Life was tough for homesteaders who tried to find a way to support their families in Northern New Mexico, especially during droughts. Evidence of the challenges can be found in the abandoned homesteads of Upper Largo Canyon. Located on BLM land just off the Old Spanish Trail an hour south of Farmington, these homesteads speak of the hardships that caused some early settlers to give up and move somewhere more hospitable.
After a stage line was established along the length of Largo Canyon in 1865, homesteaders started settling the upper parts of the canyon. There was no real town or community center. Instead a Catholic church was built on one homestead and other services such as a cemetery, post office, and stores were in other locations.
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The Haynes Trading Post was operated in Largo Canyon between 1875 and 1908. This site has the remains of several rooms that made up the trading post as well as hogans and sweat lodges used by the Navajo who ran the trading post.
Today, visitors to the area can explore the ruins of three homesteads in Upper Largo Canyon. Because the most abundant resource for building was stone, these homes were made of rock and some had roofs made in the local style, using larger wooden vigas as beams for support and latillas, saplings or branches, for the roofing material.
In addition to these three homesteads, visitors to Largo Canyon may see Ancestral Puebloan sites and historic Navajo settlements. This is also one of the places that Antonio Armijo passed through with his trading expedition to Los Angeles, California, from Santa Fe on what is now the Old Spanish National Historic Trail.
There is no charge to visit and there are no services such as restrooms or water available. Most of the ruins are easy to access and aren’t far from where you can park. Detailed directions are on the BLM website.
Upper Largo Canyon Homesteads To Visit
Margarita Martinez Homestead
Margarita Martinez’s life wasn’t easy. She and her husband lived in Corrales until he died and their home was destroyed. In 1904, she moved to Tafoya Canyon with her children to try to carve out a new life. They built a four-room Spanish-American home with a viga and latilla roof, a corral, and established an irrigation ditch.
In their time there, the family farmed corn, beans, peas, and pumpkins. They also raised goats and cattle and had burros.
Fifteen years later, Margarita died in a wagon accident and her daughter Isabel and son-in-law Luis Tafoya, for whom the canyon is named, took over the property. However, there was a glitch with the patent paperwork that was filed by them in 1935, and the property never legally became theirs. The property was abandoned in 1943.
Martin Apodaca Homestead
Martin and Andrea Apodaca’s 160-acre homestead can be found at the head of what was once called Rincon Pollito, or Little Chicken Canyon. There are three buildings and a corral that were built between 1907 and 1918. The ranch was later sold to the Berry Cattle Company. After that, much of the ranch was sold to the Navajo and then exchanged for other land in 1991, bringing the land with the abandoned homesteads under the control of the BLM.
The Apodacas had a large herd of sheep and grew chile, tobacco, onions, garlic, and squash on a couple of acres of land. They also constructed a large earthen dam to contain spring water.
The most westerly of the four buildings was used as a community church called Nuestra Señora de la Buena Pastora, Our Lady of the Good Shepherd. The Farmington parish served the church, which was visited a few times a year by Padre Alberto.
Nester Martin Homestead
Nester Martin’s homestead was referred to as the Old Rock Ranch, located northeast of Rockhouse Canyon. Not much remains of the home Martin built back in the 1880s.
Why Did They Leave Largo Canyon?
Most of these homesteads were abandoned in the 1930s, when two forces beyond their control were going on: the Great Depression and a long-term drought. The Dust Bowl, which was devastating farms across the Great Plains, was affecting some parts of Northern New Mexico. Many people fled their farms and headed west to California during this time.
These could have been factors in the decisions to leave their homes. Farming is always a tenuous way to support a family and the isolation of these locations may have also played a role in the abandonment of the homesteads. Visit them when you’re in the area and imagine how life may have been for these homesteaders.
