18907 - A Classic New Mexico Saga: The Rancher Who Stood His Ground

Course Overview

In the remote high plains of Otero Mesa, an extraordinary real-life showdown unfolded like an old-fashioned Western. In the 1960s, 82-year-old rancher and mule-owner, John Prather, refused to surrender his 1880s homestead to the US Army, even as neighboring ranchers from forty miles around capitulated to make way for the Army’s vaunted Nike-Ajax missile testing program. Frustrated military officials surrounded Prather’s home with soldiers and army vehicles as an El Paso television news helicopter captured the standoff from above. Meanwhile, UNM graduate student Edward Abbey watched from campus. The defiant rancher’s spirit would later echo through characters in Abbey’s celebrated novels. Explore a little-known, yet fascinating David and Goliath tale from New Mexico’s Cold War history.