Homesteading on the Pajarito Plateau, 1887-1942

Homesteading on the Pajarito Plateau, 1887-1942. . , The human history on the Pajarito Plateau goes back at least 10,000 years. Paleoindians first hunted its forests; millennia later, Pueblo Indians farmed its broad mesas before abandoning their settlements for locations along the Rio Grande. The entry of Spanish explorers into the region in the 15th century laid the foundation for the settlements that were to follow. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Hispanic settlers grazed domestic livestock here in the summer, returning the animals to the lowlands as winter approached. After President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act in 1862, families from the Rio Grande Valley began establishing homestead claims on the plateau. In 1887, Juan Luis Garcia filed entry papers for the first homestead to be successfully patented., The challenges were formidable. The plateau was isolated, rugged, and lacked water for irrigation. Yet the homesteaders persisted. They built dwellings and planted crops on their plots of land. They practiced seasonal dry farming, ranching, grazing, and the gathering of native edible plants. In winter, they returned to their permanent homes in nearby valley settlements., Local homesteading as a way of life came to an abrupt end during World War II. In 1943, the U.S. government appropriated much of the Pajarito Plateau for the Manhattan Project. Homesteaders and other private land owners had to sell their lands to the government as part of the war effort; in their place came the men and women who designed and built the world's first atomic bomb., (photo captions) , . The Homestead Act declared that any citizen 21 years of age or older could claim up to 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants needed only to improve the plot with a dwelling and grow crops. After five years the property was theirs. , . Homesteader children spent summers on the plateau but attended school in the valley during the winter months, when farming was not possible on the plateau. The Homestead Act was amended in 1912 to allow homesteaders to be absent part of the year.