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Excerpts from Abe Peña's  popular publications

All material used with the kind permission of the author, given to me personally.

from RANCHING

"Floyd W. Lee—A Man of Vision

His Hispanic neighbors called him “El Floylee.” Floyd W. Lee came to the Fernandez Ranch after World War I, and, in his own words, “To work as a cowboy.”

The Colonel Manuel Chávez Ranch, later known as the Fernandez Ranch and today as the Floyd Lee Ranch, was named Chavesville on some territorial maps. San Mateo nearby was on the route for the stagecoach that ran from Santa Fe through Peña Blanca, San Isidro, Cabezon, San Mateo, and on to Fort Wingate (San Rafael) in the late 1860s and 1870s.

In 1917, during the First World War, Floyd Lee enlisted in the U. S. Army. At that time, he was a senior at the University of New Mexico. His unit, the 66th Artillery Brigade, where he served with the rank of sergeant, was in action at Chateau-Thierry, the Meuse-Argonne, and Saint Mihiel and the second battle of the Marne.

Harry, his son, once told me that his father traced his ancestry back to Robert E. Lee, Confederate General in the Civil War. Mr. Lee was a hard worker and, in time, became the manger of the ranch. He married Frances Marron, who came from a prominent family in Albuquerque, and they had twins born in 1928—Harry and Harriet, called by their parents Bito and Bita. In the 1930s, the Lees bought the ranch.

Mrs. Lee attended Catholic Mass in San Mateo from time to time, and sometimes Mr. Lee joined her, especially for funeral masses. Mr. Lee's brother Lawrence lived in Florida, and for many years donated Florida palms to our Catholic Church and to La Morada de Los Penitentes to distribute to worshippers on Palm Sunday. Palms were laid, as you will recall, in the Lord's path when he entered Jerusalem, where he was crucified.

As a youngster, I recall going to the ranch headquarters once with my father, and the twins were out for recess. They had a live-in teacher and studied at home. That morning, a ranch hand was skinning a skunk and hat it strung up by the legs on the hitching post. He must have removed the stink gland from the little fellow, because there was hardly any smell.

The twins were about eight years old, and held their noses while screaming and running in wide circles around the hitching post. I was about ten and stayed in the pickup while Dad was in the house visiting with Mr. Lee. After a while, the teacher came out ringing a bell, and the twins ran back in the house to continue their studies.

About 1936, the Lees built a “big red barn” and invited the people from San Mateo and friends from around New Mexico and elsewhere to the inauguration of the big red barn in late summer. I recall going with my father and mother and other members of the family to participate in the inaugural. The tall handsome building was impressive. It stood about 40 feet high and had a weathervane mounted at the top of the gabled roof. The well-built barn is still in use today.

Some of the guests flew in from around New Mexico in their open-cockpit airplanes. Goggles and leather caps were strapped to their weather-beaten faces, and red scarves whipped in the wind.

Among other visitors at the celebration was don Silvestre Mirabal, a large sheep owner from San Rafael and a good friend of the Lees and the people of San Mateo.

I remember the fine Jersey cows they had penned in the barn, and some quality white-face Herefords. They also had sheep and goats in pens, and some fine saddle as well as draft horses in stalls. Most colorful were the peacocks fanning their tails and making their loud squawking noises in the courtyard.

The barbecued meat and beans were dug out of a hot pit and served on sparkling tin plates with chile and breles (a camp bread baked in a dutch oven). The musicians played and sang Mrs. Lee's favorite song, “El Rancho Grande,” as they ambled through the crowd. Later, they went in the barn to start the dance. The dance, as I recall, was on the second floor, with bales of hay to sit on while guests visited and waited for the next number.

The new red barn completed the last side of a square formed by ranch buildings. A large cottonwood tree stood near the center of the square. There were also some larger cottonwoods behind the residence, and others that lined the main entrance road, which remains the signature mark of the ranch.

Mr. Lee was active in the New Mexico Wool Growers Association, Inc., and served as its President for about thirty-two years. He was also active in the Cattle Growers Association and the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau Association.

He served twelve years as state senator from Valencia County, and was active in the Republican Party. He served as county treasurer for many years, and was a delegate to the National Convention in 1952 when Dwight Eisenhower was nominated for President and went on to win the Presidency of the United States.

Mrs. Frances Marron Lee, a most attractive and gracious lady, was born in Albuquerque to a prominent family. She attended the primary grades in Albuquerque and finished high school at Notre Dame College at Belmont, California, and got her bachelors degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

She was elected and served several terms as National Committee Women of the Republican Party. She also served on the Board of Regents at the University of New Mexico and chaired the Grants Municipal and Consolidated School Board. She was very active in 4-H Clubs, and was instrumental in getting the program underway in Valencia County. She was also a member of PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization) in Grants.

In 1953, President Eisenhower appointed her permanent United States delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women. She headed the United States delegation to the Commission's Ninth assembly at Asuncion, Paraguay. She was also appointed by the President to the Tenth Inter-American Conference in Caracas, Venezuela, headed by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

Over the years, Mr. and Mrs. Lee received many honors for their service to their community, their state, and their country. They both spoke fluent Spanish, as did their two children, Harry and Harriet.

He was an innovator. For example, he fenced his sheep pastures with net wire to allow turning the sheep loose when sheep herders began to get scarce after the Second World War. He installed solar panels on water tanks to keep the drinking water from freezing for the livestock. He was one of the first wool growers to use Professor Neale's squeeze machine. The machine recorded the percentage of clean wool in a fleece, an important factor in classifying and selecting sheep for increased production.

It was our good fortune on the Peña Ranch to neighbor the Lee Ranch for several miles of common boundary and watch what innovations worked for them. Then we adopted the new practices. We had a close working relationship with the Lee family and their employees, Alcario, Telesfor, and Santiago Gonzales, Ambrosio Montaño, and others.

I recall one time Mr. Lee joining a conversation on the subject of rain and how the rains were, and he said, “The best thing to do is to have a big ranch, then it will rain somewhere!” Another time, the subject of water came up and he said, “Water in New Mexico is as popular as a spigot in hell!”

In the late 1970s, the ranch switched from a sheep and cattle enterprise to cattle only. When the U. S. Congress prohibited the use of poison to control coyotes, it spelled an end to the commercial sheep industry in the Grants area.

Another change was the development of a coal mine by the Santa Fe Railroad on the ranch in the 1980s. Known as the Lee Ranch Coal Mine, it employs hundreds of workers and contributes to the electric power generation of the United States.

Mr. Lee passed away in 1987 at age 91, and services were held at the First Presbyterian Church in Grants. Friends came from all over the country to join the family and neighbors at the funeral. He was buried in the Grants Memorial Cemetery near some large cottonwoods.

Mrs. Frances Lee died in 1990 and was laid to rest next to Mr. Lee. Former Governor Ed Mechem was among a large crowd that came to pay their final respects. Their daughter Harriet passed away in 1991. Her gravestone next to her parents is inscribed with her given name, and also her nickname, “Bita.”

Harry died in a plane crash in 1977 while working on their ranch on Mount Taylor. His grave rests near the other family members, shaded by some tall pines donated by former Governor Tom Bolack in Harry's memory.

Harry was survived by his wife Iona Moll Lee and their sons, Floyd and Harry, and daughter Marron. They are carrying on the operation of the ranch in the same successful tradition of Mr. & Mrs. Floyd W. Lee."