by 

Harrison Begay, a Navajo artist, the work, titled “East Mountain,” is one of a set of four 

paintings, each of which represents a cardinal mountain of direction. Drawing on traditional 

mythologies similar to those recorded by Matthews (1897:78–79), Begay depicts the male 

and female inner forms of the mountain (p. 503). These supernatural beings are sprinkling 

pollen on the two pigeon eggs placed on the peak’s summit by First Man and First Woman. 

White shells, corn, and lightning decorate the mountain. A bolt of lightning, represented by a 

black band motif common in sandpaintings, fastens the peak to the earth.

Glasock, Michael D., Raymond Kunselman, and Daniel Wolfman

1999 Intrasource Chemical Differentiation of Obsidian in the Jemez Mountains and Taos 

Plateau, New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 26:861–868.

This study reports the findings of instrumental neutron activation and X-ray fluorescence 

analyses for sourcing obsidian from northern New Mexico, including the Valles Caldera of 

the Jémez Mountains. The authors undertook this study because of the long recognition that 

northern New Mexican obsidian was “one of the most important sources of lithic resources 

for the prehistoric [and possibly also the early historic] peoples of the American Southwest 

and the Southern Great Plains” (p. 861). The article provides some references for discussions 

of pre-Columbian trade networks.

Goddard, Pliny Earle

1933 Navajo Texts. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 

34(1):1–179. New York: American Museum of Natural History.

Goddard, in his retelling of the Navajo story The Emergence, identifies “sisnadjinne,” the 

Holy Mountain of the East, as Pelado Peak (p. 11). He translates this name as “Blackbelt.”

Goff, Fraser

2002 Geothermal Potential of Valles Caldera, New Mexico. Geo-Heat Center Bulletin 

23(4):7-12. Klamath Falls: Oregon Institute of Technology.

After years of work and expense, investigators have proven only 20 Mwe of geothermal 

reservoir capacity in the Valles Caldera. Estimates of undeveloped capacity range as high 

as 1,000 Mwe, but these approximations remain unsubstantiated. The shallow heat with the 

Valles rocks is vast; however, extraction of large quantities of hot fluids from these rocks has 

proven difficult (p. 10).

Goff, Fraser E., and Stephen L. Bolivar

1983 Field Trip Guide to the Valles Caldera and Its Geothermal Systems. Tech. Rep. LA9963-OBES. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos National Laboratory.

This guide is based on field trips led by the authors. The original guide was created to 

accompany a workshop held in Los Alamos in 1982 for the Continental Scientific Drilling 

Program. The guide describes a one-way trip of about 90 miles (144 km).

The guide discusses the volcanic geology of the Valles Caldera. A few notes on recent 

historic events include the drilling of some 20 geothermal wells in the Redondo Creek area 

in the period 1970–1982 (p. 30), the destruction of the Sulphur Springs resort by fire “several 

years ago” (p. 32), and the Fenton Hill Hot Dry Rock demonstration project designed and 

built by Los Alamos National Laboratory (p. 39).

The report notes heavy logging on Cerro Santa Rosa, Cerro del Abrigo, and Cerro del Medio 

(p. 22).

Goff, Fraser, and Jamie N. Gardner

1988 Valles Caldera Region, New Mexico, and the Emerging Continental Scientific Drilling 

Program. Journal of Geophysical Research 93(B6):5997–5999.

This article briefly summarizes early research activities.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 193

John Wesley Powell first described the rocks of the Jémez Mountains region during 

reconnaissance work performed in the 1880s (see entry for Powell 1961 below). The region 

was known at the time as the Tewan Plateau. Powell recognized it as an extensive volcanic 

field that had erupted many types of volcanic rocks, including voluminous deposits of ash.

Iddings (1890) presented petrographic and chemical data for some of Powell’s samples 

including Bandelier Tuff and some quartz-bearing basalts.

Gold claims were first staked in the Cochití Mining District in the southeast Jémez 

Mountains in 1893. The two largest mines, the Lone Star and Albemarle, produced ore from 

quartz veins in altered volcanic rocks primarily from 1897 to 1903 and from 1914 to 1916 

(see entry for L. C. Graton 1910). About 185,000 tons (187,968,678 kg) of ore grading about 

0.2 ounce per ton (6 mg/kg) gold and 4 ounces per ton (124 mg/kg) silver have been mined 

from the district, “but only recently have workers realized that the deposit was formed in an 

earlier hydrothermal system of the Jemez Mountains volcanic field” (p. 5997).

C. S. Ross of the U.S. Geological Survey first began surveys in the Jémez Mountains in the 

1920s (p. 5997; see entry for Ross 1931).

In the mid-1940s, Ross returned to the area to continue geologic mapping and volcanic 

studies with R. L. Smith, and again in 1954 with R. A. Bailey (p. 5997). These investigations 

resulted in a series of papers on ash flow tuffs, eruption mechanisms, ring dikes, resurgent 

cauldrons, and ash flow magmatism (see also entries by Ross and Smith 1961; Smith et al. 

1961; Smith and Bailey 1966, 1968; and Smith 1979).

The first geothermal well to be drilled in the Valles Caldera (in 1960) was not intended 

as such; it was an oil test on the west flank of the resurgent dome. The Westates–Bond 1 

well struck superheated water (about 392 °F or 200 °C) at shallow depths (see entry for 

Dondanville 1971). Three more wells were drilled in the 1960s in the same general area. 

Unocal drilled its first well (Baca 4) in the resurgent dome in 1970. Twenty more wells were 

drilled before the project ended in 1984. Because the Department of Energy (DOE) provided 

funding to the project, its results are public, forming “one of the most extensive, publicly 

available data bases of any drilled caldera system in the world” (p. 5997).

The first hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal experiments were performed on the west margin of 

the Valles Caldera (see also entry for Goff and Janik 2002:300). Four deep wells were drilled 

to depths as great as 7.2 miles (4.5 km) to determine whether electricity could be generated 

commercially from a built reservoir. High development costs and continuing low prices for 

fossil fuels finally ended this project in 1998 (see also entry for Goff and Janik 2002:300).

In the 1980s the Valles Caldera became a locus of investigations of processes in magmatism, 

hydrothermal systems, and ore deposit mechanisms. The DOE’s Office of Basic Energy 

Sciences sponsored investigations that led to papers describing the hydrothermal system; the 

collapse, resurgence, and location of calderas; the evolution of volcanism and tectonics; and 

the geophysical structure of the caldera (pp. 5997–5998).

Goff, Fraser, and Cathy J. Janik

2002 Gas Geochemistry of the Valles Caldera Region, New Mexico and Comparisons 

with Gases at Yellowstone, Long Valley and Other Geothermal Systems. Journal of 

Volcanology and Geothermal Research 116:299–323.

Approximately 40 deep exploration and research wells were drilled in the Valles Caldera in 

the period 1959–1983, defining a small, but hot (572 °F [300 °C]), neutral-chloride, liquiddominated geothermal system (p. 300). “The system proved to be too small in volume for 

economic development” (p. 301).

The first hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal experiments were performed on the west margin of 

the Valles Caldera (p. 300). Four deep wells were drilled to depths as great as 7.2 miles 

(4.5 km) to determine whether electricity could be generated commercially from a built 

reservoir. High development costs and continuing low prices for fossil fuels finally ended 

this project in 1998 (p. 300).

“The HDR concept was developed and tested in Precambrian crystalline rocks beneath the 

west margin of the caldera from 1972 to 1998” (p. 302). Cold water was pumped down an 

injection well, forced through artificially fractured reservoir rocks, and extracted from a 

nearby production well. The cold water dissolved minerals lining the fractured rocks and 

absorbed CO2

 and other gases while reaching thermal equilibrium between –256 and 320 °F 

(±160 °C). Depth of circulation was greater than 8,200 feet (2.5 km) (pp. 304–305).

Acid-sulfate springs, mud pots, and fumaroles at Sulphur Springs issue from the west side of 

the central resurgent dome of Valles Caldera (p. 301).
194 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Goff, Fraser, Lisa Shevenell, Jamie N. Gardner, Francois-D. Vuataz, and Charles O. Grigsby

1988 The Hydrothermal Outflow Plume of Valles Caldera, New Mexico, and a Comparison 

with Other Outflow Plumes. Journal of Geophysical Research 93 (B6):6041–6058.

Two reservoirs have been drilled in the Valles hydrothermal system: the Redondo Creek 

reservoir and the Sulphur Springs reservoir. The deep reservoir fluids are described as 

neutral-chloride; they contain about 16 to 58 ounces per ton (500–1,800 mg/kg) total 

dissolved solids (TDS). About 6.3 miles (10 km) from the Valles Caldera, two sets of 

neutral-chloride hot springs discharge along the pre-caldera Jémez fault zone at Soda Dam 

and Jémez Springs. These springs have strong chemical similarities to the deep fluids within 

the caldera. The conclusion generally drawn from this is that a hydrothermal outflow plume 

travels out of the caldera in the subsurface along the Jémez fault zone and within adjacent 

sedimentary rocks toward the springs (p. 6041).

Gregg, Josiah

1954 [1844] Commerce of the Prairies 2 vols. Max L. Moorhead ed. Norman: University of 

Oklahoma Press. (Originally published Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott).

Based on Gregg’s travels on the Great Plains, this is the best known of the hundreds of 

eyewitness descriptions of the Santa Fe Trail. Between 1831 and 1840 Gregg traveled from 

Missouri to New Mexico and back four times, and also visited the Mexican interior states. 

Gregg pioneered the shorter Santa Fe Trail route on the Canadian River in 1839.

Gregg offers this description of the original Luis María Baca Grant as he saw it in 1832:

At Gallinas creek, we found a large flock of sheep grazing upon the adjacent plain; 

while a little hovel at the foot of a cliff showed it to be a rancho. A swarthy ranchero 

soon made his appearance, from whom we procured a treat of goat’s milk, with some 

dirty ewe’s milk ‘curdle cheese’ to supply the place of bread. (pp. 76–77)

The ranchero was a Baca, possibly Tomás, Luis María’s son. This ranch is on the Río 

Gallinas 20 miles (32 km) from Mora Creek. Moorhead notes that the house described here 

was the first structure in what became Las Vegas (Old Town).

Grubbs, Frank H.

1960–1962 Frank Bond: Gentleman Sheepherder of Northern New Mexico. New Mexico 

Historical Review 35:168–99; 35:293–309; 36:128–58, 230–243, 274–345; 37:43–71.

Grubbs describes the 1906 organization of the G. W. Bond and Brothers Mercantile 

Company and the Bond and Nohl Company, both of which operated out of Española. Their 

highest profits in wool and sheep were achieved in 1909 and 1912. G. W. Bond and Brothers 

Company established partido arrangements throughout the region. They sustained heavy 

losses of sheep in the severe winter of 1914–1915.

Guthe, Carl E.

1925 Pueblo Pottery Making: A Study at the Village of San Ildefonso. Papers of the Phillips 

Academy Southwestern Expedition 2. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Guthe identifies the Valles Caldera as a source for orange-red slip and black ware paint made 

at San Ildefonso. He identifies the location, procurement, and use of these resources:

Orange Red Slip

This substance is a yellow clayey earth, in texture somewhat like the two white slips. 

It occurs in the “Valle” to the west, beyond the first Jemez range, near Ojo Caliente. 

It was dug with a stick...and is carried home in shawls and bags. Before being stored 

it is put out into the sun to dry thoroughly, then placed in ollas and kept until needed. 

Like the other slips, it is prepared for use by being mixed with water. A saturated 

solution is made, but the consistency remains that of water.

This material, which in solution is a brilliant yellow, is used for two purposes—as a 

slip to color the bases of bowls and ollas, and as a paint to supply the red elements 

of polychrome designs. After being fired it assumes an orange-red or burnt-sienna 

color...

Black Ware Paint

This is a paint used for making matte designs on polished black ware, a new departure 

in decorative technique first used by Maria and Julian Martinez of San Ildefonso, in 

June, 1921. The substance is a hard yellow stone, said to occur in the “Valle,” west of 

the Jemez range, near Ojo Caliente, in the same district as the orange-red paint.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 195

The first step in preparing the paint for use is to scrape the stone with a knife. The 

resulting powder is mixed with water, and there is then added about one-fourth as 

much dissolved “guaco”...as there is paint. It is said that the purpose of the guaco 

is to make the paint “stick” to the polished surface. This paint, when ready for use, 

is kept in a small earthenware or china dish. The consistency of the mixture, like the 

other paints, is that of water. (pp. 24–25)

Gutiérrez, Ramón A.

1991 When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality and Power in 

New Mexico 1500–1846. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

This social history of New Mexico between 1500 and 1846 analyzes marriage as a means to 

a more general understanding of social relations. The discussion of social, legal, and ethnic 

relations in the colonial and Mexican periods has general interest.

Gutiérrez’ discussion of economic reform in the period of the Bourbon Reforms (1770s–

1790s) describes the expansion of livestock raising and the livestock trade (Gutiérrez 

1991:319–320).

Haile, Father Berard

1938 Origin Legend of the Navajo Enemy Way: Text and Translation. Yale University 

Publications in Anthropology 1. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Haile, a renowned student of Navajo ceremonialism and language, defines “sisna·žiní” as 

“Horizontal black belt” and states that this translation “is apparently more in harmony with 

the true appearance of this mountain, than ‘vertical or downward black belt’” (p. 66). Haile 

contends that Blanca Peak of Colorado is the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East, which 

normally would place his study outside the geographic scope of interest for the VCNP. In 

Sleight’s critical review of the controversy surrounding the identification of the Navajo Holy 

Mountain of the East, Sleight (1950) rebuffs this claim, in part, by using Haile’s own careful 

translation of the Navajo name for the Holy Mountain of the East.

On September 8, 1912, Haile visited Blanca Peak, accompanied by his Navajo collaborators, 

Slim Curly and River Junction Curly, both of whom were singers from the Leupp, Arizona 

area, and his translator, Albert Sandoval. The singers spent the entire day exploring the 

peak and gathered soils, various herbs, and stones for later use in ceremonies in the Navajo 

homeland. This observation suggests that Navajos making pilgrimages to Redondo Peak 

would have gathered similar materials for rituals back home.

Haile, Father Berard

1947 Prayer Stick Cutting in a Five Night Navajo Ceremonial of the Male Branch of 

Shootingway. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Haile reports that toward the end of the third day of the Shootingway ceremonial, the singer 

recites a prayer for each of the eight sticks that he makes. He recounts the basic prayer and 

provides a synoptic summary of additions, including mention of the Jémez Mountains:

Additions to this prayer are concerned with place names of Shootingway and holy 

young man: may good conditions come to me from jarring mountain; from rock 

extending to the skies...from trees extending up the mountain side...from floating 

feather, Jemez range and other Shootingway localities. (p. 170)

Haile, Father Berard

1950 Part One: Legend of the Ghostway Ritual in the Male Branch of Shootingway. Saint 

Michaels, AZ: St. Michaels Press.

Haile continues to identify “sisna·žiní” with Blanca Peak in his retelling of the Ghostway 

ritual (pp. 112, 114).

Halmo, David B., Richard W. Stoffle, and Michael J. Evans

Paitu Nanasuagaindu Pahonupi (Three Sacred Valleys): Cultural Significance of Gosiute, 

Paiute, and Ute Plants. Human Organization 52(2):142–150.

Halmo and others provide information about the cultural significance of six plant taxa 

traditionally used by the Ute. These species are Juniperus osteosperma (juniper/cedar), 

Opuntia erinacea (Mojave prickly pear), Chrysothamnus nauseosus (rabbitbrush), Artemisia 

nova (sagebrush), Ephedra nevadensis (Indian tea), and Artemisia spinescens (budsage). 

This discussion provides a basis for building a critical evaluation of the cultural significance 

that Ute peoples assign to native plants growing within the VCNP.
196 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Harper, Blanche Wurdack

1929 Notes on Documentary History, the Language, and the Rituals and Customs of the 

Jemez Pueblo. Masters Thesis. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

This unpublished Masters thesis includes a section on the documentary history of Jémez 

Pueblo, a fairly extensive Towa vocabulary, and notes on rituals and customs.

The history section (Section 1) does not mention the Baca Location. Harper states that the 

Navajo and Ute, among others, waged “ceaseless war” (Section 1, p. 5) on Jémez Pueblo 

after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

Harper notes that Jémez Pueblo recognizes holy waters and mountains of direction, but the 

people do not have an inventory of cardinal shells, trees, birds, snakes, or Corn Maidens 

(Section 2, p. 9). She gives Jémez Pueblo’s Holy North Mountain as Wä ́ v ā mä, which 

she translates as “Father of All North Mountains” (Section 2, p. 30). Dā ́ lā shĭng, “Chicken 

Mountain,” is just to the north (section 2, p. 31).

The vocabulary includes a name for Vallecito Creek (Wä lǎ tō pǎ wä) and the entry:

The ‘Sulphurs’ 10 miles [16 km] above Jemez Springs: Pă gē ā shō lū nūng (“Place of 

the boiling water.” Pǎ: water, Gē ō shō lū: boiling, nūng: place). [Section 2, p. 33)

The Jémez term for “spring” is Pä ́ tē ā shē ō la nūng. (Section 2, p. 39)

Harrington, John Peabody.

1916 The Ethnogeography of the Tewa Indians. In Twenty-Ninth Annual Report of the 

Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

1907–1908. W. H. Holmes, ed. Pp. 29–636. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing 

Office.

This volume remains the quintessential work about how Tewa people construct and assign 

meaning to their ethnographic landscapes. Because Harrington’s study is a general review 

of Tewa ethnogeography, the reader needs to be careful not to apply his findings uncritically 

among the different Pueblo linguistic communities; Pueblo landscape constructions are not 

uniform cross-culturally. In fact, some contemporary Tewas believe Harrington obscures 

important variability in place-name terminology and meaning still exhibited among the six 

contemporary Tewa communities. 

Yet Harrington’s work gives many valuable insights into the cosmological and cognitive 

grammars that organize the Tewas’ view of their natural world and helps structure how they 

assign meaning to places in the physical environments contained within their traditional 

homelands. This framework, in turn, is useful in evaluating how non-Tewa communities 

construct their ethnographic landscapes.

When considered in terms of Tewa cosmography (see pp. 41–52) and meteorology (see 

pp. 53–60), Harrington’s study illustrates a highly sophisticated system of interconnected 

metaphorical references about the movement of water between the supernatural and natural 

worlds of the Tewas’ cosmos. Powerful lessons underlying Harrington’s work include the 

ideas that Tewa landscape constructions (1) do not represent disparate spaces that can be 

understood in isolation of one another and (2) places are not defined easily by metrical metes 

and bounds.

Within this expansive discussion, Harrington documents the Tewa people’s inclusion of the 

Valles Caldera within their cultural geographies and landscapes. He reports that the Tewa 

gloss the four principal valles, which are known generally to area populations by the Spanish 

names of Valle de los Posos [16:45 (p. 264)], Valle de Santa Rosa [16:45 (pp. 264–265)], 

Valle Grande [16:131 (p. 276)], and Valle de San Antonio [27:6 (p. 391)], using the terms 

(in English translation) “beyond the mountains,” “beyond the western mountains,” and “the 

Jemez Mountains.”

Harrington provides some additional detail in his presentation of place names for the Jémez 

Region (map 27). Of interest are eight places within the Valles Caldera known to the Tewa:

Wavema [27:4 ], a very large mountain north of the Valle de San Antonio (p. 391)

Valle de Santa Rosa [27:5] (p. 391)

Valle de San Antonio [27:6], a high grassy meadow (p. 391)

Valle Grande [27:7], the principal grassy meadow (p. 391)

Sulphur Springs [27:8], which is known by both the Tewa and the Jémez as the “place of 

the boiling water” (p. 391)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 197

A peak north of Cerro Redondo known by its Jémez name of “chicken hawk mountain” 

[27:9] (p. 391)

Cerro Redondo (a.k.a., Cerro Pelado) [27:10], whose Jémez and Cochití names are 

variants of “butterfly mountain”) (pp. 391–392)

San Antonio Creek [27:11) (pp. 392–393)

Hewett, Edgar J., and Bertha P. Dutton, eds.

1945 The Pueblo Indian World: Studies on the Natural History of the Río Grande Valley in 

Relation to Pueblo Indian Culture. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico and School 

of American Research.

This useful study discusses the various Pueblo communities’ conceptualizations of the 

earth, sky, and world (pp. 20–51). Hewett and Dutton consider the features of Pueblo life 

common among all the groups, as well as selected understandings unique to one group. This 

accessible work offers much ethnographic detail about how Pueblo communities perceive 

and maintain affiliations with their traditional landscapes.

Hill, W. W.

1940 Some Aspects of Navajo Political Structure. Plateau 13(1):23–28.

Hill discusses ritual actions associated with the induction of a headman into office during the 

Chief Blessingway:

According to Slim Gambler, it was customary for the newly elected man to journey 

to the four sacred mountains and plant corn at each one. White corn was planted at 

Pelado Peak (Blanco Peak) in the east, yellow corn at Mt. Taylor in the south, blue 

corn at the San Francisco Peaks in the west, and variegated corn at the San Juan 

Mountains (La Plata Mountains) in the north. (p. 27)

Hill implies that some headman initiates from Navajo communities, which recognized 

Redondo Peak as the Holy Mountain of the East, might have ritually planted corn in the 

VCNP.

Hill, W. W.

1982 An Ethnology of Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. Charles H. Lange, ed. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Hill reports that three plants growing in the VCNP have use to the Tewa of Santa Clara 

Pueblo: Native parsley (Cymopterus sp.) is a medicine, mock-orange (Philadelphus 

microphyllus) provides dye, and piñon (Pinus edulis) has medicinal uses.

Hillstrom, Laurie Collier

1998 Ute. In The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, vol. 2. Sharon Malinowski 

and Anna Sheets, eds. Pp. 38–43. Detroit, IL: Gale.

This article is a brief summary of Ute culture and history. Hillstrom includes a Ute oral 

tradition story titled “Smoking Waters” that provides valuable insights into Ute cosmology 

and the origins of hot springs.

A long time ago, the people of the mountains lived in peace. The forests and streams 

fed them so that they never slept hungry. They were content with their brothers and 

sisters. They were safe in the shelter of the mountains.

In time, a restless young man named Many Feathers became chief and things began 

to change. Many Feathers fished the streams he had fished before and wished for new 

ones. He looked at the sheltering mountain slopes and felt imprisoned. Then when the 

old ones told tales of people beyond the mountains, Many Feathers dreamed he wore 

the robe of a great chief, a leader of many warriors.

“Our elders say the people beyond the mountains have more horses than they have 

children,” Many Feathers exclaimed one day. “If we fight them, their horses can be 

ours.”

Some listened.

“Great battles make great heroes. A brave warrior walks in honor on every path,” he 

said.

And others listened.

So Many Feathers called a council in the shadow of the mountains and told the old 

ones to teach them the war dances of their ancestors. One of the old ones, a medicine 

man named Smoking Waters, refused.
198 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

“We are happy here,” said the old man, and his arm swept for-ward, tracing the circle 

of surrounding mountains. “The birds of the sky and creatures of the land are our 

brothers here,” he said. “We have what we need. We need nothing more.”

“You are afraid, old man!” laughed Many Feathers, mocking him. “Stay in the lodge 

with the women and children.”

“My brother speaks with the voice of the North Wind,” responded Smoking Waters 

gravely. “As the North Wind brings snow and winter’s death, so you will bring sorrow 

and death to our people.”

“I will bring power to our people!” shouted Many Feathers.

Then Many Feathers turned to face his people. “This old man is like the timid rabbit 

who runs before he looks,” he cried. “Beat the drums! Dance the war dances! We 

shall make ourselves heroes!”

Many Feathers’ words made the hearts of his people proud. They cheered and beat 

the drums. When they left the council, the people laughed at the old medicine man and 

drove him from the tribe.

The people danced the forgotten war dances. They tightened their bows. They painted 

their faces and dressed their hair with feathers, bone, and thongs of hide. Then the 

fathers, sons, and brothers marched beyond the mountains to war.

Many of them died.

Later, deep in the mountains, where his lonely campfire burned on the bank of a 

stream, Smoking Waters saw his people in a vision. But where were the hunters, he 

wondered. Where had the fathers gone? Children were crying for food. The women 

were thin and bent with sickness. Drums beat out the death chants. The people of the 

mountains no longer sang their joyful songs.

As Smoking Waters wept for his people, his tears mingled with the waters of the 

mountain stream. He cried for the ones who had died and for those who suffered. He 

grieved until the sadness was bigger than life, and then the old medicine man died.

But Smoking Waters’ love for his people lived on in the fire he had built. It burned 

on without dying through the nights and the years. It burns even today, warming 

the waters of the streams that flow within the mountains. Now, as it was then, the 

mountain hot springs soothe the sick and the weary and heal the wounded. They are 

Smoking Waters’ gift of love and peace to all the people. (pp. 39–41)

Hoebel, E. Adamson

1979 Zia Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 407–417. Vol. 9 of Handbook of North 

American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Zía Pueblo.

Hucko, Bruce

1996 Where There Is No Name for Art: The Art of Tewa Pueblo Children. Santa Fe, NM: 

School of American Research.

Hucko, a self-described “art coach,” introduces the reader to some of the Tewa students he 

worked with at the Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Pojoaque, and Nambé Pueblo day 

schools. The children, who were involved in every step of the book’s publishing process, 

talk about their histories, families, and communities, share insights into their culture and 

heritage, and discuss the process of making art. In talking about petroglyphs and about their 

communities’ cultural landscapes, the children show that the meaningfulness referred to by 

their elders transcends the generations.

Hudspeth, William B.

1997 Environmental Setting. In OLE, vol. 1. Context. John C. Acklen, ed. Pp. 9–42. 

Albuquerque: Public Service Company of New Mexico.

In table 2.1 Hudspeth identifies the edible parts, seasonality and distribution of more than 

125 plant species that grow in the VCNP.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 199

Huning, Franz

1973 Trader on the Santa Fe Trail: Memoirs of Franz Huning, with Notes by His 

Granddaughter, Lina Fergusson Browne. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 

Calvin Horne Collection.

Huning notes (pp. 63–64) that when he was at Jémez Springs for about three weeks in 1856, 

he saw Manuel Abrego, whom he already knew. Abrego’s ranch at Sulphur Springs may 

have been the first Anglo-European settlement near Redondo Creek.

Iddings, J. P.

1890 On a Group of Rocks from the Tewan Mountains, New Mexico, and on the Occurrence 

of Primary Quartz in Certain Basalts. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 66.

In this article Iddings presents petrographic and chemical data for some of the samples taken 

by J. W. Powell (see entry for Powell 1961 [1885]). The samples included Bandelier Tuff 

and some quartz-bearing basalts.

Indian Claims Commission

1974 Commission Findings on the Pueblo Indians. New York: Garland Publishing.

This volume contains the Findings of Fact and Opinions pertaining to Pueblo land claims 

decided by the Indian Claims Commission (ICC). Since no Pueblo community claimed 

exclusive use of the Valles Caldera, this book contains little information pertinent to the 

VCNP. The ICC heard claims only for land exclusively used and occupied as of February 2, 

1848, the date of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Claims for areas used in earlier periods 

and for areas used by more than one tribe were not allowed. The ICC also determined that 

all valid Spanish and Mexican land grants were private property and not part of the United 

States public domain. This decision meant that any Pueblo uses of areas within Spanish and 

Mexican land grants were not subject to claims litigation “even though the particular tribe 

may have used and occupied parts of them from aboriginal time” (17 ICC 615, p. 618). The 

Commission found that some land use activities (e.g., hunting) took place “at great distance 

to points outside the claimed area” (p. 629).

Jefferson, James, Robert W. Delaney, and Gregory C. Thompson

1972 The Southern Utes: A Tribal History. Floyd A. O’Neil, ed. Ignacio, CO: Southern Ute 

Tribe.

This scholarly summary of Ute history provides documentary information about Ute material 

culture during the early Historic period (e.g., see p. 2).

Of relevance to the VCNP is an unlabeled figure (p. xi) illustrating the Ute’s aboriginal 

domain. This diagram shows the Ute’s hunting territories extending farther into northern 

New Mexico than many maps accompanying Ute historical reviews (e.g., see entry for 

Callaway et al. 1986). This common-place omission of the Utes traveling into New Mexico 

as far as Santa Fe is surprising given that documentary sources commonly cite these seasonal 

rounds into the Jémez Mountains and the Chama Valley.

Johnson, George

1996 Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order. New York: Vintage Books.

In this provocative essay, Johnson juxtaposes systems of traditional community belief and 

understandings obtained through science to explore the question of where religion ends 

and science begins. Johnson compares recent contributions by New Mexican scientists in 

quantum physics, information science, and complexity with the traditional cosmologies 

of the region’s Tewa Pueblo people and Nuevomexicano Catholic Penitentes. More 

immediately relevant to the VCNP Land-Use History project, Johnson confirms that the Río 

Grande Pueblo people, just as their Western Pueblo counterparts, traditionally conceptualized 

flowing lava as “hot water” (p. 300).

Jones, Volney H.

1931 The Ethnobotany of the Isleta Indians. Masters thesis. University of New Mexico, 

Albuquerque.

Jones identifies the Isleta Pueblo consumption of mock-orange (Philadelphus microphyllus) 

for food.
200 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Jones, Volney H., and Robert E. Fonner

1954 Plant Materials from Sites in the Durango and La Plata Areas, Colorado. In

Basketmaker Sites near Durango, Colorado, by Earl H. Morris and Robert F. Burgh. 

Pp. 93–115. Publication 604. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institute.

Jones and Fonner identify the pre-Columbian uses of several plant species found in the 

VCNP. Examples include bur-reed (Sparganium sp.), which is a food, and American vetch 

(Vicia americana), which has medicinal value.

Jordan, Terry G.

1993 North American Cattle Ranching Frontiers: Origins, Diffusion and Differentiation. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Jordan discusses Old World cattle ranching in Europe and Africa, and how its patterns and 

practices explain ranching in the New World. He notes that ranching is not specific to open 

grasslands:

Cattle ranching...thrived in a great variety of New World physical environments, from 

tropical savannas to subtropical pine barrens and midlatitude prairies, from fertile 

lowland plains to rugged mountain ranges, from rainy districts to semideserts. (p. 9)

By the time of the discovery of America, range cattle raising occupied a broken belt 

of land on the Atlantic rim from Scandinavia and the British Isles down to Angola in 

Africa.

Range cattle raising was to be found in highlands, islands, marshes, moors, savannas 

and semideserts, having been forced to the edges of two continents by more intensive 

farming practices. Ranching would similarly become established in a wide variety of 

coastal, marsh, plains and highland environments in the New World.

Permanent Hispanic settlement began in New Mexico in 1598 with the colonizer 

Juan de Oñate, but Hispanic New Mexico never became a center of cattle ranching. 

Perhaps the single greatest retarding factor was the presence of a substantial 

established population of Pueblo Indian irrigation farmers. (p. 146)

Jordan contends the mission fathers blocked development of a large-scale cattle industry in 

order to protect the Indians’ fields and crops. Oñate introduced breeder flocks of sheep, which 

dominated even after the 1690s Reconquest of New Mexico. For example, Diego Padilla south 

of Albuquerque owned 1,700 sheep but only 141 cattle in 1740.

By 1757 all the Hispanics of the province combined owned fewer than 8,000 cattle and fewer 

than 2,500 horses. In 1832, 240,000 sheep were in the department but only 5,000 cattle and 850 

horses. Sheep became “the economic hallmark of the regional Euroamerican culture” (p. 147) 

and also were adopted by the Navajos and Utes.

Although the book is about cattle, not sheep, and does not mention the Valles Caldera, it 

provides valuable background for the VCNP Land-Use study.

Keleher, William A.

1982 [1952] Turmoil in New Mexico, 1846–1868. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico 

Press.

The author mentions the Valles Caldera in a discussion of actions taken by the U.S. Army 

to deter Navajo and Apache movement through the locality during the final Navajo Wars of 

1863. Under orders from General James A. Carleton Lieutenant Erastus W. Wood, 5 noncommissioned officers, and 31 privates from Company A, 1st Infantry, California Volunteers, 

manned the Old Fort encampment, which Nesbit and Parker had occupied a decade earlier 

as a hay camp (see entry for Church n.d.; and McNitt 1972). General Carleton’s instructed 

Lieutenant Wood and his men:

. . . to lie in wait for thirty days to kill every Navajo or Apache Indian who attempts 

to go through that noted thoroughfare. No women and children will be harmed; these 

will be captured. (quoted on p. 314).

Keleher notes that on September 27, 1863, five weeks after General Carleton’s orders to 

Lieutenant Wood to set up a month-long post at Old Fort in the Valles Caldera, Lieutenant P. 

A. J. Russell led four mounted men and a group of Pueblo warriors from the Valle Grande. 

They rode in pursuit of a band of Navajo raiders who had stolen livestock from nearby Río 

Grande Pueblo villages. This contingent surprised the raiders at Jémez Springs, killing 8 

men, capturing 20 women and children, and recovering 125 sheep and 2 horses (Keleher 

1982:314).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 201

Kelley, Klara Bonsack, and Harris Francis

Navajo Sacred Places. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Although Kelley and Francis do not specifically discuss places important to the Navajo 

within the VCNP, their study offers important background information and perspectives for 

examining and comprehending the significance of the people’s cultural landscapes through 

careful consideration of selected examples. For example, Kelley and Francis (p. 125) state 

that volcanic calderas “are important in the songs, prayers, and stories of many ceremonial 

repertoires that involve the power of thunder and lightning (which seeks depressions and 

lava rock) and wind” (p. 125).

Kelley, Klara Bonsack, and Harris Francis

2002 Chézhin Sinil (Rock-That-Defends): Navajo Cultural Landscapes and the Petroglyph 

National Monument. In “That Place People Talk About”: The Petroglyph National 

Monument Ethnographic Landscape Report, by Kurt F. Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, 

Harris Francis, Klara B. Kelley, and Cherie L. Scheick. Pp. 5.1–5.30. Community 

and Cultural Landscape Contribution VIII. Prepared for: National Park Service, 

Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico, NPS Contract No. 

14431CX712098003 (RGF 109B). Santa Fe: Río Grande Foundation for Communities 

and Cultural Landscapes.

Kelley and Francis use published accounts of Navajo oral tradition to establish principles 

and themes concerning the importance of the landscape in sustaining community heritage 

and identity. The authors demonstrate how oral traditions, in combination with contemporary 

ethnographic study, can be used effectively to establish the existence of essential community 

relationships with places and provide informed contexts for the responsible management of 

culturally sensitive landscape features and other kinds of traditional cultural properties.

Kelley and Francis address several kinds of landscape features found within the VCNP, 

including shrines, lava rocks, plants, animals, minerals, and vistas. They include Navajo 

community concerns about the management of these landscape features as cultural resources.

Kelly, Daniel T., and Beatrice Chauvenet

1972 The Buffalo Head: A Century of Mercantile Pioneering in the Southwest. Santa Fe, 

NM: Vergara Publishing.

The author was the son of Harry Kelly, cofounder of Gross, Kelly and Company, a major 

New Mexico corporation dealing mainly in sheep and wool and, as Kelly explains, a direct 

competitor of the Bond brothers.

Although Kelly does not deal with the Baca Location, his discussion of the Bonds (pp. 

96–97) and his explanation of partido (pp. 190–191) are useful in understanding how the 

Location entered into a regional and national mercantile system.

Kent, Kate Peck

1983 Prehistoric Textiles of the Southwest. Santa Fe: School of American Research, and 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Kent notes that pre-Columbian peoples used milkweed (Asclepias sp.), which grows in the 

Valles Caldera area, for making dye.

Keur, Dorothy Louise

1941 Big Bead Mesa: An Archaeological Study of Navajo Acculturation, 1745–1812. 

Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, 1. Menasha, WI. (Reprinted 

Millwood, NY: Kraus Publishing Company, 1974).

Keur follows Matthews (1897) in retelling the Navajo story of emergence. In her discussion 

of the Navajo Holy Mountains of Direction, she states, “The name for the sacred mountain to 

the east probably means Dark Horizontal Belt, and it is situated somewhere near the Pueblo 

of Jemez, in Bernalillo county, New Mexico; probably Pelado Peak, twenty miles [32 km] 

north-northeast of the pueblo” (p. 8).

Kirk, Donald R.

1970 Wild Edible Plants of the Western United States. Heraldsburg, CA: Naturegraph.

Kirk provides information on the preparation and uses, habitat and distribution, and physical 

appearance of many different edible plants found throughout the West. His sample includes 

89 plant families found in the VCNP.
202 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Klah, Hasteen

1942 Navajo Creation Myth: The Story of the Emergence. Recorded by Mary C. 

Wheelwright. Navajo Religion Series, Vol. 1. Santa Fe: Museum of Navajo Ceremonial 

Art.

Klah refers to Nehochee-otso, a large hollow place on the top of the Jémez Mountains where 

Tseh-nagi (Rolling Rock) lived. This monster was “a great striped rock which could roll 

very quickly in any direction, and killed people by rolling on them” (p. 71). The story of 

the destruction of Rolling Rock establishes that the Navajo view the Jémez Mountains as a 

portal between the natural and supernatural worlds of the cosmos:

Nayenezgani, the Hero Twin Monster Slayer, traveled to the Jemez Mountains to kill 

Tseh-nagi in his quest to rid the world of the monsters that plagued the people. When 

Nayenezgani tried to approach Tseh-nagi, the Rock began to roll towards him and he 

shot his lightning arrow at the Rock from the east, but could not hit it, and the Rock 

then rolled back to its den. Then Nayenezgani shot at it from the south and managed 

to knock a little splinter from it while the Rock pursued him. He then approached the 

Rock from the west and the same thing happened, and also from the north, and at the 

end he only managed to knock off a few pieces and could not injure it, and meanwhile 

it kept chasing him while he was barely able to avoid it.

At his home at Huefano the magic kehtahn began to burn very brightly, which showed 

that Nayenezgani was in great danger. So they [other immortals] sent hail, big rain, 

and cyclones to attack the Rock. And the water soaked it, and Hashjeshjin [the Fire 

God] burnt it with his fire, and then hit it with a stone knife, and large pieces were 

broken off it. The Rock tried to escape them, but they chased it into a mountain from 

which it burst out as though from a volcano, and finally they chased the Rock four 

times around the earth, while it grew smaller and smaller, until at last it fell into the 

Grand Canyon, where it is now. (pp. 93–94)

In his telling of the Navajo Story of the Emergence, we learn that Begochiddy, “the great 

creating God, fair-haired and blue-eyed” (p. 212), lives on Síss-nah-jíni, the Holy Mountain 

of the East (p. 228). Moreover, in the succession of four worlds in the Navajo creation story, 

Begochiddy took earth from the previous world and created the mountains of the east, south, 

west, and north, as well as the plants that grew on and between these summits and the clouds 

that gathered over them (cf. pp. 29, 41, 43, 62).

Krenetsky, John C.

1964 Phytosociological Study of the Picuris Grant and Ethnobotanical Study of the Picuris 

Indians. Masters thesis. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

In his study of Picurís Pueblo ethnobotany, Krenetsky reports on the uses of several plants 

that grow also in the VCNP. Foods include Yarrow (Achillea sp.), Milkweed (Asclepias

sp.), and Aster (Aster sp.). Medicine plants include white fire (Abies concolor), buckwheat 

(Eriogonum sp.), geranium (Geranium sp.), sneezeweed (Hymenoxys sp.), common plantain 

(Plantago major), native rose (Rosa sp.), and prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera).

Lambert, Marjorie

1979 Pojoaque Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 324–329. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Pojoaque Pueblo.

Lang, Richard W.

1986 Artifacts of Woody Materials from Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. In Food, Diet, and 

Population at Prehistoric Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. Wilma Wetterstrom, ed. Arroyo 

Hondo Archaeological Series, 6. Pp. 251–276. Santa Fe, NM: School of American 

Research Press.

Lang presents the archaeological use of narrow-leaf cattail (Typha angustifolia) in basketry 

at this major village outside Santa Fe.

Lange, Charles H.

1959 Cochiti: A New Mexico Pueblo, Past and Present. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Lange documents the varied ethnographic uses of six plant families at Cochití Pueblo that 

grow also in the VCNP: grama grass (Bouteloua sp.), throughwort (Eupatorium sp.), spurge 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 203

(Euphorbia sp.), piñon (Pinus edulis sp.), narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus angustifolia), and 

nightshade (Solanum sp.).

Lange, Charles H.

1978 The Spanish-Mexican Presence in the Cochiti-Bandelier Area, New Mexico. In Across 

the Chichimec Sea. Carroll L. Riley and Basil C. Hedrick, eds. Pp. 34–52. Carbondale: 

Southern Illinois University Press.

Lange summarizes contacts between the Coronado (1540–1542), Chamuscado-Rodríguez 

(1581–1582), Espejo (1582), and Castaño de Sosa (1590) expeditions and the Río Grande 

Pueblos. He describes the entrada of Juan de Oñate and his colonists. Lange notes that the 

missionary friars were assigned to their respective pueblos on September 9, 1598, and that 

Father Juan de Rozas was sent to the Keresans. “Thus, it appears likely that the summer 

and autumn of 1598 marked the first sustained and substantial [Hispanic] influence on the 

Cochiti-Bandelier area” (p. 43). Lange reviews the events of the Pueblo Revolt and the 

Reconquest.

Lange notes a “virtually unique” characteristic of Cochití Pueblo: “As indicated in the 1765 

census notes of Father Morfi and continuing into the present time, Cochiti has had a resident 

Spanish population” (p. 48).

Lange, Charles H.

1979a Cochiti Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 366–378. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Cochití Pueblo.

Lange, Charles H.

1979b Santo Domingo Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 379–389. Vol. 9 of 

Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Santo Domingo 

Pueblo.

Lange, Charles H., and Carroll L. Riley, eds.

1966 The Southwestern Journals of Adolph F. Bandelier 1880–1882. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Bandelier notes that there are otters (known locally as “perritos de agua”) in the Valle 

Grande (p. 214).

Lange, Charles H., and Carroll L. Riley, eds.

1984 The Southwestern Journals of Adolph F. Bandelier 1889–1892. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Bandelier notes that on June 5, 1890, “several fires” were burning in the Valle Grande (p 

108). The editors note, “The Valle Grande is a distinctive landmark and, once located, 

the several peaks surrounding it can be easily sighted from Santa Fe and much of the 

surrounding area” (p. 413, 474n).

Lange, Charles H., Carroll L. Riley, and Elizabeth M. Lange, eds.

1975 The Southwestern Journals of Adolph F. Bandelier 1885–1888. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

Bandelier describes a trip to the Valle Grande on July 19–20, 1888 (pp. 270–271). He 

reached it from Espanola, passing the ruin of Shu-finne, through the Santa Clara Canyon, 

to the source of the Río de la Jara, the Valle Grande (which he also calls Valle de Toledo), 

across the Valle de Santa Rosa and the Valle San Antonio, to the Ojos de San Antonio. He 

spent a day at the Ojos de San Antonio, then walked down to Jémez Springs.

“The sheep herds are out of the Valles and grazing in the adjacent timbered slopes” (p. 271; 

see also his sketch map that accompanies this excerpt).
204 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Laughlin Papers

1907 Unsigned letter to L. W. Dennis, Chicago, Illinois, August 14, 1907. Napoleon B. 

Laughlin Papers, Accession No. 1959–131, Box 10, Folder 145. Santa Fe, NM: State 

Records Center and Archives.

L. D. W. Shelton, a land surveyor also referred to in the Bond, Frank, and Son records 

(see entry for Bond and Son 1917), might have written this unsigned letter. It is part of the 

voluminous correspondence sent, received, and collected by New Mexico Judge Napoleon 

B. Laughlin on issues relating to land grants.

This letter, postmarked Santa Fe, responds to an inquiry from L. W. Dennis of Chicago. Most 

of the letter consists of quotations attributed to two different “cruisers on the property,” also 

referred to as “cruisers who were sent upon the ground...by prospective purchasers.” The 

writer states, “I am not advised as to the name of either of these men.” The second informant 

repeats some mining data supplied to him by “Mr. Woodward of Bland, N.M.”

The timber on the Baca Location is estimated by one of the cruisers at 425 million board 

feet of white pine and from 15 to 25 million board feet of spruce. The writer says there are 

also “telegraph poles, ties, piling, mine props and stulls in large quantities,” on the Baca 

Location. The other informant estimates 403 million board feet of merchantable timber on 

the property.

The title is described as “perfect” because it rests on a government deed “to the present 

owners in exchange for one of the Spanish Land Grants.”

One cruiser says the valley and agricultural land are “excellent meadow...there is not a 

stump and very few stones. One valley is about eight miles [12.8 km] long and from two to 

three miles [3.2–4.8 km] wide, and contains about ten thousand (10,000) acres [4,047 ha], 

with a stream with a good flow of water running through it.” The writer or writers describe 

“many fine springs” and “grazing...of the best to be found.”

Liljeblad, Sven

1986 Oral Tradition: Content and Style of Verbal Arts. In Great Basin. Warren L. 

D’azevedo, ed. Pp. 641–659. Vol. 11 of Handbook of North American Indians, William 

Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

Liljeblad presents additional insights that complement and illustrate Goth’s commentary 

(see entry for Wright 2000) about how the Ute construct their landscape traditions through 

language.

Lindgren, Waldemar, Louis C. Graton, and Charles H. Gordon

1910 The Ore Deposits of New Mexico. Professional Paper 68. U.S. Department of the 

Interior, Geological Survey.

This reference work describes all metal mines developed up to ca. 1905 in New Mexico. The 

description of the “Cochiti or Bland District” explains,

The opposition of Mexicans, who claimed possession of the region under private 

grant, impeded development, and it was not till 1889 that prospecting began in 

earnest. In 1893 much activity was manifested in the district and many claims were 

located. Early in 1894 the Albemarle group was located. This proved to be the most 

important group in the district. In 1896 a mill, known as the Woodbury mill, was 

built in the valley about 7 miles [11 km] below Bland, for the purpose of treating the 

ores of the Iron King mine, but it was never a success. Late in 1899 the Albemarle 

cyanide mill was completed. This was closed in the spring of 1902 and was later 

dismantled. In the eleven years from the opening of 1894, when production began, to 

the close of 1904 the district had produced slightly over a million dollars. The greatest 

production in any one year was $359,135, in 1900. No production was reported in 

1905. At present very little mining is being done in the district, and the prospects for 

resumption of work in the immediate future are not bright. (p. 150)

The Albemarle, Washington, Lone Star, Iron King, and Crown Point mines had been 

developed in the Cochití District by 1905 (the year in which the authors did their fieldwork 

in the district). Lindgren, Graton, and Gordon describe these enterprises.

The authors did not visit the Washington mine. It was on the slope just west of Bland 

and was not active in 1905, the year of their survey. The authors estimated production 

up to that time at about $75,000.

The Albemarle mine, situated on South Fork of Cholla Canyon, is owned by the 

Navajo Gold Mining Company, of Boston. Ore is said to have been discovered on this 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 205

property early in 1894 as a result of prospecting along the prominent outcrop. The 

mine, which was sometimes called the Altoona, passed into the hands of the Cochiti 

Gold Mining Company, which afterward became the Navajo Company. From the 

time of its discovery the mine was conceded to be the most important in the district, 

and from 1899, when its mill was put into operation, till the closing of the mill in the 

spring of 1902, it is said to have produced $667,500. Since the latter date the property 

has not produced. (p. 158)

The Lone Star mine is situated a little north of the Washington, on the southeast slope 

of a side gulch which joins Pino Canyon just above Bland. It is on the same vein as 

and lies just south of the Iron King, the first discovery in the district. The present 

owner is the Navajo Gold Mining Company. A considerable amount of ore was 

shipped in the early history of the mine. Not very much ore has been taken out since 

the last sale of the property. Actual figures of production were not obtainable, but it is 

probable that between $50,000 and $100,000 has been taken out. (p. 159)

The Iron King, the first mine discovered in the district, lies just north of the Lone Star, 

close to Pino Canyon. It is reported that the ore extracted amounted to $50,000. The 

development includes a small shaft and a short adit from which a winze was sunk, the 

greatest depth attained being 136 feet [41.5 m]. An amalgamation mill was built in 

1896, 7 miles [11 km] below Bland. In 1902 it was replaced by a 10-stamp mill, with 

ten cyanide tanks, but this was operated only a short time. The vein is the continuation 

of the Lone Star vein. (p. 160)

The Crown Point mine is situated on the northeast side of Pino Canyon, about threequarters of a mile [1.2 km] above Bland. It is one of the early locations in the district 

and is commonly credited with the production of about $50,000, being said to have 

sent out 1,500 tons of shipping ore. The workings are on a vein which strikes N. 10o W. 

and dips 70o W. but steepens in the bottom. The vein has been regarded as the same as 

the Lone Star vein, or at least a spur from it. (p. 161)

Lindgren, Graton, and Gordon also describe several smaller mines and claims: the Tip Top 

mine, the Laura S. claim, and the Little Casino claim; the Black Girl, Hopewell, Good Hope, 

Allerton, Posey, Union and others on the southwest side of Pino Canyon; and the Little 

Mollie and Puzzle claims. Many others that never produced paying quantities of ore are not 

named. They mention a copper prospect “at the junction of Medio Dia and Cochiti canyons” 

where “some work was being done” (p. 162).

Linford, Laurance D.

2000 Navajo Places: History, Legend, Landscape: A Narrative of Important Places on and 

near the Navajo Reservation, with Notes on Their Significance to Navajo Culture and 

History. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.

This compendium is an essential resource for beginning studies of Navajo cultural geography 

within particular localities. It provides annotated entries for several areas in and around the 

VCNP, including the Jémez Mountains (pp. 221–222), Pelado Peak (pp. 242–243), and the 

Valle Grande (p. 278).

Los Alamos [NM] Monitor

1970 Baca Location to Change. Los Alamos Monitor, December 17:1.

This article reports on the cumulative impacts that New Mexico Timber, Inc.’s cable logging 

operations had already had in the Valles Caldera and the prospect that major damage would 

continue over the next seven years. The article opens with the statement that New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., was “cutting trees on the property at a ferocious rate, 24 million board feet 

of lumber per year” (p. 1). Elsewhere, it reports that the company employed 175 men and 

operated 2 mills to achieve these production levels.

At the present rates of timber harvesting, the Los Alamos Monitor offers the grim assessment 

that:

Virtually every tree on the ranch that can be sawed into two by fours will have been 

cut down. And it will take nature 40 to 50 years to restore in main the appearance of 

the ranch. (p. 1)

Worse for environmentalists and recreationalists still, the newspaper noted in a sidebar 

accompanying this article that the harvesting of the Baca Location’s timber stands could be 

completed “within three years by going to two or three shifts a day at New Mexico Timber’s 

mills” (p. 1).
206 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The article is valuable because it provides an interview with Sam Bailey, who was New 

Mexico Timber, Inc.’s forester. In response to questions about the severity of the damage 

that cable-logging and clear-cutting were causing to the scenic values of the Valles Caldera, 

Bailey reported that New Mexico Timber, Inc., had harvested the majority of the Baca 

Location’s original 68,000 wooded acres (27,200 ha) since 1935. Nevertheless, Bailey 

maintained that only half of the harvested acreage had “been subjected to the present ‘clear 

cutting’ techniques” (p. 1). He acknowledged further,

That a freshly clear cut area looks pretty bad, but he claimed that time, even a few 

years, quickly heals the scars...He said that the slash, which is obviously ugly in the 

newly logged regions, is soon covered by secondary growth if it is left alone. He said 

that an attempt to gather and haul off the limbs and tops would be wholly impractical. 

“There just aren’t enough trucks.” Burning the slash, Bailey noted, would simply kill 

the secondary growth. (p. 1)

As a consequence of these damages, the Los Alamos Monitor notes that the State of New 

Mexico had begun considering

a new set of regulations, apparently aimed at logging, on the Baca. These regulations 

would cause drastic changes in the handling of slash and formalize a requirement for 

seeding and water barring roads. (p. 1)

The article also provides a summary of Dunigan’s legal suit against New Mexico Timber, 

Inc. It also reports in the sidebar that the Los Alamos Boy Scouts cut thousands of trees each 

holiday season for sale primarily to residents of Los Alamos in the late 1960s (p. 1).

Los Alamos [NM] Monitor

1972 Baca Location Timber Is Sold to Ranch Owner. Los Alamos Monitor, June 30:1.

This brief article reports the sale of the Baca Location’s timber rights by New Mexico 

Timber, Inc., to the Baca Land and Cattle Company. In a joint statement announcing the sale 

of the timber rights and the cessation of logging, James Patrick Dunigan and T. P. Gallagher, 

Jr., stated, “The transaction settles all litigation between the parties” (p. 1). A representative 

for New Mexico Timber, Inc., notes further that half of the company’s 300 employees might 

be laid off, although some crews would be kept active “hauling already cut logs from the 

area, reseeding the logging roads and cleaning up the slash” (p. 1).

Clear-cutting operations had focused on the slopes bordering the Valle San Antonio and the 

Valle Toledo. Timbering had moved into the Valle Grande during 1971.

Magers, Pamela C.

1986a Miscellaneous Wooden and Vegetal Artifacts. In Archaeological Investigations at 

Antelope House. Don P. Morris, ed. Pp. 277–305. U.S. Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service.

Plants found in the VCNP include alder (Alnus sp.), sagebrush (Artemisia sp.), birch (Betula

sp.), sunflower (Helianthus sp.), and dropseed (Sporobolus sp.).

Magers, Pamela C.

1986b Weaving at Antelope House. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope House. Don 

P. Morris, ed. Pp. 224–276. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

Plant species in Mager’s sample that grow in the VCNP include goosefoot (Chenopodium

sp.), Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), and 

ragwort (Senecio sp.).

Marsh, Charles S.

1982 People of the Shining Mountains: The Utes of Colorado. Boulder, CO: Pruett 

Publishing.

This volume provides an overview of Ute history and culture from time immemorial. 

While Marsh does not specifically mention the use of the Valles Caldera by Ute bands, he 

states, “Ute lands extended from Shoshone country on the north along the Green River in 

Wyoming, southward across all of Colorado, and well into northern New Mexico. There was 

a time when Utes were commonly seen at Santa Fe” (p. 3).

In discussing the Ute Bands, Marsh notes, “The Mouache band of southern Utes lived in 

south central Colorado and northern New Mexico. They had very early contact with the 

Spanish near Taos and Santa Fe, along with the Capote Ute band who lived close by” (p. 19). 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 207

The map that follows of the geographic expanse of Ute aboriginal lands (p. 20) encompasses 

the VCNP, as well as the northern part of the Jémez Mountain range.

Marsh includes a discussion of selected aspects of Ute cosmology (e.g., see pp. 129–132). 

These ideas underlie the people’s essential landscape constructions (see also entry for Wright 

2000).

Martin, Craig

2003 Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1. Los Alamos, NM: All Seasons 

Publishing.

This well-written, informative, and entertaining volume is an indispensable resource for all 

individuals interested in the history of the Baca Location and the VCNP. In its 11 chapters, 

Martin traces this locality from its early volcanic history through the 2.5 years of the VCNP 

as a working ranch owned by the people of the United States. The author provides many 

useful illustrations, maps, and photographs that help make this account an enjoyable read.

While Martin’s volume and the present land-use history of the VCNP share much common 

ground, the two works have contrasting foci and voices. Martin’s account is exceptional and 

invaluable for its emphasis on the social history of the individuals, including Luis María 

Cabeza de Baca, his grandsons Francisco Tomás and Tomás Dolores Baca, and entrepreneurs 

Maríano Sabine Otero, James Greenwood Whitney, Joel Parker Whitney, Frank Bond, and 

Patrick Dunigan. Each of these individuals played a key role in shaping the ownership and/or 

development of the Baca Location during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By sharing 

information about who these people were, what they valued, and how they interacted with 

their contemporaries, Martin helps put a living face on the land grant’s history.

Matthews, Meridith H.

1992 Macrobotanical Analysis. In Bandelier Archeological Excavation Project: Summer 

Excavations at Burnt Mesa Pueblo and Casa del Río. Timothy A. Kohler and Matthew 

J. Root, eds. Reports of Investigations 64. Pullman: Washington State University.

Matthews identifies the Eastern Keres’ medicinal use of Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa), 

a plant found in the VCNP.

Matthews, Washington

1887 The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony. Fifth Annual Report, Bureau of American 

Ethnology. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

Matthews describes prayer sticks used as offerings in the Navajo Mountain Chant (and 

various other ceremonies):

The sacrifices made to the gods during these ceremonies...consist of nothing more 

than a few sticks and feathers, with the occasional addition of strings and beads—a 

form of sacrificial offering common among various tribes of the Southwest, including 

the sedentary pueblos. (p. 451)

Matthews includes an illustration (fig. 58) of a prayer stick (kethàwn or keçàn {Matthews 

used these terms interchangeably, with the former representing an Anglicized version of 

the latter) “belonging, not to the Mountain Chant, but to klèdji-qaçàl, or chant of the night. 

It is sacred to the Youth and the Maiden of the Rock Crystal, divine beings who dwell in 

Tsisnàtcini, a great mountain north of the Pueblo of Jemez” (p. 452). The figure 58 caption 

explains:

The original is in the National Museum at Washington. It consists of two sticks coated 

with white earth and joined by a cotton string a yard long, which is tied to each stick 

by a clove hitch. A black bead is in the center of the string; a turkey feather and eagle 

feather are secured with the clove hitch to one of the strings. (p. 452)

Matthews, Washington

1897 Navajo Legends. Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society 5. Menasha, WI: 

American Folk-Lore Society.

Matthews introduces the creation of the Navajo Holy Mountains of Direction:

190. ...First Man and First Woman, Black Body and Blue Body, set out to build the 

seven sacred mountains of the present Navajo land. They made them all of earth 

which they had brought from similar mountains in the fourth world. The mountains 

they made were Tsĭsnadzĭ ́ni in the east, Tsotsĭl (Taylor, San Mateo) in the south, 
208 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Dokoslíd (San Francisco) in the west, Depĕ ́ntsa (San Juan) in the north, with 

Dsĭlnáotĭl, Tsolíhi, and Akĭdanastáni (Hosta Butte) in the middle of the land.

191. Through Tsĭsnadzĭ ́ni, in the east, they ran a bolt of lightning to fasten it to the 

earth. They decorated it with white shells, white lightning, white corn, white clouds, 

and he-rain. They set a big dish or bowl of shell on its summit, and in it they put two 

eggs of the Pigeon to make feathers for the mountain. The eggs they covered with a 

sacred buckskin to make them hatch (there are many wild pigeons in this mountain 

now). All these things they covered with a sheet of daylight, and they put Rock Crystal 

Boy and Rock Crystal Girl into the mountain to dwell. (pp. 78–79)

Matthews recounts more fully the story of the making of the sacred mountains in note 51.

Soon after the arrival of the people in the fifth world..., some one said: “It would be 

well if we had in this world such mountains as we had in the world below.” “I have 

brought them with me,” said First Man. He did not mean to say he had brought the 

whole of the mountains with him, but only a little earth from each, with which to start 

new mountains here. The people laid down four sacred buckskins and two sacred 

baskets for him to make his mountains on, for there were six sacred mountains in 

the lower world, just as there are six in this, and they were named the same there as 

they now are here. The mountain in the east, Tsĭsnadzĭ ́ni, he made of clay from the 

mountain of the east below, mixed with white shell. The mountain of the south, Tsotsĭl, 

he made of earth below mixed with turquoise. The mountain of the west he made of 

earth mixed with haliotis or abalone shell. The mountain of the north he made of earth 

mixed with cannel coal. Dsĭlnáotĭl he made of earth from the similar mountain in the 

lower world, mixed with goods of all kinds...Tsolíhi he made of earth below, mixed 

with shells and precious stones of all kinds...While they were still on the buckskins 

and baskets, ten songs were sung which now belong to the rites of hozóni hatál...

When the people came up from the lower world they were under twelve chiefs, but 

only six of them joined in the singing of these songs, and to-day six men sing them. 

When the mountains were made, the god of each of the four quarters of the world 

carried one away and placed it where it now stands. The other two were left in the 

middle of the world and are there still. A pair of gods were then put to live in each 

mountain, as follows: East, Dawn Boy and Dawn Girl, called also White Shell Boy 

and White Shell Girl; south, Turquoise Boy and Turquoise Girl; west, Twilight Boy 

and Haliotis Girl; north, Darkness (or Cannel Coal) Boy and Darkness Girl; at 

Dsĭlnáotĭl, All-goods...Boy and All-goods Girl; at Tsolíhi, All-jewels ...Boy and Alljewels Girl. (pp. 220–221)

Matthews, following his two principal Navajo collaborators, Tall Singer and Laughing 

Doctor, tentatively identifies the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East as Pelado Peak.

Tsĭsnadzĭ ́ni is the name of the sacred mountain which the Navahoes regard as 

bounding their country on the east. It probably means Dark Horizontal Belt. The 

mountain is somewhere near the pueblo of Jemez, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. 

It is probably Pelado Peak, 11,260 feet [3,433 m] high, 20 miles [32 km] N.E. of the 

pueblo. White shell and various other objects of white—the color of the east—belong 

to the mountain. (p. 221n52)

Mayes, Vernon O., and Barbara Bayless Lacy

1989 Nanise’: A Navajo Herbal. Tsaile, AZ: Navajo Community College Press.

Mayes and Lacy mention three plant species found in the VCNP that Navajos use as 

medicines (rush [Juncus sp.] and common mallow [Malva neglecta]) or for use in making 

curing implements (ponderosa pine [Pinus ponderosa]).

McNitt, Frank

1972 Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals. Albuquerque: 

University of New Mexico Press.

McNitt summarizes Navajo hostilities with other tribes, Hispanics, and Anglos in historic 

times. Of interest to the VCNP is his comprehensive account of Governor José Antonio 

Vizcarra’s 1823 punitive expedition against Navajo raiders, who at that time clearly held 

the upper hand in their ongoing war with the Mexican colony. At the end of Vizcarra’s 

expedition in the Four Corners region, he passed through the Valle Grande on his return to 

Santa Fe.

On August 24, after negotiating the pass through the Chuska Mountains and 

reaching the valley below, Vizcarra discharged two regiments of militia to make their 

separate ways home to Río Arriba and Río Abajo. With the balance of the command 

he proceeded directly eastward for fifteen leagues until meeting the Chaco Wash at 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 209

Fajada Butte. For the next two days he followed his outward route, resting briefly at 

Pueblo Pintado before continuing past the Chacra Mesa and down Torreon Wash. 

Below the present town of Cuba the command turned east on a trail leading across 

the Jemez Mountains by way of the Valle Grande. At sunset on August 31, after an 

absence of seventy-four days, the troops arrived in Santa Fe. The expedition was over. 

(p. 65)

Vizcarra’s action did not resolve the colony’s troubles with Navajo raiders. For example, 

between 1826 and 1829, during Governor Antonio Narbona’s administration,

Navajos raided along the Río Grande, striking repeatedly at Jemez but ranging from 

Abiquiu and the Valle Grande southward to Belen. Thousands of sheep and other 

livestock were run off; some of the pastors were carried away as slaves and others 

were killed. A token force of fifteen soldiers was sent in March 1829 to patrol the 

frontier at Jemez. (p. 70)

McNitt reports that a party of Utes arrived at Jémez Pueblo in early 1835 to trade (p. 73). 

After their departure, a delegation of Navajo traders arrived. When they left, the Navajo 

traders drove off 50 of the Pueblo’s herd animals. The Pueblo pursued them, recovered 18 

head of livestock, and killed 1 member of the Navajo party.

Blas de Hinojos led another punitive expedition into Navajo country following this raid. 

McNitt implies that Vizcarra’s route of 1823, which crossed the Valle Grande, might have 

become a familiar military road to Casafuerte in the Four Corners region (p. 73).

A fight between U.S. Army contractors, under the leadership of Robert Nesbit and Hiram 

R. Parker, and Navajo raiders occurred in the Valles Caldera during the summer of 1851 

(pp. 184–186). The Nesbit-Parker party was cutting hay for the U.S. Army quartermaster 

stationed in Santa Fe. Although McNitt does not identify the hay camp by name, this station 

later became known as Old Fort. Given its many useful details, McNitt’s summary of this 

episode deserves retelling in its entirety.

A scarcity of spring rain had left the ground cover of the lower valleys short and 

brown; for lush grass the partners had been forced to a higher elevation in the Jemez 

Mountains. At the Valle Grande, an emerald swatch surrounded by tall timber some 

forty miles [64 km] from Santa Fe, a blockhouse of green cottonwood logs had been 

built. Connected to it at the rear was a corral of the same logs laid one on top of the 

other to a height of four or five feet [1.2–1.5 m]. Here with a train of mule wagons 

purchased from Henry Dodge’s associate, Pinckney Tully, the Nesbit-Parker outfit had 

been cutting a rich harvest.

A soaking rain fell on the mountain meadows through the afternoon of July 2, turning 

to a steady drizzle after nightfall. Because of rain and darkness, Nesbit said later, a 

man posted on guard at the coral failed to detect any sign of danger until a Navajo’s 

arrow pierced his neck. Almost at the same instant the guard pressed the trigger of 

his gun, the shot being enough to rouse the men asleep in the house. For two hours, 

Nesbit and Parker said, they and their beleaguered men “kept up a continued fight...

on three sides of the house, while another portion of the Indians were endeavoring to 

pull down the corral to get the animals out, which they succeeded in doing after three 

o’clock—when they drove off all the animals, consisting of over one hundred in all.”

Navajos in the attacking party, they informed Colonel Munroe, numbered between 

250 and 300 warriors. Affidavits were to be furnished, and in the circumstances they 

would request Munroe to inform them how to recover their animals or, failing that, 

apply for cash indemnification, as the loss was so great that it might ruin them.

Another version of the incident was related shortly afterward by a party of eleven 

Pueblos of Jemez who by mere chance encountered a detachment of dragoons 

patrolling southward through the mountains from Abiquiu. They had been herding 

cattle in the vicinity the night of the attack, the Pueblos said. As the Navajos had 

withdrawn with the stolen horses and mules the Jemez had followed quietly, keeping 

themselves hidden. Finally, at a place where the Navajos had to descend a steep 

hill that left them exposed and at a disadvantage, the Jemez killed two of them and 

captured five mules. Two of the mules had been left on the road back to the Valle 

Grande; the other three had been restored to Nesbit and Parker. Lieutenant Beverly 

H. Robertson felt the matter worth investigating and persuaded one of the Pueblos to 

accompany his detachment back to the hay camp.

He reported later that he found the blockhouse situated on a hill of gentle declivity, 

within fifty yards of a piece of woodland, the corral, which joined the house, being on 

that side. He spoke with the guard who had been wounded at the start of the attack, 

examined a part of the corral that the Navajos had torn down, and was shown where 

forty to fifty arrows had been fired at the blockhouse door to discourage an effort 
210 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

by the men inside to break out. There were no loopholes in the house, Robertson 

observed thoughtfully, and the only opening toward the corral (through which Parker 

had fired two shots from his revolver) was so high in the wall that one ball struck the 

topmost log on the opposite side of the corral.

“There were no guns fired at the Indians, except by the sentinel on Post,” Robertson 

reported. “The sentinel said it was impossible from the darkness of the night, to tell 

their exact number, but he believed there could not have been less than forty.”

The guard’s story, Robertson believed, fitted rather well with what the Jemez had told 

him—that the Navajos numbered perhaps thirty or forty warriors. Men employed by 

Nesbit and Parker at the hay camp also confirmed the Pueblo’s accounting for stolen 

livestock: the Navajos had driven off six horses and forty-three mules, of which five 

had been recovered. (pp. 184–185)

In a separate note, McNitt reports that Colonel Munroe stated that Nesbit and Parker never 

submitted affidavits in support of their claimed losses because of the raid (p. 185n4).

Lastly, McNitt (p. 278) mentions a raid by four Navajos on Peña Blanca in 1856. New 

Mexican militiamen pursued the raiders and engaged them in the Valle Grande, killing two 

of the Navajo.

Miera y Pacheco, Bernardo

1779 Plano de la Provincia Interna de Nuebo Mexico que hizo por mandado de el Tnte. 

Coronel de Caballeria, Gobernador y Comte. General de dha Prov.a Don Juan Bap.ta 

de Ansa. On file. Santa Fe: Map Room, Angélico Chávez History Library, Palace of the 

Governors, Museum of New Mexico.

As the title indicates, cartographer Bernardo Miera y Pacheco (who originally came to Santa 

Fe from El Paso ca. 1759 at the behest of his cousin, then Governor Marín del Valle), who 

identifies himself as “exempt soldier of the royal presidio of Santa Fe,” drew this map at the 

request of Governor Juan Bautista de Anza. The Valle Grande is labeled “Valle de los Bacas

(Valley of the Cows).” The map is not to scale, and the valley appears many times its actual 

size. This fact suggests that, although travelers and herders had admired the Valle Grande’s 

majesty, no one had ever measured it.

Minnis, Paul E., and Richard I. Ford

1977 Appendix C: Analysis of Plant Remains from Chimney Rock Mesa, 1970–1972. In

Archaeological Investigations at Chimney Rock Mesa, 1970–1972. Frank W. Eddy, 

ed. Pp. 81–91. Memoirs of the Colorado Archaeological Society. Boulder: Colorado 

Archaeological Society.

Minnis and Ford identify the food use of snowberry (Symphoricarpos sp.), a plant that grows 

in the VCNP, in the pre-Columbian Pueblo archaeological record of Chimney Rock.

Moore, Michael, compiler

1977 Los Remedios de la Gente: A Compilation of Traditional New Mexican Herbal 

Medicines and Their Use: 134 Different Leaves, Flowers, Roots, Barks & Gums in 

Spanish, English & Latin. Santa Fe, NM: Herbs Etcetera.

Of the 134 Hispanic medicinal species reported by Moore, 57 genera grow in the Valles 

Caldera area. Of these, three Arnica (Arnica sp.), native hops (Humulus lupulus), and 

creeping barberry (Mahonia repens) are unique to Moore’s compilation.

Morley, Sylvanus

1938 Appendix II: The Rito de los Frijoles in the Spanish Archives. In Pajarito Plateau and 

Its Ancient People. Edgar L. Hewett, ed. Pp. 149–154. Albuquerque: University of New 

Mexico Press.

In this article, Morley states that Hispanics first occupied the Rito de los Frijoles in 1780, 

when Governor Juan Bautista de Anza received a petition from Andres Montoya having to 

do with a grant made to Montoya by former Governor Tomás Velles Cachupin. Montoya 

had never occupied the tract. He asked Governor Anza to make it over to his son-in-law, 

Juan Antonio Lujan. This being done “said Lujan commenced to work said farm in which he 

labored very much in clearing it off, it being virgin land” (p. 150).

The Court of Private Land Claims dismissed a petition for confirmation of the Rito de los 

Frijoles Grant. By this decision, the boundary of the Ramón Vigil Grant was extended south 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 211

to the northern edge of the Rito de los Frijoles Canyon and the Cochití Pueblo Grant was 

extended north to the southern boundary of the Ramón Vigil Grant.

Naranjo, Tessie

1995 Thoughts on Migration by Santa Clara Pueblo. Journal of Anthropological 

Archaeology 14:247–250.

A sociologist from Santa Clara Pueblo, Naranjo helps explain the primacy of the concept 

of movement in Pueblo cosmology and landscape-making. Movement of people across the 

land, just as movement of life force through all the realms of the Pueblos’ cosmos, means 

transformation and renewal. The European idea of abandonment is neither applicable nor 

appropriate.

In terms of movement specifically, Naranjo explains,

Movement is one of the big ideological concepts of Pueblo thought because it is 

necessary for the perpetuation of life. Movement, clouds, wind and rain are one. 

Movement must be emulated by the people. (p. 248)

She adds, “The idea was to have boundaries to create a place—to fix a place—temporarily 

within the larger idea of movement” (p. 249).

Naranjo, Tito, and Rina Swentzell

1989 Healing Spaces in the Pueblo World. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 

13(3–4):257–265.

Naranjo and Swentzell, both members of the Santa Clara Pueblo and educators, consider 

the Pueblos’ concepts of center, periphery, movement, process, and connectedness in their 

understandings of landscape, place, time, and tradition. In their consideration of healing 

places, which are where a state of balance is maintained between human and natural 

environments (p. 257), they examine the importance of negative spaces, whether formally 

constructed (as in village plazas) or naturally occurring (as in caves), through which the 

energy of all life forces moves to unite all parts of the Pueblos’ cosmos.

The symbolic openings are found in the plaza area, within the kiva, and in the 

enclosing hills as well as in the far mountains. These openings represent, again, an 

effort to connect this level of existence with that below. Each of the openings (nansipu and shrines) is a special healing space. Each is the primary point of energy flow 

between the simultaneous levels of the Pueblo world—it is where the movement of 

the universe is most intense. Those points were centering places of the Pueblo world, 

and human life can be in the connective flow of the universe. They are, however, 

inconspicuous points in the flow of the universe. (p. 262)

Nichols, Robert F.

n.d. Wetherill Mesa Excavations: Step House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. 

Manuscript on file: Mesa Verde, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park 

Service.

Nichols reports the use of wood from the common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), 

the currant (Ribes sp.), and the elderberry (Sambucus sp.) in pre-Columbian Pueblo tool 

manufacture at Mesa Verde. All three of these plants occur in the VCNP.

O’Bryan, Aileen

1956 The Dîné: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology 

Bulletin 163. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

In figure 3 O’Bryan provides an illustration of a Navajo sandpainting that represents the 

earth (p. 23). Sisnádjini, the Holy Mountain of the East, appears as a circle below the figure’s 

left shoulder.

O’Bryan’s retelling of the creation of the Holy Mountains in the present world largely 

follows that provided by Matthews (1897). In her account, O’Bryan relates that First Man 

and First Woman ask the Holy Beings, White Bead Boy and Rock Crystal Girl, to go inside 

the Mountain of the East. First Man and First Woman 

then fastened Sis na ́ jin to the earth with a bolt of lightning. They covered the 

mountain with a blanket of daylight, and they decorated it with white shells, white 

lightning, black clouds, and male rain. They placed the white shell basket on the 

summit; and in this basket two eggs of the...pigeon. They said that the pigeons were 

to be the mountain’s feather; and that is why there are many wild pigeons in this 
212 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

mountain today. And lastly they sent the bear to guard the doorway of the White Bead 

Boy in the East. (p. 24)

O’Bryan continues the story by recounting that First Man and First Woman told the people:

. . . that they were to use the six sacred mountains indicated as their chief mountains. 

The place of emergence from the lower worlds was where it is now. The people could 

always see their great mountains above the lower mesa lands. When everything was 

finished a smoke was prepared for the mountains and the chants were sung. (p. 26)

O’Bryan notes further:

All the mountains have their prayers and chants which are called Dressing the 

Mountains. All the corner posts have their prayers and chants, as have the stars and 

markings in the sky and on the earth. It is their custom to keep the sky and the earth 

and the day and the night beautiful. The belief is that if this is done, living among the 

people of the earth will be good. (p. 24)

O’Bryan provides several of the Mountain chants (pp. 25, 27–30). In this ceremonial 

repertoire, the songs “tell of the mountain people: the bear, the deer, the squirrel, and of all 

the others” (p. 26). They also reinforce the many-tiered relationships among the people and 

the mountains that crosscut the dimensions of space and time.

Olson, Gilbert V.

1973 Field Notes of the Dependent Resurvey of a Portion of the North Boundary of the Baca 

Location No. 1 Grant, Portions of the East Boundary and Subdivisional Lines with the 

Subdivision of Certain Sections Township 18 North, Range 3 East. Microfiche. Santa 

Fe, NM: State Office, Bureau of Land Management.

This survey was carried out between October 15, 1970, and September 23, 1971, by 

Cadastral Surveyor Gilbert V. Olson, and was approved by the Chief, Division of Cadastral 

Survey, Bureau of Land Management, on November 21, 1973.

Olson tabulates earlier surveys including Sawyer and McBroom in 1876 (see entry for 

Sawyer and McBroom 1876); a survey of parts of the north, east and south boundaries by 

Albert F. Easley in 1883; Douglass and Neighbour in 1912 (see entry for Douglass and 

Neighbour n.d.); Osterhoudt, Hall and, Devendorf in 1920–1921; and a survey of some 

subdivision lines by Oscar B. Walsh in 1927.

This is a reestablishment of the survey performed by Easley in 1883 and of the resurvey 

performed by Osterhoudt, Hall and Devendorf in 1920-1921.

Opler, Morris E.

1936 A Summary of Jicarilla Apache Culture. American Anthropologist 38(2):202–223.

The author describes the Jicarilla use of the common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) and 

acorns (Quercus sp.) for food. Both species occur in the VCNP.

Opler, Morris E.

1983a The Apachean Culture Pattern and Its Origins. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 

368–392. Vol. 10 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

In this informative article, Opler provides practical general discussion of central tendencies 

and variations in the early culture-history of Apachean cultures.

Opler, Morris E.

1983b Mescalero Apache. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 419–439. Vol. 10 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of the Mescalero 

Apache Tribe.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 213

Ortiz, Alfonso

1969 The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being, and Becoming in a Pueblo Society. Chicago: 

University of Chicago Press.

This now-classic ethnographic monograph provides a comprehensive symbolic analysis 

of Tewa culture, with the fundamental principles that structure the Tewa people’s 

understandings of their cosmos. While this work offers no information directly related to the 

VCNP, Ortiz’s study is an essential reference because it helps explain significant aspects of 

the conceptual Tewa world.

This book, like all of Ortiz’s work, must be considered with care and respect. Now deceased, 

Ortiz was of mixed Tewa and Nuevomexicano descent, but he identified himself mainly with 

San Juan Pueblo. He became a source of controversy within San Juan Pueblo society because 

he divulged information about San Juan Tewa society and culture that some community 

members felt should not be shared with outsiders.

Ortiz offers a general understanding of the Tewa ethnographic landscape. He examines 

the relationships and meanings between the natural and supernatural worlds of the Tewas’ 

cosmos to permit a cogent definition of Tewa ethnographic landscape structure and 

boundaries. He specifically considers questions concerning how the Tewa simultaneously 

divide and unite their world through a system of social and symbolic dualism, with the whole 

greater than the sum of its parts. As Fred Eggan notes in the book’s forward:

. . . dualism is only part of the Tewa picture, though a fundamental part; the way in 

which the dual organization ties the human categories together into a larger structure 

is an important part of the author’s contribution. (p. xii)

Ortiz’s analysis suggests that places on the Tewa’s ethnographic landscape cannot be 

understood in isolation or as having discrete, impermeable spatial or temporal boundaries. 

His discussion of mountains in Tewa cultural geography is important in this regard:

The mountains are understood by the Tewa to be endowed with sacredness in several 

ways. First, a lake or pond is associated with each, and within this body of water 

live the “Dry Food Who Never Did Become,” of the appropriate directional color. 

Secondly, there is a nan sipu or earth navel on top of each mountain, and within these 

live the Towa é who stand watch over the Tewa world. The color classification is 

again replicated. (p. 19; emphasis added)

The identification of Sandia Mountain as the cardinal south summit with water, directional 

color association, a nan sipu, and the Towa é embodies many-layered and interrelated 

metaphorical referents. Used in conjunction with other Tewa ethnographical accounts, 

Ortiz’s analysis provides guidelines for considering aspects of relationships among (1) 

mountains; (2) volcanoes and caves; and (3) the centers of the Tewa communities.

Ortiz, Alfonso

1972 Ritual Drama and the Pueblo World View. In New Perspectives on the Pueblos. Alfonso 

Ortiz, ed. Pp. 135–161. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Ortiz distinguishes world view from religion:

A world view provides a people with a structure of reality; it defines, classifies, and 

orders the “really real” in the universe, in their world, and in their society....If world 

view provides an intellectually satisfying picture of reality, religion provides both 

an intellectually and emotionally satisfying picture of, and orientation toward, that 

reality. (p. 136; emphasis added]

Ortiz adds:

A world view, then, is paramount in a cultural system in the sense that it denotes a 

system of symbols by means of which a people impose meaning and order on their 

world. This being so, the initial and most important question to ask of a people or a 

body of data is: What are the symbolic resources in terms of which they think and act? 

(p. 137)

This essay documents the precision among Pueblo people in bringing their definitions of 

community space and time into line with their cosmologies. These constructions all are 

based on the premises that (1) all space is sacred, (2) sacred space is inexhaustible, and (3) 

everything—animate and inanimate—has its place in the cosmos.

Ortiz traces the relationship between boundary and center. Boundaries demarcate things 

between the living world and the underworld (i.e., a vertical dimension), while centers, such 

as a village plaza, occupy the middle of the world (i.e., a horizontal dimension). Ortiz notes 
214 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

that in their attempt to reconcile their understandings of vertical and horizontal space in 

reference to the supernatural beings, the Pueblos characteristically place these beings just at, 

or just outside, their constructions of the living world. He argues:

One of the greater challenges in the study of the Pueblo world view is still that of 

determining the boundaries of particular Pueblo worlds, then working backward toward the 

center and filling them in. With their markedly centripetal point of view, this is the way the 

Pueblos think, too. (p. 154)

Ortiz, Alfonso

1979 San Juan Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 278–295. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of San Juan Pueblo.

Ortiz, Alfonso

1991 Through Tewa Eyes: Origins. National Geographic 180(4):6–13.

In this short article written for a general audience, Ortiz uses birth, naming, and death rituals 

to trace Tewa history from time immemorial. Ortiz outlines key principles of temporal and 

spatial relationship among the many places that make up the Tewas’ ethnographic landscape 

and sustain the framework of community tradition. An illustration (pp. 12–13) conveys many 

aspects of the complex system of symbols that Ortiz evaluates comprehensively in his formal 

ethnographic study (1969).

Ortiz, Simon J.

1992 Woven Stone. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

In this collection of poetic work derived from three previous volumes—Going for the Rain, 

A Good Journey, and Fight Back: For the Sake of the People, For the Sake of the Land—

Ortiz, who is from Ácoma Pueblo, shares many insightful thoughts and stories about his 

life experiences and his views of the world in which he lives. Two poems, “That’s the Place 

Indians Talk About” (pp. 321–324) and “We Have Been Told Many Things but We Know 

This To Be True” (pp. 324–325), richly illustrate the discussion Cajete (1994 [see entry 

above]) develops for Native American people’s relationships with land and place.

Ortiz provides a thoughtful biographical essay as this volume’s introduction. He offers a 

compelling observation about the many difficulties of expressing Pueblo ideas, which derive 

from his Keresan birth language, into English. This commentary deserves consideration 

when cultural resources planners, managers, and consultants confer with Pueblo people 

about their landscape constructions and meanings, which similarly derive from languages 

other than English.

[W]hen I learned English well and began to use it fluently, at least technically and 

intellectually, I found myself “objectifying” my native language, that is, in translation. And 

it felt awkward, almost like I was doing something I was forbidden but doing it anyway. 

I’ve posed myself the frequent question: Is it possible to translate from the Acoma language 

to another? Yes, I’ve insisted, but I’m not sure I am convinced of it or how complete the 

translation is. Since we’re all human with the same human feelings and responses to feelings, 

we understand and share hurt, love, anger, joy, sadness, elation, a gamut of emotions. 

However, human languages are different from each other, and unique, and we have different 

and unique languages; it is not easy to translate from one language to another though we 

egotistically believe and think we can. And that is when I found myself objectifying my 

Acoma language and at emotional odds with myself. (p. 6; emphasis added]

Osterhoudt, L. A., W. V. Hall, and Charles W. Devendorf

1921 Independent Resurvey of the Baca Location No. 1. Microfiche. Santa Fe, NM: State 

Office, Bureau of Land Management.

U.S. Cadastral Engineers Osterhoudt, Hall, and Devendorf resurveyed the Baca Location 

between June 30, 1920, and August 24, 1921. This survey determined that the Location 

contained 99,289.37 acres (40,180.23 ha)—less than half an acre’s (.2 ha) variance from the 

original 1876 survey by Sawyer and McBroom (see entry).
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 215

The “General Description” by Devendorf states:

This grant lies on the highest portion of the Jemez Range of mountains. The second 

highest mountain of the range, Pelado, about 11,700 ft. [3,567 m], is in the SW. 

corner of the grant. The highest mountain, Santa Clara Peak is in the section rendered 

fractional by the NE. cor. of the grant. Nearly all the grant is drained by the Jemez 

River, the 2 forks of which unite about a mile [1.6 km] SW. of the SW. cor. of the grant. 

The divide bet. the N. and S. drainage of the range lies just outside the grant at the 

NW. and NE. cors. And inside for a few miles near the middle of the N. side. The 

divide bet. the E. and SE. drainage lies entirely inside the grant but never far from 

the bdy. I estimate Santa Clara Peak to be about 12,600 ft. [3,841 m] high. There 

are numerous springs and swamps, giving rise to many streams on the grant. In the 

western portion, many of these springs contain sulphur or other mineral and many 

are warm to moderately hot. Sulphur Springs, a small but noted health resort is inside 

the W. body. of the grant, several sulphur springs being hot as desired for baths, and 

several springs of other kinds occurring in the same small tract.

There are large open valleys and benches inside the grant, making about 1⁄4 of the total area. 

This land and part of the mountain slopes is covered with a dense growth of grass, which 

reaches in many places any where from knee high to the height of the shoulders. A large 

proportion of these open places is swampy, but not too wet for grass. The remainder of the 

grant is covered with timber, the bulk of which is spruce, fir and aspen. Some of the lower 

elevations and southerly slopes, contain considerable valuable pine timber. Oak undergrowth 

occurs most in the higher pine levels.

The soil is generally a very rich black loam, but in some of the valleys it is a gravelly brown 

loam, and in much of the mountain country is more or less thin and stony. In the rougher 

mountainous portions the soil is largely bare, broken lava rock and huge boulders.

At this high elevation, 8,000 to 12,000 ft. [2,439–3,659 m], the rainfall is very heavy, also 

the snow fall. During the summer in the higher, rainier portion, I estimate that it rains at least 

one-fourth of the time, possibly one-half of the time. The rainfall along the lower S. side is 

considerably less than in the North and West portions, while it decreases rapidly in the to the 

S., E. and N., after leaving the grant. There is land with good soil and abundant rainfall N. of 

the grant. In the spring of 1921 the period between spring and autumn frosts at my camp was 

about 60 days. It is probably shorter on the higher mountains. (pp. 97–99)

Devendorf discusses the survey itself, noting that the chaining of the boundaries “is not 

as good as that of the center lines” (p. 99). He notes that the unofficial survey by L. D. W. 

Shelton was the basis for the grant line fences and that none of these is entirely on the true 

boundary but that the south fence “practically agrees” with the true boundary. He also notes 

that the grant conflicts with several homestead entries and cuts off certain lands surveyed for 

Santa Clara Pueblo.

Otero, Miguel Antonio

1935 My Life on the Frontier. Albuquerque, NM: Press of the Pioneers.

In 1881 Maríano Sabine Otero owned the Sulphur Springs, just outside the west boundary 

of the Baca Location as defined by the 1876 survey, and he and his uncle, Miguel Antonio 

Otero, jointly owned the Jémez Springs. Otero describes the creation of a commercial spring 

and bathhouses at Jémez Springs in 1882 (pp. 237–238; 241–277). The 1911 resurvey (see 

entry for USDA, Forest Service, 1915) established that Sulphur Springs is within the Baca 

Location boundary.

Page, Suzanne, and Jake Page

1982 Hopi. New York: Abradale Press.

The Pages portray many aspects of Hopi life rarely conveyed in academic ethnological 

monographs. One passage in particular captures the Hopis’ conceptualization of their 

bipartite world and helps outsiders grasp the significance that Pueblo people attach to places, 

especially caves that connect the complementary parts of their world, on their ethnographic 

landscapes.

The Hopi land, the Hopi world, is completely peopled with spirits as real as—in fact, part 

of—the rocks. The sun rises from its house to the east and sets in its house to the west. 

Then from west to east it travels at night, making it day in the Underworld. The two worlds 

alternate but are not really separate: they are a continuum. (p. 187)
216 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Parkhurst, T. Harmon

1920–1951 Photographs on file: Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Historical Museum.

T. Harmon Parkhurst (1883–1952), a native of upstate New York, came to Santa Fe about 

1910 to participate in an archaeological reconnaissance in Frijoles Canyon. He then worked 

at the new Museum of New Mexico from 1910 to 1915 as museum photographer under 

the supervision of Jesse L. Nusbaum. Parkhurst opened a studio in Santa Fe about 1915, 

doing extensive regional photography on glass plate negatives. From 1920 through 1945 

he worked with a 7- by 11-inch camera. Parkhurst was the official photographer of the Los 

Alamos Ranch School for most of its history. He retired in 1951 and lived his last years in 

Los Angeles.

Photographs on file at the Los Alamos Historical Museum include the following:

Fishing in the Valle Grande 1939 (LAHM-P1993-053–5520, box 3)

Ranch School students camping in Valle Grande (LAHM-P1977–323–1–4239, box 3)

Los Alamos Ranch School students at camp kitchen in Valle Grande (LAHM-P1981–

585–1–4198, box 3)

Los Alamos Ranch School students at campsite in Valle de los Posos (LAHM-P–1981–

585–1–4197, box 3)

Los Alamos Ranch School students at campsite in Valle Grande (LAHM-P–1981–585–1–

4194, box 3)

Parsons, Elsie Clews

1925 The Pueblo of Jemez. Papers of the Phillips Academy Southwestern Expedition 3. New 

Haven, CT: Published for the Phillips Academy by Yale University Press.

Considered an essential and classic ethnographic study, this work is controversial because 

Parsons disclosed much traditional cultural knowledge held as sensitive by the people of 

Jémez Pueblo. As such, use of this work should be approached with care.

Parsons offers some information about the traditional associations that the Jémez maintain 

with the VCNP. For example, she reports that the Underworld Chief’s Society makes a 

pilgrimage to Redondo Peak every summer (p. 63) and that community members go into 

the Jémez Mountains (presumably including the Valles Caldera) to harvest aspen trunks for 

making drums and wati grass from around springs for use in preparing prayer sticks (p. 104).

Parsons lists the mountains of cardinal directions as follows: “Yellow-Flint Mountain” to the 

east, “Blue-Flint Mountain” (i.e., Wavema [a.k.a. Redondo Peak]) to the north, “Red-Flint 

Mountain” to the west, and “Black-Flint Mountain” to the south (p. 137). She adds that the 

Jémez Mountains generally and Redondo Peak specifically recall the origins and ends of 

natural life and the eternity of all spiritual life. The Jémez Mountains represent “the place 

from which the people came and whence the newborn still come” (p. 125).

Parsons, Elsie Clews

1996 [1939] Pueblo Indian Religion. 2 vols. Lincoln: University of Nebraska. (Originally 

published Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.)

This monumental work is renowned both for its contributions to comparative Pueblo 

ethnography and the controversy that arises from their disclosure of substantive, secretive 

detail about Pueblo ceremonial practice and religious belief. Parsons was fully aware that 

she trespassed, both physically into areas where she did not have ritual empowerment and as 

an anthropologist interviewing people. She also was aware that she placed her consultants in 

personal and social risk through use of an unethical “secretive method” to record sensitive 

information (Strong, in Parsons 1996:x–xi). To many traditional people, Parsons’ work 

was sacrilegious, desecrated the special qualities of places and personal relationships, and 

threatened to undermine the power of what she reported.

The information allows the reader to grasp certain elements of meaning embedded in 

statements by community scholars about the Pueblos’ ethnographic landscapes in general 

and by community representatives about their village’s traditional associations with the 

monument in particular. More importantly, Parson’s work permits the identification of 

a coherent, layered system of belief and referent that guides how Pueblo communities 

construct and occupy their landscapes.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 217

Peckham, Stewart

1990 From this Earth: The Ancient Art of Pueblo Pottery. Santa Fe: Museum of New 

Mexico Press.

In his introductory essay, Peckham (pp. 1–5) defines the concept of tradition in a manner that 

is both comprehensive and accessible to the layperson. In casting traditions as media through 

which people explain how “they became who they are” (p. 2), Peckham helps the reader 

understand how traditions are part of a living cultural and historical process that links the 

past with the present and provides continuity for preparing for the future. Peckham uses the 

following major points to organize his thoughtful discussion:

Traditions are persistent.

Traditions help to maintain order.

Traditions have continuity.

Traditions change through time.

Traditions occupy definable space.

Individuals may alter traditions.

Similar traditions rarely are identical.

Extinct traditions never really are revived.

A tradition is a thing of value.

Peckham also discusses the pre-Columbian Pueblo use of tansy mustard (Descurainia 

pinnata) in making paint for decorating pottery. This plant grows in the Valles Caldera area.

Photo Archives, Palace of the Governors

ca. 1935 Selected Photographs of the Valles Grandes by T. Harmon Parkhurst and 

Unattributed Photographs of Ranching Activity on the Baca Location No. 1. Santa Fe: 

Museum of New Mexico.

The photo collection includes views of the Valle Grande by T. Harmon Parkhurst ca. 1935. 

Negative numbers 50805–50808, 51455, 51459, 51461, 51462, 68912–68914, 57974, 57975, 

88854, and 127488 are images of the Valles Caldera. An enclosed note refers to the Valles 

Grande, San Antonio, Telledo [sic], Rincon, Poso, Jaramillo, Seco and San Luis, but the 

photos themselves are not labeled by valley.

Several unattributed photographs are: a flock of sheep, a shepherd, and a dog (NN 5454); a 

flock of sheep and a Hispanic boy (NN 51461); a flock of sheep, a shepherd and a dog (NN 

22701); a photo of several cattle grazing in the Valle Grande (NN 51455); and a flock of 

sheep grazing (NN 51457).

Powell, J. W.

1961 [1885] The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons. New York: Dover 

Publications. (Originally published as Exploration of the Colorado River of the West 

and Its Tributaries: Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, Under the Direction of the 

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing 

Office.)

The rocks of the Jémez Mountains region were first described by J. W. Powell during his 

1880s reconnaissance work. The region was known then as the Tewan Plateau. Powell 

recognized it as an extensive volcanic field of many types of volcanic rocks and voluminous 

ash deposits.

Redondo Development Company

1915 Deed of Trust, Redondo Development Company to Warren Savings Bank, April 

1, 1915. Sandoval County, New Mexico, Records, Deed Record No. 2 (1911–1922). 

Accession No. 1959-042. Santa Fe, NM: State Records Center and Archives.

The Redondo Development Company (with its principal office in Albuquerque, New 

Mexico) executed this mortgage to the Warren Savings Bank of Pennsylvania. The Redondo 

Development Company authorized the issuance of bonds in the value of $175,000, securing 

the payment of principal and interest (at 6 %) by this mortgage to Warren Savings Bank. The 

bonds were to mature on April 1, 1925. This mortgage is on “all that certain tract of land 

cummunly [sic] known as Baca Location No. One, situated in the counties of Sandoval and 

Río Arriba in the Territory of Mexico [sic], the same being one of the tracts of land located 

by the heirs of Luis Maria C. de Baca under the authority conffered [sic] by section 8 of an 

act of congress of the United States, approved June 21, 1860...” The Redondo Development 
218 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Company had the right to sell the timber on the lands, provided such sale or sales were not 

made for a price less than $175,000.

The mortgage instrument was signed by E. D. Wetmore, President, Redondo Development 

Company, and A. J. Haseltine, President, Warren Savings Bank.

Reichard, Gladys Amanda

1963 Navajo Religion: A Study of Symbolism. Bollingen Series 18. Princeton, NJ: Princeton 

University Press.

Reichard’s insightful discussion of the Navajo’s conceptualization of mountains warrants full 

reiteration:

Mountains, though places, are so personalized that I have classified them as deities. 

They may be included in lists of Holy People mentioned in formula and prayer; 

they have an “inner form,” “something which lies inside”..., and stabilizes them, 

doubtless a counterpart of the Agate or Turquoise Man which makes a man invincible. 

When people in the lower worlds were forced by floods to leave, they took special 

care to bring tokens of the mountains with them. No Navajo conception of the 

world, whether in the past or the future, is conceivable without the contemporary 

arrangement of mountains. The mountain symbolism is due no doubt to the belief that 

they are homes of the gods, associated with hogans. (p. 452)

Reichard next summarizes the difficulty, if not the outright impossibility, of identifying the 

precise geography for the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East. In her evaluation, she describes 

the traditional Navajo practices of variously collecting soil and water from these holy 

summits for later use in rituals closer to home.

The provenience of the “eastern mountain” is much discussed by Navaho chanters, 

but there is no agreement. sisnádjini, “the-particular-one-that-is-black-belted,” is its 

name. Matthews [see entry for Matthews 1897] said it was Abiquiu Peak or the one 

next to Abiquiu, which might be Pedernal Peak. [In a footnote, Reichard notes that 

Matthews and others refer to “Belted Mountain” as Pelado Peak.] Father Berard 

accepts for the Navajo the mountain identified by the Jicarilla Apache as Blanca Peak 

in Colorado, and Sapier-Hojier, doubtless following his lead, also translate sisná ̇djiní 

(their recording) as Blanca Peak. Father Berard’s Navajo authorities, convinced that 

it was the Holy Mountain of the east [see entry for Haile 1938], collected soil to be 

ritualistically employed later.

On the other hand, when in 1933 the Navaho decided to have the Rain Ceremony 

preformed, the Rain Singer conducted a pilgrimage to Wheeler Peak (sisnádjini ̇), 

where they ceremonially collected waters. They explained, however, that “although 

Wheeler Peak is, as we know, pretty far east, it is the right mountain.” From this 

and other conflicting remarks, we may well exercise caution in accepting any one 

as “the right” mountain. From the Rain Singer’s qualification I infer that “too far 

east” indicates Pedernal or Pelado Peak as the nearest mythical location; Blanca 

Peak seems much too far north. Evidence of men who started out on a ritualistic 

quest without suggestion of whites is a bit more convincing than that of Navaho 

taken on a “scientific” field trip. I do not by these remarks mean to imply that anyone 

was insincere—I mean merely to demonstrate that mythical places may be easily 

rationalized as “scientifically” correct, even though one name be assigned to several. 

(pp. 452–453)

In her chart 1, Reichard provides the following symbols that the Navajo associate with the 

Holy Mountain of the East:

color: white

mountain: sisnádjini ̇

fastened by: lightning

covered by: daylight, dawn

jewel: whiteshell, whiteshell with belt of dark cloud

bird: pigeon, white thunder

vegetation: spotted, white corn

sound: thunder in young eagle’s mouth

people by: Rock Crystal Boy, Rock Crystal Girl, Whiteshell Boy, Whiteshell Girl, 

Dawn Boy, Dawn Girl

moved by: spotted wind

extra gifts: white lightning, dark cloud, male rain, white corn

tutelary: xa ̇ctc ́é ́δγan
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 219

Reiter, Paul

1938 The Jemez Pueblo of Unshagi, New Mexico. University of New Mexico Bulletin 4(1). 

Monograph of the University of New Mexico and School of American Research. 

Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

This report mainly concerns excavations at the Jémez village of Unshagi carried out by the 

University of New Mexico and School of American Research from 1928 to 1934.

Chapter II (“History”) summarizes early history (1540 to the Reconquest and early 

eighteenth century). Reiter quotes Bustamante’s description, in his narrative of the 1581 

Rodríguez-Chamuscado expedition, of the Jémez pueblos; Espejo’s account of the “province 

of the Emexes”; and Juan de Oñate’s visit to the Jémez province in August 1598. He 

discusses fray Gerónimo de Zárate Salmerón’s mission to the Jémez province in the period 

1621–1626 (Reiter believes that Zárate arrived in New Mexico in 1621 rather than 1617 or 

1618 as suggested by other sources) and his prospecting in the Jémez Mountains.

Robbins, W. W., J. P. Harrington, and Barbara Freire-Marreco.

1916 Ethnobotany of the Tewa Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 55. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

In this essential publication, Robbins and others provide a wealth of information on more 

than 100 plants used by the Tewa communities (Nambé, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, San Juan, 

Santa Clara and Tesuque pueblos) of the northern Río Grande. Besides listing economically, 

socially, or useful plant taxa, they often provide cogent discussion of how the Tewa and 

some of their neighbors, including other Pueblos, the Navajo and the Jicarilla, name and use 

these materials. Several dozen of these plants grow in the VCNP. Examples include White fir 

(Abies concolor), which has medicinal applications and provides twigs suitable for making 

pipe stems. The authors note that one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma) provides food; 

fuelwood; bark for torches; leaves; twigs and berries for a variety of medicines; and boughs 

for making bows. Another all-purpose plant is broad-leaf yucca (Yucca baccata), whose uses 

include soap for personal hygiene and washing clothes, fiber for cord and rope, edible fruits, 

and brushes for painting pottery.

Romeo, Stephanie

1985 Concepts of Nature and Power: Environmental Ethics of the Northern Ute. 

Environmental Review 9(2):150–170.

Romeo shares perspectives of traditional Ute ideology about their environment, which, in 

turn, inform their landscape constructions. Ute traditionalists discuss community beliefs 

about water, land, mountains, plants, and wildlife.

Ross, Clarence S.

1931 The Valles Mountain Volcanic Center of New Mexico. Transactions of the American 

Geophysical Union 12:185–186.

Ross, a federal geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, first began surveys in the Jémez 

Mountains in the 1920s. Although more recent investigations supersede this early discussion 

of the history of volcanism in northern New Mexico, it still offers useful insights. For 

example, Ross explains that explosive rhyolitic eruptions blasted a great crater out of older 

andesite-latite volcanics.

This was 16 to 18 miles [26–29 km] in diameter, over 50 miles [80 km] in 

circumference, and 600 to 800 feet [183–244 m] deep. The materials ejected were 

almost exclusively tuffs, which were deposited in even beds sloping from an elevation 

of about 9,000 feet [2,744 m] at the crater-rim to about 6,000 feet [1,829 m] at 12 to 

14 miles [19–46 km] to the east at the Río Grande. This is the largest crater known, 

being even larger that the great Ngorongoro crater of Africa. (p. 185)

Ross mistakenly states that the crater is not a caldera because there is no subsidence, a 

conclusion corrected in later work (see entry for Smith and Bailey 1968). Ross believed at 

this time that the Redondo Dome was made up of older volcanics that had not been blasted 

out of the crater; he did not recognize it as a resurgent dome.

Ross, Clarence S.

1938 The Valles Volcano, New Mexico. Washington Academy of Sciences Journal 28:417.

This description of the Valles Caldera is a continuation of Ross’ earlier observations.
220 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Ross, Clarence S., and Robert L. Smith

1960 Ash-Flow Tuffs: Their Origin, Geologic Relations and Identification. Professional 

Paper 366. Washington, DC: Geological Survey.

This discussion of ash flows, a volcanic phenomenon, is based on fieldwork in the Valles 

Mountains of northern New Mexico, as well as observations in Mexico, New Zealand, 

and Iceland. The authors observe that ash-flow deposits in the Valles Mountains reach a 

maximum thickness of nearly 1,000 feet (305 m) and an extent of more than 350 square 

miles (890 sq km) (p. 17).

The report includes an illustration of Battleship Rock in Cañon de San Diego. The authors 

note that this illustration shows the columnar structure of many characteristic ash-flow tuffs, 

ash-fall tuffs near the junction of Colle and Peralta Cañones, a welded-tuff scarp in Cañon 

Medio Día, an ash-flow tuff scarp below the Puye Ruins, the ash-flow tuff scarp of Capulin 

Canyon, and another ash-flow tuff scarp in the Valles Mountains.

Rothman, Hal

1989 Industrial Values and Marginal Land: Cultural and Environmental Change on the 

Pajarito Plateau 1880–1910. New Mexico Historical Review 64:185–211.

Rothman discusses environmental change and degradation on and around the Pajarito 

Plateau after the coming of the railroad in 1880. He states that American [Anglo] influence 

“telescoped into a few years much more environmental and cultural change than Spanish 

practices had produced in nearly three hundred years” (p. 188). The Anglos saw the 

commercial grazing and timber potential of the Plateau (p. 198). Rothman’s emphasis is on 

the Ramón Vigil Grant, but his general explanation of environmental degradation and the 

growth of the cash economy and of creditor-borrower arrangements serves to explain how 

the Valles Caldera was incorporated into the national economy.

Rothman notes that the Anglo owners leased the timber rights on the Vigil Grant to H. 

S. Buckman, a lumberman from Oregon, in 1898. Buckman began cutting timber on the 

Plateau, and “Buckman’s timber enterprise destroyed what remained of the native ecosystem 

on the Vigil Grant” (p. 203).

[C]hanging patterns of land use in the region ignited a complicated process of 

economic, social, political, and environmental change. This change was incremental. 

Each stage pushed the people of the area closer toward dependency on outside 

markets. Native American and Hispanic populations found themselves with less and 

less of the plateau at their disposal. The Vigil Grant, its productivity demolished by 

Bishop and Buckman, was no longer available. The density of Hispanic and Native 

American stock outside the Vigil Grant increased, and more animals competed for less 

grazing land. Anglo overgrazing extended the impact of earlier limited overgrazing by 

Hispanics and Native Americans; cattle and sheep trails were no longer centralized 

around water sources. Larger herds also drove game higher into the Jémez 

Mountains, and the black bear, wild turkeys, and pumas that characterized the pre1800 plateau became more scarce. The advantages of the plateau as a subsistence 

environment quickly disappeared, and the people that depended on it had to find 

new sources of sustenance. Prior to the lumber camps and tie-gangs, few Hispanics 

or Native Americans worked for anyone else. Instead, they grew foodstuffs, tended 

animals, and traded for items that they could not produce themselves. Cash money 

was scarce, and labor was a commodity to be bartered, not sold. Buckman’s crews 

received cash for their labor, and the influx of money made the goods in the stores 

by the railroad in Española more available to the people of the region. With motives 

born of desire and necessity, Hispanics and Native Americans began to participate in 

the cash economy. As their base of subsistence became less fruitful, many Hispanics 

entered the market to trade for foodstuffs. Many also sought to acquire the tools and 

implements of industrial America. These were expensive, and often required credit—

the final step in becoming a part of the cash economy...the need for credit and its 

availability dramatically changed both farming and grazing in the Pajarito Plateau 

area. Cash crop farming became prevalent, and new patterns of land use emerged. 

(pp. 205–206)

Rothman explains that decline in the quality of forage, the extension of the National 

Forests and the loss of open land forced many Hispanics to run sheep on shares, a business 

dominated by Frank Bond.

Bond acquired so much public and private grazing land that small herders, who could 

not find enough pasture for their stock, had to sign on with him. Bond’s system tended 

to impoverish these small herdsmen. Partidarios took his sheep along with their own, 

and Bond made the herders fully responsible for the animals in their care. Their own 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 221

stock served as collateral. Bond collected a fee for range use from the partidarios, 

who also had to outfit themselves from his store, where a flat 10 percent interest rate 

was charged. With expenses mounting, most partidarios were lucky to keep their own 

sheep at the end of a contract period. As Bond’s empire grew he became the most 

influential man in the Española Valley. (pp. 209–210)

Saile, David G.

1977 Making a House: Building Rituals and Spatial Concepts in the Pueblo Indian World. 

Architectural Association Quarterly 9(2–3):72–81.

Saile provides a brief review of the conceptual underpinnings of Pueblo world view 

in relation to habitation architecture. Saile emphasizes that houses were “not solely a 

place of residence” but also were places “of potential communication with the spirit 

world” (p. 77). Figure 4, titled “Section through Pueblo world levels indicating places of 

potential communication with the spirits” (p. 4), illustrates both aspects of the understood 

relationships that unify the center and periphery of the Pueblos’ natural world and the 

connections among the natural world and the upper and lower levels of the cosmos. He also 

explains,

At the centre was great potential power in a controlled form. With proper prescribed 

ritual and prayer the power would benefit and ensure the survival of the village 

and at greater depths [or] heights the power was potentially more dangerous and 

uncontrollable. Ortiz notes that the “further one ranges outward from a particular 

village or groups of villages, the greater is the tendency to attribute characteristics 

opposite of normal to anything of symbolic value, even if only by surrounding it with 

an aura of sacredness and mystery” (1972, p. 157). He refers to societies holding such 

ideas as centripetal. (p. 77)

Saile adds that in the Pueblos’ understandings of their world,

power appears to have been derived from that which existed within the structure of 

the world and within its related phenomena (weather, astronomical observances). This 

power in turn, ultimately came from the creators of the world.

The structure of the world had to be reconstructed, or at least restated, periodically. 

Any “new” or altered thing, plant, animal, human, or architectural had to take its 

proper place in that framework...it is clear that spatial and formal organization did 

complement “becoming” or changes of state in human existence; for example at birth, 

naming, or during initiation. Places became “protected,” set apart, or sanctified as 

a point of communication with spirits, in co-operation with “rights of passage” or 

changes in the life stages of Pueblo residents... (p. 79)

Sando, Joe S.

1979 Jemez Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 418–429. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Jémez Pueblo.

Sando, Joe S.

1982 Nee Hemish: A History of Jemez Pueblo. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico 

Press.

As Alfonso Ortiz writes in the foreword, this volume consists of an “intimate account of 

Jémez Pueblo from distant times to the modern era” (p. xi). Sando, a member of Jémez 

Pueblo, writes about history with a focus on the concerns of the people about their past, 

present, and future. The theme of continuous occupation and stewardship of the land that the 

Jémez inherited in time immemorial underlies Sando’s discussion.

As the people came into the Jémez Valley region, they established shrines to document their 

occupation and to request protection by the supernatural beings “from the vicissitudes of 

nature—floods, lightening, tornadoes, and drought” (p. 11). In this way they established 

the essential relationships between themselves and the natural environment defining Jémez 

Pueblo’s landscape.

In the new home area shrines were also placed at Tsung-paa-gi (“sad spring”), Waha-bela-wa (“butterfly place”), both below Tu-va-kwa, and along the two creeks 

mentioned above [i.e., Río de las Vacas and the Río Cebolla]. The others were farther 

east, in San Diego Canyon: Guisewa (“soda dam”), Daha-enu (“battleship rock”), 

at Jemez Falls, and on top of Wa-ve-ma (Redondo Peak), and the northeast-corner 

boundary mark at Pa-shum-mu (“flower mountain”), now known as Chicoma Peak. 
222 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Unfortunately, most of these places, though in use today, are no longer in Jemez 

ownership so, again, permission has to be obtained before visiting these places 

ceremonially. The only known spot owned by Jemez is on top of Redondo Peak, 

where a “generous” area, four feet by four feet, [1.2 x 1.2 m] is set aside by the 

“benevolent” owner of the surrounding timber and grazing area. The only reason 

it is set aside is that it contains a visible shrine. The most important shrines in use 

currently are Tu-va-kwa, Wa-ve-ma, and Pe-kwile-gi. (p. 11)

The author maintains that this ancient homeland remains a major part of Jémez tradition, 

even though the USDA Forest Service administers most of these lands today (pp. 15–16).

Sando also notes that Jémez men went into upland forested areas, including Valle Grande, 

to herd horses during the months of June and July (pp. 11, 16, 50). In late summer, the men 

brought back the horses of the pueblo for threshing wheat. These practices persisted until 

about 1927, as shown by dates that the herdsmen carved into aspen trees (p. 11).

Sando retells the story of a battle waged by the Jémez upon the Navajo raiders in the Valles 

Caldera.

There are many stories of the experiences of young Jemez men while they were out 

herding horses. In a particularly popular story told to the grandchildren, during the 

late 1800s a raiding Navajo group was discovered unaware in the Valles Grande, 

camped on the west edge near a thick grove of scrub oak. The Jemez men were 

camped on the southeast side of the large, grassy meadow of Valle Grande. Since 

the Jemez men had spotted the Navajos first, they had the advantage; individual 

assignments and instructions were given, including the method of communications 

(whistling in different tones and length, plus imitating different bird calls for different 

situations). Cristobal Sando, grandfather and great-grandfather of the present-day 

Sandos, was selected to shoot the Navajo purported to be the leader. With their bows 

and arrows three men penetrated the thick brush surrounding the Navajo camp; the 

others were stationed at different distances, to prevent the raiders from reaching 

the herd and from inflicting damage to the men. After patiently waiting for the right 

situation and position of the Navajo leader, Grandpa Sando let fly an arrow. The fatal 

shot reached its mark and caused great excitement, confusion, and furor among the 

raiders. They took off toward the west, with more Jemez arrows flying after them—

intended more as scare tactics than to kill the raiders. In their haste the raiders left 

twisted strips of cowhide and some strips of tanned deerhide. (pp. 11–12)

Sando shares some information about the how Jémez Pueblo’s people earned their 

livelihood, in part, by using the Valles Caldera’s resources. Valle Grande was the pueblo’s 

traditional pasture during the summer (p. 16). “The forested areas near the natural bowl [of 

the Valle Grande] were also used by the eagle catchers [of the Eagle Catching Society] in 

the late fall, following the harvest” (p. 16). Sando reports further that the area where the 

Jémez quarried the flagstone needed for making paper bread was just south of Pa-shun (a.k.a. 

Tsikumu and Cerro Chicoma) (p. 16).

Lastly, Sando provides a brief discussion of the Pueblo’s relationship to and subsequent loss 

of the Valle Grande.

After the ancient homeland was granted to the Spaniards in 1798, under a grant 

known as the Cañón de San Diego de Jémez Land Grant, the Jémez people began 

to depend on the forested area farther east for religious activities, herb collecting, 

hunting, eagle catching, grazing community horse herds, and collecting fir branches 

for ceremonial dances. They had free access and use, along with neighboring Pueblo 

Indian tribes, until 1905.

On October 12, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt declared 34,900.27 acres 

[14,123.37 ha] of aboriginal land to be the Jemez National Forest Reserve. This 

occurred in spite of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States, 

which states that Indian tribes, like foreign nations and states, will be consulted on 

important transactions. No records have been found to indicate that the United States 

Indian Service was consulted on this matter.

Further loss of aboriginal land in Valle Grande, amounting to 16,811.74 acres 

[6,863.34 ha], took place in the 1920s under the Homestead Act. This land was listed 

as Tract B before the Indian Claims Commission in Docket 137...The rest, Tract C, 

was taken over by the government under the Taylor Grazing Act of April 4, 1936. The 

total losses, as presented before the Indians Claims commission, were 282,415.73 

acres [114,287.45 ha]... (pp. 49–50)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 223

Sauer, Carl O.

1925 The Morphology of Landscape. University of California Publications in Geography 

2:19–54.

More than 75 years ago, Sauer defined landscape in a way that remains relevant today 

because it recognizes people’s interactions with their environments as a uniquely evolving 

cultural-historical process:

The cultural landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape by a culture group. 

Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the 

result. Under the influence of a given culture, itself changing through time, the 

landscape undergoes development, passing through phases, and probably reaching 

ultimately the end of its cycle of development. With the introduction of a different—

that is, alien-culture, a rejuvenation of the cultural landscape sets in, or a new 

landscape is superimposed on the remnants of an older one. (p. 46)

Sawyer, Daniel and McBroom, William H.

1876 Field Notes of the Survey of Baca Location No. One, in New Mexico, being Grant 

made to the heirs of Luis Maria Baca by act of Congress approved June 21, 1860. 

Surveyed by Daniel Sawyer and William H. McBroom, U.S. Dep. Surs., under their 

Contract No. 68, of April 15, 1876. Microfiche on file: Santa Fe, NM: State Office, 

Bureau of Land Management.

This is the original survey of the Baca Location, carried out between June 12 and 16, 1876. 

Sawyer and McBroom determined that the Location contained 99,289 acres (40,180 ha). 

Later resurveys (the restorative survey by W. B. Douglass and Hugh M. Neighbour in 

1911–1912; and the independent resurvey by Osterhoudt, Hall, and Devendorf in 1920–1921 

examined and corrected the errors in this survey. Douglass concluded that Sawyer and 

McBroom had in fact surveyed the boundaries—an open question considering the methods 

and standards of surveys performed in the 1860s and 1870s, and the fact that this survey was 

done in four days.

In the concluding “General Description” signed by Surveyor General H. W. Atkinson, the 

Baca Locationis described as:

. . . finely adapted for stock growing, raising a fine rank growth of grass especially 

in the interior which is filled with several small valleys and fine streams containing 

myriads of trout. The soil in the valley is rich but on account of its Altitude is too cold 

to raise any kind of grain or vegetables. There are no settlers living upon the Grant. 

Large herds of sheep are kept here during the summer, but not during winter as the 

cold is too severe. The east and north boundaries run along the summit of the Valles 

mountains and are high and slightly broken. The grant contains an abundance of pine 

and aspen timber. (pp. 14–15)

Schroeder, Albert H.

1979 Pueblos Abandoned in Historic Times. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 236–254. 

Vol. 9 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, 

DC: Smithsonian Institution.

Schroeder provides a discussion of the Southern Tiwa pueblos at European contact. He 

notes that the Tiwa abandoned the village of Alcanfor or Coofor in 1540 for the use of 

the Coronado expedition (p. 242). Schroeder also discusses the Rodríguez-Chamuscado 

expedition of 1581–1582, that of Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in 1591, and the colonizing 

expedition of Juan de Oñate in 1598. Schroeder summarizes the available historical evidence 

to determine the identity of the pueblos named by early Spanish explorers.

Scurlock, Dan

1981 Euro-American History of the Study Area. In High Altitude Adaptations along 

Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker and 

Joseph C. Winter, eds. Pp. 131–160. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, 

University of New Mexico.

Scurlock describes documentary research and interviews with 10 informants. He discusses 

the early Spanish Colonial period (1540–1679) exploration and settlement of the area, the 

Pueblo Revolt (1680), and the Reconquest (1692–1696). Jémez and other northern pueblos 

received formal land grants late in the seventeenth century, according to Scurlock. After 

the Reconquest of New Mexico, the governor of New Mexico began to make colonial land 

grants north of Jémez Pueblo and west of the Río Grande. Governor Fernando Chacón made 

the Cañon de San Diego Grant in 1798. The first European settlement on it was probably 
224 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Cañon, at the confluence of the Jémez and Guadalupe rivers. By 1821 the Jémez Valley had a 

Hispanic population of 864 (p. 135).

In 1851 Navajos raided a hay camp established by a civilian contractor to cut hay for the 

U.S. Army. This camp was on the East Fork of the Jémez River and “was apparently later the 

site of Camp Valles Grandes, established by the United States Army as a deterrent to Navajo 

and Apache movement through the area during the final Navajo Wars of 1863” (p. 137).

Scurlock notes (p. 137) that the development of large single-owner herds of sheep, increased 

military protection, and the subjugation of the Navajos and other nomadic Indians in the 

1860s and 1870s caused expansion into previously little-known areas adjacent to the Río 

Grande Valley.

Two land grants of the Mexican Period, the Luis María Cabeza de Baca Grant (1821) 

and the Town of Las Vegas Grant (1835) embraced the same lands on the Gallinas River. 

To settle this conflict, the Baca heirs eventually relinquished their claim, in exchange for 

Congressional authorization (1860) to select an equal amount of land in five square blocks 

elsewhere in New Mexico. The first block they chose was the Baca Location. They did not, 

however, receive title until 1876, when the New Mexico Surveyor General completed the 

survey of the location.

Two homesteads were established near the Baca Location by about 1883 (p. 140). 

Maríano Sabine Otero and his uncle, Miguel Antonio Otero, developed Jémez Springs as 

a commercial resort (with the backing of officials of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 

Railroad) and built a hotel and bathhouses in 1882. Gold and silver were discovered about 

five miles [8 km] south of the Baca Location in 1889; major mines and the boomtowns of 

Albemarle, Allerton, and Bland followed about 1894. The demand for lumber led to the 

establishment of several sawmills (p. 140). Maríano Otero and his son, Frederico J. (F. J.), 

bought the Baca Location in 1899. F. J. Otero became president of the Valles Land Company 

and used the Baca Location as summer range.

In 1909 F. J. Otero sold the Baca Location to the Redondo Development Company (with 

headquarters in Pennsylvania) but kept the grazing rights and leased the Baca for grazing 

sheep up until 1918 when Frank Bond acquired the grazing rights. Bond, one of New 

Mexico’s most important general merchants in the late Territorial and early statehood period, 

leased the Baca Location from the Redondo Development Company for $500 a month and 

used it for summer grazing, wintering his sheep on the Ramón Vigil Grant (which he bought 

in 1919) and the Alamo Ranch northwest of Bernalillo. Despite losses on the Baca in the 

severe winter of 1918–1919, Bond continued to develop his operations there. He bought the 

Baca in 1926, but the Redondo Development Company retained the timber for 99 years 

(p. 144).

Scurlock notes (p. 144, 147) that 73 Bond employees were on the Baca Location in the 

summer of 1918. He lists the employees identified by informants or found in the Bond and 

Son business records (see entry for Bond and Son 1918).

Guy H. Porter and his son, Frank H., formed the White Pine Lumber Company in 1922. In 

1924 they began to ship timber from the San Diego Grant over the line to Bernalillo. (Note: 

This required the condemnation of a right-of-way across Jémez Pueblo, authorized by the 

[federal] Pueblo Lands Condemnation Act of 1926, subsequently reenacted in 1928.) The 

White Pine Lumber Company cut about 100 million board feet of lumber from 1924 to 1931. 

With the onset of the Depression and a drop in demand for lumber, the company ceased 

operations in 1931. T. P. Gallagher, Jr., president of the New Mexico Lumber and Timber 

Company, bought the White Pine Lumber Company and resumed logging on the upper 

San Diego Grant. In 1935, the Redondo Development Company sold the logging rights on 

the Baca to the Firesteel Lumber Company. Under agreement with Firesteel, New Mexico 

Timber began logging near Redondo Creek and built a logging camp on Redondo Creek 

(“Redondo Camp”) (p. 148).

The timber rights were transferred to New Mexico Timber in 1939 (p. 148). Redondo Camp 

was abandoned in 1939, and most of the logging moved to the northwest part of the Baca. 

Logging continued into the war years and included cutting on Redondo Peak, at El Cajete, 

and along the Jaramillo drainage.

Because of a decline in wool prices in 1939–1940, Bond added cattle to his operation. After 

his death in 1945, the Bond family leased the Baca to various cattle ranchers. James Patrick 

Dunigan bought the Baca in 1962. He ran cattle, bought back the timber rights in 1971, and 

ended logging on the Baca (after suing New Mexico Timber in 1964 in federal district court 

to obtain recognition of his successor interest in the 99-year lease, and appealing his case to 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 225

the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1967 [see entry for Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc.]). An 

experimental steam well was drilled in 1963. Dunigan made elk hunts a major part of the 

operation. In 1976 the National Park Service bought 3,076 acres (1,245 ha) of the southeast 

corner of the grant as an addition to Bandelier National Monument. The Park Service, Forest 

Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service began studies in 1979 with a view to acquiring the 

Baca for the public.

Scurlock, Dan

1982 Pastores of the Valles Caldera: Documenting a Vanishing Way of Life. El Palacio 

88(1):3–11.

Clyde Smith, who was born on a homestead at Battleship Rock in1899 and worked for 

Maríano S. Otero as a young man, estimated that there were over 100,000 sheep on 

Baca Location pastures during the summers of 1917 and 1918 (p. 4). In a series of taped 

interviews with Scurlock, Smith described the lives of early twentieth-century Valles Caldera 

shepherds (pastores) and camp tenders (camperos) with invaluable detail. Major portions of 

Scurlock’s summary of these interviews follows.

Herd sizes ranged from 1,000 to 1,500 head and came from winter pastures and 

ranches at or near towns such as Peña Blanca, Bernalillo, Cuba, Jemez Springs, 

Española, Santa Fe, Algodones, and Cordova. The pastores and camperos, on foot or 

mounted on saddle horses, herded their sheep with the aid of dogs that...usually were 

collies...Burros and mules carried the camp equipment and supplies in wooden boxes 

and water in five-gallon wooden kegs.

Camps were moved on the average of once a week following depletion of available 

grass for the flocks. Herders often would burn off pasture to promote rapid new 

growth of grasses and forbs.

Camps were set up in areas protected from predominant winds but away from solitary 

trees or small groves of trees that sometimes were struck y lightning during frequent 

afternoon thunderstorms. The sites were picked for proximity to good pasture and 

water for the stock. Tents were erected on a slight grade for drainage of runoff during 

rains. A ridgepole tent was used to store supplies of food and equipment, and a single, 

center-pole, tepee tent, about seven by seven feet, served as sleeping quarters for two 

men. Eight wooden stakes secured the bottom of the canvas tents. Shallow trenches, 

dug with shovels around each tent, prevented flooding of the interior.

The doors of the tents were oriented either to the east or west, and a firepit for 

cooking meals was dug about two meters from the door of the sleeping tent. The firepit 

was about a foot deep, rectangular in shape (two by three feet) with dirt mounded 

along one side as a windbreak. Rocks were sometimes placed around the interior of 

the pit on which the coffee pot, skillet or dutch oven rested during cooking. The pack 

burros, mules and saddlehorses were tethered or hobbled close by. Scattered around 

the majada (bedding ground of the sheep) near the camp were canoas (troughs) of 

salt. These canoas were handmade from aspen logs; the salt was brought from natural 

deposits in the Estancia Valley or, in later years, from Bond’s store at Española.

The camperos generally took care of the camps, and their work included tending 

to the stock and preparing meals. Food was stored in wooden pack boxes in the 

supply tent. Basic foodstuffs included beans, canned tomatoes, potatoes, onions, rice, 

oatmeal, coffee (Arbuckle’s was a favorite), canned condensed milk, flour, salt, pepper, 

lard, baking powder, and sugar. Potatoes were sometimes buried under the bedding in 

the herder’s tent to prevent their freezing in the early spring and fall.

Fresh beef, when available, was used in stews or cut into small chunks with gravy 

poured over it. Meat was preserved by jerking—cutting into long strips and drying 

in the sun. Mutton, trout caught from the numerous streams in the Valles region 

supplemented the pastores’ diet...native plants gathered for food: cebollita del campo 

(onions), cota (Indian tea) used to make tea, and verduras (greens) used in salads.

Beans were cooked in a small bucket with holes in the lid to emit steam as they baked 

slowly in the coals. These “bean pots” could be purchased, but they were also easily 

made by punching holes with a nail in the lid of a ten-pound lard pail. Two basic types 

of bread were made: a large loaf known as shepherd’s bread, which was baked in 

dutch ovens, and gordas, thick, round cakes cooked in lard in a small pan.

Other cooking equipment in the pastores’ camps included a cast iron skillet, sheet iron 

skillet, metal coffee pot (sometimes graniteware or enamelware), and a small bread 

pan. Items used in food preparation include a butcher knife, metal spatula, cooking 

fork, stirring spoon, and coffee mill. Metal eating utensils, plates and cups completed 

the culinary array. Wooden matches for starting the fire were kept in a glass jar with a 

screw lid. Empty tin cans with other trash were buried near the camp.
226 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

A water bucket, axe, extra handles, claw hammer, pliers, and sheepmarking stamps 

completed the inventory of camp equipment. The latter item was the owner’s brand, 

carved from wood, which was dipped into dark paint and then pressed against the 

flank or back of the sheep after it was sheared. The caporals from each home ranch 

traveled on horseback from camp to camp once or twice a week to bring needed 

supplies on pack mules or horses and to count sheep in each flock...

The pastores hunted with .44 caliber rifles and pistols, popular weapons of the time; 

.32–.20 caliber pistols also were used but were less preferred. The weapons also 

provided protection of the sheep from coyotes, bears and gray wolves; the latter were 

exterminated in the Jemez Mountains by 1928. Other personal items usually carried 

by the pastores or camperos or kept at camp included a canteen, clasp (pocket) knife, 

walking stick, reata (Rope for pulling sheep out of a flock), honda (a slingshot for 

turning leaders of the flock or driving stragglers back to it), cigarette tobacco (Prince 

Albert was the most popular) and papers, and chewing tobacco (usually Star Brand). 

Most herders carried a small bag containing scissors, needle and thread, toothbrush, 

and salt or soda for cleaning teeth. The viejos (old ones) had a chispa (strike-a-light), 

flint and a cloth saturated with black powder used to catch sparks and start the fire.

For evening recreation, guitars, harmonicas and a deck of cards were necessities. 

Story and joke telling also frequently provided amusement around the campfires. The 

men slept on sheep skins placed on the canvas floor of their tent, and quilts made of 

patches of cloth sewn together or wool blankets provided warmth on the cold nights at 

the high altitude.

The pastores devoted leisure hours to various crafts: braiding horsehair or leather 

reatas and headstalls, making rawhide moccasins called leguas (although storebought work shoes or boots eventually replaced this traditional footwear), and 

carving on the bark of aspen trees. Names, dates, place of residence, refranes 

(sayings), and portraits of horses, dogs, female figures, cattle, deer, and religious 

crosses were commonly carved subjects.

The lambing season in the Valles was from May to early June. In the early twentieth 

century, several sites on the Baca Location were used for lambing camps, which were 

located near a permanent water supply. Corrals were constructed from aspen or 

conifer logs in the early part of the period; while milled lumber was more commonly 

used as 1920. Sheds with tin roofs were built within the corrals to protect the ewes 

and lambs from inclement weather. Whole logs, or sometimes logs split in half, were 

laid with ends overlapping between two upright vertical posts to form corrals five to 

six feet high. The corral designs were round or rectangular.

Lambing camps were located on Redondo Creek and on Jaramillo Creek, at San 

Antonio hot springs, at El Cajete, at the Rincon de los Soldados on the northwest side 

of the Valle Grande, and at Paseo del Norte on the south boundary of the Baca grant 

near the present main entrance to the Baca Land and Cattle Company headquarters. 

The Paseo del Norte camp was established by Frank Bond in 1935, the year the road 

(now Highway 4) connecting Los Alamos to Cuba was completed by the Civilian 

Conservation Corps.

After lambing, the ewes were sheared at these same camps by trasquiladores 

(shearers) who came from various villages in northern New Mexico. These men 

could shear 50 to 100 animals a day and were paid twenty-five cents a head for their 

work. The sheared wool was stuffed into large burlap bags and hung from a wooden 

support. Ten to twelve full bags, each weighing approximately 500 pounds, were 

loaded into a freight wagon drawn by four mules or horses and hauled to Española, 

Bernalillo or Albuquerque.

The sheared animals were stamped with the owner’s brand or marked with ear 

notches. To prevent scabies and eliminate ticks, the sheep were dipped in concrete vats 

or in pits dug in the ground and filled with such mixtures as Blackleaf 40 combined 

with sulphur and water. The main dipping camp was located at Sulphur Springs on the 

west edge of the Baca Location. (pp. 5–9; emphasis in original]

Sherman, James E., and Barbara H.

1975 Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma 

Press.

Gold and silver were discovered about five miles (8 km) south of the Baca Location in 1889 

(see pp. 2–3; 13). The “Cochiti Mining District” was the general designation for the mines 

around the boomtowns of Albermarle, Allerton, and Bland. Sandoval County was created in 

1903 from this part of Bernalillo County.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 227

Silko, Leslie Marmon

1995 Interior and Exterior Landscapes: The Pueblo Migration Stories. In Landscape in 

America. George F. Thompson, ed. Pp. 155–169. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Silko, who is from Laguna Pueblo, argues that that Pueblo people are an inseparable part of 

the land.

Pueblo potters, and the creators of petroglyphs and oral narratives, never conceived 

of removing themselves from the earth and sky. So long as the human consciousness 

remains within the hills, canyons, cliffs, and the plants, clouds, and sky, the term 

landscape, as it has entered the English language is misleading. “A portion of 

territory the eye can comprehend in a single view” does not correctly describe the 

relationship between the human being and his or her surroundings. This assumes the 

viewer is somehow outside or separate from the territory he or she surveys. Viewers 

are as much a part of the landscape as the boulder they stand on. (p. 156; emphasis in 

the original]

The land, the sky, and all that is within them—the landscape—includes human 

beings. Interrelationships in the Pueblo landscape are complex and fragile. The 

unpredictability of the weather, the aridity and harshness of much of the terrain in the 

high plateau country explain in large part the relentless attention the ancient Pueblo 

people gave to the sky and the earth around them. Survival depended upon harmony 

and cooperation not only among human beings, but also among all things—the 

animate and the less animate, since rocks and mountains were known on occasion to 

move. (p. 157) 

Sleight, Frederick W.

1950 The Navajo Sacred Mountain of the East: A Controversy. El Palacio 58:379–397.

Sleight builds his argument from the premise that Navajo traditional knowledge embodies 

“a broad manifestation of geographical understanding” (p. 379) and includes places-names 

that are known locales within the Navajo world. In this essay, Sleight summarizes his 

examination of 34 documentary sources and supplementary original fieldwork to identify, 

when possible, the geographic locations of the principal four Navajo mountains of direction: 

Sisnádjini (Holy Mountain of the East), Tsodził (Holy Mountain of the South), Doko'osłi'd

(Holy Mountain of the West), and Dibéntsah (Holy Mountain of the North).

Sleight provides important context in his consideration whether the idea of a holy cardinal 

mountain, which can be identified with a particular geographic feature within the Navajo 

landscape, even exists:

One must acknowledge from the onset that the holy mountain concept is found first in 

mythic stories concerning the origin of things on the earth. The mountains are even 

personified and figure in numerous legends setting forth exploits of the Holy Ones. 

In such legends their names are listed among many places that are purely mythical 

and non-existent. Nevertheless, the cardinal mountains have emerged in the minds of 

the medicine men as the holiest of sacred places. Consequently, the Navajo, with his 

religion of symbolism, finds it necessary to identify certain concepts with things and 

places that are observable, tangible, and usable. Thus, the four (sometimes seven) 

holy mountains transcend the mythical realm and are considered by the Navajo 

medicine men as actual places that may be viewed, visited, and utilized for ritualistic 

purposes...

The demonstration of feats of the Holy People through physiographic phenomena 

stands as a powerful force in the bringing of supernatural assurance to a people 

beset with the multiple forces of nature. The legends prescribe the collection and 

assemblage of numerous forms of ritualistic paraphernalia, and, on occasion, the 

place or source is given. Thus, through the need for a place from which to obtain 

such sacred materials, has developed the localization of actual geographic spots that 

subscribe to the legendary place description. Sacred soil, plants, and waters from the 

four holy mountains must be obtained if certain prerequisites of various ceremonials 

are to be realized, and if these ritual items are collected from the places prescribed by 

the Holy Ones, it is necessary that places be identified and recognized as sacred spots 

long ago sanctioned by the interpreters of the legends. (pp. 380–381)

Sleight reports finding unanimity among his consultants in the identification of the south 

(Mount Taylor in western New Mexico), west (San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona), 

and north (La Plata Range in southwestern Colorado) mountains. He offers reasoned 

explanations for why several earlier researchers misidentified some of these summits in their 

work.
228 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The identification of the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East, however, has long been a 

subject of scholarly debate given the many contrasting statements offered by Navajo 

consultants on the matter. Sleight offers a comprehensive critical review of these varying 

opinions, including a number of other entries contained within this bibliography (see entries 

by Amsden 1934; Brewer 1937; Haile 1938; Matthews 1897).

Sleight concludes that Blanca Peak of Colorado, Wheeler Peak near Taos, and Pelado 

(a.k.a. Redondo) Peak in the VCNP are the three most likely candidates for the Navajo Holy 

Mountain of the East. He then offers an argument to show that the available historical and 

physiographic evidence favors the identification of Pelado Peak.

First, Sleight maintains that the geographic location of the Jémez Mountains is congruent 

with both the physiography and culture history of the Navajo homeland. Sleight states, “the 

Jémez Mountains presented an obvious, observable and impressive eastern limit to Navajo 

life and culture” (p. 391).

Second, Sleight, who relies on translation of the place-name sisnádjini as “Horizontal black 

belt” (see entry for Hale 1938), states that the description embodied in this term could 

easily be applied to the Jémez Mountains in general and Redondo Peak in particular. “When 

viewed from deep within the old Navajo country, the Jémez Range appears as an extended, 

level, black belt on the eastern horizon, and is the only mountain mass on the eastern side 

of the Navajo domain with this appearance” (p. 391). Sleight notes further that although 

several individual mountains fit the description embodied by the name “Horizontal black 

belt,” “Redondo Peak...has an outstanding ‘belt” on its western side in such a position 

that Navajos, approaching from their country, could not help but see it” (pp. 391–392). 

Nevertheless, acknowledging that Santa Fe Baldy Peak similarly has an impressive “black 

belt,” he adds, “it is not difficult to rationalize the translation of sisnádjini to one of several 

peaks of the Jémez or Sangre de Cristo Ranges” (p. 392).

Third, citing the vivid geographical description associated with the place-name sisnádjini in 

a traditional community story about the division of the Navajo (see entry for Coolidge 1930), 

Sleight suggests that Redondo Peak is the strongest candidate for recognition as the Holy 

Mountain of the East:

The only one of the three mountains presently being considered that might fit this 

description is Redondo (Pelado) Peak of the Jémez Range, for it is smooth, barren 

looking on its summit, and covered with wide stretches of grass. Blanca Peak and 

Wheeler Peak, on the other hand, with their angular and rugged summits, could 

hardly conform to this native description. (p. 392)

Fourth, Sleight says the inability of some Navajo consultants to identify a geographic 

location of sisnádjini, as well as the often contradictory designations provided by some 

individuals who do, are a product of (1) acculturation and (2) the restriction of the people’s 

geographical domain since the mid-nineteenth century. He states that reservation life and 

limits “divorced Navajo thinking from a section of country that had been considered theirs 

for many generations” (pp. 392–393).

In concluding his essay, Sleight presents the results of his work with Navajo consultants, 

all of whom he identifies as medicine men (pp. 393–394). He reports that in all cases, the 

medicine men were unanimous in their identifications of the south, west, and north holy 

mountains (see above). Several individuals could not venture an opinion as to either the 

appearance or the location of the Holy Mountain of the East. Sleight reports that four 

consultants, however, offered insights that support Matthews’ (1897:221) original assessment 

that sisnádjini is near the Pueblo of Jémez and probably means either the Jémez Mountains 

generally or is specifically the summit known today as Redondo Peak. Of interest are the 

medicine men’s statements that sisnádjini (1) is visible on the eastern horizon from the 

Lukachukai Mountains, (2) appears as “that long line of mountain” (unidentified informant 

(p. 394)) on the eastern side of the Navajo homeland, and (3) can be seen on the north 

horizon from Albuquerque’s heights. One consultant, many years earlier, reported that he:

. . . had actually visited sisnádjini and had collected holy articles for his “medicine.” 

This aged medicine man stated that his pilgrimage carried him to the Pueblo of 

Jémez, amid the Jémez Mountains. From here he indicated he proceeded in a more or 

less northwesterly direction to the peak. (p. 393)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 229

Smith, Anne M.

1974 Ethnography of the Northern Utes. Papers in Anthropology 17. Santa Fe: Museum of 

New Mexico Press.

Smith notes northern Ute uses of several plants that grow in the Valles Caldera area, 

including piñon (Pinus edulis), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), and Woods rose (Rosa 

woodsii) for food and tool manufacture. While many groups ate the inner bark as a starvation 

food, the Ute particularly savored the sap of these trees. They also used some sagebrush bark 

(Artemisia sp.) for making cordage.

Smith, E. R.

1953 History of Grazing Industry and Range Conservation Developments in the Río Grande 

Basin. Journal of Range Management 6:405–409.

E. R. Smith was the regional administrator of the Bureau of Land Management when he 

presented this paper in Albuquerque in January 1953. The paper is mainly a discussion of the 

problems caused by the movement of sediment from the upper watershed through the Middle 

Río Grande to Elephant Butte Dam.

Smith says that from about 1855 onward, both Hispanic and Anglo operators extended 

grazing farther and farther from settlements, and that the arrival of the railroad in 1880 gave 

further impetus to livestock raising, the greatest number being reached about 1900 (220,000 

cattle and 1.75 million sheep). He adds that the creation of the Santa Fe National Forest 

(actually Forest Reserve) in 1892 was the first move toward conservation in the Río Grande 

Basin.

Smith, Patricia Clark, with Paula Gunn Allen

1987 Earthly Relations, Carnal Knowledge: Southwestern American Indian Women Writers 

and Landscape. In The Desert Is No Lady: Southwestern Landscapes in Women’s 

Writing and Art. Vera Norwood and Janice Monk, eds. Pp. 174–196. New Haven, CT: 

Yale University Press.

This insightful essay provides important context for understanding Native American 

landscape constructions—and the people’s relationship with the land—through study of 

contemporary literature.

Long before context became an academic buzz word, it was a Spider Woman word. 

It speaks of things woven together, and of understanding the meaning of a thread in 

terms of the whole piece of goods. For southwestern American Indians, the whole is 

the land in the largest sense. The land is not only landscape as Anglo writers often 

think of it—arrangements of butte and bosque, mountain and river valley, light and 

cloud shadow. For American Indians, the land encompasses the butterfly and ant, man 

and woman, adobe wall and gourd vine, trout beneath the river water, rattler deep in 

his winter den, the North Star and the constellations, the flock of sandhill cranes flying 

too high to be seen against the sun. The land is Spider Woman’s creation; it is the 

whole of the cosmos. (p. 176)

Nontribal people often perceive the land as an object, as something faintly or greatly 

inimical, to be controlled, reshaped, painted, or feared. Tribal people see it as 

something mysterious, certainly beyond human domination, and yet as something 

to be met and spoken with rather than confronted. For them the land is not just a 

collection of objects you do things to, nor is it merely a place you do things in, a stage 

set for human action. Rather it is a multitude of entities who possess intelligence and 

personality. These entities are active participants with human beings in life processes, 

in thoughts and acts simultaneously mundane and spiritual. People and the land hold 

dialogue within the structure of ritual, in order to ensure balance and harmony. Ritual 

is the means by which people, spirits, rocks, animals, and other beings enter into 

conversation with each other. One major part of peoples’ ritual responsibility is to 

speak with these nonhuman entities and to report the conversation; American Indian 

literature records echoes of that ongoing dialogue. (pp. 176–177)

The authors examine selected works of Leslie Marmon Silko as part of their essay (see also 

entry for Silko 1995).

Smith, Robert L.

1979 Ash-Flow Magmatism. Special Paper 180. Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America.

In this technical paper, Smith proposes that calderas related to ash-flow sheets show a 

positive correlation between caldera area and ejecta volume. “This correlation places 
230 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

constraints on magma drawdown during eruption and implies a systematic relationship 

between these parameters and magma volume of the chamber” (p. 5).

Smith focuses his discussion on the Bandelier Tuff. He is mainly concerned to explain the 

minor-element gradients common to the ash-flow sheets of the Otowi and Tshirege Members. 

He notes that compositional changes usually are understood to have taken place over an 

extended period of time. He concludes that eruptions producing ash flows erupt off the top 

of the magma body (p. 25). He also suggests that a general discernible pattern exists in the 

behavior of volcanic systems that produce ash flows.

Smith, Robert L., and Roy A. Bailey

1966 The Bandelier Tuff: A Study of Ash-Flow Eruption Cycles from Zoned Magma 

Chambers. Bulletin of Volcanology 29:83-104.

This article notes that the Bandelier Tuff is a Pleistocene rhyolitic ash-flow formation 

consisting of the Upper and Lower Bandelier members. The lower member erupted 

approximately 1.4 million years ago and collapsed to form the Toledo Caldera. The upper 

member erupted some 1 million years ago and collapsed to form the Valles Caldera.

The upper and lower members of the Bandelier thus form two cycles of ash-flow 

eruption and caldera formation that together are the culmination of a long history 

of basaltic and andesitic to quartz-latitic and rhyolitic volcanism in the Jemez 

Mountains. (p. 83)

The lower Bandelier ash-flow sheet, though less perfectly preserved, shows many 

physical and chemical parallels with the upper sheet. All evidence indicates that the 

two sheets, separated in time by about 400,000 years, had comparable histories and 

common origins; and that considered together they broaden our concepts of volcanic 

cycles. (p. 101)

Smith, Robert L., and Roy A. Bailey

1968 Resurgent Cauldrons. In Studies in Volcanology A Memoir in Honor of Howel 

Williams. Memoir 116. Robert R. Coats, Richard L. Hay, and Charles A. Anderson, 

eds. Pp. 613–662. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

Smith and Bailey explain that a resurgent cauldron (caldera) is one that has been uplifted, 

following subsidence, usually in the form of a structural dome, and that the Valles Caldera 

is among the best known (others are Toba, Creede, San Juan, Silverton, Lake City, and 

Timber Mountain). They go on to describe the Valles Caldera in more detail, noting that the 

structural dome in its center is the Redondo Dome. They state that volcanism in this area 

began in late Miocene or Pliocene times, continuing into mid-Pleistocene times, when the 

sequence ended with two gigantic pyroclastic outbursts that produced the Bandelier Tuff 

(see entry for Smith and Bailey 1966). Each outburst produced at least 50 cubic miles of 

rhyolite ash and pumice, mainly as ash flows, followed by caldera collapse. The first outburst 

produced the Toledo Caldera, of which only a semicircular fragment is extant; the second 

produced the Valles Caldera (p. 617).

Snow, David H.

1979 Rural Hispanic Community Organization in Northern New Mexico: An Historical 

Perspective. In The Survival of Spanish American Villages. Paul Kutsche, ed. Pp. 45–52. 

The Colorado College Studies, 15. Colorado Springs: Research Committee, Colorado 

College.

Snow adopts the thesis, “The way people arrange themselves on the landscape is a 

reflection of the patterns of social organization developed in response to natural and cultural 

environmental factors” (p. 45). Snow then sets out to dispel common characterizations of 

Nuevomexicano settlement as atomistic, factionalized, and lacking social organization. He 

considers what environmental factors underlay the dispersed settlement that characterized 

much of rural Nuevomexicano New Mexico following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680–1692. 

Snow concludes:

It seems safe to say that the overriding values in New Mexico’s rural Hispanic 

communities are those which relate to land. It is the individual and community land 

which give shape and character to the village, which give justification for the village 

organization and roots to the people who live there. Without roots, without costumbre, 

the individual is homeless; without land the community ceases to exist. (p. 52; 

emphasis in the original)
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 231

Stevenson, Matilda Coxe

1912 Ethnobotany of San Ildefonso and Santa Clara Pueblos. Archives of the Office of 

Anthropology. Unpublished Manuscript No. 4711. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

Stevenson reports that plants found in the Valles Caldera of use to the Tewa of San Ildefonso 

and Santa Clara include milkweed (Asclepias sp.) for medicine, western throughwort 

(Eupatorium herbaceum) for dye, spurge (Euphorbia sp.) for medicine, gilia (Ipomopsis sp.) 

for medicine, tansy-aster (Machaeranthera sp.) for medicine, broomrape (Orobanche sp.) for 

food, and scorpionweed (Phacelia sp.) for medicine.

Stevenson, Matilde Coxe

1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. Thirtieth Annual Report of the Bureau of American 

Ethnology. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Among the diverse assemblage of plants that the Zuni use, Stevenson identifies many taxa 

that grow in the VCNP. Examples used for food include serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.), 

sagebrush (Artemisia sp.), milkweed (Astragalus sp.), prickly pear (Opuntia sp.), broomrape 

(Orobanche sp.), Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), curlytop knotweed (Polygonum 

lapathifolium), Prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera), and nightshade (Solanum sp.). 

Medicinal plants include sagebrush (Artemisia sp.), aster (Aster sp.), buckwheat (Eriogonum

sp.), western throughwort (Eupatorium herbaceum), spurge (Euphorbia sp.), ragweed 

(Hymenopappus sp.), pingue (Hymenoxys sp.), native lettuce (Lactuca sp.), flax (Linum sp.), 

tansy-aster (Machaeranthera sp.), primrose (Oenothera sp.), prairie coneflower (Ratibida 

columnifera), yellowcress (Rorippa sp.), several sorrel and dock species (Rumex sp.), 

ragwort (Senecio sp.), nightshade (Solanum sp.), and goldenrod (Solidago sp.).

Stiger, Mark A.

1977 Anasazi Diet: The Coprolite Evidence. Masters thesis. University of Colorado, Boulder.

Stiger adds pepperweed (Lepidium sp.) to the list of VCNP plants that Native Americans 

potentially used for food while visiting this place.

Strong, Pauline Turner

1979a Santa Ana Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 398–406. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of Santa Ana 

Pueblo.

Strong, Pauline Turner

1979b San Felipe Pueblo. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 390–397. Vol. 9 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of San Felipe 

Pueblo.

Summers, W. K.

1976 Catalog of Thermal Waters in New Mexico. Hydrologic Report 4, New Mexico Bureau 

of Mines and Mineral Resources. Socorro: New Mexico Institute of Mining and 

Technology.

Summers notes that the upper Jémez River basin includes the caldera and several natural 

thermal features including hot springs, fumaroles, and solfatara. In the 1970s, Westates 

Petroleum Company, Baca Land and Cattle Company, and Union Oil Company drilled wells 

within the caldera that produced steam and hot water. Summers lists all known thermal 

waters in the caldera and maps all steam wells drilled to 1976.

Surveyor General, New Mexico

n.d.a Baca Location No. 1. Surveyor General Report, 20. Spanish Archives of New Mexico 

(SANM) I, Roll 14, Frames 1101–1437. Santa Fe, NM: State Records Center and 

Archives.

Although this report contains material concerning the four other locations or floats, most 

of the information has to do with Location No. 1. This file concerns the original grant, 
232 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

the choice of Baca Location as authorized by federal law, and the surveys of the Baca 

Location from 1876 to 1912. It contains Luis María Baca’s original petition to the provincial 

deputation of Durango dated January 16, 1821; the original grant by the Provincial 

Deputation of Durango dated 1825; Baca’s request dated January 13, 1826, to be placed 

in possession of the grant; the details of the relinquishment by Baca’s heirs of the original 

claim; an affidavit (January 28, 1858) of Manuel Antonio Baca (Socorro) the alcalde who 

placed Baca in possession of the original grant in 1826; and correspondence concerning the 

choice of the five locations.

The report provides few details concerning the original survey by McBroom and Sawyer 

1876 (see entry for McBroom and Sawyer n.d.). Some correspondence pertains to the 

retracement survey of 1910 done by Lewis D. W. Shelton (who was a private surveyor, not a 

federal employee). Surveyor Lee Scott attempted a resurvey in 1908, but the U.S. Surveyor 

General found it inadequate and sent him back into the field. U.S. Surveyor W. B. Douglass 

recommended a restoration survey in 1911 in response to instructions of the Commissioner 

of the General Land Office (GLO).

A letter dated June 20, 1911, evidently from the U.S. Surveyor General in Santa Fe to the 

Commissioner of the GLO, relates to the assignment of U.S. Surveyor W. B. Douglass to 

perform a restoration survey (subsequently reported on April 8, 1912). This letter states 

that Douglass has asked that representatives of “such private interests as may desire to be 

present” (meaning probably both the Redondo Development Company’s representatives and 

prospective buyers from Pennsylvania) should be allowed to be present at the survey because 

“the property rights at stake are of considerable value” (frame 1406).

U.S. Surveyor Douglass summarized the existing surveys of the Baca Location as of 1911. 

He noted missing corners, numerous problems with the original field notes of Sawyer and 

McBroom, and “large errors of alinement and measurement” (frame 1271) (1876, see entry 

for Douglass and Neighbour n.d.). He concluded by recommending a restoration survey of 

the boundaries (Frames 1266–1278).

A careful consideration of all the facts developed by this examination, while not 

conclusive, a large preponderance of the evidence supports the view that the survey 

was made in its entirety, notwithstanding that many corners cannot be found. Long 

field experience has taught me not to deny the existence of an early and defective 

survey, supported by topographical notations simply because the corner cannot be 

found....That such a complete agreement of the rougher topographical features could 

be the result of a guess cannot be admitted... (frame 1277)

“I have the honor to recommend a restoration survey of the boundaries of the Baca Location 

No. 1 Grant...” (Frame 1278).

The restoration survey was carried out in 1912. Douglass filed his report on April 8, 

1912. The commissioner of the General Land Office denied the petition of the Redondo 

Development Company for a resurvey of the boundaries of the grant on July 5, 1912.

Surveyor General, New Mexico

n.d.b Luis María Cabeza de Baca Grant. Surveyor General File No. 103. Spanish Archives 

of New Mexico (SANM) I, Roll 31, Frames 463–476. Santa Fe, NM: State Records 

Center and Archives.

This file contains the order of the alcalde, José Miguel Baca, dated September 12, 1827, 

recognizing Miguel Baca as the heir and representative of the deceased, Luis María Baca 

(frames 465–467). L. M. Baca was killed in June, 1827 (see entry for Cleland 1950). A 

power of attorney from L. M. Baca to his brother Miguel dated May 27, 1827 is included 

(frame 469). L. M. Baca signs with a cross, suggesting either that he is illiterate or too weak 

to sign his name. He also states that he wishes to die as a Christian.

This also file contains the will of L. M. Baca dated May 28, 1827 (signature and rubric; 

frames 470–471). These records seem to be at variance with the story of his death by 

violence the following month.

The file also contains a petition of Tomás Cabeza de Baca, resident of the town of Peña 

Blanca. His father, Luis María Cabeza de Baca, died in 1827. Reference is made to the 

property at Santa Cruz “about four miles [6.4 km] distant.”
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 233

Swadesh, Frances Leon

1974 Los Prímeros Pobladores: Hispanic Americans on the Ute Frontier. Notre Dame, IN: 

University of Notre Dame Press.

In this important study of the Hispanic settlement of the Chama and San Luis valleys in the 

territory of what is now northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, Swadesh documents 

the ever-changing interactions between the locale’s settlers and the region’s Ute people, 

with Abiquiú serving as one of the principal sites for exchanges that ranged from trading, 

to raiding, to the subsequent ransoming of captives, during the eighteenth and nineteenth 

centuries.

Although she does not cite the Valles Caldera, it is clear that Utes traversed the whole region. 

For example, “Albert Schroeder credits the Capotes with the stock depredations complained 

of in 1736 by the settlers of the Río del Oso” (p. 164), which is just east of the Valles 

Caldera. Also,

The Sabuaganas apparently camped on what used to be called Sabuaganas (or 

Chaguagua) Creek, later called Chihuahueños or Pedernales Creek. The Capotes 

were camped on the Vega de Raiño (Raiño Meadow) near the mouth of Cañones 

Creek, when they fled from Santa Fe after the September 1844 massacre... (p. 232)

Swadesh states further that Abiquiú’s “importance in commerce and military maneuvers lay 

in its access to Navajo and Ute country” (p. 64; see also p. 163).

The Utes most in contact with Abiquiu were the Sabuagana (sometimes called 

Chaguagua) and Capote bands. Before 1762 they had started making annual trips to 

the Chama Valley and communities near Santa Cruz to conduct trade and ransom. By 

1776 an annual trade fair was held for the Utes at Abiquiu. The Utes brought juvenile 

captives from the “heathen tribes,” as well as deer, buffalo meat, and dressed hides...

The growth of trading partnerships with the Utes made it possible for the settlers 

to petition for new grants and set up residence in areas remote from administrative, 

ecclesiastical, and military supervision. (p. 47)

The outbreak of a decade-long period of hostilities between the Hispanics and the Utes in the 

mid-nineteenth century led to a change in the settlers’ herding practices. Writing about the 

Tierra Amarilla Grant, Swadesh reports that documentary evidence and local traditions state 

that Hispanic herdsmen worked their prime stock ranges from small summer camps. “People 

say that the sheep were herded in small flocks and were scattered up the canyons when a Ute 

raid commenced, so that losses would be minimal” (pp. 62–63).

Swank, George R.

1932 The Ethnobotany of the Acoma and Laguna Indians. Masters thesis. University of New 

Mexico, Albuquerque.

In this important study, Swank identifies more than 60 plants found in the Valles Caldera 

area that are of economic, social, or cultural use to the Ácoma and Laguna Pueblos.

Swentzell, Rina

1988 Bupingeh: The Pueblo Plaza. El Palacio 94:14–19.

In this short article, Swentzell, an architectural historian and education consultant from 

the Tewa Pueblo of Santa Clara, discusses the idea of center in Tewa cosmology as the 

intersection of the horizontal and vertical regions of the Pueblos’ physical and symbolic 

universe. Although she focuses on the formally negative spaces of Pueblo plazas, Swentzell 

also refers to the edges of the Pueblo world that necessarily help define centers. She 

considers the concept of connectedness that unifies peripheries with centers, as well as the 

energies of all life forces—both physical and metaphysical—that move throughout the sky, 

earth, and underworld of the Pueblos’ cosmos.

Swentzell, Rina

1989a The Butterfly Effect: A Conversation with Rina Swentzell. El Palacio 95:24–29.

Swentzell further explores the idea of connectedness that unifies the many-layered 

understandings that the Pueblos possess of their cosmos. She explains,

That connection is—creativity from the source..., the po-wa-ha, literally “water-windbreath.” It is that energy that flows from everybody, everything—plants, stones. That’s 

why everything takes on life in that world. We all breathe of the same breath the plants 

do, the rocks do. And so the world itself takes on a different structure. (p. 25)
234 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Swentzell, Rina

1989b Remembering Tewa Houses and Spaces. Native Peoples: The Arts and Lifeways 

3(2):6–12.

Swentzell examines the Pueblos’ concepts of center, breath, periphery, movement, and 

connectedness. In talking about how all these ideas come together within the Pueblos’

traditional views of their cosmos, Swentzell concludes:

Most importantly, I treasure the sense of sacredness which pervaded that old Pueblo 

world. All of life, including walls, rocks and people, were part of an exquisite, flowing 

unity. (p. 12)

Swentzell, Rina

1991 Levels of Truth: Southwest Archaeologists and Anasazi/Pueblo People. In Puebloan 

Past and Present: Papers in Honor of Stewart Peckham. Meliha S. Duran and David T. 

Kirkpatrick, eds. Pp. 177–181. Archaeological Society of New Mexico 17. Albuquerque: 

Archaeological Society of New Mexico.

In this extremely important philosophical article, Swentzell addresses the problem of why 

“the creative process of bringing together different ways of knowing and different modes of 

perception...does not happen” (p. 177) in interactions between Anglo and Pueblo peoples. 

She considers that the idea of connectedness underlies traditional Pueblo understandings 

of their cosmos, whereby “everything/everybody, even the largest whole, has a context or a 

larger whole within which it belongs” (p. 177). In comparison, Western ways of thinking:

. . . operate with the assumption that facts, if appropriately collected and fastidiously 

recorded, will uncover the truth. Absolute truth is, for the most part, taken for granted. 

It is there to be uncovered. (p. 178; emphasis added)

Swentzell considers how dominance and power, tied with prestige that is informed by a 

particularly defined system of what can be understood, poses real obstacles to building 

significant cross-cultural understandings. She concludes:

The traditional Pueblo world is a world focused on equalitarianism, inclusiveness, 

and linkages—feminine qualities or values of the human being. The Western-European 

world is recognized...as a world that focuses on ways of thinking, valuing, and 

understanding that are characteristically masculine. (p. 180; emphasis added)

Tiller, Veronica E.

1983 Jicarilla Apache. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 440–461. Vol. 10 of Handbook 

of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 

Institution.

This article provides a concise overview of the anthropology and history of the Jicarilla 

Apache Tribe.

Tiller, Veronica E.

1992 The Jicarilla Apache Tribe: A History. Revised edition. Lincoln: University of 

Nebraska Press.

Tiller’s book is a comprehensive history of the Jicarilla Apache people. Her discussion of 

the Jicarilla origin story is also useful in developing a landscape framework for the Apache. 

Although she does not discuss the Jicarilla occupation of the Valles Caldera, she illustrates 

the location of an undefined “permanent site” west of Los Alamos near the VCNP in a map 

titled “Aboriginal Sites and Early Settlements” (p. 15).

Torrez, Robert J.

1994 The Southern Ute Agency at Abiquiu and Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico. Research 

Paper 36. Guadalupita, NM: Center for Land Grant Studies.

Torrez focuses primarily on the Capote, and to a lesser degree, the Weeminuche, Ute bands 

and their occupation of northwest New Mexico between 1850 and 1876. During this time 

“these Southern Ute bands were slowly being driven from their traditional hunting grounds 

along New Mexico’s northern frontier to the reservations they now occupy in southwest 

Colorado” (p. 2).

Torrez notes that before the arrival of the Spanish, the Capote and Weeminuche Utes spent 

their summers and falls in New Mexico’s mountains. “They hunted deer, elk and small game 

and gathered berries and seeds to supplement their diet. Occasionally they planted corn, 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 235

beans, and squash, which they harvested before moving on to follow migrating game to 

warmer elevations at the onset of winter” (p. 2).

Torrez does not state whether the Utes used the Valles Caldera. He does, however, provide 

valuable background information and context for how Utes earned their livelihood in the 

surrounding territory. If mid-nineteenth-century Ute archaeological sites are positively 

identified in the VCNP, Torrez’s article will prove valuable in assessing these assemblages 

within the regional settlement system and the prevailing social and political climates of the 

day.

Trigg, Heather Bethany

1999 The Economy of Early Colonial New Mexico, a.d. 1598–1680: An Investigation of 

Social Structure and Human Agency Using Archaeological and Documentary Data. 

Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor.

Trigg identifies seven plant species recovered from Spanish colonial archaeological contexts 

that grow in the VCNP. Colonists used goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.) for food and medicine, 

and sedges (Cyperus sp.) for mats and roofing material. Trigg also reports that livestock 

also consumed sedges (p. 144). Hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus sp.) yields edible fruits. 

Filaree (Erodium sp.) was a traditional Hispanic medicine for treating gonorrhea and use 

as a diuretic. Moreover, the Jémez pounded filaree leaves and mixed resulting powder with 

watermelon seeds to prevent fungus during storage (p. 144).

Hispanic colonists used spurge (Euphorbia sp.) as a medicine to treat tonsillitis, rashes, and 

rattlesnake bites. They also used Euphorbia sp. as livestock feed to increase milk production 

in cows and goats (p. 144).

Like Native American groups, Hispanics used sunflower seeds (Helianthus sp.) and piñon 

pine (Pinus edulis) for food and medicine. Both were excellent oil sources. Ethnographic 

data indicate that the pine nuts frequently were roasted and lightly pounded to crack the 

shells. The nutmeats then were winnowed from the shells and ground to make a flour, which 

was shaped into balls, mixed with maize, or used in soups (p. 147).

Trimble, Stephen

1993 The People: Indians of the American Southwest. Santa Fe, NM: School of American 

Research Press.

Trimble’s book is a highly readable, yet comprehensive, discussion of the Southwest’s 

indigenous peoples. His chapters on the Pueblos (pp. 38–120) and the Apaches (pp. 245–

296) provide much historical and ethnographic detail. Trimble’s discussion of the Pueblos’ 

conceptualization of their world is especially insightful.

Tucker, Edwin A., and George Fitzpatrick

1972 Men Who Matched the Mountains: The Forest Service in the Southwest. Albuquerque, 

NM: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southwest Region.

The authors mention the capture of feral horses and burros, some on the Baca Location (p. 

81). They also mention construction of the road through the Valle Grande from Los Alamos 

to Cuba by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935 (pp. 162–171).

Turney, J. F.

1948 An Analysis of Material Taken from a Section of Group M of the Cliffs, Frijoles 

Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. Masters thesis. Adams State 

College, Alamosa, CO.

Turney identifies several plant species that also grow in the VCNP in his study of preColumbian archaeological materials at Bandelier National Monument. Examples include 

Western red currant (Ribes cereum), which was used for food, and New Mexico locust 

(Robinia neomexicana), whose wood was employed in tool making.

Tyler, Hamilton A.

1979 Pueblo Birds and Myths. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

This volume does not mention the Valles Caldera. Nevertheless, this study is relevant to the 

land-use history of the VCNP because it examines how birds found in the Jémez Mountains, 

including hawks, robins, eagles, turkeys, magpies, wrens, and woodpeckers, among others, 

are integrated into all aspects of Pueblo community life.
236 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Underhill, Ruth

1979 Pueblo Crafts. Palmer Lake, CO: Filter Press.

Underhill reports that the Zuni use bush mountainspray (Holodiscus dumosu), a species 

found in the VCNP, in their craft activities.

U.S. Congress, House

1860 H.R. Doc. No. 14, 36th Cong., 1st sess., 45.

New Mexico Surveyor General William Pelham, in a report dated December 18, 1850, finds 

both the Baca Grant and the Town of Las Vegas Grant to be good and valid, and recommends 

both for confirmation, leaving the adjustment of conflicting rights to the courts.

U.S. Congress, Senate. Committee on Private Land Claims

1860 Reports of the Surveyor General of the Territory of New Mexico, 36th Cong., 1st sess., 

Rept. 228.

This report, accompanying H.R. 195, deals with two reports covering various land grant 

claims. The second report includes two claims to the same tract of land: the Baca Grant, 

confirmed in February 1825 by the departmental assembly of New Mexico, and the Town 

of Las Vegas Grant of March 25, 1835. The surveyor general “having none but ministerial 

duties to perform” has recommended confirmation of both grants, “leaving to the respective 

claimants the right of adjusting their conflicting claims in the courts. But Congress...is 

bound to legislate in such a manner as to prevent, if possible, so disastrous a result as the 

plunging of an entire settlement of families into litigation, at the imminent hazard of being 

turned out of their homes...” The Baca claimants are willing to waive their claim “if allowed 

to enter an equivalent quantity of land elsewhere within the Territory.” The Committee has 

prepared an amendment to this effect.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1883–1913 Forest Homestead Records. Albuquerque, NM: Land Status Office, Southwest 

Region.

The earliest homesteads between Redondo Creek and La Cueva were those of John 

Kelly and Polito Montoya. Both ranches were established in or before 1883. Subsequent 

homesteads around La Cueva included those of N. R. Darey, Angeline Eagle, J. S. Eagle, and 

S. D. Thompson.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1915 Fire Map, Jemez National Forest, Santa Fe. Copy on file: Santa Fe: Angélico Chávez 

History Library, Palace of the Governors, Museum of New Mexico.

From 1911 to 1922 the U.S. Surveyor General in Santa Fe oversaw restorative surveys of 

the Baca Location at the request of the Redondo Development Company, with the object of 

clarifying the boundaries shared by the Baca Location, the Jémez National Forest, and the 

Ramón Vigil Land Grant. This survey showed that the Ramon Land and Lumber Company 

actually had cut about 100,000 board feet of timber from the Jémez National Forest, not the 

west side of the Rámon Vigil Grant as had been believed.

This restorative survey determined that Sulphur Springs was inside the Baca Location.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1993 Report on the Study of the Baca Location No. 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service, Southwest Region, August 1993.

This study was issued pursuant to Public Law 101–556 (the full text appears as Appendix 

A; see entry for U.S. Public Law 101–556). The study is intended “to support informed 

and educated decisions regarding the Baca in the future” (p. 2); that is, to prepare for its 

acquisition by the federal government, although this is not stated in so many words because 

the private owners were not offering the Baca for sale at the time.

The study includes a short history of the Baca Location, a discussion of its current 

management, management options, and summaries of its resources including recreation, 

hunting, fishing, logging, grazing, and others, including Indian sacred areas. Included is a list 

of improvements and a section on the mineral estate, as well as a historical chronology.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 237

The study notes that all logging ceased in the period 1972 to 1980, and then began again 

using “selected harvest methods,” with cutting of only diseased and some mature trees 

allowed.

U.S. Geological Survey

1918–1925 (2006, June 30). Home page of U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library, 

U.S. Department of the Interior. [Online]. Available: http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov 

[2007, January 23].

The card index to the photograph collection is organized by state, county and photographer. 

Most photographs are of geological features, but most of the contributing photographers 

also took occasional images of other things, including camps, vegetation, group portraits, 

structures, towns and archeological sites.

The following photographs in the vicinity of the Baca Location are on file:

Mansfield, G. R. #420: “Pit J–5 in sulphur deposit 5 miles [8 km] above Jemez 

Springs. April 15, 1918.”

Mansfield, G. R. #421: “Pit J–6, with Mexican boy, and view across sulphur 

deposit, same locality as No. 420.” April 15, 1918.

Mansfield, G. R. #422. “View up Jemez Creek at sulphur deposit 5 miles [8 km] 

above Jemez Springs, showing exposure of sulphur-bearing rocks.” April 15, 

1918.

Mansfield, G. R. #423. “Pit J–5 (test pit) and Mexican boy. View N.E. across 

sulphur deposit at same locality as No. 420.” April 15, 1918.

Mansfield, G. R. #424. “View up small ravine across the sulphur deposit 5 miles [8 

km] above Jemez Springs in Jemez Canyon.” April 15, 1918.

Mansfield, G. R. #425. “View down stream along same bluff shown in No. 422.” 

April 15, 1918.

The following photographs within the Baca Location are on file:

Mansfield, G. R. 426. “Hotel and bath houses at Sulphur Springs, Sulphur Canyon, 

14 miles [22.4 km] above Jemez Springs. The little ravine has numerous vents 

emitting hot sulphurous vapors and waters.” April 16, 1918.

Mansfield, G. R. #427. “Bath houses and main sulphur deposit at Sulphur Springs. 

Nearer view of ravine shown in No. 426.” April 16, 1918.

Mansfield, G. R. #428. “Old sulphur mill at Sulphur Springs hills built 1902. From 

1902–1904, 200,000 lbs. [101,605 kg] of sulphur were produced here. Same 

locality as No. 426.” April 16, 1918.

Mansfield, G. R. #429. “Main sulphur deposit at Sulphur Springs, Baca Location. 

(Same locality as Nos. 426–428.)” April 16, 1918.

Lee, W. T. #2704. “Aspen grove on Valle Grande, N.M.” N.d., ca. 1925.

Lee, W. T. #2705. “Aspen grove at top of Valle Grande, N.M.” N.d., ca. 1925.

Lee, W. T. #2706. “Side of crater of Valle Grande, N.M.” N.d., ca. 1925.

Lee, W. T. #2706a. “Same as 2706.” N.d., ca. 1925.

Lee, W. T. #2708. “Road to Valle Grande, N.M.” N.d., ca. 1925.

U.S. Public Law 167

1860 An Act to Confirm Certain Private Land Claims in the Territory of New Mexico. 36 th. 

Cong., 1st sess., June 21, 1860.

This act confirms various land grants in New Mexico. Section 6 states:

. . . it shall be lawful for the heirs of Luis María Baca, who make claim to the same 

tract of land as is claimed by the town of Las Vegas, to select instead of the land 

claimed by them, an equal quantity of vacant land, not mineral, in the Territory of 

New Mexico, to be located by them in square bodies, not exceeding five in number. 

And it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general of New Mexico, to make survey and 

location of the lands so selected by said heirs of Baca when thereunto required by 

them: Provided, however, That the right hereby granted to said heirs of Baca shall 

continue on force during three years from the passage of this act, and no longer.
238 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

U.S. Public Law 101–556.

1990 An Act to Authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to Acquire and Study Certain Lands 

in the State of New Mexico, and for Other Purposes. 101st Cong., November 15, 1990.

The stated purpose of the Act is to acquire two parcels totaling approximately 36 acres 

(14.6 ha) from the private owner (Dunigan Enterprises), to pay damages in the amount of 

$1,633,527 to Dunigan Enterprises to compensate for an earlier exchange (1966: 2,456.14 

acres [993.95 ha] known as the “Cochiti Properties”), and to authorize the Secretary of 

Agriculture to study the Baca Location to determine its “scenic, geologic, recreational, 

timber, mineral, grazing, and other multiple use attributes,” and to study options for federal 

acquisition of the property, in whole or in part.

Van Ness, John R.

1979 Hispanic Village Organization in Northern New Mexico: Corporate Community 

Structure in Historical and Comparative Perspective. In The Survival of Spanish 

American Villages. Paul Kutsche, ed. Pp. 21–44. The Colorado College Studies, 15. 

Colorado Springs: Research Committee, Colorado College.

Van Ness describes this paper as an examination of the social organization of northern 

New Mexico’s Nuevomexicano villages, with an emphasis on the nature of their corporate 

organization (p. 21). He begins by considering the structure and functioning of Spain’s 

corporate communities, which were subsequently introduced into Latin America.

He observes that the pueblo (an inclusive term referring to all small, rural Spanish 

communities) historically was the primary social and political unit of Iberian society, 

especially within mountainous settings (p. 25). Among Spanish people, the term pueblo

traditionally means a land-based social community. This idea also helps define an 

individual’s identity throughout life, by defining his or her place of birth. Because people, 

society, and places all are integrated into the concept of pueblo, it is not surprising that 

Iberian land-use traditions, land occupation, and landscape-making revolve around the 

economic, social, and political organization of corporate ownership (p. 25). Van Ness notes 

further, “As in Latin America and Spain, strong sentiments and spiritual values were attached 

to the community land. The merging of individual identity, community, and physical place 

has a good deal to do with this value orientation” (p. 42).

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F.

1940 Sacred Places and Shrines of the Navajo. Part II: Navajo Rock and Twig Piles, Called 

Tsenadjihih. Museum of Northern Arizona Museum Notes 11(3):29–34.

Van Valkenburgh reports that tsenadjihih means “picking up and putting on stones” 

(p. 6). Although tsenadjihih are not as dynamic as shrines on the holy mountains or kethan

(prayer stick) depositories, the Navajo revere these features and account for their origin in 

Blessingway mythology.

One Navajo authority, Dagach’ibikis from Tohatchi, told Van Valkenburgh that tsenadjihih

“offerings were made of turquoise and other sacred stones” (p. 9). Another tradition keeper, 

Maríano Chávez of Torreon, stated, “There once was a man who ran from the Chuska 

Mountains to the Jemez Mountains. He picked up rocks and started a number of tsenadjihih. 

One is on the old Navajo trail by Jemez Hot Springs, and another is near Cabezon” (p. 9).

Van Valkenburgh adds that Navajo made tsenadjihih and made prayers for success and luck 

“while passing over a trail to some destination where he or she considers luck is needed” 

(p. 9).

Turquoise and other sacred stones make the prayer effective, but an improvised prayer 

and offering will also work. Burned rocks are never placed on a tsenadjihih. Warriors 

used Yucca baccata leaves with the points directed toward their enemies. If the wind 

is blowing, a rock is placed over the twig to hold it on the pile. Nothing that has been 

stuck by lightning, whirlwinds, or touched by snakes or bears should be placed on a 

tsenadjihih. It would bring misfortune. (p. 9; emphasis in the original)

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F., and Scotty Begay

1938 Sacred Places and Shrines of the Navajo. Part I: The Sacred Mountains. Museum of 

Northern Arizona Museum Notes 11(3):29–34.

The authors provide excerpts from a previously unpublished Navajo origin story that 

provides a condensed account of the ceremonial creation of the Holy Mountains of 

Direction:
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 239

The Holy people took earth from the mountains of the Second World and placed it 

in the east. This mountain was made of white shell in the shape of a divine being. It 

was adorned with all different types of animals, trees, plants, and all living creatures 

including water animals as well as the water itself. Everything that decorated this 

mountain was of white shell. Since the mountain had been made in the shape of 

First Man, this mountain was given the sacred name of Sisnaadjinii, and it was to be 

equally as holy as the sacred mountain of the east in the Yellow World below...

After all these four mountains had been made, the people were told that as they were 

sacred, that on these offerings might be made, and favors which might be desired 

might be obtained from them by offerings and prayer.” (pp. 30–31; emphasis in the 

original)

Van Valkenburgh and Begay describe the construction of mountaintop shrines and the kinds 

of offerings typically found within them:

Many types of shrines exist. Some are simple, while others are elaborate. Among 

the various types of shrines are stone cists or boxes, sealed enclosures, walled or 

unwalled springs, cienegas or pools, natural concavities and peculiarities in rock 

formations, caves, and rock shelters, in rooms of prehistoric Pueblo ruins, and simple 

monuments of rough stone...

In many shrines are found objects which have been either transported to or are 

natural parts of the shrine and become a part of the shrine itself. In some instances 

these act as altars or receptacles for altar paraphernalia. Some of these are boulders 

with natural or worked concavities, incised or painted images or carved or uncarved 

wood or stone. Occasionally anthropomorphic or geometric figures are found on the 

walls or boulders of the shrine.

Offerings made to these shrines may be practically anything: Prayer sticks of assorted 

types, semi-precious stones such as turquoise, malachite, lignite, or native jet, beads 

of these stones, native red and yellow garnets, obsidian and chert flakes, flaked 

implements, smooth banded stones, petrified wood, fossils, arrowshafts, lengths of 

reed and wood, stone and semiprecious stone fetishes, both painted and unpainted, 

metal objects, whole pottery vessels (sometimes as a stationary part of the shrine) and 

sherds, and very often simple monuments of rocks, twigs and branches of trees. 

(p. 29–30)

Vestal, Paul A.

1952 Ethnobotany of the Ramah Navajo. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American 

Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

In this study, Vestal identifies Navajo uses of more than two dozen plants that grow in the 

VCNP. Foods include kittentails (Bessya plantaginea), Western tansy mustard (Descurainia 

pinnata), native strawberry (Fragaria sp.), Bush mountainspray (Holodiscus dumosus), oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma), coneflower (Ratibida sp.), dropseed (Sporobolus sp.), 

and American brooklime (Veronica americana). Medicines include aster (Aster sp.), Parry’s 

bellflower (Campanula parryi), dayflower (Commelina dianthifolia), spikerush (Eleocharis

sp.), Western throughwort (Eupatorium herbaceum), Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa), 

cudweed (Gnaphalium sp.), native lettuce (Lactuca sp.), dropseed (Sporobolus sp.), mustard 

(Thelypodium sp.), cattail (Typha sp.), American vetch (Vicia americana), goldeneye (Vicia 

sp.), and cliff fern (Woodsia sp.). Vestal also notes that the Navajo use Apache plume 

(Fallugia paradoxa) in tool making and cattail (Typha sp.) for padding.

Weigle, Marta, ed.

1975 Hispanic Villages of Northern New Mexico. Santa Fe, NM: Lightning Tree.

This is a reprint of Volume II of the 1935 Tewa Basin Study, with additions by Weigle. 

The Indian Land Research Unit of the Office of Indian Affairs conducted the study and 

carried out the fieldwork from March to July 1935. The unit was made up of economists, 

rural sociologists, cultural anthropologists, and technical personnel, including surveyors 

and draftsmen. They investigated relationships between the people of the study areas and 

their land and resource bases. The Depression and the New Deal were the background 

for the Roosevelt administration’s efforts to analyze problems of rural life, poverty, and 

subsistence. The authors of the study called it “the first applied anthropological work in the 

United States.” The study was followed by extensive fieldwork in various parts of the United 

States, carried out by the Applied Anthropology Unit of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the 

Soil Conservation Service, and other federal agencies, principally within the Department of 

Agriculture.
240 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

The description of the town of Española (pp. 118–123) emphasizes that the arrival of the 

Denver and Río Grande Railroad and the establishment of a New Mexico terminal in 1881 

created a modern labor market and introduced cash into what had been a barter economy.

Among the gentlemen opening stores were Scott and Whitehead, who in partnership 

had the commissary contract with the railroad company...Early in 1883 the railroad 

company changed its mind and decided to extend its line into Santa Fe and to build its 

roundhouse in Alamosa. This left the storekeepers in Española faced with the prospect 

of another dead railroad town...In what must have been a minor panic, all the 

merchants sold out. Two young brothers, George W. and Frank Bond, were working 

for Scott and Whitehead, and these men decided to buy out the stock and the tent of 

Scott and Whitehead...The Bonds, shrewder than the rest, saw the folly of depending 

for long-range growth upon the railroad. If they were to grow rich in this country 

they must do so on the one product that could be sold elsewhere for cash. Their 

commercial operations, therefore, led inevitably to livestock. In 1883 they had bought 

up 40 acres [16.2 ha] of land adjacent to the railroad depot for $200 and proceeded 

to build the facilities for shipping stock. Soon after that they began extending credit 

on livestock mortgages, and their herds began to be built up. At first they concentrated 

on cattle, but these proved to be less profitable than sheep. The grazing land open for 

free use at that time appeared limited, as did the prospects in the grazing industry. The 

Bond herd increased, and soon they entered into the system of renting out sheep on a 

sharecropper basis. The partidario, or sharecropper, system, under which most of the 

sheep industry is carried on in New Mexico today, is as old as Spanish colonization 

and may have been originally an outgrowth of the Spanish colonial encomienda 

system, whereby the labor of Indians was given to certain grantees, together with 

grants of land...The Bonds apparently found this system profitable, and their growth 

since 1883 has been phenomenal. Today this corporation has extended its operations 

until it covers a good portion of northern New Mexico and controls a good share of 

the sheep industry. The growth of Española has paralleled the growth of the Bond 

Co... (pp. 119–121)

Case History No. III describes the partido arrangement under which Lázaro Salazar grazes 

sheep on the Baca Location.

Lazaro Salazar has been renting Bond’s sheep since 1924. He has 300 of Bond’s 

sheep and 900 of his own. Lazaro rents Bond’s sheep only to have the right to use the 

Baca Location (owned by Bond) to graze his sheep at $.25 per head. Lazaro is an 

exceptional sheep heerder and has been able to stay clear of debt. This he attributed 

to the fact that only one-fourth of his sheep holdings belong to Bond. When, as is the 

case with all of the herders, it is necessary to borrow from Bond to finance the herding 

operations, a contract is made calling for the sale of lambs and wool to the Bond 

Company at a price to be set by them. In 1934 Lazaro was limited by Bond in grazing 

privileges on the Baca location to 1,200 sheep. He feels that because of the fact that 

the ratio of his own sheep to Bond’s sheep is too great he will be crowded off the Baca 

location. (p. 219)

Wentworth, Edward Norris

1948 America’s Sheep Trails. Ames: Iowa State College Press.

This general history of the development of t he sheep industry in the United States is a 

standard reference for any study of the subject. Wentworth discusses all of New Mexico’s 

major dealers in sheep and wool, including the Bond brothers (pp. 241, 607), noting their 

many partnerships and associations with other sheep men.

Weslowski, Lois Vermilya

1981 Native American Land Use along Redondo Creek. In High-Altitude Adaptations 

along Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. Craig Baker 

and Joseph C. Winter, eds. Pp. 105–127. Albuquerque: Office of Contract Archeology, 

University of New Mexico.

This article documents the results of an ethnographic analysis to develop a “representative 

model of Native American land use of the project and study areas” (p. 105). A further 

objective of her work “was to recover oral history and written documentation pertaining to 

Native American land use patterns. Although numerous Indian communities, including Río 

Grande Valley Pueblos, Navajos, Jicarilla Apaches, and Utes are known to have frequented 

the locality, Weslowski states that she selected Jémez Pueblo for study because (1) the 

community is closely associated geographically to the project area, (2) Redondo Creek 

lies within Jémez Pueblo’s traditional land use area, and (3) the study’s funding and time 

constraints did not allow for broader study.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 241

Weslowski’s report is a comprehensive and well-considered discussion of Jémez Pueblo’s 

continuing associations with the Valles Caldera in general and the Redondo Creek area in 

particular. Her underlying thesis is “that in order to fully understand the native uses of the 

project area, it is necessary to recognize the conceptual foundations of these traditional 

activities” (p. 105). She examines Jémez concepts of land and landownership and finds 

that this system of ideas is organized and given meaning by a comprehensive system of 

cosmological belief. “These spiritual precepts dictate not only how the location should be 

correctly utilized, but also what this utilization symbolically means” (p. 105). In addition, 

Weslowski shows that the symbolic understandings that underlie the Jémez concepts of land 

and land use provide meaning to particular features of the broader study area (p. 105). She 

shows that the Redondo Creek locale is significant to Jémez Pueblo not only because it is a 

gathering area, but more importantly because Jémez Pueblo values the resources found there 

as components of traditional community knowledge (p. 106). According to Weslowski, the 

framework of ideas that organize and motivate an activity are as significant as the practice 

itself.

Weslowski richly reviews Jémez Pueblo ancestry, world view, social organization, and 

occupation of its traditional lands. She next documents how Jémez people use the Redondo 

Creek consistent with traditional ceremonial requirements. Weslowski offers a symbolic 

analysis of the fundamental cosmological belief systems that inform the Pueblo’s uses of 

the locale and discusses the conceptual frameworks that are linked to the particular features 

within the broader geographic area, of which Redondo Creek is but a small part.

Wheelwright, Mary C.

1946 Hail Chant and Water Chant. Navajo Religion Series 2. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of 

Ceremonial Art.

In retelling the Mountainway origin story, Wheelwright (pp. 78–79) has it that the Jémez 

Mountains (but not Redondo Peak specifically) are the place where the Youth, who has 

become a medicine man, visits the Kisahni (a Pueblo group that Wheelwright identifies as 

the Hopi in a sidebar). Here he finds two individuals, who learn the Tohe ceremony that he 

performed during his visit.

The medicine man said to these two that they must have ceremonies given over them 

before they could be medicine men, and have the Jish or medicine pouch. They said 

they would have these ceremonies up on Tsilth Klizhin, the Dark Mountain (Jemez 

Mountain). So all the Kisahni People left their homes to go to this place, and there 

they built a hogahn with twelve upright posts. It was a very big hogahn called Taytahhaskahni. After this was finished they built another hogahn for the cooking of food 

during the ceremony, and sent someone out to collect herbs and everything needed for 

the Wohltrahd, and wood to make the Tse-panse hoops; so now they were prepared to 

start the ceremony that night. (p. 79)

The Jémez Mountains are also the place from which two Akananillis (Meal Sprinklers), the 

messengers who go out to summon the people to the corral dance on the ninth (and last) 

night of the Mountainway ceremony, departed in the origin story. Moreover, the runner 

who goes to the west to the White Mountain Apaches was Asheen Tsiskai, whose name 

derives from the fact that “he was a racer on the plains and valleys, running from the Dark 

Mountain down the valley to the south, and then north to Debehentsah before the sun rose 

in the morning” (p. 80). The other runner, Kah-jes-tyinee (Sleeps to Noon), who ran to the 

east to the Jicarilla Apache, was believed by all Navajos other than his grandmother to be 

a lazy youth, but was transformed into a perfect young man by his being named as a Meal 

Sprinkler. Kah-jes-tyinee returns to his people at Dark Mountain just before Asheen Tsiskai 

(p. 81).

White, Leslie A.

1935 The Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico. Memoirs 43. Menasha, WI: American 

Anthropological Association.

Like White’s other now-classic ethnological reports about New Mexico’s Keresan Pueblo 

communities, this volume presents a relatively straightforward descriptive account of the 

culture and history of the people of Santa Domingo Pueblo. Representative of its time in 

the development of American anthropology, major sections include discussions of social 

organization, an individual’s life cycle, ceremonialism, and myths and tales.

White reports encountering many practical difficulties, including the people’s distrust of 

anthropologists and desire to maintain their privacy. Consequently, he offers no substantive 
242 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

information about the people’s associations with caves, volcanoes, lava flows, or shrines, 

which might be useful in interpreting specific cultural or physiographic features within the 

VCNP.

On the other hand, White gives a summary of Santo Domingo cosmology, tracing the 

emergence of people onto the present world and the movement of the Santo Domingo 

Pueblo’s ancestors to the Río Grande Valley from White House farther north. He presents a 

diagram of the mythological landscape and provides partial discussion of cardinal mountain, 

color, and animal associations. Of particular interest is White’s mention of the many witches 

and giants that inhabited the world and plagued the people, as well as of the Warrior Twins, 

Masewi and Oyoyewi, who killed these enemies before eventually leaving the people and 

making their homes on Sandia Mountain. Although White does confirm these associations, 

as documented at other Pueblo communities as well as among the Navajo, the Warrior 

Twins’ slaying of the terrible giants is associated with caves and volcanism.

White, Leslie A.

1942 The Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico. Memoirs 60. Menasha, WI: American 

Anthropological Association.

White describes the culture and history of the people of Santa Ana Pueblo. Major sections 

include discussions of social organization, government and social life, corn and the cosmos, 

hunting, war, sickness and witchcraft, and paraphernalia and ritual.

Once again reflecting the Pueblo people’s extreme mistrust of anthropologists and their 

desire to maintain privacy about their religious practices and beliefs, White does not provide 

useful information about the peoples’ associations with petroglyphs, caves, volcanoes, lava 

flows, or shrines. His consideration of Santa Ana hunting ritual and belief, however, is 

important as an illustration of the pervasiveness of the precepts of spiritual ecology and the 

environmental underpinnings of the people’s world view and their senses of time and place 

as ongoing processes.

Through a liberal use of footnotes, White gives a comparative review of the Keresans’ 

conceptual structure of their world, including major mountain, color, and animal cardinal 

associations (pp. 80–91). By the time of this study, White had come to recognize that the 

Keresans represent the world as a square and emphasize places at corners. (White even 

points out his error in his Santo Domingo monograph where he portrayed the Keresan world 

as a sphere.)

White also identifies the Santa Ana Pueblo food uses of Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) and 

nightshade (Solanum sp.), both of which grow in the VCNP.

White, Leslie A.

1960 The World of the Keresan Pueblo Indians. In Culture in History: Essays in Honor 

of Paul Radin. Stanley Diamond, ed. Pp. 53–64. New York: Published for Brandeis 

University by Columbia University Press.

In this, his near final statement of Keresan Pueblo world view and religion based on his 

ethnographic work with the San Felipe (1932), Ácoma, Santo Domingo (1935), Santa Ana 

(1942), and Zía (1962) Pueblo communities, White summarizes the major points of these 

peoples’ common cosmology. He describes the Keresan view of the world as square, flat, 

and consisting of four layers (after White 1942). In his review, White traces the Keresan 

Pueblos’ history from the beginning of known time, when people occupied the lowest world 

deep inside the earth through their ascent and emergence into the present-day fourth world. 

He provides color associations and retells the story whereby the Warrior Twins, Masewi 

and Oyoyewi, killed a giant and eventually left the people to make their home on Sandia 

Mountain.

White, Leslie A.

1962 The Pueblo of Sia, New Mexico. Bulletin 15. Bureau of American Ethnology. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

As in his previous ethnographic studies of Keresan Pueblo communities, White offers a 

traditional account of the culture and history of the people of Zía Pueblo. Major sections 

include discussions of history, setting and background, Christianity, economy, cosmology, 

social organization, an individual’s life cycle, ceremonialism, sickness, and hunting. White 

describes the Keresan view of the world and recounts the people’s history from creation and 

emergence.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 243

Whiting, Alfred F.

1939 Ethnobotany of the Hopi. Bulletin 15. Flagstaff: Museum of Northern Arizona.

This book is an essential ethnobotanical resource. Whiting identifies approximately two 

dozen taxa that grow in the VCNP. Food plants include sagebrush (Artemisia sp.), Indian 

paintbrush (Castilleja sp.), thistle (Cirsium sp.), piñon (Pinus edulis), quaking aspen 

(Populus tremuloides), globemallow (Sphaeralcea sp.), and cattail (Typha sp.). Whiting also 

notes the use of bee balm (Monarda sp.) as a seasoning. Medicinal plants include milkweed 

(Asclepias sp.), barberry (Berberis sp.), goldenrod (Solidago sp.), spurge (Euphorbia sp.), 

stoneseed (Lithospermum sp.), tansy-aster (Machaeranthera sp.), primrose (Oenothera sp.), 

native dock or sorrel (Rumex sp.), and goldenrod (Solidago sp.). Woody species used in tool 

making and/or construction include barberry (Berberis sp.), Apache plume (Fallugia sp.), 

piñon (Pinus edulis), and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). Western red currant (Ribes 

cereum) provides wood for tool manufacture and pigment.

Whitney v. Otero

1893 Joel Parker Whitney v. Mariano S. Otero et al. Civil Case No. 3632. Records of the U.S. 

Territorial and New Mexico District Courts for Bernalillo County. Accession No. 1959–

124. Santa Fe: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Joel Parker Whitney, a resident of Rocklin, Placer County, California, petitioned for partition 

of the Baca Location in 1893. The named defendants were Maríano Sabine Otero and his 

wife, Thomas B. Catron, Pedro Perea, José L. Perea, Jesus M. Castillo and his wife, and 

Justo Armijo and his wife. In a response filed in December 1894, they stated that they were 

the owners in fee of all of the land, that they were not prepared to “fully set out and exhibit 

the particular undivided interest of each of the said defendants in said tract of land” (p. 1),

and that Joel Parker Whitney did not own any interest in the Baca Location.

Whitney claimed that after the death of Luis María Cabeza de Baca, Baca’s grandson Tomás 

appeared before the Surveyor General at the request of all the Baca heirs to pursue their land 

claims, and that his efforts led to the Congressional act of 1860 authorizing the five Baca 

locations. Whitney claimed that the heirs paid Tomás with a one-third interest in the Las 

Vegas Grant, the Ojo del Espiritu Santo Grant, and any other grants he might locate. They 

accomplished this action in an agreement dated May 2, 1857.

Whitney presented a copy of this agreement to the court. Whitney said that the nine heirs 

who had signed this document acted as representatives of all the other heirs. Whitney did 

not know under what authority these heirs had acted, nor did he have any written evidence. 

Whitney asserted that in this way Tomás Baca obtained a one-third interest in the Baca 

Location.

No agreement of May 2, 1857, appears in the court papers, but a transcript in Spanish of a 

document dated May 1, 1857, is among these papers. The transcript states that Tomás Baca 

is authorized to represent the heirs and that he will subsequently be paid in money or in “a 

portion of the lands satisfactory to him” (p. 1). The document lists the 14 heirs or living 

children of heirs, but does not mention any particular grant.

Tomás Baca died in 1881 and left all his interest in the Baca Location to his wife, María 

Gertrudis Lucero de Baca. She sold this interest to James G. Whitney on August 17, 1881. 

Whitney and his wife, Octavia J. Whitney, subsequently conveyed this interest to Whitney’s 

brother Joel P. Whitney. The date of this conveyance is left blank in the complaint, but a 

separate indenture in these court papers gives the date May 17, 1884.

Joel Whitney paid $17,000 for all his brother’s right, title, and interest in the Cañada de 

Cochití Grant, the Baca Location, and the Ojo del Borrego Grant. James and Octavia 

Whitney were in Santa Fe at this time, and Joel Whitney was a resident of Boston, 

Massachusetts.

The court found that Whitney did own an interest in the grant, although it was smaller than 

he had claimed. On October 4, 1898, the court appointed commissioners (Major R. H. 

Whiting, W. F. Powers, and Charles T. Bonsall) to determine the practicability of partition of 

the Baca Location in kind; they reported that partition was not feasible. The court issued a 

decree on January 27, 1899, ordering the Baca Location to be sold to the highest bidder and 

the proceeds distributed to the claimants.

William D. Lee, an associate justice of the territorial Supreme Court and a judge of the 

District Court, was the special master appointed by the court. Lee sold Location to Frank W. 

Clancy for $16,548.21 on March 13, 1899. Clancy was Whitney’s attorney of record (and 
244 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

was also, according to a court decree dated November 20, 1894, the attorney of record for 

the Valles Land Company).

Lee reported that the costs of the suit were $1,299.77. The court directed him to pay the 

remainder to each of the parties according the proportionate share of each party. Lee paid 

out the money less $667.80 that he returned to the court. Lee paid Whitney $2,966.24 after 

charging him $253.04 as his share of expenses. He paid Maríano Sabine Otero $5,330.86 

after charging him $454.75 as his share of expenses. He paid lesser amounts to 46 parties 

(44 individuals and 2 groups of heirs). Among these was Thomas B. Catron, who received 

$1,742.06 after a charge of $147.52 as his share of expenses. Presiding Judge J. W. 

Crumpacker approved Lee’s report.

On March 18, 1899, just five days after he bought it, Clancy sold the entire Location to the 

Valles Land Company.

This file contains a sketch map of the Baca Location drawn by U.S. Deputy Surveyor Walter 

G. Marmon, as well as the 1876 map of the Location by Sawyer and McBroom. Marmon 

located Old Fort in unsurveyed Section 20, Township 19 North, Range 5 East, below the 

Cerro el Medio and on the north side of East Jémez Creek, in the bend of the “Cañada de 

Cochití Road” or “Old Road.” The Sawyer and McBroom map similarly places it on the 

north side of East Jémez Creek just below the creek’s point of rising.

Williams-Dean, Glenna

1986 Pollen Analysis of Human Coprolites. In Archaeological Investigations at Antelope 

House. Don P. Morris, ed. Pp. 189–205. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the 

Interior, National Park Service.

Williams-Dean identifies the pre-Columbian Pueblo food use of narrowleaf cottonwood 

(Populus angustifolia), which grows in the VCNP.

Windes, Thomas C., and Dabney Ford

1996 The Chaco Wood Project: The Chronometric Reappraisal of Pueblo Bonito. American 

Antiquity 61:295–310.

The authors report on the pre-Columbian Pueblo uses of two woody species that also grow in 

the VCNP: white fir (Abies concolor) and spruce (Picea sp.).

Winter, Joseph C.

1981 Energy and Power along Redondo Creek: II—A Cultural Framework. In High 

Altitude Adaptations along Redondo Creek: The Baca Geothermal Anthropological 

Project. Craig Baker and Joseph C. Winter, eds. Pp. 173–190. Albuquerque: Office of 

Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico.

This chapter represents an interpretive summary of the archaeological, historical, and 

ethnographic research completed for the Baca Geothermal Anthropological Project. In 

preparing this review, Winter sometimes offers some useful new information not included 

previously in the report. His discussion of obsidian procurement and distribution, however, is 

problematical (see entry for Winter 1983 below).

Winter, Joseph C.

1983 Jemez Mountain Obsidian Exchange: A View From Redondo Valley. In High-Altitude 

Adaptations in the Southwest. Joseph C. Winter, ed. Pp. 91–107. Cultural Resources 

Management Report 2. Albuquerque, NM: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Southwest Region.

This study reports the interpretive findings from 21 obsidian lithic sites in the Redondo 

Valley and at numerous other sites in the San Juan Basin. Winter asserts that this information 

demonstrates the existence of exchange networks for obsidian from Paleo-Indian to Historic 

period Pueblo times. This study, although useful in presenting summary information 

throughout the region, is problematical for several reasons, including Winter’s unsupported 

characterization of the Redondo Valley lithic sites as workshops, a term that implies, among 

other things, a high level of craft specialization with overarching control imposed by social 

and political authorities.

With regard to the Historic period, which is relevant to this examination of the VCNP landuse history, Winter states,

The procurement and use of Jemez obsidian declined dramatically after the collapse 

of the Chaco Anasazi culture and the emergence of the ancestral Río Grande and 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 245

related Pueblo groups. It was still used in the 14th century, as shown by hydration 

dates from several Redondo Valley sites, but by historic Jemez Pueblo times its use 

had been relegated to societal and ritual activities. Thus the historic Pueblo obsidian 

exchange systems was poorly developed and of little consequence, despite the fact 

that Redondo peak and the associated valleys of the Valle Caldera were (and are) 

important hunting, gathering, grazing, and religious locations. (p. 107)

Witherspoon, Gary

Language and Art in the Navajo Universe. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

1983 Language and Reality in Navajo World View. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 

570–578. Vol. 10 of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.

These publications provide important information about Navajo world view. They are 

essential to a discussion of how the Diné construct and understand their landscape, 

presumably including the Valles Caldera. However, Witherspoon does not mention the 

Valles.

Woods, Betty

1942 The Blonds of Vallecito. New Mexico Magazine 20(10):10, 30.

Writing for New Mexico Magazine, Woods reported,

every day during the piñon season they [the Jémez] pass through [Vallecito de los 

Indios] on their way to the mesa tops, for they, too, are great nut hunters.

The country above Vallecito is dense with tall, yellow pine while lower down are the 

vivid cliffs and canyons where medicine men go to gather herbs and mix their wonderworking potions...we can suppose that ancient Indian medicine men came to the 

same canyons for their healing herbs and went to the caves for ceremonial making of 

medicine. Indian customs changes very little. (p. 30, emphasis in the original)

Wright, Cathy

2000 Traditional Cosmology, Ecology and Language of the Ute Indians, from an Interview 

with James A. Goth. In Ute Indian Arts and Culture: From Prehistory to the New 

Millennium. William Wroth, ed. Pp. 27–52. Colorado Springs: Taylor Museum of the 

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

This accessible, reflective essay is a transcription of a 1999 interview that Wright conducted 

with James Goth, an anthropologist who worked with the Ute for nearly four decades 

on issues related to their language. Goth reveals that he ascribes to the Sapir-Whorf 

school when he states, “I always looked at learning the language as a beginning place for 

understanding people’s traditions, the way they thought, and what they believe” (p. 27).

This essay is valuable because Goth addresses how the Ute construct their landscape 

traditions through language (see especially pp. 33–37). He also discusses Ute storytelling 

traditions (pp. 37–42), ecological adaptations (pp. 42–44), selected ritual (pp. 44–47), and 

color symbolism (pp. 47–49), all of which are organized and motivated by language and 

underlie the people’s landscape constructions. He emphasizes the place of mountains within 

the Ute’s landscape understandings.

This article is an unannotated transcription of an interview. Wright does not provide 

references.

Wroth, William

2000 Ute Indian Civilization in Prehistory and the Spanish Colonial Period. In Ute Indian 

Arts and Culture: From Prehistory to the New Millennium. William Wroth, ed. Pp. 

53–72. Colorado Springs: Taylor Museum of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

Wroth gives a traditional scholarly summary of Ute culture history. Although he does not 

say that the Utes have used the Valles Caldera, he discusses Jémez Pueblo’s familiarity with 

these Numic hunter-gatherers (pp. 56–58). He also reports on a Ute party, which consisted of 

more than 100 tipis, that visited San Juan Pueblo in 1752 to trade pelts (p. 58), and outlines 

the northern New Mexican Spanish settlers’ similar dependence on Ute trade at this time 

(pp. 62–63). Clearly the Ute were common visitors in the region surrounding the Valles 

Caldera. In the final part of his essay, Wroth considers selected aspects of Ute cosmology and 

symbolism that complements the discussion offered previously by James Goth (see entry for 

Wright 2000).
246 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Wyman, Leland C.

1962 The Windways of the Navajo. Colorado Springs: Taylor Museum of the Colorado 

Springs Fine Arts Center.

In opening his discussion of the geography of the Navajo Windway myths (pp. 78–80), 

Wyman emphasizes the underlying importance of locality and the even greater significance 

of the movement of characters in Navajo oral traditions:

In his [a Navajo tradition keeper’s] speech, movement is described in great detail; he 

lives conceptually and linguistically in a “universe in motion.” In his myths the heroes 

and supernaturals restlessly undertake long journeys during which many place names 

are mentioned, even spots merely passed by, and stopping at a spring for a drink of 

water is an occasion for giving the place a name...The myth of Navajo Windway is 

no exception; in Black Mustache’s narration, fifty-three place names are mentioned, 

thirty-four in the Journey for Knowledge and Power and fourteen in the episode of 

Where His Mind and Speech were Stolen, and others throughout the myth. (p. 78)

The identifiable localities include the four mountains of cardinal direction, including Black 

Belted Mountain (a.k.a. Horizontal Black Belt). Wyman acknowledges that the identification 

of the Holy Mountain of the East is uncertain. He reports that the location of the Holy 

Mountain of the East ranges from Sierra Blanca Peak in southern Colorado to, more 

commonly, Redondo Peak in the VCNP (p. 70).

Wyman provides a map showing the path, as demarcated by a broken line symbol, of the 

mythic travel that Black Mustache described in his account of the Journey of Knowledge and 

Power. Included along this pathway are Redondo Peak, which he co-labels as “Horizontal 

Black Belt,” and the Jémez Mountains, which he co-annotates as “Black Range.”

Wyman further identifies the Black Range as the place where the Windway myth hero visits 

two groups of supernatural beings, the Thunder People and the Black Ant People (table 6). 

The Thunder People offer the hero a prayerstick on his return journey, while the Black Ant 

People made him a jewelry payment.

In table 7 Wyman lists (1) the localities where the major events of the Windway myth 

occurred, (2) the places mentioned as the homes of certain supernaturals who participated 

in these events, and (3) the places given as the homes of supernatural beings before whom a 

magical cotton cord was placed “in vain attempts to discover the whereabouts of the hero’s 

stolen mind and speech” (p. 80). In this effort Wyman reports that Horizontal Black Belt 

(possibly Redondo Peak) was the home of a Talking God, while the Black Range (Jémez 

Mountains) was shattered by Thunder and also was the home of the Black Ant People. In 

reference to the part of the myth concerning cotton chord divination, Wyman notes that 

Horizontal Black Belt was one of the homes of the Small Bird People.

Wyman, Leland C.

1965 The Red Antway of the Navajo. Navajo Religion Series 5. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of 

Ceremonial Art.

Wyman reports that Navajo narrators who maintain the corpus of traditional myths 

“usually take advantage of the movement of the actors in them, their journeys to visit the 

supernaturals, and so on, to give free rein to one of their chief interests, motion within a 

wealth of geographical detail” (p. 104; see also entry for Wyman 1962). Despite this general 

propensity, only two of the seven Red Antway myths, Rounded Man and Gun Shooter, 

possess this characteristic. Of interest to the VCNP, the Rounded Man story tells that the Ant 

People first lived in the Jémez Mountains (p. 104).

Wyman, Leland C.

1970 Blessingway, with Three Versions of the Myth Recorded and Translated from the 

Navajo People by Father Berard Haile, O.F.M. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Wyman revisits the issue of the identification of the Navajo Holy Mountain of the East (pp. 

17–18) and reviews the various accounts that variously identify Pelado Peak (see entry for 

Matthews 1897), Abiquiú Peak, Pedernal Peak, Wheeler Peak, Mount Wilson near Taos, 

and Sierra Blanca Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in southern Colorado (see entry 

for Haile 1938 above). Wyman, citing Haile (1938) and testimony offered in 1952 by Albert 

Sandoval, Haile’s Navajo translator, concludes that the Holy Mountain of the East is Blanca 

Peak and notes also that “Navajo public opinion [in the Leupp, Arizona area] seems to have 

accepted it as their eastern peak” (p. 18).

Wyman explains the meaning of Black Belted Mountain:
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 247

In the myth of the Blessingway this mountain is referred to as White-tipped Mountain 

(mountain white streaked above, or the summit runs into white), an interesting 

coincidence with the Spanish name, Sierra Blanca...Its other name, Black Belted 

Mountain, is preferred, however, and is based on the yucca bast belt or sash around 

the waist of its inner form person which accounted for his name, “black belt around.” 

This mountain is the “heart” of him who became the inner form of the earth. (p. 18)

Wyman adds that Old Mustache of Ramah, a well-known Blessingway singer, “was told 

by his father, Many Beads, that [Shootingway or Blessingway] singers [from Ramah and 

Cañoncito] used to stop at a spring known to the Navajos as ‘wild spring place’ to mix the 

water with mountain soils” (p. 20) from the Holy Mountains of the South and East.

In Slim Curly’s story, “About the Origins of Other People” (pp. 327–334), which serves as 

an appendix to his version of the Blessingway myth, the bear is associated with the Jémez 

Mountains:

“You also are my grandchild,” he said to the bear. “You may leave, although we were 

much attached to one another, in the days to come you will always watch over us, 

we will say prayers to you. By means of pollen below you it is blessed, above you it 

is blessed, by means of pollen all around you it is blessed. By means of pollen your 

speech is blessed. You will depart for mountain interiors, everywhere you will be 

found, although Jemez Range will be your chief (home); go ahead now, he said to it. 

Dark Mountain, wherever that place is called, into the interior of that he (bear) left. 

(p. 330)

Frank Mitchell’s version of the Blessingway myth similarly associates the bear with Black 

Mountain (Jémez Mountains) (see p. 456).

In his version of the Blessingway myth, River Junction Curly refers to a place called “the 

Hollow Gap at the upper end of Black Mountain (Jemez Range)” (p. 554) when telling 

of Monster Slayer’s destruction of the monsters that plagued the people. Based on this 

description, “Hollow Gap” might refer to the Valle Grande.

Later in his account, River Junction Curly tells about Monster Slayer and the Twelve 

Roaming Antelopes, which were terrible beasts that killed people, at Dark Mountain (the 

Jémez Mountains) (pp. 569–571). Monster Slayer gave chase to the Twelve Roaming 

Antelopes and was going to destroy them to rid the world of their evil. He spared them after 

receiving their word that they would become peaceful game animals that humans could hunt 

for food.

Then he approached them there. “I’m going to kill all of you now, don’t say anything 

about pity,” he told them. “Nevertheless, let us live, please!” they said as they 

pleaded. “Just the same I will kill you, that is settled, since your disposition is wicked. 

You kill people, that accounts for it.” “Do not say that! You see we are pleading with 

you. In spite of all, let us live. Whatever command you may give us, that will direct 

our conduct,” they told him. “Still, I have decided to kill you, of what use can you 

be?” “Do not say that! In spite of all, let us live, please! You see, we are pleading 

with you!” they told him. Thus it seems this had happened four times. So it seems this 

time (he agreed), “Go ahead then since you are pleading. As days go by in the future, 

earth surface people, when they have come into being, will make use of you.” “All 

right, just so we will be,” they said. “By no means must you ever begin to think in 

a wicked manner! Should you ever again think wickedly I will yet kill you,” he told 

them. “Particularly killing people, this you must never do! Beautiful flowers will now 

be your food, on the strength of which you will travel. Now go roundabout hunting 

food. This in particular, that you should live together in one place, must not be!” he 

told them as he drove them out into the valley. Therefore to this day people eat them, 

they say.” (pp. 570–571)

Wyman, Leland C.

1975 The Mountainway of the Navajo, with a Myth of the Female Branch Recorded and 

Translated by Father Berard Haile, O.F.M. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Wyman’s recorded version of the Mountainway story (see pp. 237–244) tells of the origin of 

the prototype Mountainway ceremony involving two meal sprinklers who travel north and 

south across the landscape summoning people of outlying settlements, especially masked 

dancers and magicians, to perform on the last night of the observance. The meal sprinklers 

are “He-who-lies-underneath-it (a Mountain),” a name which other authors translate as 

“Sleeps to Noon” (e.g., see entry for Wheelwright 1946), “Lazy Boy,” or “Valley Boy.”
248 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Wyman identifies the Meal Sprinklers’ starting point as “behind Black Mountain” (p. 238). 

This place-name is a likely reference to the Jémez Mountains in general and, possibly, refers 

more specifically to the Valle Grande, which is “behind” the Jémez Mountains.

Recounting the details of his journey, Valley Boy, who ran the north course of the race, tells 

of his visits to the Pueblos of Santo Domingo and Zía to obtain these communities’ pledges 

to arrive before the close of the Mountainway ceremonial. On the last leg of his journey, 

Valley Boy ran from Zía Pueblo up into the Jémez Mountains, climbed its summit (possibly 

Redondo Peak), and visited a supernatural being before returning to the race’s starting point.

Next he set out towards the Black Mountain range again, and required much time 

before he arrived at its base. He went up to the summit, where he found a narrow 

canyon and came to a waterfall. Suddenly the Ye’i granduncle gave his call. He 

descended down into the canyon and there called to him with his whistle.

He (Valley Boy) entered his (the Ye’i’s) home... (p. 240)

Wyman, Leland C.

1983 Navajo Ceremonial System. In Southwest. Alfonso Ortiz, ed. Pp. 536–557. Vol. 10 

of Handbook of North American Indians, William Sturtevant, ed. Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution.

Wyman provides an invaluable overview of the complex system of Navajo beliefs about the 

dynamics of the universe and the actions with which the people attempt to influence these 

processes through the orderly demonstration of traditional knowledge in ritual when other 

rational means fail. Wyman establishes the organizational relationships of the many Navajo 

ceremonial observances upon which the people rely for sustaining their world.

Wyman, Leland C., and Stuart K. Harris

1941 Navajo Indian Medical Ethnobotany. University of New Mexico Bulletin, 

Anthropological Series 3(5). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

In their discussion of Navajo plant medicines, Wyman and Harris identify several useful 

plants that grow in the VCNP. The medical plants include peavine (Lathyrus sp.), lupine 

(Lupinus sp.), Fendler’s meadow rue (Thalictrum fendleri), and stinging nettle (Urtica sp.). 

They also note that peavine and lupine are food plants.

Wyman, Leland C., and Stuart K. Harris

1951 The Ethnobotany of the Kayenta Navajo: An Analysis of the John and Louisa 

Wetherill Ethnobotanical Collection. University of New Mexico Publications in Biology 

5:1–66. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

In this study Wyman and Harris contribute additional Navajo ethnobotanical information 

about plants found in the VCNP. Food plants include native lettuce (Mimulus sp.), broomrape 

(Orobanche sp.), mock-orange (Philadelphus microphyllus), and deathcamus (Zigadenus

sp.). Medicinal plants include columbine (Aquilegia sp.), hemlock parsley (Conioselinum 

scopulorum), spotted coral root (Corallorhiza maculate), western tansy mustard 

(Descurainia pinnata), willowherb (Epilobium sp.), buckwheat (Eriogonum sp.), filaree 

(Erodium sp.), green wintergreen (Pyrola chlorantha), and snowberry (Symphoricarpos sp.). 

They also report the use of the native currant (Ribes sp.) in tool manufacture.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 249

Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to introduce an anthropological landscape approach. It considers landscape broadly as 

the physical and conceptual interaction of nature and culture 

rather than the sum of material modifications, which people 

might make to a particular geographic space. I suggest that 

cultural resource managers might find this perspective useful 

in the future when they consider how people of traditional 

and historical communities in the region construct and sustain 

their associations with the Valles Caldera National Preserve 

(VCNP). Using concepts developed by the U.S. Department of 

Interior, National Park Service (NPS) for managing culturally 

significant landscape resources, this discussion goes beyond 

a simple emphasis on the readily visible built environment. It 

also considers the cultural-historical traditions through which 

people of affiliated communities have sustained their associations with the VCNP as part of their traditional homelands 

based on their land use history and traditions.

This essay consists of five parts. The first introduces the 

NPS landscape concepts, which now are widely in use across 

the United States in evaluating the significance of cultural 

landscapes in terms of National Register of Historic Places 

(National Register) criteria. It also reviews the limitations of 

these approaches and a recently adopted ethnographic landscape definition developed by the NPS Applied Ethnology 

Program (Evans et al. 2001). This definition offers an important step toward the resolution of the shortcomings inherent in 

the National Register process.

The second part considers the ubiquity of cultural landscapes and their significant cultural meanings in the world 

in which people live, using the intimacy of the relationship 

between traditional land-based communities and their environments in the southwestern United States as an illustration. 

The purpose of this discussion is to convey more fully how 

significant cultural-historical associations can be manifest in 

landscape even though material traces of human occupation 

are rare or subtle in appearance.

The third section considers the challenges to researchers 

and managers in recognizing landscapes and comprehending 

these cultural constructs within appropriate contexts. I open by 

addressing issues concerning landscape analyses of the way 

communities occupy their landscapes. I emphasize that these 

analyses will never yield a comprehensive understanding of 

the ideational systems communities use to ascribe particular 

meanings to places within their landscapes. I next define the 

landscape concept and review its formal properties. Lastly, I 

consider how landscapes constitute cultural-historical memories with which communities interact in their day-to-day 

living.

The fourth part defines the concepts of community and 

communion. I argue that these ideas are relevant to evaluations of landscapes because they help condition people’s 

patterned perceptions and interpretations of the spaces they 

inhabit. This discussion also appraises the idea of communion, which is an emotional tie to place.

The final section offers a review of approaches that may 

be used to implement the ethnographic landscape concept. 

I introduce the idea of the “storied landscape” (Kelley and 

Francis 1996) as the principal means for applying the landscape perspective introduced in this essay.

National Park Service 

Landscape Concepts

The NPS formally identified cultural landscapes as a type 

of cultural resource in its management policies in 1988 (Page 

et al. 1998:7). The NPS defines cultural landscape “as a 

geographic area (including both cultural and natural resources 

and the wildlife or domestic animals therein) associated 

with a historic event, activity, or person, or that exhibit other 

cultural or aesthetic values” (NPS 2000:1; see also Page et 

al. 1998:12). These values, in turn, allow the evaluation of a 

cultural resource for eligibility for inclusion in the National 

Register (Evans et al. 2001:53). Moreover, the NPS uses the 

term cultural landscape as a conceptual umbrella to encompass four principal landscape types warranting recognition 

and protection (after NPS 1994; see also NPS 2000; Page et 

al. 1998:7).

The first landscape type is the historic site, which is significant for its association with important activities, events, and/

or persons. Examples include battlefields and presidential 

properties (NPS 2000:2). The second is the historic designed

Appendix II.

Introducing a Landscape Approach for Evaluating 

Communities’ Traditional Senses of Time and Place

Kurt F. Anschuetz

(adapted from Anschuetz 2001; Anschuetz and Scheick 1998)
250 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

landscape, which represents deliberate artistic creations that 

manifest recognized design styles. Aesthetic values play a 

significant role in designed landscapes, which include parks, 

campuses, and estates (NPS 2000:1–2). The third is the historic 

vernacular landscape, whose use, construction, and layout 

expresses cultural values and illustrates people’s patterns of 

land use. Function plays a significant role in vernacular landscapes, which include rural historic districts and agricultural 

landscapes (NPS 2000:2). The last cultural landscape type is 

the ethnographic landscape. As defined by the NPS, ethnographic landscapes contain “a variety of natural and cultural 

resources that associated people define as heritage resources. 

Examples are contemporary settlements, sacred religious 

sites, and massive geological structures. Small plant communities, animals, subsistence and ceremonial grounds are often 

components” (NPS 2000:1). Evans and others (2001:53) 

observe, “Ethnographic landscapes within the NPS context 

are broader and do not depend on National Register eligibility 

criteria for their existence, and importantly, are identified and 

defined by the cultural groups associated with them rather 

than by historic preservation professionals.” For this reason, 

and to better serve the purposes of its Ethnographic Resources 

Inventory Database, the NPS’ Applied Ethnography program 

has defined the term ethnographic landscape as:

. . . a relatively contiguous area of interrelated places that 

contemporary cultural groups define as meaningful because 

it is inextricably and traditionally linked to their own local or 

regional histories, cultural identities, beliefs, and behaviors. 

Present-day social factors such as a people’s class, ethnicity, 

and gender may result in the assignment of diverse meanings 

to a landscape and its component places (Evans et al. 

2001:54).

With this definition, Evans and others (2001:54) report that 

the NPS acknowledges that ethnographic landscapes are not 

merely a cultural landscape category. They recognize that it 

can represent distinct types of landscapes in their own right 

that might overlap with or contain historic cultural landscapes. 

People of communities affiliated with an ethnographic landscape determine the significance of a given space within the 

physical environment and are empowered with the authority 

to identify and describe these places with which they sustain 

relationship(s).

It is important to acknowledge here that the NPS recognizes that landscapes (1) represent the interaction of active 

cultural and historical processes, and (2) are not simply an 

assemblage of quantifiable material resources or even normative behavioral patterns (e.g., see Mitchell and Page 1993:49; 

Page et al. 1998:7; see also Levine and Merlan 1993:56). With 

this understanding, the NPS has adopted the goal to clearly 

identify “the landscape characteristics and features, values, 

and associations that make a landscape historically significant (according to the National Register criteria)” (Page et al. 

1998:4). The NPS also comprehends that contemporary people 

often identify and interact with places with which they maintain associations “for their history and for the amenities they 

provide” (Patten 1991:3; see also Mitchell and Page 1993:53; 

Travis 1994). Cowley (1991:10, 1994:28) observes further 

that landscapes can represent a multitude of cultural-historical associations and values among the people of different 

communities.

The NPS’ recognition of the essential role of contemporary cultural associations in the documentation, evaluation, 

and interpretations of landscapes is illustrated further through 

its seminal work in defining the traditional cultural property 

concept. Although the traditional cultural property concept 

also was developed for use in documenting and evaluating 

heritage resources eligible for listing in the National Register 

(Parker 1993a; Parker and King 1990; see also Evans et al. 

2001:54–55), its conceptual framework is applicable to cultural 

landscapes generally and to ethnographic landscapes specifically. According to National Register Bulletin 38 guidelines, 

traditional cultural properties are those “eligible for inclusion 

in the National Register because of...[their]...association with 

cultural practices or beliefs of a living community that (a) are 

rooted in that community’s history, and (b) are important in 

maintaining the continuing cultural identity of the community” (Parker and King 1990:1; see also Parker 1993b:1).

The four widely published NPS cultural landscape type 

definitions convey major aspects of this concept. These terse, 

static descriptions, if viewed in isolation, however, offer 

relatively little to help us understand how the NPS cultural 

landscape idea relates to dynamic cultural and historical 

processes.

The expanded ethnographic landscape definition offered 

recently by the NPS Applied Ethnology Program (Evans et al. 

2001) is both recognition of the shortcomings inherent in the 

four-part typology and an important step toward their resolution. On the one hand, the four-part typology—historic site, 

historic designed landscape, historic vernacular landscape, 

and ethnographic landscape—serves usefully in assisting 

managers to distinguish the values that give landscapes their 

significance. It also aids managers in determining how the 

landscape should be treated, managed, and interpreted (Page et 

al. 1998:9). On the other hand, rigid adherence to this classification threatens the conceptual segmentation of the landscape 

concept in ways that are not fully congruent with the effective implementation of a holistic approach. Page and others 

(1998:9) observe that these landscape types are not mutually 

exclusive; may be associated with significant events, possess 

vernacular and formally designed characteristics, and may 

also be considered significant by specific communities.

The language used by the NPS to define landscape types in 

terms of static cultural resource management property categories perhaps poses the greatest practical obstacle to fulfilling 

the goal of developing a comprehensive understanding of the 

dynamic processes that underlie how people interact with 

their environments (see Evans et al. 2001 for further discussion of this problem). The landscape typology and “terms are 

defined in the context of cultural resource management and in 

particular, cultural landscape management in the national park 

system” (Page et al. 1998:125). They acknowledge further that 

NPS terminology sometimes departs from standard dictionary 

definitions to enhance the typology’s usefulness as a tool for 

resource management.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 251

Through its emphasis on objective (i.e., quantifiable) 

historic events, activities, persons, or other cultural or 

aesthetic values, NPS landscape terminology frequently has 

resulted in the portrayal of cultural landscapes as a collection of materially based resource commodities. This practice 

works in service of National Historic Preservation Act of 

1966 protocols for determining the eligibility of historic 

properties. For example, while acknowledging that cultural 

landscape preservation encourages a holistic approach to 

resource management and possesses relevance to present 

communities, Birnbaum and Page cast this understanding 

primarily in terms of “the inter-relationships between 

cultural and natural resources within a property” (1994:3, 

emphasis added). In a subsequent comment, they give 

priority to “the physical evidence, including traces of the 

past...[as] an integral component of the daily lives of those 

that live in or move through the landscape today” (Birnbaum 

and Page 1994:4). Friedman similarly calls for discussions 

“of how the people associated with the site shaped the land 

to serve their needs and reflect their culture”(1994:6) in 

implementing landscape approaches for new kinds of interpretation. Even though Friedman implicitly recognizes the 

importance of including ideational issues in interpreting how 

people manifest their needs and their cultural expressions in 

their landscapes, materialist concerns organize the content 

of her remarks: “Landscape, including trees, plants, shrubs, 

and walkways, are [sic] comparable to cups, chairs, tables, 

paintings, and candlesticks. All are part of the collections of 

a historic site” (1994:6).

The NPS four-part landscape typology and their definitions work efficiently in producing the kinds of observations 

needed for land and cultural resource managers to fullfill their 

management responsibilities for natural and cultural resources 

with materially demonstrable historical contexts and associations. As such, these tools are well suited for a particular 

task, but as Moore and Keene (1983:4) observe, “methods, 

like tools, can be abused. The most obvious form of abuse 

involves using methods not because they fit the task at hand, 

but because they are methods we know and can easily apply.” 

Tools designed for managing natural and cultural resources 

with materially demonstrable historical contexts and associations are not necessarily equally well suited for management 

of resources whose historical values are based on less tangible 

contexts and associations (after Cushman 1993:50) in an 

ever-changing world. Thus, it is fair to question whether strict 

adherence to NPS cultural resource management concepts 

and methods alone can yield the insights needed to achieve 

a comprehensive understanding of landscapes’ dynamic 

processes. The significance of landscapes to traditional 

communities primarily concerned with contemporary social 

issues concerning their cultural survival goes far beyond mere 

documentation of historical contexts (Levine and Merlan 

1993:55).

The disjunction between the NPS landscape philosophy 

and its applied practice is more one of emphasis rather than 

substance. As I discuss below, the NPS ethnographic landscape concept actually is closely aligned intellectually with 

general cultural landscape ideas derived from the social 

sciences and the humanities.

Management of cultural landscape resources and comprehension of cultural landscape processes both are fundamentally 

important components of a holistic landscape approach. These 

contrasting tasks emphasize qualitatively different landscape 

aspects. Management of cultural landscapes resources and 

comprehension of cultural landscapes are not mutually exclusive; each contributes information needed to build even fuller 

understandings of landscapes.

Land and cultural resource managers likely will need to 

address issues raised by people of traditional and historical 

communities who maintain affiliations with the VCNP based 

on their land use histories and traditions. For this reason, the 

following discussion introduces the anthropological cultural 

landscape concept more broadly. By identifying the theoretical bases that the NPS drew from in developing its landscape 

typology and definitions, I provide a framework for comprehending the holistic logic that unifies the NPS landscape 

philosophy and its applied practice. My purpose also is to 

illustrate how a landscape approach, especially with reference 

to the principles embodied in the NPS Applied Ethnology 

Program’s ethnographic landscape concept and the traditional 

cultural property idea, can encourage and enable practitioners. 

That is, the landscape approach can assist managers in considering the cultural-historical traditions through which people 

occupy and modify their community lands, both materially 

and ideationally, in their own terms.

Landscapes as Worlds of 

Cultural Meaning

In a recent exposition on the Southwest’s landscape and 

history, John Brinckerhoff Jackson, nationally prominent landscape essayist and longtime New Mexico resident, observes:

What comes first: the blessing or the prayer? It is not easy 

in this landscape to separate the role of man from the role of 

nature. The plateau country has been lived in for centuries, 

but the human presence is disguised even from the camera’s 

eye (Jackson 1994:17)

Most people intimately familiar with the Southwest’s 

diverse mountain, mesa, valley, and desert settings are struck 

by the insightfulness and poetry of Jackson’s rhetorical question. In noting that humans and their natural environments 

are fundamentally intertwined, Jackson recognizes that the 

region’s many historical communities have interacted with 

the landscape in ways that are not always immediately visible. 

Even though many of their interactions might leave few readily 

visible material traces, Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo-American 

communities trace countless generations of occupation in the 

Southwest as subsistence hunters, gatherers, farmers, ranchers, 

miners, and developers; each has transformed the landscape’s 

ecology. In addition, through each community’s intimate 

relationships with the land and its resources in every aspect 

of its material life, including economy, society, polity, and 
252 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

recreation, the landscape has come to occupy a revered place 

in community cosmologies.

Just as the NPS has discovered firsthand in defining 

concepts, developing guidelines, and applying methods related 

to traditional cultural properties, the understandings that the 

region’s traditional communities have of their historically 

informed interactions with the landscape often challenge, if 

not confound, comprehension by outsiders. Many traditional 

land-based communities identify themselves in terms of the 

places their families have lived since before living memory. 

Over time, the land and its people have become inseparable 

through historical-ecological processes, which are “dialectical 

relations between human acts and acts of nature” (Crumley 

1994:9). Moreover, traditional land-based communities often 

have “a view of history based on cyclical time in which the 

past is recreated in the present through traditional beliefs and 

practices” (Parker 1993b:4).

Regardless of history, culture, or tradition, people everywhere “project culture onto nature” (Crumley and Marquardt 

1990:73) through their interactions with their physical environments. In this process, the land, its physical resources, and 

people’s perceptions, actions, and expectations of their environments not only contribute to the patterns of ecological 

change identifiable in the record of the past. They also structure 

the opportunities and constraints that are available to cultural 

communities in the present, as well as the choices and means 

that will be accessible to the groups’ future generations.

Thus, Jackson’s rhetorical question grasps the understanding that the Southwest’s landscape is simultaneously, 

and incontestably, both a blessing and a prayer. Through 

their understandings that culture is inseparable from nature, 

the people of the traditional communities explain how “they 

became who they are” (Peckham 1990:2) culturally and 

historically. The fact that traditional groups project their 

culture onto their natural environment underlies claims by 

contemporary generations that their communities sustain the 

occupation of their aboriginal homelands through historically 

based patterns of cultural action and cognition (e.g., see Feld 

and Basso 1996). The NPS developed its cultural resource 

management policies and methods, especially the ethnographic landscape (after Mitchell and Page 1993; Page et al. 

1998) and traditional cultural properties concepts (after Parker 

and King 1990; see also Parker 1993b) in reference to these 

constructions of landscape meaning through which communities construct their identities.

Jackson (1994:159) identifies the social and cultural qualities that derive from a community of people possessing a 

common sense of place: “a lively awareness of the familiar 

environment, a ritual repetition, a sense of fellowship based 

on a shared experience.” Jackson’s specific identification 

of “ritual repetition” as a quality embedded in a community’s sense of place derives from an example that he drew 

from western classical tradition (see Jackson 1994:157). His 

argument implies that the association of some particularly 

meaningful places with ritual, repeated celebration, and reverence related to the “indefinable sense of well-being” (Jackson 

1994:158) transcends the boundaries of western culture and 

is shared (to a more or less greater extent) among all human 

groups.

The Challenge of Terra Incognita

The challenge that researchers and managers now face 

is to develop interpretive and management guidelines that 

recognize the existence of landscapes’ subtle cultural-historical meanings and relationships. The following discussion 

provides a framework for considering how people of traditional and historical communities can occupy the landscapes 

of their traditional homeland areas through their physical 

and metaphysical cultural constructions to create and sustain 

senses of community identity (Anschuetz and Scheick 

1998; Anschuetz et al. 2001).

First, we can ask what cultural landscape studies generally and ethnographic landscape investigations specifically 

can do and what they should not presume to undertake. 

Comprehending that communities occupy their perceived 

landscapes to sustain their identity is not the same as understanding the ideational systems through which communities 

traditionally ascribe particular meanings to places within 

their landscapes (see Anschuetz et al. 2001 for an expanded 

examination of this issue). On the one hand, a landscape 

perspective enables researchers and managers to identify 

and to assess the historical significance of the natural and 

cultural resources that contemporary peoples identify and 

interact with physically or metaphysically. On the other 

hand, comprehension by outsiders of a community’s specific 

historical associations with places in their landscapes, which 

depends on a person’s intimate relationship with the group’s 

cultural traditions, is usually both impossible and unnecessary.

More importantly, many societies define behavioral 

norms and social structures to guide a person’s acquisition 

of often sensitive cultural knowledge needed to comprehend 

specific meanings of the physical and metaphysical relationships ascribed to particular places. Thus, expectations that a 

landscape analysis should document and decipher privileged 

knowledge may be both unrealistic and disrespectful (e.g., 

see Cushman 1993; Ferguson et al. 1993; Parker 1993b; 

Sebastian 1993; see also Anschuetz et al. 2001). The call for 

respect of these inviolable traditions and cultural knowledge 

in ethnographic landscape studies rests on the expanding 

body of social science findings about long-term benefits of 

sustaining cultural diversity (after Sebastian 1993:26).

Defining Landscape

A simple yet elegant definition used in the social sciences 

and humanities for the term landscape refers to the interaction of nature and culture (after Zube 1994:1; see also Ingold 

1993:152; Tuan 1977:passim; Yi Fu Tuan, in Thompson 

1995:xi). Carl Sauer, a geographer renowned particularly for work in the early twentieth century, offers a more 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 253

comprehensive definition. Given its recognition of the organization of people’s interactions with their environments as 

a uniquely evolving cultural-historical process, his definition 

remains relevant today:

The cultural landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape 

by a culture group. Culture is the agent, the natural area is 

the medium, the cultural landscape is the result. Under the 

influence of a given culture, itself changing through time, 

the landscape undergoes development, passing through 

phases, and probably reaching ultimately the end of its cycle 

of development. With the introduction of a different—that is, 

alien-culture, a rejuvenation of the cultural landscape sets in, 

or a new landscape is superimposed on the remnants of an 

older one (Sauer 1925:46).

Sauer stressed human agency “as a force in shaping the 

visible features of delimited regions on the Earth’s surface” 

(Cosgrove 1998:115) and culture specifically as “the impress 

of the works of man upon the area” (Sauer 1925:38). He cites 

three factors as basic to the study of landscape: “the physical 

environment, the character [i.e., culture] of the people, and 

time” (in Norton 1989:37).

Cultural anthropologists have examined the ideas of place 

in terms of social identity and contestation (e.g., see Feld 

and Basso 1996:4). In their explorations of the dynamic 

properties of landscapes, researchers cite the uncertainties, 

discontinuities, and multiplicities of voices and action linked 

to contestation and movement (Anschuetz et al. 2001:167). 

They challenge the common underlying idea that places 

are defined by static boundaries and relationships based on 

stable residence (Feld and Basso 1996:5, citing Appadurai 

and Breckenridge 1988; Deleuze and Guattari 1986; Kapferer 

1988; Rosaldo 1988). Instead, researchers suggest that in 

borderlands characterized by fluidity and hybridization, landscape relationships can be based on place indeterminacy (Feld 

and Basso 1996:5–6, citing Gupta and Ferguson 1992; Gupta 

et al. 1992; Appadurai 1992).

Despite the absence of fixity among such “ethnoscapes” 

(Appadurai 1992), communities sometimes are able to sustain 

coherent cognitive maps based on perceptions, direct experiences and distant memories, constructed meanings, and 

imagination. Deterritorialization, however, can result in a 

homeland being “partly invented, existing only in the imagination of the deterritorialized groups, and it can sometimes 

become so fantastic and one-sided that it provides fuel for 

new ethnic conflicts” (Appadurai 1992:193).

Although an explicit linkage of nature with culture is 

uncommon among most Anglo-Americans today (Jackson 

1984:5), these definitions follow an ancient Indo-European 

tradition of referring to places on the physical landscape as 

possessing an integral human element, a space defined by 

people through their interactions with their environment 

(Jackson 1984:5–8). Importantly, traditional land-based 

communities in the United States, including both Native 

American and non–Native American cultural groups, characteristically do not distinguish between nature and culture 

in their understandings of landscape. Rather, they highlight 

the idea of fundamental relationship between people and the 

world in which they live (e.g., see Cajete 1993–1994, 1994, 

1999).

A prominent contemporary geographer has gone as far 

as to suggest that “landscape is most at home in the cultural 

context” (Wagner 1995:5). In this sense, landscape is intelligible only as human habitat given that Culture with a capital 

“C” is a uniquely human cognitive and behavioral system for 

producing, storing, and transmitting information over time 

(e.g., see Anschuetz 1998b:31–80, after Hall 1959, 1969; 

Kirch 1980; Rappaport 1979; Trigger 1991, Tylor 1871; White 

1949; among others; see also appendix III). Communities 

transform their physical surroundings into meaningful 

places on particular patterns of morphology and arrangement 

through the daily activities, beliefs, and values of their people. 

Moreover, communities reshape the natural settings of their 

geographical spaces to legitimize the meanings they bestow 

upon the landscape through their physical modification of the 

environment, the intimacies of their experiences, and their 

sharing of memories. The ways in which people perceive the 

land and its resources through their cultural traditions help 

structure how they interact with their landscapes and define 

their associations with their heritage resources.

The recognition that landscape is based on interaction 

between cultural communities and their environments also 

implicates the existence of historical-ecological processes 

within human habitats (after Crumley 1994; see also Zube 

1994:1). In scientific constructs, therefore, the landscape 

concept foremost relates to a processual relationship between 

natural and cultural systems over time.

The NPS landscape definitions, especially those offered 

by the Applied Ethnography Program (Evans et al. 2001), 

subscribe to the understanding that landscapes derive from the 

interaction of nature and culture over time. Importantly, its 

landscape concepts actually are closely aligned intellectually 

with general cultural landscape ideas derived from the social 

sciences and the humanities.

As language tools go, the term landscape possibly is 

exceptional given the great variability in meanings that 

people encode in the term when discussing the environment. 

As a language tool of many meanings and uses, landscape

has an extremely high potential for abuse, not because the 

term itself is “slippery” but because persons using landscape

in a dialogue tend to “slip” the concept among contradictory 

contexts that obscure its meaningfulness. Consequentially, in 

using landscape to discuss a particular idea in any dialogue, 

but most especially in discourse based on the systematization of observations, methods, and interpretive principles, 

practitioners need to define the concept clearly and apply this 

meaning consistently.

Especially troublesome is the use of landscape as a 

synonym for natural environment. Should land managers mix 

their scientific tools for administering the environment and its 

resources with the Anglo-American view of landscape as an 

“expanse of naturally occurring physical space viewed from 

afar” (Anschuetz 1999:3), they risk conceptually segregating 

the domains of nature and culture. In equating ever-changing 

natural environments with landscape, researchers are liable to 
254 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

cast culture as a dependent variable in their explanations of 

ecological change. If culture change is viewed primarily as 

reactive to external factors, then recognition and comprehension of how a community’s traditional landscape constructions 

are rooted in its history and continue to be important in 

sustaining its cultural identity are obscured (see expanded 

discussion by Anschuetz et al. 2001). That is, researchers 

and managers can become blinded to the landscape concept’s 

intrinsic integrative and synthetic functions (after Jackson 

1984:8). More problematical, the conceptual separation of 

nature and culture into distinct realms is incompatible with 

the way many land-based communities view the relationship 

between people and the world in which they live, as well as 

their relationship with history (e.g., see Cajete 1993–1994, 

1994, 1999). For example, many authors who have worked 

with the NPS cultural resource management tools have 

commented that the partitioning of nature and culture within 

a linear chronology poses great obstacles to consultation with 

traditional communities (e.g., Cushman 1993; Downer and 

Roberts 1993; Ferguson et al. 1993; Parker 1993b; Sebastian 

1993; see also King 1993). The NPS Applied Ethnography 

Program’s recently revised ethnographic landscape definition 

helped address these key issues. It did so by empowering the 

people of communities affiliated with an ethnographic landscape with the authority to identify and describe the places 

with which they sustain significant relationships important to 

their heritage and identity (Evans et al. 2001).

A Landscape Approach’s Premises

The landscape perspective outlined above is a set of 

working assumptions, procedures, and findings that define a 

pattern of inquiry about the nature of our knowledge of the 

world or some aspect of the world (see Clark 1993; Kuhn 1970; 

Masterman 1970). The landscape approach is neither a formal 

theory nor a particular technique; it is a way of looking at and 

integrating data. A landscape approach, therefore, “is defined 

more by what it does than what it is” (Whittlesey 1997: 20, 

emphasis in original; see also Masterman 1970:70).

Four interrelated premises provide the foundations for 

a landscape paradigm (adapted from Anschuetz et al. 

2001:160–161):

1. Landscapes are not synonymous with natural environments. 

Landscapes are synthetic (Jackson 1984:156), with cultural 

systems structuring and organizing people’s interactions 

with their natural environments (Deetz 1990; see also Ingold 1993:152; Tuan 1977, passim; Thompson 1995:xi; 

Zube 1994:1). As Cosgrove (1998:13) notes, “landscape 

denotes the external world mediated through subjective 

human experience.”

2. Landscapes are worlds of cultural product (after Boone 

1994:7; see also Norton 1989; Thompson 1995; Tuan 

1977; Wagner 1995:5; see also appendix III). Through 

their daily activities, beliefs, and values, communities transform physical spaces into meaningful places. 

Taçon (1999:34) notes, “Experience, history, value systems, relationships, circumstance, and individual choices 

all play a part in how landscapes are...described.” Accordingly, a “landscape is not merely the world we see, 

it is a construction, a composition of that world” (Cosgrove 1998:13). Thus, landscapes are not the same as 

“built environments,” which refer to designed physical 

constructions (i.e., landscape architecture) (after Domosh 

1995:48–49; Foote 1995:294–295). Landscapes represent 

“a way in which...people have signified themselves and 

their world through their...relationship with nature, and 

through which they have underlined and communicated 

their own social role and that of others with respect to 

external nature” (Cosgrove 1998:15). In addition, landscapes with high value to one community might appear to 

be little used tracts to other cultural groups.

3. Landscapes are the arena for all of a community’s activities. Thus, landscapes not only are constructs of human 

populations, they are the milieu in which those populations 

survive and sustain themselves. A landscape’s domain involves patterning in both within-place and between-place 

contexts (Binford 1982:5; Deetz 1990:2; see also Hubert 

1994). Observable patterns of both material traces and 

empty spaces come from interactions between culturally 

organized dimensions and nonculturally organized resources and life-space distributions (Binford 1983:380). 

With landscapes organizing perception and action, economy, society, and ideation are not only interconnected, they 

are interdependent (see Anschuetz 1998b; Anschuetz and 

Scheick 1998).

4. Landscapes are dynamic constructions, with each community and each generation imposing its own cognitive map 

on an anthropogenic world of interconnected morphology, arrangement, and coherent meaning (Anschuetz and 

Scheick 1998:6; Jackson 1984:156; see also Hoskins 1955; 

Parcero Oubiña et al. 1998:174). Because landscapes embody fundamental organizing principles for the form and 

structure of people’s activities, they serve both as a material construct that communicates information and as a kind 

of historical text (Hugill and Foote 1995:20). Moreover, 

the landscape, as a system for manipulating meaningful 

symbols in human actions and their material by-products, 

helps define customary patterned relationships among varied information. Processes of behavioral change across 

space and over time necessarily result in an ever-changing 

landscape, however. Thus, landscape is a cultural process 

(Hirsch 1995; contra Cosgrove 1984:32).

Until the recent addition of the Applied Anthropology 

Program’s expanded ethnographic landscape definition 

(Evans et al. 2001), the NPS landscape approach was defined 

primarily by its cultural resource management responsibilities. With this addition, the NPS cultural landscape definition, 

in concert with its traditional properties concept, conforms 

to the landscape paradigm’s central tenets. Landscapes (1) 

represent the interaction of dynamic cultural and historical 

processes (after Mitchell and Page 1993; Page et al. 1998); (2) 

are associated with cultural practices or beliefs that are rooted 

in the histories of living communities and are essential in how 

communities sustain their cultural identities (after Parker and 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 255

King 1990; see also Parker 1993b); (3) were shaped by people 

to serve their needs and reflect their culture (after Friedman 

1994); and (4) are simultaneously seen through the eyes of the 

people of different cultural communities (after Cowley 1991, 

1994).

Landscape as a Way to Remember 

Culture and History

Anthropologists, geographers, and historians, among 

others, document a common characteristic among all humans: 

the remembrance and celebration of rich cultural-historical 

memories through oral traditions. Human history started not 

with writing but with shared stories from one generation to the 

next at the beginning of human time.

Every community imbues its landscape with intrinsic 

meaningfulness based on its cultural patterns of perception and interpretation (see Anschuetz 1998b:44–58). These 

perceptions include not only the community understandings 

of its physical environment and resources, but also time and 

how people interact with their cultural-historical memories. 

For example, Anglo-American communities characteristically view history and landscapes in terms of enduring images 

inscribed on the land. Many non-Western, land-based communities, in comparison, view history as part of a living process 

that makes the past a referent for the present and the landscape 

a memory itself (Anyon et al. 1997; Küchler 1993; Morphy 

1993; see also Anschuetz et al. 2001; Ferguson et al. 1993; 

Jackson 1980; Parker 1993b; Roberts 1997). Given that the 

landscape concepts of people of traditional communities characteristically are land based and process oriented, the landscape 

is understood immediately to be more than the present built 

environment (Tallbull and Deaver 1997) or simply a protected 

cultural resources site (Cleere 1995). Dialogues between 

indigenous peoples and anthropologists on heritage resources 

conservation and management of cultural properties illustrate 

the ways in which landscapes are important to communities 

for sustaining memory and tradition (Carmichael et al. 1994; 

Hena and Anschuetz 2000; Kelley and Francis 1994; Swidler 

et al. 1997).

Getting “to know a place” takes time. Consequently, physical space in an environment “becomes a place” only when 

people establish roots and acquire a certain knowledge of its 

essential characteristics through their daily activities, beliefs, 

and values over time. Time alone is not enough, however. 

Experiences with the land and its resources influence how 

people learn about a place and understand their relationship 

with the landscape. Through physical modifications and the 

experience of history, people reshape the natural environment to legitimate the meanings they imbue on the land and to 

create an identity in terms of the land. Through the intimacy 

of experience and the sharing of memories over the passage 

of time, a community transforms its geographical spaces into 

valued places of meaning through which people sustain their 

identity.

Important sources of knowledge from the past about the 

material consequences of how people used, occupied, and 

transformed their landscapes are embedded in each community’s cultural-historical narratives. History is continuously 

re-enacted in the present through the group’s traditional beliefs 

and practices, thereby continually reaffirming the community’s cultural-historical associations with its landscapes (after 

Parker 1993b:4). Landscapes, in turn, become a mirror of 

a community (Anschuetz et al. 2001:190). Landscapes are 

products of communities’ relationships with their surroundings, as each generation lives its life and bestows meaning on 

those surroundings.

The need by people to sustain their community’s traditional understandings of time and place across the generations 

is powerful (after Anschuetz 1998b:70–71). On the one 

hand, a community’s ability to provide points of seeming 

past stability and future assurance in its cultural-historical 

memories transfixes time. That is, in established landscape 

constructions, a community’s history with the places with 

which it affiliates seems timeless. On the other hand, the relative absence of time with new places within its landscapes 

(that is to say, history) might yield a sense of uncertainty, or 

possibly a feeling of unreality, because the community has yet 

to invest coherent meaning—and meaningfulness—into its 

affiliation with a locality (after Popcock 1994:366, 369–370). 

For example, if a group immigrates into an area with which 

the people have no direct historical experience, the émigrés 

might immediately impose conceptual features of their former 

landscape onto their new environment. If other communities 

already inhabit the environment, they might adopt aspects of 

the culture history of established residents to establish immediate frames of reference through a creative construction of 

community memory (e.g., see Rapoport 1990; Stone 1993). 

The logic then follows that the new community arrivals will 

build upon these cultural-historical points of reference as they 

develop their own intimacy with their new landscape over the 

passage of time and their direct experience with these places.

Landscapes become a legacy of the past because they result 

from cultural choices and modifications made by earlier generations. As such, they are not only an organization of space, 

they are an organization of time. Importantly, each generation 

is the custodian of the community landscape, which is firmly 

rooted in tradition. In turn, traditions derive from people’s 

understandings about how they became who they are and 

how they perceive and understand the world (after Anschuetz 

1998b:47, citing Peckham 1990:2; see also appendix III).

Comprehension that the physical spaces, including tracts 

of rangeland, surrounding formally built community centers 

are neither natural nor exclusively part of nature is an indispensable first step. A landscape’s physical spaces are not silent 

on questions of community history and cultural heritage. 

Through its goal to identify the values and associations that 

make a landscape historically significant in terms of National 

Register criteria (Page et al. 1998:4), the NPS has demonstrated the understanding that people do not need to build 

visually striking villages or great monuments across their 
256 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

natural environments to construct richly featured cultural landscapes. The places in which people live, raise families, work, 

and die are more than just scenery. Landscapes are the quintessential product of human presence over time and represent 

evidence of historical-ecological processes. The landscape is 

a living map that people are forever reorganizing (e.g., see 

Jackson 1980, 1984, 1994).

Community and Communion

Because landscape constructions are cultural constructions 

deriving from people’s patterned perceptions and interpretations of the spaces they inhabit, the concepts of community 

and communion are relevant to this discussion and warrant 

definition. Social scientists define community as simply “a 

matter of custom and of shared modes of thought and expression, all of which have no other sanction than tradition” 

(Johnson 1994:81). For example, ethnic/cultural groups may 

define themselves as communities, irrespective of whether 

they occupy clearly defined territories. Community definition similarly is applicable to economic, social, and political 

groups. In all these cases, the idea of community belonging is 

cast in terms of social action guided through tradition, played 

out in the arena of a group’s interrelationships with their environments to create their landscapes.

Whenever a network of interacting individuals is concentrated in—and associated with—a particular territory, however, 

community often carries a particular sense of belonging. This 

sentiment is defined by the group’s understanding of the 

locality in terms of their perceptions of place and time. Such 

an emotional tie, defined by social scientists as communion

(Johnson 1994:81), especially characterizes the relationship 

between the Southwest’s historic rural communities with 

their cultural landscapes. Given their sustained, intensive, and 

subsistence-based interactions with the land, experiences of 

the region’s traditional rural communities provide contexts for 

developing communion based on intimate historical-ecological relationship (e.g., Levine and Merlan 1993).

Because people of urban communities emphasize contrasting 

aspects of social interaction with their environments, their 

sense of communion is qualitatively different. Urban dwellers 

whose interactions with the land and its resources are not 

sustained, intensive, or subsistence-based tend to have senses 

of time and place based on romanticized views of nature rather 

than on direct historical-ecological experience. This generalization appears to apply to urban communities both within and 

outside the Southwest. For example, Anglo-American urban 

communities today overwhelmingly understand landscape as 

an expanse of naturally occurring physical space viewed from 

afar. Equated with scenery (see Hirsch 1995:2; Zube 1994:1), 

this view derives from the sixteenth-century painterly tradition of using the term landscape to describe their depictions of 

rural (i.e., putatively “unoccupied”) scenery (Hirsch 1995:2) 

and from an uncritical acceptance of subsequent ideas derived 

from “the world of art and make-believe” in the constructions 

of theatrical stage sets (i.e., scenery) (Tuan 1977:133).

Implementing an Ethnographic 

Landscape Approach

Our approach for implementing an ethnographic landscape 

study derives from and builds upon the preceding landscape 

perspective. Specifically, I will use the idea of the storied 

landscape presented by Klara B. Kelley, an anthropologist 

who works among the Diné (the people of the Navajo Nation), 

and Harris Francis, a Diné cultural rights consultant, in their 

work with Navajo communities (Kelley and Francis 1996). 

As Kelley and Francis recognize, our understanding of the 

Southwest’s landscape derives from more than the study of 

archaeology, history, geography, and anthropology.

Archaeologists, through their surveys and excavations, 

“learn to read the past” by using the archaeological record as 

a kind of historical text. Archaeologists interpret the artifacts, 

features, old houses, plant remains, and bones of the archaeological record to tell one kind of cultural-historical story and 

to explain changes in life ways.

Historians read written texts, often provided by first-hand 

witnesses of events, to tell another kind of story about key 

players, events, and processes. Historians, too, author rich 

interpretations of the past.

Geographers offer useful tools for reading landscapes and 

for evaluating how past human actions help condition contemporary land use practices and cultural relationships with the 

land. Following Sauer’s lead, geographers have played instrumental roles in developing methods for studying the interplay 

of the physical environment, the culture of the people, and 

time in communities’ landscape constructions.

Ethnographers use information provided by living people 

as one kind of historical text, supplemented by the archaeological and historical records visible on the ground. Ethnographers 

also provide cultural frameworks that others can use to interpret the process of culture change over time.

The idea of the storied landscape acknowledges the rich 

oral histories maintained among traditional communities as 

necessary elements in landscape history. To be fully understood, physical spaces within an ecological setting must be 

related to cultural ideas of place, time, and human community. 

Oral accounts can bridge the difference between small places 

on the landscape used for particular purposes and general 

stories that outline culture history and evaluate change. As 

such, with respect to the dynamic properties of culture (see 

appendix III), people of traditional and historical communities potentially can contribute valuable historical-ecological 

lessons obtained through their intimacy with the landscape. 

In addition, they might be able to offer invaluable insights 

concerning the application of these lessons to guide decisionmaking about the future of the landscape.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 257

References

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1998b Not Waiting for the Rain: Integrated Systems of Water Management by Pre-Columbian 

Pueblo Farmers in North-Central New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of 

Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms.

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1999 Draft Cultural Heritage Discussion: Pt. 1—Cultural Landscape Introduction and Pt. 

2—Community, Communion and Matrix of Stakeholder Community Relationships in 

Dynamic Ecological Management Planning. Essay prepared at the request of Forest Service 

Employees for Environmental Ethics, Eugene, OR. MS on file: Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande 

Foundation for Communities and Cultural Landscapes.

2001 Understanding San Juan Pueblo’s Traditional Homelands as a Cultural Landscape. In San 

Juan Pueblo’s Enduring Associations with Its Traditional Homelands: Archaeological, 

Historical, and Ethnographic Documentation of the Tewa Cultural Landscape. By Kurt F. 

Anschuetz, T. J. Ferguson, and Thomas W. Merlan. Pp. 2.2–2.37. Community and Cultural 

Landscape Contribution, 9. Santa Fe, NM: Río Grande Foundation for Communities and 

Cultural Landscapes.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., and Cherie L. Scheick

1998 Unveiling Archaeological Terra Incognita: Evaluating Time, Place-making and Tradition 

through a Cultural Landscape Paradigm. Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the 

Society for American Archaeology, Seattle, March 25–29 1998.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., Richard W. Wilshusen, and Cherie L. Scheick

2001 An Archaeology of Landscapes: Perspectives and Directions. Journal of Archaeological 

Research 9:157–211.

Anyon, Roger, T. J. Ferguson, Loretta Jackson, Lillie Lane, and Philip Vicenti

1997 Oral Tradition and Archaeology: Issues of Structure. In Native Americans and Archaeologists: 

Stepping Stones to Common Ground,. Nina Swidler, Kurt E. Dongoske, Roger Anyon, and 

Alan S. Downer, eds. Pp. 77–87. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.

Appadurai, Arjun.

Global Ethnoscapes: Notes and Queries for Transnational Anthropology. In Recapturing 

Anthropology: Working in the Present. Richard G. Fox, ed. Pp. 191–210. Santa Fe, NM: 

School of American Research Press.

Appadurai, Arjun, and Breckenridge, C.

1988 Why Public Culture? Public Culture 1:5–9.

Binford, Lewis R.

1982 The Archaeology of Place. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 1:5–31.

1983 Long-Term Land-Use Patterning: Some Implications for Archaeology. In Working at 

Archaeology. Lewis R. Binford. Pp. 379–386. New York: Academic Press.

Birnbaum, Charles A., and Robert R. Page

1994 Revealing the Value of Cultural Landscapes. CRM 17(7):3–4, 47–48.

Boone, James L.

1994 Is It Evolution Yet?: A Critique of “Darwinian Archeology.” Paper presented at the 59th 

Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Anaheim, CA, April 20–24, 1994.

Cajete, Gregory

1993–1994 “An Ensouled and Enchanted Land:” Theology of Place in Northern New Mexico. 

In Cuaderno de la Resolana: A Río Arriba Bioregion “Pullout” Workbook. Juan Estevan 

Arellano, ed. Pp. 6–9. Arellano 6 (Winter). Embudo, NM.

1994 Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education. Durango, CO: Kivakí Press.

1999 “Look to the Mountain”: Reflections on Indigenous Ecology. In A People’s Ecology: 

Explorations in Sustainable Living. Gregory Cajete, ed. Pp. 1–20. Santa Fe, NM: Clear 

Light.

Carmichael, David L., Jane Hubert, Brian Reeves, and Audhild Schanche, eds.

1994 Sacred Sites, Sacred Places. London: Routledge.

Clark, G. A.

1993 Paradigms in Science and Archaeology. Journal of Anthropological Research 1:203–234.
258 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Cleere, H.

1995 Cultural Landscapes as World Heritage. Conservation and Management of Archaeological 

Sites 1:63–68.

Cosgrove, Denis E.

1984 Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape. London: Croom Helm.

1998 Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape, with a New Introduction. Madison: University of 

Wisconsin Press.

Cowley, Jill

1991 Canyon de Chelley—An Ethnographic Landscape. CRM 14 (6):10–11.

1994 The O’Keefe Landscape: Setting the Stage for Interpretation. CRM 17(7):28–31.

Crumley, Carole L.

1994 Historical Ecology: A Multidimensional Ecological Orientation. In Historical Ecology: 

Cultural Knowledge and Changing Landscapes. Carole L. Crumley, ed. Pp. 1–16. Santa Fe, 

NM: School of American Research Press.

Crumley, Carole L., and William H. Marquardt

1990 Landscape: A Unified Concept in Regional Analysis. In Interpreting Space: GIS and 

Archaeology. K. M. S. Allen, S. W. Green, and E. B. W. Zubrow,eds. Pp. 7–79. London: 

Taylor and Francis.

Cushman, David W.

1993 When Worlds Collide: Indians, Archeologists, and the Preservation of Traditional Cultural 

Properties. CRM 16 (Special Issue):49–54.

Deetz, James

1990 Landscapes as Cultural Statements. In Earth Patterns: Essays in Landscape Archaeology. 

William M. Kelso and Rachel Most, eds. Pp. 2–4. Charlottesville: University of Virginia 

Press.

Deleuze, G., and F. Guattari

1986 Nomadology. B. Massumi, trans. New York: Semiotexte.

Domosh, Mona

1995 The Symbolism of the Skyscraper: Case Studies of New York’s First Tall Buildings. In 

Re-reading Cultural Geography. Kenneth E. Foote, Peter J. Hugill, Kent Mathewson, and 

Jonathan M. Smith, eds. Pp. 48–63. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Downer, Alan S., and Alexandra Roberts

1993 Traditional Cultural Properties, Cultural Resources Management, and Environmental 

Planning. CRM 16 (Special Issue):12–14.

Evans, Michael J., Alexa Roberts, and Peggy Nelson

2001 Ethnographic Landscapes. CRM 24(5):53–56.

Feld, Steven, and Keith H. Basso, editors

1996 Introduction. In Senses of Place. Steven Feld and Keith H. Basso, eds. Pp. 3–11. Santa Fe, 

NM: School of American Research Press.

Ferguson, T. J., Kurt Dongoske, Leigh Jenkins, Mike Yeatts, and Eric Polingyouma

1993 Working Together, the Roles of Archeology and Ethnohistory in Hopi Cultural Preservation. 

CRM 16 (Special Issue):27–37.

Foote, Kenneth E.

1995 What the World Means: Introduction. In Re-reading Cultural Geography. Kenneth E. Foote, 

Peter J. Hugill, Kent Mathewson, and Jonathan M. Smith, eds. Pp. 291–296. Austin: 

University of Texas Press.

Friedman, Renee

1994 For the Curator of Trees and Teacups: The Landscape as Artifact. CRM 17(7):5–6, 9.

Gupta, A., and J. Ferguson

1992 Beyond “Culture”: Space, Identity and the Politics of Difference. Cultural Anthropology 

7(1):6-23.

Gupta, A., J. Ferguson, and R. Rouse, eds.

1992 Culture, Power, Place: Explorations in Critical Anthropology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 259

Hall, Edward T.

1959 The Silent Language. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.

1969 The Hidden Dimension. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.

Hena, Louis, and Kurt F. Anschuetz

2000 Living on the Edge: Combining Traditional Pueblo Knowledge, Permaculture, and 

Archeology. CRM 23(9):37–41.

Hirsch, Eric

1995 Introduction, Landscape: Between Place and Space. In The Anthropology of Landscape, 

Perspectives on Place and Space. Eric Hirsch and Michael O’Hanlon, eds. Pp. 1–30. Oxford: 

Clarendon Press.

Hoskins, W. G.

1955 The Making of the English Landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Hubert, Jane

1994 Sacred Beliefs and Beliefs of Sacredness. In Sacred Sites, Sacred Places. David L. 

Carmichael, Jane Hubert, Brian Reeves, and Audhild Schanche, eds. Pp. 9–19. London: 

Routledge.

Hugill, Peter J., and Kenneth E. Foote

1995 Re-reading Cultural Geography. In Re-reading Cultural Geography. Kenneth E. Foote, Peter 

J. Hugill, Kent Mathewson, and Jonathan M. Smith, eds. Pp. 9–23. Austin: University of 

Texas Press.

Ingold, Timothy

1993 The Temporality of Landscape. World Archaeology 25:152–174.

Jackson, John Brinkerhoff

1980 The Necessity for Ruins. In The Necessity for Ruins and Other Topics. By John Brinkerhoff 

Jackson. Pp. 89–102. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

1984 Discovering the Vernacular Landscape. New Haven: Yale University Press.

1994 A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Johnson, R. J.

1994 Community. In The Dictionary of Human Geography. 3rd ed. R. J. Johnson, Derek Gregory, 

and David Smith, eds. Pp. 80–81. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kapferer, B.

1988 Legends of People, Myths of State. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Kelley, Klara B., and Harris Francis

1994 Navajo Sacred Places. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

1996 Navajo Stories about Naazla: Ethnohistory for the Red Rocks Regional Landfill. I 

Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Data Recovery Investigations at OCA:CT:48 within 

Northwest New Mexico Regional Solid Waste Authority Red Rocks Regional Landfill 

near Thoreau, New Mexico. By Kurt F. Anschuetz, Klara B. Kelly, and Harris Francis. Pp. 

53–80. Southwest Archaeological Consultants Research Series 381b. Santa Fe: Southwest 

Archaeological Consultants.

King, Thomas F.

1993 Traditional Cultural Properties, Cultural Resources Management, and Environmental 

Planning. CRM 16 (Special Issue):60–64.

Kirch, Patrick V.

1980 The Archaeological Study of Adaptation: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. In Advances 

in Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 3. Michael B. Schiffer, ed. Pp. 101–156. New 

York: Academic Press.

Küchler, Susanne

1993 Landscape as Memory: The Mapping of Process and Its Representation in a Melanesian 

Society. In Landscape Politics and Perspectives. Barbara Bender, ed. Pp. 85–106. 

Providence, RI: Berg.

Kuhn, T. S.

1970 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
260 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Levine, Frances, and Thomas W. Merlan

1993 Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties in Non-Indian Communities. CRM 16 (Special 

Issue):55–59, 64.

Masterman, Margaret

1970 The Nature of a Paradigm. In Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Imre Lakatos and 

Alan Musgrave, eds. Pp. 59–89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mitchell, Nora J., and Robert R. Page

1993 Managing the Past for the Future. In Focus on Landscape Preservation. Charles A. Birnbaum, 

ed. Pp. 46–61. Historic Preservation Forum 71(3). Washington, DC: National Trust for 

Historic Preservation.

Moore, James A., and Arthur S. Keene

1983 Archaeology and the Law of the Hammer. In Archaeological Hammers and Theories, James 

A. Moore and Arthur S. Keene, eds. Pp. 3–13. New York: Academic Press.

Morphy, Howard

1993 Colonialism, History, and the Construction of Place: The Politics of Landscape in Northern 

Australia. In Landscape Politics and Perspectives. Barbara Bender, ed. Pp. 205–243. Oxford: 

Berg.

National Park Service

1994 Draft Cultural Resources Management Guideline. Release 4. NPS-28. Santa Fe: USDI 

National Park Service, Intermountain Support Office. Unpublished MS.

2000 Defining Landscape Terminology: Guidelines for Treatment of Historic Landscape Initiative. 

USDI National Park Service, Historic Preservation Services. Electronic document. http://

www2.cr.nps.gov/hli/hliterm.html.

Norton, William

1989 Explorations in the Understanding of Landscape: A Cultural Geography. Contributions in 

Sociology 77. New York: Greenwood Press.

Page, Robert R., Cathy A. Gilbert, and Susan Dolan

1998 A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques. Park Historic 

Structures and Cultural Landscapes Program, Cultural Resource Stewardship and 

Partnerships, USDI National Park Service. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing 

Office.

Parcero Oubiña, C., G. Criado Boado, and M. Santos Estévez

1998 Rewriting Landscape: Incorporating Sacred Landscapes into Cultural Traditions. World 

Archaeology 30:159–178.

Parker, Patricia L., ed.

1993a Traditional Cultural Properties. CRM 16 (Special Issue).

1993b What You Do and How We Think. CRM 16 (Special Issue):1, 3–5.

Parker, Patricia L., and Thomas F. King

1990 Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties. National 

Register Bulletin 38. Washington, DC: USDI National Park Service.

Patten, Gerald D.

1991 Cultural Landscapes: The Intent and the Tenor of the Times. CRM 14 (6):1, 3.

Peckham, Stewart

1990 From this Earth: The Ancient Art of Pueblo Pottery. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press.

Popcock, Douglas C. D.

1994 [1981] Place and the Novelist. In Re-Reading Cultural Geography. Kenneth E. Foote, Peter 

J. Hugill, Kent Mathewson, and Jonathan M. Smith, eds. Pp. 363–373. Austin: University of 

Texas Press.

Rapoport, Amos

1990 History and Precedent in Environmental Design. New York: Plenum.

Rappaport, Roy A.

1979 Adaptive Structure and Its Disorders. In Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. By Roy A. 

Rappaport. Pp. 145–172. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 261

Roberts, Alexandra

1997 A Comparison of the Role of National Parks in America’s Identity and Sacred Places in 

American Indian Community Identities. Santa Fe: U.S. Department of the Interior, National 

Park Service, Intermountain Support Office. Unpublished MS.

Rosaldo, R.

1988 Ideology, Place, and People without Culture. Cultural Anthropology 3(1):77–87.

Sauer, Carl O.

1925 The Morphology of Landscape. University of California Publications in Geography 2:19–54.

Sebastian, Lynne

1993 Protecting Cultural Properties through the Section 106 Process. CRM 16 (Special 

Issue):22–26.

Stone, Glenn Davis

1993 Agricultural Abandonment: A Comparative Study in Historical Ecology. In Abandonment of 

Settlements and Regions: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Approaches. Catherine 

M. Cameron and Stephen A. Tomka, eds. Pp. 74–81. Cambridge: Cambridge University 

Press.

Swidler, Nina, Kurt E. Dongoske, Roger Anyon, and Alan S. Downer, eds.

1997 Native Americans and Archaeologists: Stepping Stones to Common Ground. Walnut Creek, 

CA: Altamira Press.

Taçon, P. S. C.

1999 Identifying Ancient Sacred Landscapes in Australia: From Physical to Social. In

Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Perspectives. Wendy Ashmore and A. Bernard 

Knapp, eds. Pp. 33–57. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Tallbull, W. V., and S. Deaver

1997 Living Human Values. In Native Americans and Archaeologists: Stepping Stones to Common 

Ground. Nina Swidler, Kurt E. Dongoske, Roger Anyon, and Alan S. Downer, eds. Pp. 9–10. 

Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.

Thompson, George F.

1995 A Message to the Reader. In Landscape in America. George F. Thompson, ed. Pp. xi–xiv. 

Austin: University of Texas Press.

Travis, Tara

1994 Canyon de Chelly National Monument: Interpreting a Dynamic Cultural System. CRM 

17(7):19–22.

Trigger, Bruce G.

1991 Distinguished Lecture in Archeology: Constraint and Freedom—A New Synthesis for 

Archeological Explanation. American Anthropologist 93:5511–569.

Tuan, Yi-Fu

1977 Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Tylor, E. B.

1871 Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, 

Language, Art and Custom. London: John Murray.

Wagner, Phillip L.

1995 Foreword: Culture and Geography: Thirty Years of Advance. In Re-reading Cultural 

Geography. Kenneth E. Foote, Peter J. Hugill, Kent Mathewson, and Jonathan M. Smith, 

eds. Pp. 3–8. Austin: University of Texas Press.

White, Leslie A.

1949 The Science of Culture. New York: Grove Press.

Whittlesey, Stephanie. M.

1997 Archaeological Landscapes: A Methodological and Theoretical Discussion. In Vanishing 

River: Landscapes and Lives of the Lower Verde Valley. The Lower Verde Valley 

Archaeological Project: Overview, Synthesis, and Conclusions. Stephanie M. Whittlesey, 

Richard Ciolek-Torrello, and Jeffrey H. Altschul, eds. Pp. 17–28. Tucson: SRI Press.

Zube, Ervin H.

1994 Values and Planning in Arid/Semi-arid Landscapes: Conflict and Compromise. Mass 10:1–5.
262 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 263

Introduction

The underlying premise of this discussion is that people 

contribute to conditions that warrant the restructuring and 

reorganization of their interactions with their physical settings, 

with other members of their communities, and with residents 

of other communities (see Anschuetz 1998b:31–82). People 

revise their existing tactics and strategies, or adopt altogether 

new policies, for earning their living. As they accommodate changes in their natural, economic, social, political, and 

ideational environments at one point in time, they invariably 

instigate change (Minnis 1985:19; Waddington 1974:35; see 

also Watts 1988). Thus, culture, and all of its constituents, 

including landscape, is a dynamic, living process.

The purpose of this essay is to contribute to an understanding of landscape as a dynamic cultural process. This 

discussion provides part of a framework that land and 

cultural resource managers might find useful in considering how people of traditional and historical communities 

construct and sustain affiliations with the Valles Caldera 

National Preserve.

The discussion consists of six sections. First, the narrative 

begins by considering that culture is an elaborate cognitive 

and behavioral system (Kirch 1980:112–114) that people use 

for the efficient production, storage, and conveyance of information about their interactions with their natural, economic, 

social, political, and ideational environments. Second, I 

examine what traditions are and how they serve human communities by sustaining senses of continuity despite the unfolding 

process of culture change. The third section inspects the properties of vernacular knowledge through which people assign 

meanings to the facts that they perceive in their everyday 

world. The fourth segment addresses the assertion that culture 

change over time is inevitable, while the fifth section looks at 

how people with controlled access to a community’s corpus of 

vernacular knowledge can use traditions and traditionalism as 

instruments of culture change. The concluding part provides 

commentary about why process and landscape concerns 

alike dictate the adoption of a historical-ecological approach. 

I suggest that the process of behavioral change conveyed 

symbolically within a landscape is, to a large degree, related 

to how communities experience time and place. Moreover, the 

process of behavioral change requires the fundamental traditions throughout the landscape to remain more or less intact to 

demonstrate cultural-historical continuity.

Culture With a Capital “C”

Culture has been a central topic of discussion since anthropology’s beginnings as a social science more than a century 

ago. It has been a unifying concept over much of the discipline’s history. Nonetheless, its appropriateness increasingly 

has become a topic of debate since Kroeber and Kluckhohn 

(1952) noted that practitioners assign it a multiplicity of meanings. Over the past decade, critiques of the culture concept 

generally focus on the theme that culture inevitably “suggests 

boundedness, homogeneity, coherence, stability, and structure 

whereas social reality is characterized by variability, inconsistencies, conflict, change, and individual agency” (Brumann 

1999:S1).

For the purposes of this study, we view culture as an elaborate cognitive and behavioral system (Kirch 1980:112–114) 

that people use for the efficient production, storage, and 

conveyance of information about their interactions with their 

natural, economic, social, political, and ideational environments during their life spans. Culture also allows people to 

transfer information about past environmental states and the 

perceived effectiveness of responses to fluctuations in their 

environments beyond the direct experiences of living generations.

Through their recollection of cultural-historical memory 

(Flinn and Alexander 1982), people generate a world of cultural 

product (after Boone 1994:7). Importantly, (1) cultural information flow patterns are highly selective in transmitting data 

at any point in time and between successive generations; (2) 

communities assign values to their perceptions and meanings 

of cultural information differently; and (3) communities are 

capable of consciously manipulating their cultural inheritance 

(Anschuetz 1998b:44–58; Anschuetz et al. 2001:181–184; 

Wills et al. 1994:298). At any given time, therefore, people not 

only inherit but also inhabit—that is to say, imitate, modify, 

Appendix III.

Perspectives on Culture, Tradition,Vernacular Knowledge, 

and Culture Change to Understand Landscape as a 

Cultural Process

Kurt F. Anschuetz
264 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

and build upon—their cultural heritage as a conceptual landscape for their own purposes.

Two complementary definitions of culture provide a 

framework for considering how human communities systematically bias the recognition and manipulate the transmission 

of environmental information. The first definition is by E. B. 

Tylor, who conceptualized culture at the time anthropology 

was emerging as a formal discipline as “that complex whole 

which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, 

and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a 

member of society” (1871:1). More than 80 years later, Leslie 

White defined culture as “a class of things and events, dependent upon symboling, considered in an extrasomatic context” 

(1959:234).

Although Tylor and White’s definitions focus on contrasting 

aspects of culture, they share an underlying principle of 

patterned information transmission within communities. These 

information flow patterns are not only selective in what and 

how data are transmitted among living people and between 

successive generations, they also exhibit a wide range of 

variability among human communities. Each group’s particular sense of place and time helps organize the structure and 

pattern of their occupation of sustaining areas and their use of 

larger physical environments (see Anschuetz 1998b:47–50; 

see also appendix II).

Tradition: Sustaining Senses of 

Continuity Within Culture Change

Regardless of their particular form of expression, 

Stewart Peckham (1990) portrays information regulating 

mechanisms that structure the content of, and organize the 

meanings within, data transmitted among living people and 

between successive generations, as traditions. According 

to Peckham, traditions generally relate to people’s valued 

understandings of “how they became who they are” (1990:2). 

In turn, traditions unify how people of a cultural community 

create and occupy their landscapes across the dimensions of 

space and time (Anschuetz 1998b:47). Trigger argues that 

traditions arise out “of the need for patterns or structural principles that provide some degree of coherence and meaning 

to the inexhaustible variety of concepts that the human mind 

is capable of inventing and manipulating” (1991:557, citing 

Gellner 1982:116–117). Lastly, Redfield (1940, in Watson 

1995:683) recognizes that traditions sustain the validity and 

coherence of the group’s conventional understandings over 

time.

Peckham (1990:2–5) outlines the fundamental characteristics of traditions. These traits include value, persistence, and 

continuity within a community. Even though traditions allow 

for persistence and continuity in the threads of constructed 

meanings, they nevertheless are dynamic and subject to 

change over time given the latitude in their form and practice 

(after Anschuetz 1998b:48–51; Peckham 1990:2–5; see also 

Rappaport’s [1979a] discussion of ritual. Geertz concludes, 

“that persistence and change are aspects of the same social 

phenomenon, namely, tradition” (1994:4).

Trigger maintains traditions arise out “of the need for 

patterns or structural principles that provide some degree 

of coherence and meaning to the inexhaustible variety of 

concepts that the human mind is capable of inventing and 

manipulating” (1991:557, citing Gellner 1982:116–117). As 

Anschuetz (1998b:44–58) observes, shared comprehension 

of meanings defines the contents of traditions.

Two crucial issues underlie this statement (Anschuetz 

et al. 2001:182–183). First, a common world view among 

community members is implicit and obligatory (Whorf 

1956:213–214). Second, fundamental concepts underlie 

and structure human thought (Lakoff and Johnson 1980:3). 

These concepts are matters not only of intellect but also of 

action and include mundane everyday matters. Consequently, 

people interacted with their environments to define and to 

mark their occupation of spaces within their physical environments in patterned ways of residence, subsistence, and other 

activity, including oral tradition (adapted from Anschuetz et 

al. 2001:183).

Even though traditions constrain the structure and organization of human behavior, they do not cast culture in an 

absolutely determinist role (Anschuetz 1998b:50). Traditions 

are not wholly determining “because the human ability to 

reason allows individuals to manipulate and modify culture to 

varying degrees” (Trigger 1991:559) as they “realize their own 

changing needs and aspirations” (Trigger 1991:560). Geertz 

(1994:4–5) maintains that traditions by definition must be 

both resilient and malleable to retain their meaning as people 

confront changing circumstances. For this reason, traditions 

can be viewed as strategic resources that can be modified to 

fulfill desired ends (Geertz 1994:4).

A consequence of this essential latitude in behavior is that 

cultural systems encompass much greater internal behavioral variability than anthropologists normally recognize 

(Anschuetz 1998b:50; Anschuetz et al. 2001:183, after 

Rambo 1991:71–72; see also Trigger 1991:552). Nevertheless, 

the need for structural order and coherence of meaning shape 

the contingent variation of culture and its capacity for elaboration (Trigger 1991:561; see also Atran 1990; Berlin 1973; 

Berlin et al. 1974; Lakoff 1987; Nazarea 1999a; Shore 1996 

for discussions of structures that condition perception and 

experience). Given these properties of traditions for transmitting information, this discussion now turns to a consideration 

of how cultures structure perception and information transmission patterns.

Vernacular Knowledge: 

Reigning Conventional Wisdom

Vernacular knowledge refers to the processes and results 

of certain kinds of ordinary thinking that people rely on as an 

indubitable source of truthful knowledge of their everyday 

world (see Atran 1990:1–4, 275n1 for his discussion of common 

sense). Knowledge is distributed differentially within a community, even though our reference to the group’s culture tends to 

make us think such information is shared among all the people 

(Barth 2002:1). Access to certain vernacular knowledge can 
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 265

be exclusive to a community’s carriers of tradition (Rumsey 

2002). Because traditional knowledge allows people to understand and describe their experience with certain worldly 

phenomena, the validity of such belief is beyond question.

On one level, vernacular knowledge “is just the way 

humans are constitutionally disposed to think of things” 

(Atran 1990:2). On another plane, vernacular knowledge 

defines and informs their world view. Geertz defines world 

view as “a people’s picture of the way things, in sheer reality 

are, their concept of nature, of self, of society. It contains their 

most comprehensive ideas of order” (1973:127).

Vernacular knowledge therefore may be understood as a 

community’s conventional wisdom. Cultural meaning, such 

as that embedded in a group’s body of conventional wisdom, 

however, is dynamic and subject to notable change.

Nazarea suggests the importance of vernacular knowledge 

to landscape studies: “The landscape, or what’s out there, is 

processed through human perception, cognition, and decision making before a plan or strategy is formulated and an 

individual or collective action is executed” (1999b:91). Also 

important in studying landscapes are “the complex ways in 

which places anchor lives in social formations ranging widely 

in geographical location, in economic and political scale, and in 

the accompanying realms of gender, race, class, and ethnicity” 

(Feld and Basso 1996:7). Landscape, then, deals with every 

aspect of resource management that underlies a “people’s 

sense of place—the lenses through which they construct the 

environment and estimate their latitudes of choice and opportunities for challenge and refutation” (Nazarea 1999b:105).

The Inevitability of Culture Change

Just as the physical environment changes over time, so 

do culture, tradition, and the meanings contained within a 

community’s world view (Anschuetz et al. 2001:184). These 

characteristics all are dynamic properties of human life; they 

are neither static nor immutable (after Plog 1974).

Although culture change over time is inevitable, the need to 

sustain order and coherence frame the range of possible variation (Anschuetz et al. 2001:184, citing Trigger 1991:561). 

Marked discontinuities in the structure of information and 

the organization of behavior, however, can signify the revolutionary overthrow or the transformation of previously 

established cultural frameworks (see Anschuetz 1998b). In 

the case of revolution, fundamental cognitive aspects that 

structure and organize the cultural system are replaced. In 

the case of transformation, change sustains a community’s 

existing structural and organizational themes.

Transformations in a community’s traditions carry social 

and cultural implications. Peckham (1990:3) observes that 

great culture change, regardless of the cause or motivation, 

can disrupt the original intent of the tradition or destroy some 

critical component to leave certain aspects of the tradition 

divorced from their ancient context. Of special interest to the 

present discussion, calculated attempts to reinterpret or revive 

traditions, such as can occur within nativistic movements (e.g., 

see Green 1974, 1976), “often involve only selected elements 

of the earlier tradition” (Peckham 1990:4).

Although a transformed tradition might only superficially 

resemble the original form, it “does not necessarily prevent it 

from being accepted and effective” (Peckham 1990:4) within 

the community for its contemporary needs and purposes. If 

the transformation or renewal of tradition results in a redefinition of the community’s vernacular knowledge (even if the 

modification is not consciously recognized), the changes can 

establish a new configuration for people to interpret, and reinterpret, information available in their contemporary natural, 

economic, social, political, and ideational environments (see 

Anschuetz 1998b:57, after Williams 1961:23). The integration of folk Catholicism with indigenous belief among Pueblo 

communities in northern New Mexico following Spanish 

colonization is an example of transformation in community 

traditions in which cultural continuity is sustained in the face 

of considerable change in economic, social, political, and 

ideational orders (e.g., Gutiérrez 1991). From this perspective, study of changes in a community’s traditions has less 

to do “with what they represent in themselves and more to 

do with what they indirectly reveal about the state of society, 

other religious bodies, or structures of meaning” (Beckford 

1987:392).

Traditions and Traditionalism as 

Instruments of Culture Change

Anthropologists commonly view culture and its constituents, including tradition, as fundamental properties of human 

communities (e.g., Hall 1959, 1969; Rappaport 1979b:62; 

White 1949). In people’s day-to-day lives, they use culture to 

construct and reconstruct traditional meanings with different 

valuation relevant to the circumstances and events they experience in their changing worlds (after Barth 2002:11; Lakoff 

and Johnson 1980:3; Rappaport 1979c:158, 1979d; White 

1987:277; see also comprehensive case studies by Geertz 

1994; Levy 1992; Whiteley 1987, 1988).

Tradition is a strategic cultural resource, which people 

can modify to fulfill desired ends within their contemporary 

natural, economic, social, political, and ideational environments. Geertz observes further that tradition is “a way of 

thinking, a way of speaking, and a way of acting that articulates in myriad ways the webs of significance produced by 

human cultures” (1994:4; see also Levy 1992:164). Moreover, 

vernacular knowledge, whose significance is derived and legitimized with reference to tradition, may be viewed as threads 

in the total fabric of meaning embedded in the community’s 

world view (after Geertz 1994:6).

Through assertive links to tradition and world view, information relevant to contemporary circumstances, including 

affiliations to places on the landscape, can be cast as a community’s vernacular knowledge, way of life, identity, and very 

being. On the one hand, some outsiders might be tempted to 

characterize a group’s traditional patterns of culture as residues from a past that either at best are disconnected or at worst 

are irrelevant to the community’s contemporary conditions. 
266 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

In doing so, the term traditional is imbued with pejorative 

connotations that it does not deserve. Bradburd observes that 

if the term traditional:

. . . is intended to suggest that some societies are ‘cold,’ 

fixed in amber, unwilling or unable to change, then it is 

both insulting and ridiculous. If nothing else, the narrative 

of the 20th century is the account of peoples the world over 

accepting, using and creating ‘new’ technologies even as 

they put ‘old’ practices to new uses (Bradburd 2002:12).

On the other hand, a group’s statements of its associations 

under certain circumstances may be constructed to assert the 

immutability of its traditions over the generations since time 

immemorial (see Barth 2002:5). Such statements typically 

are made to audiences of persons either within or outside the 

community for whom access to the assembly’s vernacular 

knowledge is restricted to all but a few specified “knowers” 

who define the group’s social reality (after Geertz 1994:7–8, 

citing Berger and Luckman 1966:87, 134; see also Barth 

2002:5). As a conscious or unconscious creative strategy, the 

underlying motivation for making such statements can be an 

overwhelming concern to establish the veracity of shifting 

claims of affiliation or practice (e.g., Barth 2002:5; Green 

1974:68–74). According to Rumsey, “The creative act [on the 

part of the group’s exclusive ‘carriers of tradition’] is to do 

this in such a way as to deny change and temporality and to 

fabricate for their audiences a sense of transmitted invariance 

and timelessness: a performative illusion of considerable ingenuity and persuasive power” (2002:15). In this sense, people 

assert their “old” practices to put the “new” economic, social, 

and political technologies at their disposal to use (Bradford 

2002:12).

To cast the redefinition of community traditions in the face 

of changing natural, economic, social, political, and ideational 

environments over time necessarily as the cynical products of 

politicians is inappropriate (after Levy 1992:164). Although a 

transformed tradition might resemble the original form only 

superficially, the community may accept the reinterpreted 

history as a mechanism for sustaining its sense of identity in 

the face of contemporary circumstances (see Levy 1992:164; 

Peckham 1990:4). In fact, when culture change demonstrately 

sustains community and identity, some anthropologists extend 

the notion of indigenous to include a group’s incorporation of 

knowledge obtained from outside sources.

Public commentaries and performances declaring strict 

adherence to a community’s traditions fulfill the definition of traditionalism. Social science theory has long held 

the premise that actors, who use traditionalism in nativistic 

and revitalistic movements, can serve as principal agents of 

culture change within their communities. Some sociologists 

argue that “‘traditionalsim’ is not the same as ‘tradition,’ but 

also that the traditionalist is both innovator (Shils 1971:146), 

and a major instrument of modernization” (Geertz 1994:5, 

citing Singer 1971:162). Persons who identify themselves as 

traditionalists in promoting matters said to be held sacred by 

their communities typically reject the focus and contexts of 

established traditions and assert revisionist histories to address 

issues relevant to the community’s contemporary needs (after 

Geertz 1994:5–6; see also Levy 1992; Whiteley 1988).

Discussion: The Need for a 

Historical-Ecological Perspective

Concerns with process and landscape alike dictate the 

adoption of an explicitly historical-ecological perspective, 

which is based on “a culturally specific temporal and spatial 

perspective applied at the regional scale” (Crumley 1994:8). 

A historical-ecological perspective broadly embraces a traditional landscape concern, namely, the material traces that 

people have left on their environments. It builds from the 

premise that interpretation of vernacular and formally built 

landscapes alike should be in terms of the essential values and 

beliefs that a community uses to structure and organize its 

behavior (e.g., see Cosgrove and Daniels 1988; Meinig 1979; 

Penning-Rosewell and Lowenthal 1986; see also appendix 

II).

The process of behavioral change encoded within a landscape over time is, to a large degree, a function of operational 

cultural constructs of time and place. As a community of people 

live their lives, they typically move among places within the 

settings that make up their landscape. People transfer the 

vernacular knowledge of their communities between and 

across generations through day-to-day conversation and ritual 

behavior (Crumley 1994:7), although individuals “participate 

to greater or lesser degrees in the production and application of perceptions of their environments” (Crumley 1994:9). 

Generations of people might inhabit and modify a multitude 

of places within their community landscape differently over 

time. Nevertheless, as long as fundamental traditions remain 

more or less intact, elements of a common underlying structural pattern persist over time (e.g., see Rapoport 1990:17). 

In adopting and applying a historical-ecological perspective, 

explaining the process of culture change requires the traceable persistence of traditions across the regional landscape 

over time to demonstrate cultural-historical continuity along a 

trajectory of path-dependent change.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 267

References

Anschuetz, Kurt F.

1998b Not Waiting for the Rain: Integrated Systems of Water Management by Pre-Columbian 

Pueblo Farmers in North-Central New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of 

Anthropology, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., Richard W. Wilshusen, and Cherie L. Scheick

2001 An Archaeology of Landscapes: Perspectives and Directions. Journal of Archaeological 

Research 9:157–211.

Atran, Scott

1990 Cognitive Foundations of Natural History: Towards an Anthropology of Science. Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press.

Barth, Fredrik

2002 An Anthropology of Knowledge. Current Anthropology 43:1–18.

Beckford, James A.

1987 New Religions: An Overview. The Encyclopedia of Religion 10:390–394. New York: 

Macmillan.

Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckman

1966 The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, 

NJ: Doubleday.

Berlin, B.

1973 The Relation of Folk Systematics to Biological Classification and Nomenclature. Annual 

Review of Systematics and Ecology 4:259–271.

Berlin, B., Breedlove, D., and Raven, P.

1974 General Principles of Classification and Nomenclature in Folk Biology. American 

Anthropologist 75:214–242.

Boone, James L.

1994 Is It Evolution Yet?: A Critique of “Darwinian Archeology.” Paper presented at the 59th 

Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Anaheim, CA, April 20–24.

Bradburd. Dan

2002 Perspectives on What is Traditional. Anthropology News 43(4):12.

Brumann, Chistoph

1999 Writing for Culture: Why a Successful Concept Should Not Be Discarded. Current 

Anthropology 40(Supplement):S1–S27.

Cosgrove, Denis F., and S. Daniels, eds.

1988 The Iconography of Landscape: Essays on the Symbolic Representation, Design, and Use of 

Past Environments. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Crumley, Carole L.

1994 Historical Ecology: A Multidimensional Ecological Orientation. In Historical Ecology: 

Cultural Knowledge and Changing Landscapes. Carole L. Crumley, ed. Pp. 1–16. Santa Fe, 

NM: School of American Research Press.

Feld, Steven, and Keith H. Basso, eds.

1996 Introduction. In Senses of Place, Steven Feld and Keith H. Basso, eds. Pp. 3–11. Santa Fe, NM: 

School of American Research Press.

Flinn, M. and R. D. Alexander

1982 Culture Theory: The Developing Synthesis from Biology. Human Ecology 10:383–400.

Geertz, Armin R.

1994 The Invention of Prophecy: Continuity and Meaning in Hopi Religion. Berkeley: University 

of California Press.

Geertz, Clifford

1973 [1957] Ethos, World View and the Analysis of Sacred Symbols. The Interpretation of 

Cultures. By Clifford Geertz. Pp. 126–141. New York: Basic Books.
268 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Gellner, E.

1982 What is Structuralisme? In Theory and Explanation in Archaeology: The Southampton 

Conference. C. Renfrew, M. J. Rowlands, and B. A. Segraves, eds. Pp. 97–123. New York: 

Academic Press.

Green, Thomas Aaron

1974 Yo Soy Indio: An Analysis of a Contemporary Nativistic Movement. Ph.D. dissertation, 

Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin. Ann Arbor, MI: University 

Microfilms.

1976 Folk History and Cultural Reorganization: Tigua Example. Journal of American Folklore 

89(353):310–318.

Gutiérrez, Ramón A.

1991 When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality and Power in New 

Mexico 1500–1846. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Hall, Edward T.

1959 The Silent Language. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.

1969 The Hidden Dimension. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.

Kirch, Patrick V.

1980 The Archaeological Study of Adaptation: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. In Advances 

in Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 3. Michael B. Schiffer, ed. Pp. 101–156. New 

York: Academic Press.

Kroeber, A., and Kluckhohn, C.

1952 Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Papers of the Peabody Museum of 

American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 47. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

Lakoff, George

1987 Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago, IL: 

University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson

1980 Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Levy, Jerrold E.

1992 Orayvi Revisited: Social Stratification in an “Egalitarian” Society. Santa Fe, NM: School of 

American Research Press.

Meinig, D. W, ed.

1979 The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays. New York: Oxford 

University Press.

Minnis, P. E.

1985 Social Adaptation to Food Stress: A Prehistoric Southwestern Example. Chicago, IL: 

University of Chicago Press.

Nazarea, V. D., ed.

1999a Ethnoecology: Situated Knowledge/Located Lives. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

1999b Lenses and Latitudes in Landscapes and Lifescapes. In Ethnoecology: Situated Knowledge/

Located Lives. V. D. Nazarea, ed. Pp. 91–106. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Peckham, Stewart

1990 From this Earth: The Ancient Art of Pueblo Pottery. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of New Mexico 

Press.

Penning-Rowsell, E. C., and D. Lowenthal, eds.

1986 Landscape Meanings and Values. London: Allen and Unwin.

Plog, Fred T.

1974 The Study of Prehistoric Change. New York: Academic Press.

Rambo, A. T.

1991 The Study of Cultural Evolution. In Profiles in Cultural Evolution: Papers from a 

Conference in Honor of Elman R. Service. A. T. Rambo and K. Gillogly, eds. Pp. 

23–109. Anthropological Papers 85. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Museum of 

Anthropology.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 269

Rapoport, Amos

1990 History and Precedent in Environmental Design. New York: Plenum.

Rappaport, Roy A.

1979a The Obvious Aspects of Ritual. In Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. By Roy A. Rappaport. 

Pp. 173–221. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

1979b Ecology, Adaptation, and the Ills of Functionalism. In Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. By 

Roy A. Rappaport. Pp. 43–95. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

1979c Adaptive Structure and Its Disorders. In Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. By Roy A. 

Rappaport. Pp. 145–172. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

1979d On Cognized Models. In Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. By Roy A. Rappaport. Pp. 

97–144. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Redfield, Robert

1940 Definition of Culture, as Quoted in W. F. Ogburn and N. F. Nimkoff. Sociology (1940):25.

Rumsey, Alan

2002 Comments. In An Anthropology of Knowledge. By Fredrik Barth. Pp. 13–14. Current 

Anthropology 43:1–18.

Shils, Edward

1971 Tradition. Comparative Studies in Society and History 13:122–159.

Shore, B.

1996 Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning. Oxford: Oxford University 

Press.

Singer, Milton

1971 Beyond Tradition and Modernity in Madras. Comparative Studies in Society and History 

13:160–195.

Trigger, Bruce G.

1991 Distinguished Lecture in Archeology: Constraint and Freedom—A New Synthesis for 

Archeological Explanation. American Anthropologist 93:551–569.

Tylor, E. B.

1871 Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, 

Language, Art and Custom. London: John Murray.

Waddington, C. H.

1974 A Catastrophe Theory of Evolution. New York Academy of Sciences Journal 231:32–42.

Watson, Patty Joe

1995 Archaeology, Anthropology, and the Culture Concept. American Anthropologist 97:683–694.

Watts, M.

1988 Coping with the Market: Uncertainty and Food Security Among Hausa Peasants. In Coping 

with Uncertainty in Food Supply. I. de Garine, and G. A. Harrison, eds. Pp. 260–289. 

Oxford: Clarendon.

White, Leslie A.

1949 The Science of Culture. New York: Grove Press.

1959 The Concept of Culture. American Anthropologist 61:227–251.

1987 [1962] Symboling a Kind of Behavior. In Leslie A. White: Ethnological Essays. B. 

Dillingham and R. L. Carneiro, eds. Pp. 273–278. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico 

Press.

Whiteley, Peter M.

1987 The Interpretation of Politics: A Hopi Conundrum. Man 22:696–714.

1988 Deliberate Acts: Changing Hopi Culture Through the Oraibi Split. Tucson: University of 

Arizona Press.

Whorf, Benjamin Lee

1956 [1940] Science and Linguistics. In Language, Thought and Reality: Selected Writings of 

Benjamin Lee Whorf. John B. Carroll, ed. Pp. 207–219. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute 

of Technology Press.

Williams, Raymond

1961 The Long Revolution. New York: Columbia University Press
270 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Wills, Wirt H., Patricia L. Crown, Jeffrey S. Dean, and Christopher G. Langton

1994 Complex Adaptive Systems and Southwestern Prehistory. In Understanding Complexity in 

the Prehistoric Southwest. George Gumerman and Murray Gell-Mann, eds. Pp. 297–339. 

Proceedings, XVI. Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity. New York: 

Addison-Wesley.
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 271

Index

A

Aberle, Sophie D. 133, 167

Abert, Lt. James 26

Abiquiu 7, 31

Abouselman, Moses 111

Ácoma Pueblo 7

Adams, Eleanor B. 167

Adams, Karen R. 167

Adovasio, J. M. 167

agriculture 14, 49, 61, 152, 163

as factor in declining importance in 

native plants for food 53

ecological constraints upon 61, 107

evidence of

corn 13, 61

fields 18, 61

pumpkin 13

high elevations

Banco Bonito 61

Hispanic farming in 61

Tewa Pueblo farming in 61

Akins, Nancy J. 6, 167

Allen, Craig D. 110, 168

Allen, Paula Gunn 133

Amsden, Charles Avery 144, 168

Anderson, Clinton P. 45

Anderson, Robert 43, 118, 119

Anglo-American populations 1, 4–6, 

50

animals, as landscape features 152

Anschuetz, Kurt F. 6, 168–170

Apache populations 1, 4–6, 149

archaeology 1, 11–18, 49, 53, 56, 61, 

163

limits of 18

plant use evidence 50

Arnon, Nancy S. 171

aspen

aboriginal uses 51–52. See also Table 

5.1

as commercial timber resource 120, 

123

Atkinson, General H. W. 109

Ayer, Mrs. Edward E. 171

B

Baca Co. v. NM Timber, Inc. 43, 

121–123, 171

outcome of case 123

Baca, Fabiola Cabeza de 38

Baca, Francisco Tomás 5, 37, 38, 39, 

40, 109, 164

Baca, Juan Antonio 37

Baca Land and Cattle Company 43, 

44, 121

Baca Land and Cattle Co. v. NM 

Timber, Inc. 5

Baca Land Grant. See also land grant: 

Luis María Cabeza de Baca

Baca Location No. 1 1, 2, 6–7, 26, 27, 

28, 163

court-ordered sale of 40

history 31–47

landscape transformation

from vacant land to legal entity 129, 

164

legal description of location 38

partition suit 5, 28, 38–40, 164

U.S. acquisition of 45

Baca, Luis María Cabeza de 1, 5, 26, 

37, 57

heirs 1, 27, 37–38, 40

extending herding privileges to 

Jémez Pueblo 109

herding in Baca Location 109

Baca, María Gertrudis Lucero 37, 39

Baca, Tomás Dolores 5, 37, 38, 40, 

109, 164

Bailey, Sam 122

Bailey, Vernon 171

Banco Bonito 18, 49, 61, 163

Bancroft, Hubert Howe 171

Bandelier, Adolf (Adolph) F. 45, 61, 

107, 172

Bandelier National Monument 29, 45, 

120

Barker, Elliott 172

Basso, Keith H. 130, 172

Baxter, John O. 108, 172

becoming, as landscape theme 137, 

142, 153

Begay, Scotty 150

Bell, Willis H. 173

Benally, Clyde 173

Bender, Barbara 130

Bernalillo 2

Bernalillo County, New Mexico 173

Bittner, Eric i

Blake, Kevin 174

Bloom, Lansing B. 25, 56, 174

Bohrer, Vorsila L. 174

Bolivar, Stephen L. 126

Bolton, Herbert Eugene 175

Bonaguidi, Lena 43

Bond and Son 175–176

Bond Estate 45

Bond, Frank 5, 28, 42, 43, 45, 52, 

58, 108, 109, 112, 117. See 

also Frank Bond and Son, Inc.

extending privileges to Pueblos 58, 

110

Bond, Franklin 43, 58

Bond, George W. 28, 42, 109, 117

Bowden, J. J. 176

Boyd, Dick 176

Brandt, Elizabeth A. 176

breath, as landscape metaphor 139

breath, as landscape theme 131, 

132–136, 142

Brewer, Sallie 143, 177

Brown, Lorin W. 112, 177

Brugge, David M. 6, 177

Bryan, Nonabah G. 177

Buckman, H. S. 110

C

Cabeza de Baca, Fabiola 177

Cajete, Gregory 132, 133, 138, 139, 

141, 178

calderas, as landscape features 148, 

149

Callaway, Donald and others 179

Callaway, Donald, and others 7

Camazine, Scott 179

Camp Redondo 57, 120, 123

Camp Valles Grandes 37. See Old Fort

cardinal directions 133, 134, 135, 139, 

142, 144, 147, 153

Carleton, General James A. 27

Carmichael, David L. 179

Carrillo, Charles M. and others 52, 60, 

151, 179

Castañeda, Pedro de 180

Castetter, Edward F. 180

Catron, Thomas B. 39, 40

caves 149

caves, as landscape features 136, 148

caves, as landscape metaphor 134

center 149

Apache concept of 136

Hispanic concept of 136

Navajo concept of 136

Pueblo concept of 135

center, as landscape features

multiplicity of 139

center, as landscape metaphor 140

center, as landscape theme 131, 

133–136, 142, 153

Cerro Chicoma 7, 143, 150, 151, 152

Cerro Redondo 2

Chamberlin, Ralph V. 180

Chavez, Dennis 45

Chávez, Maríano 146

Chicoma Peak 151

Chinle Curriculum Center 180

Christmas trees 120

Church, Peggy Pond 180

Civilian Conservation Corps 28, 43, 

118
272 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Clancy, Frank W. 40

Cleland, Robert Glass 181

Cliff Cities National Park, proposal 

for 45–46

Cochití Pueblo 6–7, 18, 142, 150

Collins, Loa ii

Colton, Harold S. 181

Colton, Mary-Russell Ferrell 181

connectedness 135

Navajo concept of 140

Pueblo concept of 139, 140

connectedness, among landscape 

features 151

connectedness, as landscape 

theme 131, 132, 139–141, 142

control

Pueblo concept of 136

Cook, Sarah Louise 181

Coolidge, Dane 182

Cordell, Linda S. 138

Corlett, Charles H. 111, 182

corn 152

Cotton, Dick 57, 119

Coughlon, Kristi ii

Curly, River Junction 147

Curtis, Edward S. 182

Cushing, Frank Hamilton 183

D

Darnell, Henry 119

Davenport, John 27, 58, 111

deBuys, William i

Devendorf, Charles W. 107

Dondanville, R. F. 184

Douglas fir 51

aboriginal uses of 51–52

as commercial timber resource 120, 

165

as timber resource 118

Douglass, William Boone 6, 7, 107, 

111, 150, 151, 184

Dozier, Edward P. 185

drought

factor influencing high elevation land 

use 14, 27, 49, 54, 55, 61

Dunigan, James Patrick 1, 5, 28, 43, 

44, 45, 58, 113, 121, 122, 123, 

164

companies 1, 29, 43

concern for conservation 113, 121, 

122, 164

decision to reduce cattle ranching 58

protection of shrine 150

purchase of Baca Location 113

Dunmire, William W. 52, 53, 54, 185

Dutton, Bertha P. 186

E

East Fork River 2, 27, 37, 55

ecology 2–4

Canadian Life Zone 4

impacts of human activity 4, 5, 41, 

50, 57, 110, 111, 119

Transition Life Zone 2

economic development 108, 109, 110

influence in changing VCNP land 

use 26, 110, 164

Edleman, Sandra A. 186

elk 4–6, 50, 111

commercial hunts 58, 114, 164

eradication 57

population 58

reintroduction 58

Ellis, Florence Hawley 6, 148, 149, 

150, 186–188

Elmore, Francis H. 189

emergence, as landscape theme 131, 

136–138, 142

Enlarged Homestead Act 50

ensoulment 133, 153

environment 2–4

historical description 107, 109

F

Farrer, Claire R. 189

(Federal) Pueblo Lands Condemnation 

Act of 1926 28, 42

Federal District Court, District of New 

Mexico i

Fenton Hill Hot Dry Rock project 126–

127

Ferguson, T. J. 7, 130, 131, 189

Fewkes, J. Walte 190

Firesteel Lumber Company 28, 43, 118

fishing 49, 58–59

as private Pueblo entrepreneural 

enterprise 59

factors conditioning Pueblos’ low 

reliance upon for subsistence 59

recreational 58

Ford, Karen Cowan 54, 190

Ford, Richard I. i

Ford, Richard I., and others 16, 190

Fort Marcy 27

Fowler, Catherine S. 191

Francis, Harris 149

Frank Bond and Son, Inc. 43

Friedlander, Eva 191

Fry, Gary F. 191

G

Gallagher, T. P., Jr. 28, 45, 118, 119, 

120, 121, 122, 123, 165

companies 43

Gambler, Slim 152

Garduño, Basilico 112

Genízaro 49

geology 126

calderas 2

mineral deposits 125

volcanic calderas 2, 125

volcanic domes 2

geothermal development

hot springs

endangered by geothermal 

development. See hot springs

objections to 127

geothermal exploration 1, 4, 28, 43, 

114, 125, 126, 127, 164, 165

geothermal resources 125, 126, 127

Gill, Sam D. 191

Glasock, Michael D. 192

Goddard, Pliny Earle 192

Goff, Fraser E. i, 126, 192–194

grazing lease 41, 42, 43

Gregg, Josiah 194

Grubbs, Frank H. 194

Guthe, Carl E. 59, 194

Gutiérrez, Ramón A. 195

G. W. Bond and Brothers Company 42, 

109, 164. See also Bond, Frank; 

See also Bond, George W.

employees 111

enter into commercial sheep 

industry 109

lease of Baca Location 110

lease of Baca Location grazing 

rights 111, 117

partido 110, 111, 112

end of 112

H

Haile, Father Berard 147, 195

Hano Pueblo 7

Harper, Blanche Wurdack 196

Harrell, J. B., Jr. 113, 121

Harrington, John Peabody 151, 196

Hartman, Ron i

Hart, Richard 7

hay cutting 27, 54–56, 163

healing 137, 139, 140, 141, 149

healing places 136, 139

herding 26, 27, 28, 31, 163, 164

horses 109

life as herdsman on Baca 

Location 111, 112

hermanos 60

Hewett, Edgar J. 197

Hewett, Edgar Lee 45

Hill, W. W. 152, 197

Hillstrom, Laurie Collier 148, 197
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 273

Hispanic populations 1, 4, 26, 50, 

52–53, 60, 149

hunting 57

native plant uses 52

history 4–6

documentary record

limits of 18, 49

early Statehood 28

Mexican period 1, 26–27, 163

Post-World War II 28

pre-Columbian 11–18

Archaic period 1, 12–13, 163

use of VCNP 13

defined 11

Paleoindian period 1, 11

use of VCNP 12

Pueblo period 1, 13–18, 163

Classic period 17–18

Classic period, use of VCNP 17

Coalition period 15–17

Coalition period, use of VCNP 16

Developmental period 14

Developmental period, use of 

VCNP 15

use of VCNP 14

Spanish colonial period 1, 25, 163

post-Pueblo revolt 26

Pueblo revolt 26

reconquest 26

Spanish entradas 25

Antonio de Espejo 25

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado 25

fray Augustín Rodríguez 

and Captain Francisco 

Chamuscado 25

Juan de Oñate 25

to learn from 131, 152

to live by 131, 142

U.S. Territorial period 1, 27–28, 163

Hoard, Dorothy i

Hoebel, E. Adamson 198

homesteads 28, 38, 41, 44, 50, 61, 110

Hopi Tribe 7, 18, 143

hot springs 25, 147, 148

endangered by geothermal 

development 127

Hucko, Bruce 198

Hudspeth, William B. 198

Huffman, Ethel Bond 43

Huning, Franz 199

hunting 1, 13, 18, 49, 56–58

commercial elk 29

persistance as subsistance 

activity 57–61

recreational 50, 57, 58

subsistence 148, 163, 165

I

Iddings, J. P. 199

Indian Claims Commission 6, 7, 199

Isleta Pueblo 7, 142

J

Jefferson, James and others 7, 199

Jémez Cave 13

Jémez Forest Preserve 28, 117

Jémez Pueblo 1, 2, 6, 16, 18, 27, 28, 

31, 42, 49, 51, 52, 55, 56, 60, 

61, 107, 110, 111, 120, 142, 143, 

144, 147, 148, 150, 163

attack on Navajo raiders 56

culture history 16, 25

herding 27

herding horses 109

hunting 56

mountains of cardinal direction 144

native plant uses 50–51

origin stories

emergence 144

population 26

pottery paint 59

vacated 26

Jémez quarry 60

Jémez Springs 2, 27, 38, 50, 126

resort development 28, 38, 50, 125, 

126

Jicarilla Apache 6, 7

chipped-stone tools 60

Jicarilla Apache Tribe 18

Johnson, George 199

Jones, Volney H. 199, 200

Jordan, Terry G. 200

K

Keleher, William A. 200

Kelley, Klara B. 147, 149, 201

Kelly, Daniel T. 201

Kent, Kate Peck 201

Keur, Dorothy Louise 201

King, Bruce 43

King family 43

attempt to purchase Baca 

Location 113

Kirk, Donald R. 201

Klah, Hasteen 146, 202

Krenetsky, John C. 202

Küchler, Susanne 131

Kulisheck, Jeremy i

L

Laboratory of Anthropology i, 7

Laguna Pueblo 7

lakes, as landscape features 136, 147, 

148

Lambert, Marjorie 202

land

mortgage 38, 40

purchase/sale 28, 29, 38, 40, 41, 42, 

43, 44–45, 45, 46, 112, 117

land and resources

commodification of 129, 164

land, as commons 130

land, as individual property 130

land conservation 43, 45

land grant 163

Bartolome

Whitney and Otero families dispute 

over 39

Cañada de Cochití 26

Cañon de San Diego 26, 28, 40, 42, 

50, 118

Luis María Cabeza de Baca 27, 37, 

163

Ojo de San José 26

Pueblo league 26, 27

Ramón Vigil 41, 111, 117

to communities 27

to individuals 27

Town of Las Vegas 27, 37, 38, 163

landscape

common misconceptions 4, 141

cultural landscape 129–154

cultural landscape approach 5, 130, 

249

indigenous concepts of 131, 152, 164

limitations of economic 

perspectives 152

potential for misunderstanding 154

traditional associations 6–7, 18, 60, 

130, 142–152, 165

as factor conditioning cultural 

importance of resources 51–52, 

54, 59, 60, 152, 153

bases of 130, 145, 147, 153, 165

bases of mountains of cardinal 

direction 144

transformation. See Baca Location 

No. 1

Western concepts of 131, 152, 164

landscape, as cultural process 130, 263

landscape features 142–152. 

See calderas; See caves; 

See lava rock; See minerals; 

See mountains; See plants; 

See shrines; See trails; See water

cultural resources 142

natural resources 142

landscapes as memory

conceptual building blocks of 131–

141
274 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

landscapes of memory 131, 141, 142, 

152, 153

landscape themes 153. See breath; 

See center; See connectedness; 

See emergence; See movement

land use

Apache 49

Hispanic 49

Navajo 49

Pueblo 49

Pueblo populations 49

traditional subsistence 50

Ute 49

Lang, Richard W. 202

Lange, Charles H. 202–203

Laughlin Papers 204

lava rock

associated with water 148

lava rock, as landscape features 148

Leese, James 41, 61

Lee, William D. 40

Liljeblad, Sven 204

Lindgren, Waldemar 204

Linford, Laurance D 205

livestock 1

cattle 4, 26, 28, 40, 43, 44, 58, 164

historically not often eaten by local 

populations 57

population 44, 108, 109, 112, 113, 

114

horses 40

population 108, 109

thoroughbred program on Baca 

Location 114–115

range management 57, 111, 113, 164

sheep 4, 26, 28, 31, 40, 42

decline of 28, 112, 164

dominance of 107–108, 108

mortgages on 110

population 108, 109, 111, 112

removal from Baca Location 43

Spanish colonial expansion of 

herds 107, 108

Spanish colonial exports 108

Spanish expansion of grazing 

areas 108

livestock operation 110

logging operations 121

Los Alamos Boy Scouts 120

Los Alamos Monitor 122, 123, 

205–206

Los Alamos National Laboratory 126

Los Alamos Ranch School 58

Lummis, Charles 45

M

Magers, Pamela C. 206

March, Robert M. i

Maríano, Don 112

Marsh, Charles S. 7, 206

Martin, Craig i, 4, 5, 18, 61, 109, 112, 

121, 207

Martinez, Rick i

Matthews, Meridith H. 207

Matthews, Washington 7, 145, 146, 

207

Mayes, Vernon O. 208

McBroom, William H. 41, 61, 117

McNitt, Frank 31, 208

McVie, John R. 40

Merlan, Thomas 6

mestizaje 52, 142

Miera y Pacheco, Bernardo 26, 108, 

210

Map of 1779 26, 108, 131, 151, 163

mineral claims 41

mineral exploration 25, 28, 49

mineral extraction 1, 4, 59, 125, 126, 

165

mineral extraction, as commercial 

activity

gold and silver 126

sulphur 125–127, 126, 165

mineral extraction, as traditional 

activity 59

minerals, as landscape features 152

Minnis, Paul E. 210

Montoya, José Ignacio 27

Moore, Michael 54, 210

Morley, Sylvanus 210

mortgage 42

mountains

as landscape features 142–145

as landscape metaphor 134, 142

as shrines 151

mountains, as shrines 151

mountains of cardinal direction 143, 

144

movement

Navajo concept of 138

Pueblo concept of 138

movement, as evidenced in 

archaeological record 138

movement, as landscape theme 131, 

137, 138–139, 144

movie set leases 114, 164

mule deer 4, 57, 111

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture i

Museum of New Mexico 7

N

Nambé Pueblo 6, 142, 143, 150–154

Naranjo-Morse, Nora 140

Naranjo, Tessie 139, 211

Naranjo, Tito 132, 136, 139, 211

Narbona, Antonio 31

National Archives, Rocky Mountain 

Region i

National Natural Landmark 45, 121

National Park Service 29, 45, 120, 121

Native American populations 1

native animals 2, 4

native plants 2, 4

Navajo 6

creation story

Blessingway 147

emergence 145

Mountainway 146

Shootingway 147

Windway 147

homeland 143

mountains of cardinal direction 145–

147

Navajo creation story 146

Navajo Nation 18

Navajo populations 4, 60, 148–149, 

150

Nesbit, Robert 27, 37, 54–56, 163

New Mexico Lumber and Timber 

Company 28, 43, 118, 119, 120. 

See also New Mexico Timber, 

Inc.

employees 119

New Mexico State Archives i

New Mexico Surveyor General 1, 27, 

37, 231–232

New Mexico Timber, Inc. 28, 43, 44, 

120

employees 43, 58, 122

Nichols, Robert F. 211

Nostrand, Richard L. 108

O

O’Bryan, Aileen 211

obsidian 1, 12, 18, 149, 163

Chaco Canyon workshop 

interpretation reviewed 15

chipped-stone tools 12, 13, 60, 163

hydration dates 15–18

ritual use 60

Old Fort 27, 55, 56

Olson, Gilbert V. 212

Oñate, Don Juan de 107

Opler, Morris E. 212

orientation, in defining center 133, 134

origin stories 137–154, 153

Ortiz, Alfonso ii, 142, 213–214

Ortiz, Simon J. 132, 133, 214

Osterhoudt, L. A. 214

Otero, Frederico J. (F. J.) 28, 38, 40, 

41, 42, 110, 117

Otero, Manuel B. 39
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 275

Otero, Maríano Sabine 5, 28, 38, 39, 

40, 44–45, 50, 108, 110, 112, 

125, 126–127, 164

Otero, Miguel Antonio 28, 38, 50, 125, 

215

Otero, Miguel Antonio, II 39

P

Page, Suzanne 215

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area 45

Pajarito National Park, proposal of 45

Parker, Hiram R. 27, 37, 54–56, 163

Parkhurst, T. Harmon 216

Parmeter, Bob i

Parsons, Elsie Clews 137, 216

partido 43, 108, 110, 164. See also G. 

W. Bond and Brothers Company

defined 108

partition suit 38–40

partition suit, definition of 38

patron 39

Payne, H. Vearle 44, 123

pebbles

ritual use 60

Peckham, Stewart 217

Pelado Peak 7, 152. See Redondo Peak

Pelham, William 37

Penitente Brotherhood 60. 

See hermanos

Perea, José Leandro 38, 39, 40

periphery, as complement of 

control 153

periphery, as complement to 

center 136, 140

Pickens, Homer 57

Picurís Pueblo 7, 142

Pike, Lt. Zebulon 26

piki 60

pilgrimage 110, 134, 142, 144, 148, 

165

Hispanic 150–154

Jémez Pueblo 147, 148, 152

Navajo 6, 7, 150, 152

Pueblo 6, 7, 150

Zía Pueblo 51

piñon nuts 51, 53

plant gathering 1, 13, 14, 18, 49, 

50–56, 163, 165

plants, as landscape features 152

plant use 13, 165

constraints on native plants as 

food 53–54

ethnobotanical survey 52–54. See 

also Table 5.1; See also Table 

5.2

medicines with cultural 

importance 54, 148

plaza, as center 135, 139

Pojoaque Pueblo 6, 142, 143, 150

ponderosa pine

aboriginal uses 51, 53. See also Table 

5.1

as commercial timber resource 118, 

120, 165

Porter, Frank H. 28, 42, 118

Porter, Guy H. 28, 42, 118

Powell, John Wesley 125, 217

Public Service Company of New 

Mexico 126

Pueblo populations 1, 2, 4–6, 148–149

R

raiders

Apache 27, 55

Indian (non-Navajo) 26

military expeditions against 1, 27, 

31–46, 163

Navajo 1, 6, 27, 31, 37, 55, 56, 163

raid on Old Fort 55, 56

pacification 28

factor influencing expansion of 

herding into Baca Location 109, 

163

Ute 27

Raish, Carol i, 4

ranching 1, 4, 43, 44, 50

history 107–114

life as rancher on Baca Location 112, 

113

Reconstruction Finance 

Corporation 42, 119, 120

Redondo Camp 28, 43, 119

Redondo Creek 2, 13, 15, 28, 38, 43, 

50, 51, 56, 60, 109, 118, 119, 

123, 126, 147

Redondo Development Company 28, 

41, 42, 43, 110, 112, 117, 118, 

119, 164, 217

Redondo Peak 6, 12, 43, 60, 143, 144, 

145, 148, 150, 151

Reichard, Gladys Amanda 145, 218

Reiter, Paul 219

resort development 45, 121

Reynolds, Alexander W. 55

ricos 26

rights

grazing 28, 41

land 1, 41, 42, 43, 44, 112, 129, 164

leveraged buyout 117

mineral 1, 42, 44, 45, 112, 164

timber 1, 28, 42, 43, 44, 112, 117, 

164

dispute over 121, 122, 165

mortgage of 42, 117, 119, 120

purchase by Baca Land and Cattle 

Company 123, 165

sale of 42, 43, 119

timber, sale of 118

Río Grande Foundation i

Robbins, W. W. 219

Robertson, Lt. Beverly H. 55, 56

Romeo, Stephanie 219

Ross, Clarence S. 219–220

Ross, C. S. 126

Rothman, Hal 41, 110, 220

Rothrock, H. E. 45

Russell, Lt. P. A. J. 27

S

Saile, David G. 221

Salmerón, fray Gerónimo Zárate de 25, 

125

Sandía Pueblo 6, 142, 150

San Diego Land Corporation 43

Sando, Cristóbal 27

Sando, Joe S. 27, 150, 221

San Felipe Pueblo 6, 18, 142, 150

San Ildefonso Pueblo 6, 18, 142, 143, 

150

pottery clay 59

pottery paint 59

San Juan Pueblo 6, 18, 143, 150

Santa Ana Pueblo 2, 6, 18, 143, 148, 

150

Santa Clara Pueblo 2, 6, 18, 49, 143, 

150

Santa Fe National Forest i, 28, 41, 45, 

117

Santo Domingo Pueblo 6, 18, 143, 150

San Ysidro 2

Sauer, Carl O. 130

Savage, George W. 43, 44

sawmills 28, 50, 118, 126. See 

also timber, logging

Sawyer, Daniel 41, 61, 117, 223

Scheick, Cherie L. i

Schroeder, Albert H. 223

Scurlock, Dan 57, 111, 223–225

secrecy 49, 50, 153

seeking life 132, 139

sense of place 131, 135, 153

sense of time 131, 135, 136, 137, 144, 

145, 153

Shelton, Lewis D. W. 41

Sherman, James E. 226

shrine

La Sierra de la Bola 150

shrines 6, 139, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152

Navajo 6, 7, 146, 150

Pueblo 6, 150

shrines, as landscape features 136, 

149–151
276 USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007

Silko, Leslie Marmon 134, 138, 139, 

227

sisnádjiní 7, 143, 145. See Redondo 

Peak

Sleight, Frederick W. 7, 143, 227

Smith, Anne M. 229

Smith, Clyde 111

Smith, E. R. 229

Smith, Patricia Clark 133, 229

Smith, Robert L. 229–230

Smith-Savage, Sheron i

Snow, David H. 230

spirit trails 151, 152

spiritual ecology 131, 132, 133, 134

loss of 141

maintenance of 152, 153

springs 51, 147, 148

ritual use 59

springs, as landscape features 136, 

147–148

springs, as landscape metaphor 134

Steffen, Anastasia i

Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 231

Stiger, Mark A. 231

Stock-raising or Grazing Homestead 

Act 50

Strong, Pauline Turner 231

Sulphur Springs 125, 126

resort development 126

Summers, W. K. 231

survey 27, 38, 41, 42, 45, 125

Swadesh, Frances Leon 7, 233

Swank, George R. 233

sweat lodges 149

Swentzell, Rina 132, 136, 138, 139, 

141, 233–234

syncretism 52, 142

T

Taos Pueblo 7, 143, 150

Tartaglia, Leonard M. and Irene 43

Tenth (10th) Circuit Court of 

Appeals 44

Tesuque Pueblo 6, 18, 143, 150

Tewa-Hopi 7

Tierney, Gail D. 52, 53, 54

Tiller, Veronica E. 7, 234

timber

logging 1, 4, 28, 41, 42, 43, 44, 50, 

111

beginning of industrial logging on 

Baca Location 118

damages 43, 44, 119, 121, 122, 123

history 117–124

life as logger on Baca Location 119

operations 119, 120, 121, 122, 165

permits issued by VCNP 123

production levels 42, 118, 120, 122

factors influencing increases on 

Baca Location 120, 165

proposed regulation of 122

public protests against 122, 165

pulpwood 123

pulpwood as new product 120

reserves 42, 117, 118

timelessness 131, 136, 137, 139, 153

Torrez, Robert J. 234

trails. See also spirit trails

Pueblo 151

trails, as landscape features 151–152

transportation

highway 28, 43, 118

influences on economic 

development 151, 164

highway, need of 117, 126

railroad 28, 38, 42, 109, 110, 117, 

118

trapping 1, 57, 163

Mexican colonial restrictions on 

foreigners 26, 37, 57

Treaty of Cordova 37, 57

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 27

Trigg, Heather Bethany 235

Trimble, Stephen 235

Tsawari 7

tsikumu. See Cerro Chicoma

Tsikumu 143, 150

Tuan, Yi-Fu ii

Tucker, Edwin A. 235

Turney, J. F. 235

Tyler, Hamilton A. 235

U

Underhill, Ruth 236

Union Oil Company of California 126

University of Chicago Press ii

University of Minnesota Press ii

U.S. Army 1, 27, 28, 37

California Volunteers 27

need for hay 55

U.S. Congress 1, 2, 27, 37, 38, 42, 45

U.S. Congress, House 236

U.S. Congress, Senate 236

U.S. Court of Private Claims 27

USDA Forest Service 29, 45, 111, 236

Rocky Mountain Research Station i

U.S. Department of Energy 126, 127

U.S. District Court 43, 44

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 29, 45, 

58

U.S. Geological Survey 126, 237

U.S. Public Law 101–556 238

U.S. Public Law 167 237

U.S. Surveyor General 41, 42

Ute 6, 7

Ute populations 1, 4, 18, 148

V

Valle de los Bacas 26, 108, 131, 151

Valle Grande 27, 28, 31, 38, 43, 45, 55, 

58, 60, 108, 109, 112, 113, 114, 

120, 121, 122, 129, 145, 146, 

147, 151

Valle Grande National Park, proposal 

for 120, 121

Valles Caldera 120

Valles Caldera National Preserve i, ii

Valles Caldera Preservation Act 2

Valles Caldera Trust i, 29

Valles Land Company 28, 38, 40, 41, 

110

livestock operation 110

Van Ness, John R. 238

Van Valkenburgh, Richard F. 60, 146, 

150, 151, 238

Vargas, Diego de 26, 107

Vestal, Paul A. 239

Vigil, Gloria J. ii

Vizcarra, José Antonio 31

volcanoes, as landscape features 148

W

Walton, John W. 44, 125

Warren Savings Bank 117

Warren Savings Bank and Trust 

Company 42, 118, 119

Warren Savings Bank of 

Pennsylvania 42

Wa-ve-ma 143, 144, 145, 147, 150. 

See Redondo Peak

Weigle, Marta 239

Weinstein, Yale 119

Wentworth, Edward Norris 240

Wertheim, Herman 111

Weslowski, Lois Vermilya 50, 51, 59, 

60, 144, 145, 148, 240

Wetmore, Edward D. 117

Wheelwright, Mary C. 146, 241

White, George 41

White, Leslie A. 51, 60, 241–242

white pine

as commercial timber resource 117

White Pine Lumber Company 28, 42, 

118

Whiting, Alfred F. 243

Whitney, James Greenwood 5, 39

Whitney, Joel Parker 5, 38, 39, 40, 164

Whitney v. Otero 5, 39–40, 243

Whorf, Benjamin Lee 132

Williams-Dean, Glenna 244

Windes, Thomas C. 244
USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR-196. 2007 277

Winter, Joseph C. 15, 244

Witherspoon, Gary 140, 245

Wood, Lt. Erastus W. 27

Woods, Betty 51, 148, 245

Wright, Cathy 245

Wroth, William 245

Wyman, Leland C. 138, 140, 145, 146, 

147, 246–248

Y

Yarborough, Mara i

Young, Ewing 26, 37, 57

Young, Mary J. 131

Yount, George 57

Z

Zía Pueblo 2, 6, 18, 49, 51, 60, 118, 

143, 148, 150

native plant uses 51–52

Zuni Pueblo 7, 18, 49, 60, 143
Publishing Services Staff

Managing Editor · Lane Eskew

Page Composition & Printing · Nancy Chadwick

Editorial Assistant · Loa Collins

Contract Editor · Kristi Coughlon

Page Composition & Printing · Connie Lemos

Distribution · Richard Schneider

Online Publications & Graphics · Suzy Stephens
The Rocky Mountain Research Station develops scientific 

information and technology to improve management, protection, 

and use of the forests and rangelands. Research is designed to 

meet the needs of the National Forest managers, Federal and State 

agencies, public and private organizations, academic institutions, 

industry, and individuals.

Studies accelerate solutions to problems involving ecosystems, 

range, forests, water, recreation, fire, resource inventory, land 

reclamation, community sustainability, forest engineering 

technology, multiple use economics, wildlife and fish habitat, and 

forest insects and diseases. Studies are conducted cooperatively, 

and applications may be found worldwide.

Research Locations

Flagstaff, Arizona Reno, Nevada

Fort Collins, Colorado* Albuquerque, New Mexico

Boise, Idaho Rapid City, South Dakota

Moscow, Idaho Logan, Utah

Bozeman, Montana Ogden, Utah

Missoula, Montana Provo, Utah

*Station Headquarters, Natural Resources Research Center, 2150 

Centre Avenue, Building A, Fort Collins, CO 80526.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs 

and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, 

genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to 

all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., 

Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

RMRS

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION

Federal Recycling Program Printed on Recycled Paper