Below are links to resources on the history and archeology of the Valles Caldera and the entire Jemez Mountains. Please see the history and archeology sections on our “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) page for more information.
Historical Resources
Archeological Resources
Historical Timeline, 1820-2000
Book to Download
Historical Resources
The noble Cabeza de Baca and his wartime valor in Spain in 1212 AD that eventually led to the creation of the Baca Ranch, later the Valles Caldera National Preserve, by VallesCaldera.com.
“The Baca Floats.” History of Cabeza de Baca’s descendant, Don Luis María Cabeza de Baca, in 18th-19th century New Mexico and his dogged pursuit of a land grant that eventually became the Valles Caldera National Preserve, by American Surveyor Magazine.
“Expanding Bandelier.” The National Park Service’s narrative of many efforts in the 20th century to purchase the Baca Ranch – the land that became the Valles Caldera National Preserve – for the American People
Overview of the archaeology and anthropology of Northern New Mexico – Humans and the artifacts they left.
Summary of the findings of UNM archaeological testing at Valles Caldera National Preserve in 2007.
Primer on the Cultural Resources Program of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico Archeological Council, 2008, p. 1-3
Examination of the obsidian in the Jemez Mountains and Valles Caldera and the tools crafted out of it by prehistoric man
The UNM Southwestern Archaeology Field School’s goals for study on the Valles Caldera in 2009
“A Well-Preserved Story. – Archaeologists work to uncover history of Valles Caldera National Preserve. A new set of eyes is peering into the human history of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, preparing to relate the long cultural story of the extinct volcano’s past by taking note of what people left behind. Red Orbit, September 29, 2003
Historical Timeline, 1820-2000
This timeline of the history of the Baca Location No. 1 (most of which became the Valles Caldera National Preserve) comes from More Than a Scenic Mountain Landscape: Valles Caldera National Preserve Land Use History, by Merlan, Thomas, and Anschuetz, Kurt F. (2007), a U.S. Government publication that is in the public domain.
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1820
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February 18. Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca petitions Spanish colonial authorities of New Mexico for land on the Gallinas River at Las Vegas. |
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1820
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Post-February. Spanish colonial authorities place New Mexico under the jurisdiction of the province of Nueva Vizcaya. |
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1821
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January 16. Baca re-petitions the provincial deputation of Nueva Vizcaya for the grant land. |
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1821
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May 29. The provincial deputation notifies the Governor of New Mexico of the approval of Baca’s grant request. |
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1821
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August 14. Mexico wins its independence from Spain with the signing of the Treaty of Cordova. |
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1823
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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. |
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1826
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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. |
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1827
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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. |
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1835
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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. |
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1835
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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. |
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1846
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U.S. troops (the Army of the West) occupy New Mexico, thereby marking the beginning of the American period. |
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1850
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The U.S. Congress recognizes the former Mexican province of New Mexico as a territory of the United States. |
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1851
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Navajo raiders strike Robert Nesbit and Hiram Parker’s hay cutting camp in the Valle Grande. |
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1855
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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. |
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1856
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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. |
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1857
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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. |
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1860
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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. |
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1860
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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]). |
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ca. 1861–1872
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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. |
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ca. 1875
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Tomás Dolores mortgages his claimed 100% interest in the Baca Location to José Leandro Perea, Maríano Sabine Otero’s fatherin- law, for $10,000. |
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1876
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Deputy U.S. Surveyors Sawyer and McBroom survey the Baca Location. The United States delivers title to Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca’s heirs. |
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1880
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Maríano Otero and his uncle, Miguel Antonio Otero, begin planning to develop Jémez Springs as a commercial resort. |
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1881
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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. |
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1889–1894
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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. |
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1884
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May 17. Weary of his prolonged personal and legal fights with members of the Otero family over land issues, James Whitney sells his interests in the Baca Location to his younger brother, Joel Parker Whitney. |
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1890
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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. |
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1893
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Joel Whitney petitions for partition of the Baca Location. |
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1897
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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. |
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1898
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October. The court enters a decree directing partition of the Baca Location and appoints commissioners to determine the feasibility of partition in kind. |
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1898
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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. |
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1899
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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. |
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1899
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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. |
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1904
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Maríano Otero dies. F. J. Otero takes over full responsibility of the family’s business interests. |
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1905
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The Federal Government creates the Jemez Forest Preserve (subsequently renamed the Santa Fe National Forest). |
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1907
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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. |
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1909
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October 16. The Valles Land Company sells the Baca Location to the Redondo Development Company. |
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1915
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April 1. The Redondo Development Company mortgages the Baca Location to Warren Savings Bank of Pennsylvania. |
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1917
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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. |
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1918
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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. |
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1920s
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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. |
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1926
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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 of its minerals. |
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1930
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May 15. Redondo Development Company executes a first mortgage on its timber and mineral rights to Warren Savings Bank and Trust Company. |
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1933
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January 16. Redondo Development Company renews its mortgage with Warren Savings Bank and Trust. |
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1933
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September 9. Warren Savings Bank and Trust pledges the note, bond and mortgage to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation as collateral for borrowing money. |
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1935
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The Civilian Conservation Corps builds a road through the Valle Grande (now NM Highway 4). |
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1935
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July 19. Redondo Development Company sells its timber right to Robert Anderson, who owns Firesteel Lumber Company, for the term of 99 years. |
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1935
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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. |
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1935
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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. |
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1936
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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. |
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1936
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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. |
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1936
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December 31. Anderson assigns all his right, title and interest in the timber to A.I. Kaplan of New York. |
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1937
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October 14. Blue Diamond sells the renewal note and assigns the bond to Calumex Corporation in Delaware. |
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1938
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September 16. Kaplan assigns all his right, title and interest to New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company. |
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1939
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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. |
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1939
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New Mexico Lumber and Timber Company closes the Redondo Camp when it moves its logging activity to the northwest part of the Baca Location. |
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1940
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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. |
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1940
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June 27. Reconstruction Finance Corporation recognizes the satisfaction of the mortgage and bond dated May 15, 1930. |
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1942
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January 16. Reconstruction Finance Corporation releases the mortgage it holds on the timber. |
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1945
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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. |
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1954
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With Franklin Bond’s death, the family leases the Baca Location |
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1963
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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. |
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1963–1980
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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. |
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1964
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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. |
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1967
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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. |
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1967
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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. |
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1969
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August 12. The District Court issues ruling, denying plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment. |
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1969
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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. |
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1971
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Dunigan buys the timber rights to the Baca Location from New Mexico Timber, Inc. and halts logging on the tract. |
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1980
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James Dunigan dies. |
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2000
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The U.S. government purchases the Baca Location. |
The free, downloadable book More Than a Scenic Mountain Landscape: Valles Caldera National Preserve Land Use History, by Kurt F. Anschutz and Thomas Merlan, published into the public domain in 2007 by the U.S. Forest Service-Rocky Mountain Research Station, features extensive research on the history and archeology of the Valles Caldera. Below you can click on any chapter from this book to download that chapter for free.
- Chapter 1. Valles Caldera National Preserve land use history.
- Chapter 2. A sketch of the cultural-historical environment-Part 1: The pre-Columbian past.
- Chapter 3. A sketch of the cultural-historical environment-Part 2: Spanish entradas to the present.
- Chapter 4. History of the Baca Location No. 1.
- Chapter 5. Plant gathering, game hunting, fishing, mineral collecting, and agriculture.
- Chapter 6. Ranching history.
- Chapter 7. Industrial timbering.
- Chapter 8. Industrial mineral extraction and geothermal exploration.
- Chapter 9. The Valles Caldera National Preserve as a multi-layered ethnographic landscape.
- Chapter 10. Summary and conclusions.
- Appendix I. Annotated bibliography.
- Appendix II. Introducing a landscape approach for evaluating communities’ traditional senses of time and place.
- Appendix III. Perspectives on culture, tradition, vernacular knowledge, and culture change to understand landscape as a cultural process.
