Miguel Chávez

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New Mexico Magazine

Films, book reveal 'High Country' Story

By Denise M. Spranger
Below Photo by Megan Bowers

At the age of ten, Miguel Chávez yearned to join the men in his family as they brought their flocks to summer pasture in the "high country," that vast wilderness above timberline in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. When circumstances suddenly granted his wish, the boy found himself challenged with the responsibilities of a man. Eventually, two films and an award-winning book would reveal his story, and, in doing so, immortalize a vanishing tradition deeply rooted in New Mexican history.

Sheep ranchers for generations, the Chavez men spent entire summers on La Truchas Peak in the Pecos Wilderness, making camp between snow-fed streams. Every two weeks, supplies were delivered to a meeting point north of PeZasco.

"If you missed that day," Chávez says with a grin, "you wouldn’t eat. That’s what it was out there. Survival."

The 1951 release of Joseph Krumgold’s documentary-style film, And Now Miguel, captured the quiet drama of this "rite of passage," featuring Chávez in the leading role. Krumgold later produced a children’s book of the same title, which won "The Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children" in 1954 and has since been translated into several languages. Hollywood brought its own version of And Now Miguel to the screen in 1966.

Though Chávez has carried the memories for more than half a century, his gaze still reflects the green summers and hard living of a youth he’s never forgotten.

"I remember it like it was this morning," says Chávez, "It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work. We had over three thousand head of sheep and there were times when it rained and hailed and we’d lose most of them. We’d walk all the way to the bottom of the canyon and back up–so it would take us a couple of days to round them up. And by that time, the bear had gotten to half of them."

Chávez recalls that predators were not the only threat to the flocks.

"Up there above timberline there was nothing but lightning," he says, "It’s amazing that we never got struck ourselves."

Although fortunate to be spared certain "Acts of God," the Chávez men were no strangers to hardship.

"We had to pack everything up there on horseback," Chávez recollects, "And so you didn’t take but what you needed. Still, you had to protect yourself from the bear and the mountain lion so I always carried a rifle with me. That was one thing that was a necessity."

Despite the perils, Chávez remembers plenty of good times.

"At night we’d sit there at the campfire drinking coffee and look up at the stars," he says, "and I always took time to go fishing."

Apparently, the young Chávez also took time to go fishing when the camera crews were ready to shoot his scenes for And Now Miguel.

"They really had a hard time with me," Chávez says with a smile, "They started bribing me to show up–that’s how I got my first real fishing pole. I’d been using willow sticks until then."

While being a "star" offered a few rewards, it was the harsh reality of the Korean War which had led Chavez to his first season in the high country. When his older brother, Gabriel, was called to military service, the ten-year-old Chavez learned that he would now take his brother’s place on the summer journey.

And Now Miguel takes us on that remarkable journey which–for the Chávez men–was simply a way of life. In fact, that "way of life" would soon fade for the Chávezes themselves, as a changing economy forced them to seek other means of survival.

Yet Chávez says he has no regrets. Before serving his stint in the U.S. Army, he married Francis in 1962. The couple, who still make their home in Chávez’ native community of Los Cordovas, raised a daughter, Roberta, and a son Miguel Jr. After 30 years in the hand-crafted furniture business, the couple began a new venture in vacation rentals.

Although Chávez is now 63, the legacy of his childhood endures–as children all over the world still read the story of the shepherd boy who spent his summers in the high country of New Mexico.

Although Denise M. Spranger of Taos has written on a range of topics, from scuba diving in the Yucatan to the plight of the wild mustang, the subjects closest to her heart remain the people she has come to know in New Mexico.