Our Ranch
The Pino family has owned and looked after this lush 4000-acre ranch for more than 100 years. From the great grandparents down to the current generation, we worked all our lives to preserve the land as a working ranch, conserving the soil, protecting the wildlife, and taking care of the environment. We remain dedicated to keeping this beautiful area just like it was a hundred years ago.
Honoring the Sacrifices Made
Our ancestors would be ecstatic to see the land protected from the dense development that is happening on at least two sides of the ranch. We want to honor our ancestors and the sacrifices they made to keep and preserve the ranch by continuing their conservation efforts. Our family is dedicated to preserving Pino Family Ranch’s historical and cultural resources as well. These include the original ranch headquarters, a jacal-style building that is also on the New Mexico register of historic places.
Remaining Historical & Cultural Artifacts
The remaining structures include the original Jacal home and a traditional adobe home built in the 1950s.
Structures on the ranch The Jacal House
Presciliano’s house is “jacal” construction, upright pinon logs which were cut into a wedge shape on top and fitted into grooved cross beams. The crossbeams hold up the rafters for the roof. Mud plaster was then applied to the exterior and interior walls. This type of building was first established by the local Indian population, and then adopted by the Hispanics when they entered the area. The jacal structures evolved from temporary structures made of small posts and branches to homes such as this one which uses larger dimension building materials and is quite sturdy.
The Jacal House Layout
The left door is a bedroom; the middle door is the entryway, the front room with the small window is the kitchen; the last room to the right, el saguaro, is where they stored purchased goods. The room to the back of the entryway is a second bedroom. Gregorio and Estefana were born in this house, and all of Gregorio’s children were born in the house.
The Windmill & Hand‑Dug Well
There is a windmill in the front yard situated over a forty-five foot deep hand-dug well which is lined with horizontal, hand hewn juniper logs (called cedar by people in the area) on all four sides. This well was dug by Presciliano Pino I. Due to a drop in the water table, the well is dry now but the timbers are holding up very well. The windmill was damaged by a freak windstorm in the 1970’s and had to be taken down but was repaired and put up again by family members in 2019.
Exterior Jacal House
Interior Jacal House
Interior Jacal House
The Outhouse
Exterior Adobe House
Ranching
The ranching practices were intrinsic to the identity of the Pino family. These practices were carried trans continentally (from Spain to New Spain, Mexico, and then New Mexico). The land was settled well before New Mexico's statehood.
Today, the ranching on the property is limited to a hobby rancher with a herd of approximately 80 cows. We like to think that our ancestors are smiling with a small herd grazing the land we cherish.
Topography Maps
Along with a rich and varied history, the Pino Family Ranch has an equally impressive topography.
Conservation
The ranch consists of open grasslands with yucca, grama spp., and sagebrush. The ranch also includes a large area of native sacaton grass along Nogal Arroyo, an intermittent stream that runs through the ranch.
Today, our goals are to preserve the ecology, history, and cultural resources of Pino Ranch.
In 2005, the family dedicated 2,480 acres into a conservation easement to help preserve and protect the ranch from unwanted subdivisions and development pressures in the area.
Soil conservation, protecting wildlife, protecting the watershed, and protecting the grasslands, foothills, unique fauna, and all the various wildlife.
The original ranch headquarters consists of a Jacal-style building that is on the NM Register of Historic Places. The Pinos have worked hard to restore and help preserve this unique historical structure.