The patriarchs of La Cueva have come and gone, but their passion endures. It whispers through the cottonwoods and gurgles through the banks of the acequias.

The famous La Cueva Ranch of Mora County, New Mexico, has survived the vicissitudes of heartbreak and bankruptcy, prosperity and conflict throughout its long history of 17 decades. Vicente Romero, the ranch’s founder, and Colonel William Salman, the ranch’s steward, savored their moments of tranquil reflection beside the crackling fires of the hearths within the “Big House.”

La Cueva Ranch, known today as the Salman Ranch and originally as the Vicente Romero Ranch, is not just a fascinating cultural landscape of many facets and great integrity; it also now embodies a narrative of inspiring power. The great ranch estate of more than 30,000 acres was assembled and cultivated by Vicente Romero and his family after the Mora Land Grant was awarded to the original settlers of the country in 1835. Under Don Vicente’s astute management, the ranch was transformed from mere pastureland to a sophisticated agricultural and residential compound.

 

 

 

 

The Big House, completed in 1863, is the lodestar of the La Cueva constellation of landmark historic structures, which includes a gristmill, general store, post office, and the church of San Rafael (1877), as well as numerous other houses, stables, gardens, and many other unique features. The recently restored San Rafael church, with its neatly chiseled and pointed Gothic-style windows (in deference to Archbishop Jean Batiste Lamy of Santa Fe cathedral fame), is a potent inspiration for artists, photographers, and time travelers. Together, these structures comprise La Cueva National Historic District, designated in 1973.

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