By J. Leonard Martinez
Archuleta Seniors Inc.’s Spanish Fiesta committee, alongside the Pagosa Arts Council and the Town of Pagosa Springs, is sponsoring the dedication of the ‘Sheepherder’ bronze statue to the Spanish heritage of the sheepherder, the borregero of this region, to whom we are indebted for creating some of our deeply embedded values that have become who we are now in Archuleta County. The statue was made by artist Chad Haspels and a small dedication ceremony will take place at 9:00am on Saturday July 27, as a part of the Spanish Fiestas sponsored by ASI. The location is Walmart multi-use trail on the northeast corner 3133 Cornerstone Dr, (Pagosa Peak Open School) and parking is available at the school and Walmart.
As a descendant of a sheepherder family, I found contradictions throughout my life regarding sheep and shepherds. The constant references to the ‘Good Shephard’ throughout our upbringing and spiritual development, left me with such a feeling of pride. Sheep were the Symbol Of Innocence; sheep were associated with innocence, purity, and a gentle nature, symbolizing a childlike and unspoiled quality. Sheep are known for their docile and calm behavior, symbolizing peace, harmony, and the importance of maintaining a tranquil environment… That was in contrast to the weekends in the spring when, as young teenagers, we were asked by our Tio Porfirio Martinez to help cut the tails and ‘capar’ the young lambs. It was later in life, I realized I had experience with a modified version of rocky mountain oysters, as the feast we had at the end of the work was a mixture of chicken gizzards, eggs, seasoning, all fried with the fruits of our labor.
In the early summer, we were asked to drive the herd to the high country for the summer. The road was dusty, the sheep were dirty, and I was grateful to be riding a horse that was smarter than me, because I basically had no honest knowledge about the job. I can recall thinking “these sheep not only smell a lot, but they are also kind of dumb!” Upon reflection, I wonder who was dumber, the sheep or the one riding the horse…
Our Paternal Grandfather, Jose Lucas Trujillo Y Martinez came to this region when he was 16 with his father Moises, looking for suitable land to raise sheep. Turns out, the San Juan River Basin, Northern New Mexico and the southwest U.S. are all ideal for raising sheep. In fact, Winifred Kupper, in his book, The Golden Hoof, writes that, “Sheep were the real conquerors of the Southwest.” In good years as many as 500,000 of the animals were herded to market.
The sheep breeds that proved hearty were the Churros and the Merinos, both from Spain. Columbus first brought sheep in 1493 and Cortés as well as many conquistadores carried sheep to feed their legions. Coronado brought sheep to the western U.S. — New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Texas — and eventually Spanish wool and textile business expanded sheep ranching.
In 1867, approximately 45 million sheep were in the US, peaking at 56 million head in 1945 according to the USDA. Hispano sheep herders were well established in northern New Mexico throughout the 1800s with huge herds of 10,000 or more, owned by ‘Los Ricos’ and many subsistence type herders with herds of hundreds to several thousand. There were several Hispano families in this region with significant size herds in the mid to late 1800s… the Gomez families, the Jose Marcelino Archuleta family, the Jose Guadalupe Trujillo family, the Valdez family… as reported by Dr. Ruth E. Lambert in Las Memorias: A Study of Three Hispano Cemeteries. Dr. Lambert identified 17 cemeteries she could attribute to Hispano settlements in Archuleta County, but in another study conducted by Dr. Lambert: Of Earth, Faith and Song: Hispano Churches Along the San Juan River, Dr. Lambert found that those Hispano settlements had built 20 mission churches near the San Juan and attributed sheep herding as the industry that funded those mission churches.
Not only did Moises and Lucas find the land suitable, they found like minded neighbors, not only in how they collaborated with each other but also in language and faith. To this day, their descendants collaborate with the Ben and Lupita Gallegos family to maintain the St. James Church in Trujillo, with Carrie and Joseph Espinoza of the St. John’s Church in Pagosa Junction and with Floriann and John Gallegos of the St. Francis Church in Frances…
…but where are the sheep?
According to the USDA, there are 5.2 million head of sheep and lambs in the U.S. today, with Texas and California leading in production. Two major reasons for the decline of sheep production in the U.S. are the decline in demand for wool and for lamb meat. The increased use of synthetic fibers in clothing, manufacturing and fabric materials pulled consumers away from wool products. When wool phased out, lamb meat as a paired product declined with it. As the Spanish Empire declined, these sheep were gifted or sold.
One could argue, flocks of sheep can be used to control overgrown vegetation in hard-to-reach areas. Some regions of the U.S. produce enough forage for sheep to graze year-round, which reduces feed costs for producers. Sheep are also more efficient than beef cattle because they convert forage to a retail product, wool. The Navajo Nation use the flexibility sheep provide to optimize subsistence sheep herding.
So where have all the borregeros (shepherds) gone? One of my favorite stories told by my father Amadeo “Andy” Martinez, is when, for the first time he had to spend the summer tending sheep up in the high country. He was only 10 at the time and he would recall how scared he was. His older brother by two years, Manuel, was afraid of nothing and was the lead. It was Uncle Manual’s job to cook, to scare the bears and other predators away with his rifle, and to make sure my dad would not die of fear.
My grandson is 11 and will be going into middle school this year, the time when most boys would become men back then, by being left to tend the sheep, the young borregeros. Those sheepherders, well… they are probably no longer legal….
As for the older borregeros, I’m told by the sheepherder families, they were regulars at the Pagosa Bar when not tending to their sheep. I suspect many of those borregeros’ spirits may still be hanging around, but no longer employable.
Please join us for the sculpture dedication ceremony at 9:00am on Saturday July 27, on the Aspen Village-Walmart multi-use trail, across the highway from Pinon Lake.