Lying 5 miles east of San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado, is a huge tract of land now known as “Cielo Vista Ranch.” This property was previously called “Taylor Ranch” or, by local people, “La Sierra.” It contained 77,500 acres of mountain and foothills land, including 14,047-foot Culebra Peak. The ranch offers good hunting and fishing as well as meadows for grazing animals and forest for gathering firewood. In 1960 the ranch was purchased by John Taylor, a timber baron, who closed it off to outsiders. San Luis residents were outraged, for in the land grant for that area from the Mexican government in 1844, local people were promised access to and use of the land in perpetuity. Under the leadership of Shirley Romero Otero, they organized the Land Rights Council of San Luis and began a long series of legal actions which continued to 2019 and perhaps beyond. This Primary Source Set includes documents and photos relevant to that struggle.
Highlights of Mountain Tract’s History
LHP_Intern2022-10-19T23:52:31+00:00A list of dates and important events concerning Taylor Ranch and the legal battles over it. Starts with 1844 grant by officials in New Mexico, the part of Mexico, to Narcisco Beaubien and Stephen Luis Lee of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant, containing 1 million acres; the grant was confirmed to Beaubien in 1860 by the U.S. Congress. What became the Taylor Ranch was included in Beaubien’s grants. First page only displayed.
