We are not the first to secure our future at New Mexico’s Mundy Ranch, nor shall we be the last.  Long before European settlers laid claim to New Mexico’s land, nomadic tribes came to this remarkable valley for the abundant game and fish and the agreeable alpine climate.  And they came to sing.

The oldest known tribes to visit what is now New Mexico’s Mundy Ranch were the Capote band of the Southern Utes.  During the warm summer months, small family groups would travel well-known circuits through the Chama River Valley to harvest deer, elk, berries and fruits.  As winter approached, the families would make their way to lower elevations with their store of winter supplies.  At these homes, in northwestern New Mexico and eastern Arizona, Capote families would re-group for a winter of celebration and preparation for the following seasonal hunts.

For four days in early spring, Utes participated in the Bear Dance.  This powerful ritual was both a celebration of Ute spirituality as well as a harbinger of the coming trials that lay ahead.

The Bear Dance was by no means the only song of the Ute.  Today, their powerful drumming and haunting cedar flutes still call forth the specter of the ancient ones. And while the Utes and other nomads have moved on to another way of life, the courageous spirit of the nomad lives on in the reverent pioneers of New Mexico’s Mundy Ranch. 

Join us in celebrating a history of epoch proportions – New Mexico’s Mundy Ranch.