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The Dawson Elk Valley Ranch has a new owner – officially.
Five years after the Colfax County ranch was placed on the market, and one year after an agreement was announced, The Nature Conservancy has acquired the 50,000-acre property, once the site of the coal town of Dawson and two of the nation’s worst mine disasters.
The MIRR Ranch Group, the Denver-based company that brokered the sale, confirmed earlier this month that the global environmental organization had closed on the purchase.
“We appreciate the collaborative efforts of the seller and The Nature Conservancy’s team to navigate a complex process to arrive at a mutually beneficial result,” said broker Jeff Hubbard in a statement. “It is extremely gratifying to know this iconic wilderness property will now be protected in perpetuity under the stewardship of The Nature Conservancy.”
For its part, The Nature Conservancy confirmed the Dec. 15 purchase and said it is in the process of developing a management plan for the property.
Part of that plan is expected to be the sale of about 32,500 acres of timberland to the Forestry Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The purchase would be funded at least in part by a $50 million federal grant the state received last year from the U.S. Forest Service.
Here is the story I wrote for the Albuquerque Journal, which was published in its print edition on Dec. 29.
Blog Archive
The Dawson Elk Valley Ranch has a new owner – officially. Five years after the Colfax County ranch was placed on the market, and one year after an agreement was announced, The Nature Conservancy has acquired the 50,000-acre property, once the site of the coal town of Dawson and two of the nation’s worst mine…
I am honored to announce that Crosses of Iron: The Tragic Story of Dawson, New Mexico, and Its Twin Mining Disasters was recognized with a book award last month by the Mining History Association at its 35th annual conference in Gunnison, Colorado. Crosses of Iron was one of two books selected this year for the…
Looks like the next chapter in the extraordinary history of Dawson will have to wait. The purchase of the Dawson Elk Valley Ranch by The Nature Conservancy and several partners, announced with much fanfare back in December, is off – at least for now. The reason? Some uncertainty with the status of the $50 million…
Seems like just yesterday. In reality, it has been nearly five years since I wrote a story that the Dawson Elk Valley Ranch had been put on the market for the tidy asking price of $96 million. To put that into some context, I wrote that while I was in the early stages of researching…
I’ll go pretty much anywhere to speak about Dawson. So I didn’t give distance a second thought when I was invited to present this month at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, N.M., roughly a 130-mile, one-way trip from my Albuquerque home. Gary Torres did me one better. The 72-year-old son of a coal…
Where to begin? That’s the challenge in trying to describe what it was like to attend this year’s biennial Dawson reunion over Labor Day weekend on the old townsite. Two years ago, when I came to my first reunion, I was about a month away from submitting the final version of my manuscript to the…
A funny thing happened moments into my Dawson book presentation Saturday afternoon at the Tucumcari Railroad Museum. A roaring freight train rushed by the depot, interrupting my talk and prompting laughter among the roughly 50 folks in attendance. “That seems appropriate,” I said, before playfully pointing to a gentleman in the audience. “Frank, that was…
As a first-time book author, I will forever be grateful to the writers and publications that have published positive reviews of Crosses of Iron since its release by the University of New Mexico Press this past October. That includes David Steinberg at the Albuquerque Journal, Jim Frost at the New Mexico Genealogist and David Caffey…
This list will be updated as new events are confirmed. No presentations or book signings are scheduled at this time.
Two years ago, while making revisions to my manuscript, I remember receiving a marketing questionnaire from a University of New Mexico Press publicist, seeking my input on marketing my upcoming book, Crosses of Iron. Among the questions: “Do you know of any awards for which your book qualifies that should be considered for submission? Please…
Even in today’s uncertain times, there are certain things you can count on: The sun will rise in the East. Thanksgiving will fall on a Thursday. And, if it’s an even year, Dawson folks will come together for another reunion. So it came as no surprise to learn last week that the Dawson New Mexico…
A funny thing happened a few weeks ago when I attended a book-signing event for a former Albuquerque Journal colleague. I was invited to do one of my own. On Feb. 17, I drove to the Martha Liebert Public Library in Bernalillo, New Mexico, to show my support for Rosalie Rayburn, whom I met during…
David Caffey is no stranger to Dawson, New Mexico, having worked for a time as a chief ranger for the Philmont Scout Ranch in nearby Cimarron. That’s why I’m particularly grateful for his review of Crosses of Iron that appeared last month in High Country, the bimonthly magazine of the Philmont Staff Association. Coincidentally, I mentioned…
Two days after Christmas, I received an email from Jim Frost, editor of the New Mexico Genealogist, notifying me that his review of Crosses of Iron was published in the December issue of the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s quarterly journal. I got to know Jim as a colleague during my time at the Albuquerque Journal. He…
Dawson Cemetery visitors will notice something different as they approach the historic burial ground this year. The mailbox that used to contain a notebook for visitors to record their impressions has been replaced by a more decorative memorial box designed and constructed by two New Mexico men with Denver roots. Philip Cavos Jr., a welder…
I’d like to express my appreciation to Deborah Kalb for featuring my interview about Crosses of Iron on her book blog last week. Kalb, a former Washington journalist and author in her own right, has published “Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb” since 2012. My Q&A can be found here.
I’d like to thank host Russell Contreras and the staff at New Mexico PBS station KNME-TV for inviting me to talk about my new book, Crosses of Iron: The Tragic History of Dawson, New Mexico, and Its Twin Mining Disasters. The interview aired Dec. 8 on the station’s New Mexico in Focus program. Both the…
When I started work on Crosses of Iron four years ago, one of my biggest fears was that one or more of the people I would come to know might not be with us by the time the book came out. That wasn’t me being paranoid. It was a realization that many of the people I…
The Dawson Elk Valley Ranch is back in the news. Under the headline “Aging Billionaire Cowboys Are Now Selling Their Iconic American Ranches,” Forbes magazine published a story in September that listed the nation’s nine largest ranches currently on the market. The old Dawson townsite made the list at No. 5 by size (50,000 acres)…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m always amazed at the number of people I meet at speaking engagements who have a direct or indirect link to Dawson. That was true before Crosses of Iron was released, and it’s certainly true now that the book is available online and at New Mexico bookstores. Cases…
Crosses of Iron
by Nick Pappas
Now available to order from:
University of New Mexico Press
… and other booksellers.
Audiobook version available to order from …
… and other audiobook sellers.
