The Homesteading Era on the Pajarito Plateau The homesteading period (1887–1942) was an outgrowth of an earlier undocumented use of the plateau by local Hispanics for cattle grazing and farming activities. Land ownership caused no change to the Iberian custom of seasonal migration up to the plateau homesteads during the growing season and back to the valley during the winter months. Homesteaders continued to practice self-sufficient subsistence living as it had been practiced in northern New Mexico since the coming of the Spanish, building their own homes, growing their own food, existing almost entirely without access to markets. The pattern changed only by its adaptation to new legislation that required ownership as a prerequisite for using the land. Turning the new rules into an opportunity, homesteaders patented the very lands they had used historically for grazing and farming. Ownership of this land gave them the means to augment their income by growing cash crops, to feed their stock during the summer months, and to take advantage of the resources the plateau offered in terms of lumber, game, and wild edible plants. Homesteading proved to be an especially critical safety net during the Depression years, when cash jobs were scarce. Many of the plateau homesteaders were native New Mexicans and had established local residences before making entry on the land.51 To claim land on the Pajarito Plateau, they followed the procedures set out in the Homestead Act. The claims that the homesteaders carved out on the Pajarito Plateau were not the neat squares created by the grid system across the Midwest. Instead, faced with the plateau’s rugged topography, their claims most often followed the natural contours of the land.52 The moment of truth came when homesteaders had to prove that they had fulfilled the conditions that would allow them to take legal possession of their claim. The “provingup” process required homesteaders to publish notices of final proof in local newspapers including The Santa Fe New Mexican, The Eagle, and La Luz. This public notification allowed interested parties to submit comments challenging
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Homesteading on the Pajarito Plateau
Figure 34. Forest Service Ranger James Leese (left) and unidentified companion. In the early days of the Forest Service, rangers had to pass tests assessing their knowledge of (for example) timber and sawmill operations, the stock industry, the township-and-range system, and what constituted a valid homestead claim. They also had to demonstrate that they could saddle, bridle, and pack a horse; identify cattle brands and marketable trees; estimate distances, the size of a cord of wood, and the amount of food to pack for a twoweek trip; fight a fire; and run a compass line around a designated area.53 (Los Alamos Historical Society)
or confirming a claimant’s declaration of proof. After the passage of the Forest Homestead Act of 1906, forest rangers annually investigated homestead claims to confirm the validity of a homesteader’s final-proof documentation. (Before the 1906 act was passed, local witnesses attested to homesteaders’ declarations that they had fulfilled the requirements of the Homestead Act of 1862.) Rangers recommended hearings when claims did not appear to comply with the provisions of the various homestead acts. Even though they were tasked with monitoring claims to ensure that homesteaders were complying with the law, rangers were not unsympathetic to the difficul-
Figure 35. Frank E. Andrews, shown here, was for many years the supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest. The national forest system began with the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, which allowed the president of the United States to set aside forest reserves on timber-covered areas of the public domain. The Santa Fe National Forest was established in 1915 with the amalgamation of the Jemez and Pecos National Forests. (U.S. Forest Service)
ties homesteaders faced. One name that stands out is that of Forest Ranger Fred Plomteaux from the Santa Clara (later Pajarito) District office located in Española. Experience had honed his instinct for behaviors that suggested an attempt to exploit the law, yet that same instinct led him to recognize when claimants were making serious good-faith efforts to fulfill the required conditions, even if they had not met them completely. Some rangers had more than Forest Service ties to the plateau. For example, James (Jim) Leese, who was a forest ranger between 1911 and 1913, later worked as a ranch foreman for H. H. Brook. A. J. Connell was a former forest ranger turned plateau landowner, and Dick (Richard)