anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation
anthropology preservation

Please Choose a site to learn more
Alexander McSween Home Excavation
Hembrillo Battlefield Survey
Lincoln County War History
Oliver Lee Ranch House Restoration

The early years were full of controversy as larger ranches and organized ranching associations sought to limit the activities of smaller ranchers. Gunplay was not uncommon and Oliver Lee was involved and allegedly involved in many of the resulting conflicts. Overcoming these trials, he became a much respected rancher and politician, serving several terms in the New Mexico legislature as a representative or senator from 1918 to 1930. Oliver Lee died quietly in 1941, aged 76, at his home in Alamogordo. His death ended one of the most colorful careers in New Mexico history, and signaled the close of an era.

In 1984, as a preliminary step to the reconstruction of the Oliver Lee Ranch House at Oliver Lee State Park, Human Systems Research excavated the majority of the interior rooms and much of the exterior walkways at this historic house. The artifacts and features of the house revealed much of the "nuts and bolts" of ranch life for a growing family in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Oliver Lee moved from the ranch house in 1907, moving to a new headquarters along the Sacramento River. Subsequently the house was rented and then used as a cow camp. After the land was purchased by the National Park Service to provide water to White Sands Monument, the house fell into disrepair. In 1971, Disney leased the house location to make the movie Scandalous John starring Brian Keith.

In the early 1980s, New Mexico State Parks acquired use of the land as part of Oliver Lee State Park, leading to the excavation and restoration of the house.

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