COSTILLA COUNTY — An unidentified buyer has anted up $105 million for one of the San Luis Valley's largest ranches.
After passing through many owners, beginning with heirs to a storied land grant, Cielo Vista Ranch, also known as the Taylor Ranch, at the eastern edge of Costilla County has been sold.
Realtors claim the sale of the 83,000-acre ranch marks the largest U.S. ranch sale in 2017, but details of the sale and the identity of the buyer were not disclosed.
Listing broker Jeff Hubbard, who has guided elk and sheep hunts on the ranch for two decades, said in a written statement that the buyer “is absolutely ideal.”
“He is one who is a true conservationist and is deeply committed to preserving this national treasure and extraordinary resource. He truly appreciates and embraces the responsibility of ensuring this property remains a reflection of our state’s beautiful landscapes, diverse wildlife and heritage for decades to come,” Hubbard states.
As part of the purchase price, the next owner will also have the ability to establish how the ranch’s commercial enterprises continue — if at all. Culebra Peak could be bought, for example, and wiped entirely from Colorado’s stock “14’ers.” The cost to climb the prominent peak has been $150 per person but no more are allowed this year.
When Denver-based ranch broker Ken Mirr listed the ranch at $105 million earlier this year, he said he was looking for a conservationist who would protect the property.
Billionaire hedge-fund owner and renowned conservationist Louis Bacon paid $175 million for the 172,000-acre Trinchera Ranch in 2007, paying roughly $1,100 an acre for the spread that is north of Cielo Vista.
Trinchera’s per-acre cost is not far off the $1,250-per-acre price tag for Cielo Vista.
The buyer is not Bacon, Mirr said, but “we found the right person for sure.”
Mirr said one-third of the property is under a conservation easement and he would not say if the new buyer planned to add more acreage to an agreement that prevented further development.
“They certainly will not be developing it or anything else other than fixing it up and maintaining it and being very involved in stewarding that property,” Mirr said of the buyer, calling him “a new neighbor to the area.”
The vast ranch was acquired from original settlers in the 1960s by New Bern, N.C lumber baron Jack T. Taylor, who began fencing off lands his neighbors had long used for sustenance guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Title to the land and even the mere use of it has been a story of crime, violence and legal wrangling, since the Spanish grantees had their lands taken through legal technicalities, such as having to register their titles in English in Denver.
The top of the Sangre de Cristo range, including the 14,053-foot Culebra Peak, along with 18 peaks over 13,000 feet, make up the eastern boundary of the property for over 23 miles.
Alpine terrain gives way to large stands of pine, spruce, fir, aspens and meadows. The ranch is home to thousands of elk, while bighorn sheep roam the property’s high country peaks and glacial basins.
The land has an official history dating back to before Colorado gained statehood, when Mexico granted it to a French Canadian trapper.
Under his watch, part of what is now Cielo Vista Ranch was deeded to Mexican and Spanish settlers, which included rights for logging, hunting and grazing.
Started under Spanish rule, the system of land grants was continued by the Mexican government after they gained independence from Spain in 1821.
The San Luis Valley was part of Mexico’s northern frontier along with the Taos and Cimarron, N.M. areas. Some French Canadians were allowed to settle in these areas.
One of them was Charles (Carlos) Beaubien, who came in 1824, became a citizen and married a woman from Taos.
Another “naturalized citizen” was Stephen Louis Lee, originally from Missouri.
He and Beaubien’s son, Narcisco, petitioned Governor Manuel Armijo for the 1 million acre Sangre de Cristo Land Grant in the San Luis Valley.
They received the land in 1844, but they were both killed three years later during the Taos Rebellion and the grant went to Carlos Beaubien.
In 1848, after the Mexican War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo was signed, guaranteeing the new American citizens the right to the grants, which they had previously been given.
Beaubien’s title was confirmed by the U.S. Congress in 1860. However, he died four years later and the land was sold to Col. William Gilpin, the first territorial governor of Colorado.
Gilpin’s grant was sold to Eastern investors in 1869 and was divided into two parts, the Trinchera estate in the north and the Costilla estate in the south.
At this time, there were an estimated 2,000 Hispanic settlers living on the land.
The eastern developers attempted to sell the Costilla portion to Dutch immigrants who would not agree to buy the land unless the “La Gente” already living there were removed.
Later, when the land was for sale again, the inhabitants produced legal documents to their title from Carlos Beaubien, but the documents were ignored and Taylor gained title.
He also became the defendant in one of Colorado’s longest-lasting civil suits, filed in 1981 and again in 1988, when Enron executive Lou Pai bought the ranch from the Taylor family in 1988 for $20 million.
In 2002, the Colorado Supreme Court restored wood gathering and grazing rights to heirs of the original settlers, ending a 30-year lawsuit.
The decision denied hunting and grazing rights, and Pai appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear his case.
In 2004, Pai sold the ranch for $60 million to Bobby Hill, a Texas-based rancher and land speculator, along with some business partners.
The most recent sale more than doubles their investment.
The Costilla County Assessor's website doesn’t have the name of the new owner online yet and only the sellers have issued statements.