Texas oil baron's son builds fence on $105m ranch to keep out locals

• William Harrison bought the 88,000-acre expanse of land in 2017
• He is locked in a legal dispute with locals who claim to have rights to the land 
• A trial this fall may order him to tear down his fence 

A Texas oil baron’s billionaire son is clashing with the descendants of original settlers after he built 20 miles of barbed wire fence to keep them off his $105 million ranch.

William Harrison, 37, bought the 88,000-acre expanse of land, named the Cielo Vista Ranch, stretching through the San Luis Valley in Colorado in 2017.

Hundreds of locals, who are descended from original Mexican and Spanish settlers, claim to have the right to legal access to the property under a 1844 agreement which allows them to graze their livestock, hunt and harvest timber.

But after he bought the property, Harrison started construction a miles-long, eight-foot-high barbed wire fence, claiming it is necessary to contain his herd of bison and keep out trespassers.

Locals say the fence is like a prison yard, separating deer from their young and destroying an irrigation system, as one man, Joseph Quintana, told The Colorado Sun: ‘It’s a way of him marking the territory of his prized possession, a vanity thing.’

William Harrison, 37, bought the expanse of land, named the Cielo Vista Ranch, stretching through the San Luis Valley in Colorado in 2017

Hundreds of locals claim to have the right to legal access to the property under a 1844 agreement

Since Harrison bought the land, the community has been embroiled in a series of lawsuits, arguing over access and usage rights.

He built 20 miles of fence before a group of residents, descended from the original settlers of the land, convinced the state district court to order a one-year moratorium on fence-building.

The ban runs out in September, with a trial set for the fall to decide whether the existing structure will have to be torn down.

Shirley Romero Otero, whose Jicarilla Apache ancestors were among the first settlers in the valley, told the Colorado Sun: ‘What’s hard for us living here on a daily basis to internalize and verbalize is the psychological impact.

‘He’s doing this to us because he’s always treated this community as second-class citizens.

‘The bottom line is he wants to keep us access holders from accessing our rights, and that is never going to happen.’

Residents say that cameras and drones keep watch on the fence while armed security guards man the gates, meaning even those with keys to the gates have allegedly been harassed.

One resident – who claims he has legal access to the land as a descendant of the original settlers – told the Sun that he was allegedly threatened with a $100,000 fine after he rode onto the land with his wife.

He built 20 miles of fence before a group of residents, descended from the original settlers of the land, convinced the state district court to order a one year moratorium on fence-building

Residents say that cameras and drones keep watch on the fence while armed security guards man the gates

Harrison’s attorney, Jamie Cotter, told the Colorado Sun that Harrison has been demonized, saying: ‘There has been a consistent attempt to dehumanize and demonize Mr. Harrison since he purchased the ranch.

‘It makes it much easier to hate someone when they are not thought of as human.’

She added: ‘The fence is not designed and does not operate to keep people out who have valid access rights.’

But residents say the fence has led to fewer elk and deer, trapped mountain lions and smaller animals as well as issues with erosion and irrigation.

They say that bulldozing the 20-foot wide strip for the fence to run along diverted water into gullies, which are now deepening and turning into canyons in the sand instead of spreading evenly as irrigation.

As well as the ecological impacts, residents say the fence has had a huge impact on community traditions, fencing in a cemetery and blocking a popular route used in a Catholic Good Friday parade.

Harrison runs private elk hunts on the land – charging up to $10,000 for five days – and charges hikers $150 a day to climb a peak within the fence.

Harrison’s attorney, Jamie Cotter, told the Colorado Sun that Harrison has been demonized

Harrison runs private elk hunts on the land – charging up to $10,000 for five days

He also charges hikers $150 a day to climb a peak within the fence

He bought the land from a group of Texas investors who had in turn bought the land from the disgraced CEO of Enron, Lou Pai. Residents say there is never any sign he is living there, except for the arrival and departure of his helicopter.

The intense dispute is just the latest in a century-long feud between a string of wealthy landowners and the descendants of the original settlers.

Previous ranch owners have been shot at and had their homes burned down while residents have been beaten and dragged through the courts.

A 1981 case over the land access with a previous owner became Colorado’s longest-running lawsuit, lasting 19 years, and ending in 2002 with a ruling that said roughly 5,000 residents of original Spanish and Mexican settlers had access and usage rights to the land.

Local Joseph Quintana told the Colorado Sun that Harrison’s new fence has been built ‘in the most destructive way possible.’

He added: ‘There is no rational reason for that kind of fence here. My theory is that he put the fence up because he’s a billionaire.’

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