"In 169 years of ranching in the San Luis Valley, Demetrio Valdez's family has survived Indian raids, the U.S.-Mexico war, Manifest Destiny, urban flight, coyotes and mountain lions and bears, cloud seeding, environmentalists, poverty and isolation. But 2002 may produce a lethal mix of elements the Valdez family cannot weather.
... Now, the dry summer - 0.64 of an inch of rain has fallen in two months - along with last winter's meager snowfall, threatens his dwindling cattle and horse business.
...The reality is Antonito will probably not get its annual 8 inches of rain, just as it has not for three years. This year's total is a paltry 1.63 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
...If Valdez gives up ranching, a chapter in Colorado history ends. His great, great, great grandfather Seledon Valdez was among four families who signed the Conejos land grant in 1833 with the Mexican government, which ceded the families 2.5 million acres in the San Luis Valley. As far as anyone knows, Demetrio Valdez is the last remaining descendant of those four families who is still ranching."