Apr. 19, 2005 - 18:50 MDT

NEW UNDERSTANDING

An article in the Rocky Mountain News on April 14th deals with further happenings at the Taylor Ranch by Deborah Frazier of the same paper. In full:

Taylor Ranch Access Granted

Judge allows 100 residents to enter historic property

"District Court Judge Gaspar Perricone granted more than 100 San Luis residents access Tuesday to the historic Taylor Ranch under deeds more than 100 years old."

"About 1,000 people are seeking access, based on deeds that trace back to 1863, to the 77,000 acre ranch, now owned by two Texas couples. Last spring, nine people won access."

"I'd felt deep in my heart it wasn't going to happen, so it's kind of unbelievable," said Gilbert Medina, 70, who is among Tuesday's winners."

"Perricone also set a July court date to rule on several hundred more claims."

"Judge Perricone has made it clearer and clearer that his job is to let more people on to the ranch and not limit their rights," said Jeff Goldstein, one of about 100 attorneys who worked without pay on the case."

"The ranch is part of a Mexican land grant, made in 1844. The grant holder, French-Canadian trapper Carlos Beaubien, brought Spanish and Mexican settlers from New Mexico to the area, gave them strips of land with water and access to the ranch."

"As Beaubien prepared to die in 1863, he gave the settlers deeds to their land with documents describing the rights to wood, water, hunting, fishing and grazing."

"Those deeds are the basis for the access being granted to descendants of the settlers."

"Jack Taylor bought the land in 1960 and cut off historic access for wood gathering, grazing, hunting, family outings, fishing and other uses."

"He named the property the Taylor Ranch, and local residents have been in court for 40 years seeking to regain access."

"Way back in 1964, when a judge in Denver said the Spanish-speaking people have no rights, I kind of gave up on the justice system," Medina said."

"I liked the outcome today," he said."

Taylor's estate sold the property to Enron executive Lou Pai in the late 1990s."

"The Colorado Supreme Court reinstated the grazing and wood-gathering rights in 2003 and Perricone is overseeing the certification of claims."

"In 2004, Pai sold the property to two Texas couples, Bobby and Dottie Hill and Richard and Kelly Welch for $60 million, according to county property records."

"The Hills and the Welches renamed the ranch Cielo Vista, or Heavenly View."

"Attorneys for Taylor's estate, Pai, and the Hills were unvailable for comment Tuesday."

"Goldstein said the land owners' attorneys wanted to impose restrictions on the access, including limiting the number of keys."

"The judge told them to either distribute the keys to everyone or take the locks off the gates," Goldstein said." "We hope to work it out this week."

"Arnold Valdez, a land-use planner and member of the Land Rights council that sought the access rights, said Perricone also rejected efforts to limit livestock numbers, access periods and set more rules."

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Opinions run rife here. New Mexico the home of the poorest people one can imagine was prey to Mr. Taylor who patrolled his borders, he and his gun bearing men and forbid people who had a right to go on the land, access. Much appeared in local papers about the mess.

But forty years, people born, lived and died in that span of time and were not allowed rightful access to their historic land.

And through all this the owners are trying to limit every bit of access those people have a right to. Locks and keys, limiting access, efforts to limit livestock numbers, access periods and set more rules.

About like me having to get permission to come into my house and sleep, picnic in my back yard and use the facilities, till my garden.

I do hope the full 1,000 can prove their right to come on the ranch, whenever and however they want to. I also hope the judge puts the fear of higher authority in the owners and force them to gracefully welcome those with historic rights home.

I think a lesson could be learned from Beaubien and the way he tried to provide for the people who he encoraged to come up there and live. Perhaps some land holders can come to a NEW UNDERSTANDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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