A suspicious ranch at the foothills of Archuleta Mesa on the Colorado side?

A suspicious ranch at the foothills of Archuleta Mesa on the Colorado side?

by Norio Hayakawa
November 13, 2010

November 11, 2010 was quite an interesting day for me.

A good colleague of mine from Dulce and I drove the entire circumference of the Archuleta Mesa, beginning from County Rd. 357 (going north) from Highway 64 in Lumberton to view the eastern slope and then entering into Colorado (near Edith), and then going west and then north on County Rd. 359 (Coyote Park Rd.) and then going northeast on County Rd. 542 (Montezuma Rd.) and then viewing the northern foothills of the Mesa.

From there we went south on County Rd. 500 (south Trujillo Rd.) and then to Indian Rte 169 (Juanita Rd.), crossing into New Mexico side to see the Western Slope and finally to the southern hills of the Mesa along the Navajo River north of the town of Dulce. All these roads were dirt roads.
We drove about 45 miles to take the entire trip around the Mesa.
This really showed me how large the entire Archuleta Mesa area is.
(By the way the Archuleta Mesa includes Mount Archuleta on the west side, just south of the Colorado state line).

In this trip we did not see anything unusual, except for a somewhat suspicious-looking private ranch (the Redding Ranch) on the northern side of the Archuleta Mesa (the Colorado side).

There seemed to be a metallic hangar-like building in the ranch and, if that is the case, then most likely a landing strip behind it.
There were some small buildings in the ranch, along with four or five metallic (bullet-proof?) hunting-towers that seem to guard the area. Those hunting towers definitely seemed out of place in such an area.
This former private ranch (the Redding Ranch) changed hands many times and is now under the total control of the Utes of Southern Colorado, and the warning sign says "No Trespassing" and "property of the Utes tribe". Could this be an outpost for a base or an operating area in Archuleta Mesa?

*READ MORE ABOUT THE REDDING RANCH AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

It seemed to me that this type of a compound could easily be used by any Black Ops programs.
Moreover, the Redding Ranch may be the only access to the Archuleta Mesa from the Colorado side.

As for the Eastern slope areas of Archueta Mesa (as we drove on County Rd. 357 from Lumberton towards Edith), it seems that the Mesa is inaccessible to any heavy traffic (such as trucks, etc) since it is protected by the river and since there are no bridges on any northeastern portion of the mesa.

According to the Air Force Colonel from whom Anthony Sanchez got the information, the second, two-level underground installation is located in an area between the Eastern slope of Archuleta Mesa and County Rd. 357, near the Colorado stateline.

True, it seems that there are some ranches (which could easily be used as outposts for any Black Ops programs) near the northerneastern portion of the Mesa on the Colorado side. However, the logistics involved in creating such an alleged entrance and concealed heli-pads in that area may have been difficult or nearly impossible with lack of any bridges to get to the Eastern as well as to the Northeastern slope.
As I just mentioned it seems that the only access to the Mesa from the northeastern side or from the North side of the Mesa (i.e., from the Colorado side) may be from the Redding Ranch.

Anyway, as I mentioned, we continued driving further westward from the Redding Ranch area (still on County Rd. 542 - i.e., Montezuma Rd. - and then turned southward towards New Mexico from County Rd. 500 (Trujillo Rd.).
Then we took Indian Rte 169 (Juanita Rd., which is a public road) and entered New Mexico through County Rd. 551 (which is also a public road) to view the Western hills of the Mesa, which is also very rugged area.
Then we turned eastward on J-9 Rd. (a public road) towards Dulce.

J-9 Rd. splits into two, one becoming the Narrow Gage Rd. (also a public road which becomes Jicarilla Rd. that merges with Hwy 64 which takes you in front of Best Western and then on to Lumberton and to Chama) and the other one which becomes J-2 Rd. (also a public road).

The J-2 Rd. (a public road) is the road alongside the southern rugged hills of Archuleta Mesa.
About a third of a mile on J-2 Rd. (from the juncture of J-9 Rd. and J-2 Rd.) there is a steep road that takes you towards the summit of Mount Archuleta. Legally one must be accompanied by a Jicarilla Apache person in order to drive or hike on this steep road. Mount Archuleta is located near the west side of the Mesa slightly south of the Colorado stateline. It definitely seems that one would need a 4-wheel drive just to drive on that steep, rugged road towards the Mountain.

Then about a mile or so east on J-2 Rd., there is a steep road towards the Mesa called the Seguro Canyon Rd. This also seems to be a rugged road and probably the only road that will take you only to a point one third (if one is willing to hike for two or three hours further) to the radio antenna towers of the Archuleta Mesa). Legally one must also be accompanied by a Jicarilla Apache person in order to drive or hike on this road.

All of this shows that the access to Archuleta Mesa from the southern hills is extremely difficult, unless one is willing to hike for 5 or 6 hours to the top of the Mesa on the eastern side (the communications towers area) from these two steep roads. Moreover, as I mentioned, legally one must be accompanied by a Jicarilla Apache person to get to the top.

The way to get back to Dulce from J-2 Rd. is to keep going east on J-2 Rd. Then you will cross the bridge which connects J-2 Rd. and the River Rd.
The River Rd. then becomes Hawks Dr. which takes you back to Best Western Hotel area on Hwy 64.

*MORE ON THE REDDING RANCH:

*From a 1998 report by the National Institute For Discovery Science Report on the Redding War
Ranch at Mt. Archuleta, New Mexico - Colorado Border:

"It has been reported in the media and on the internet that the Redding War Ranch, located at 37° 2.91' north latitude and 107° 1.44' west longitude (GPS) next to Mt. Archuleta (straddling New Mexico - Colorado border), is rumored to be an undercover facility engaged in secret activity connected with Mt. Archuleta. These rumors further state that the ranch has eight armed guard watch towers scattered along the property. In addition, there is an unusual round steel (and air conditioned) building located behind a ranch entrance gate on the opposite side of the property (37° 6.02' north latitude and 107° 2.85' west longitude - GPS).

A metal plaque prominently posted on a watch tower door identified the manufacturer as Houston Blow Pipe & Steel Plate Works (P.O. BOX 1692, Houston, TX 77251-1692, phone: 713-675-2273, FAX: 713-675-5038). Having seen the towers and being interested in their origin and purpose, a simple phone call was made to the phone number above. It was learned during the phone conversation that the President and CEO of the company is Mr. W. A. Redding. Contrary to the myths that have been perpetuated, a simple explanation was provided by Mr. Redding.

1) Mr. Redding stated that the watch towers are actually hunting stands with the brand name "The Ultimate Hunting Stand." The hunting stands on the ranch are weather proof-heavy gauge steel construction (5 feet diameter, 850 pounds est. total weight) equipped with 10 feet high steel angle frame supports, steel ladder or a steel walk-up type stairway with steel pipe hand railing, propane heater and tank, five large one way mirror-pane plate glass (hinged and latched) windows (hunters can see out, but game cannot see inside), swivel chair, and indoor-outdoor carpet on floor and side wall. Further, the stands are used for photographing game and birds, and hunting of game (deer, elk, javelina, moose, sheep and turkeys). According to published literature, the stands have been in production since 1963 and employ 75 years of hunting and 60 years of steel fabrication experience in their design for all-weather hunting.

2) The round steel building is a bunk house for ranch hands designed and manufactured by Mr. Redding's Houston steel company. The bunk house design employs the same all-weather heavy gauge steel construction as the hunting stands along with air conditioning and fuel-oil heater. It is not currently being used.

3) The owner of the Redding War Ranch is Mr. Redding himself. He can be contacted at the phone number given above.

4) The Redding War Ranch is used to raise small herds of Beefalo"

OR, IS THERE MORE TO THE REDDING RANCH THAN THE ABOVE EXPLANATION BY NIDS?

Yes, I think so.
Here is what my good colleague from Dulce says about this. And I agree with him:

"Based on the source of research by NIDS, yes, this was their take on the ranch years after the ranch let its defense down and allowed folks to travel through it.
From early 1960's to late 1980's, you could not trespass on the Redding ranch, not even to retrieve a cow.
Why?
That is the million dollar question.
And, why are all the structures including the towers, doors and windows in bunkhouse constructed of a very heavy gage steel (making them bullet proof)?
NIDS continues to provide information or is it disinformation? to keep us off track, in my opinion.

In the fall of 1997, I led Gabe Valdez (former New Mexico State Patrol Officer in charge of the Dulce area) and two other scientists from NIDS on the expedition and continued through up to Mt. Archuleta.

We were able to go directly to the towers, enter, photograph and see the tags with the manufacturer.
I told them that the glass, doors, shutters and structures were bullet-proof and was going to show them, but inexplicably, Gabe Valdez stopped me.
I could not get them to go to the "bunkhouse and hangar" to investigate further.
It seemed that they were not very interested in the facilities.
Also, I noticed that the airstrip had been plowed and planted with oats.
But again, no interest was shown by Gabe Valdez and the NIDS folks".

I could not agree with him more, especially his take on NIDS.
I also do not trust NIDS (National Institute of Discovery Sciences).

Norio Hayakawa
http://noriohayakawa2012.blogspot.com