 Los Alamos Ranch School Fir Patrol, 1940, by T. Harmon Parkhurst. Courtesy/LAHS Photo Archive, Parkhurst Collection By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society As noted in the book Los Alamos: The Ranch School Years, “photography played an important role in advertising and promoting Los Alamos” from its early years to the closing in 1945, but photography also made a huge contribution to historians who have worked to document the 25 years of the school’s history. There are copious pictures of everyday life at the school, from classrooms to sleeping porches to trail rides and camping in the Jemez. A few photos are like the family vacation pictures of a memorable moment not quite in focus—but most are not. Many are works of art and composed beautifully, sharp and framed perfectly through the lens. The reason for that, and for our good fortune all these years later, is that LARS Director A.J. Connell had the foresight to see the importance of a good photographic record and to hire two of the best photographers in the West to help with that record—T. Harmon Parkhurst and Laura Gilpin.
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By Sharon Sndyer Los Alamos Historical Society  Boys from the Los Alamos Ranch School’s Spruce Patrol at Camp May (date unknown). Courtesy/Los Alamos Historical Society Archive The Los Alamos County Park known as Camp May has long been enjoyed as a place for picnics, camping, hiking, birding, and many other outdoor pursuits, but a look into its history can make possible an even greater appreciation.
Camp May came into existence in the early years of the Los Alamos Ranch School (LARS) when a cabin was built in 1922-1923 on a site leased from the Forest Service. The large cabin with its stone fireplace became a popular base camp for weekend trips into the mountains and for skiing and hunting trips for the older LARS boys. The cabin was a gift of George and Edith May of Chicago. Their son, George T. May III, was one of four graduates of the Ranch School in 1923. The generosity of the May family and the advantage of special use permits from the Forest Service helped to enlarge the school’s campus without the need to purchase more land. The Ranch School would eventually own more than 750 acres including its main campus around Fuller Lodge, but the use of thousands of acres of national forests and park land greatly enhanced the possibilities.  In this photo, María and Marcos Gomez are revisiting the site of their homestead on Two-Mile Mesa. Behind them is what was left of a corral. (Los Alamos Historical Society Photo Archives.) By Aimee Slaughter
Los Alamos Historical Society How did people in the Pajarito Plateau’s past get their water? How did they live in a dry environment like ours? Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here hundreds of years ago used ingenious dryland farming techniques, and homesteading farmers at the turn of the twentieth century also conserved water for their farms and families. The Los Alamos Ranch School had to provide water for students, staff, and animals at the school. When the Manhattan Project took over the area, a rapidly growing population strained infrastructure, and providing enough water to homes was a constant concern. For hundreds of years, people have solved the challenges of finding water in a dry environment and have created diverse and vibrant communities here on the Pajarito Plateau.  A small visitor enjoys the Los Alamos Memorial Rose Garden. Photo by Sharon Snyder By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society For the first day of spring 2020, it seems appropriate to tell the story of a flower garden. Not just any flower garden, but one that has been special to Los Alamos for many years. Since the days of the Los Alamos Ranch School there have been gardens near Fuller Lodge, adding color to a scene that is special to all of us and enjoyed by visitors from around the world. As early as 1930, Helen Sulier, the Ranch School’s nurse, created a small flower garden near the Lodge and tended it for many years.  Students and a master enjoy leisure time in the main room of the Sagebrush Inn c. 1945, a room that doesn’t look so very different today. Courtesy photo By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society The history of the Los Alamos Ranch School (LARS) is well documented. Two books have been written about the school, and the centennial of its founding was celebrated in 2017. People in our community are reminded of the LARS years when they see the log and stone buildings along Bathtub Row or attend an event in beautiful Fuller Lodge, structures that were created for the ranch school that are now part of our historic district. Because the school closed at the height of its success, taken over by the Manhattan Project, LARS is still remembered and revered. Despite all of this recognition, few people are aware that the school tried to resurrect itself in Taos.  By SHARON SNYDER and MAXINE JOPPA
Los Alamos Historical Society In 1973, the alumni of the Los Alamos Ranch School arranged a huge reunion in Santa Fe. Many of the former students flew to Chicago just to take a special train to Lamy, a route many of them had taken as young boys. John Shedd Reed, CEO of the Santa Fe Railroad and a member of the LARS Class of 1933, made the cars on that special train available. Once in Santa Fe, the alumni stayed at Bishop’s Lodge, then owned by Jim Thorpe, LARS Class of 1942. In anticipation of the “boys” returning to Los Alamos for a day, the historical society sent old photographs from the Ranch School era to the Los Alamos Monitor to publish in advance of the visit. Those same pictures, clipped from the newspapers, were displayed for the men to see during the reunion, and, naturally, they wanted copies of the photographs! The historical society explored the possibility of furnishing prints from the original photos, but that idea proved too expensive to recreate all of them in large numbers. So, another idea emerged. All of the photos could be put together in a commemorative book that would sold to the men who had attended the reunion. With a little more thought, it seemed a good idea to add some history of the school and captions for the photographs, but all of those plans were to be carried out by a group of volunteers who knew little or nothing about publishing and had no money! Ranch School master Fermor Church was ill (he would die within a few months), but he and his wife, Peggy Pond Church, agreed to write a short history of the school to go with the photographs. To produce the book, the volunteers who put it all together went to the Los Alamos Credit Union and secured a no-interest loan on a “pay it back as you can” basis. With the book finally ready to go to press, the inexperienced publishers contracted with a printer in Albuquerque, but they were given a bad press run. When the books arrived, there were mistakes and even some pages missing! By Sharon Snyder
Los Alamos Historical Society In the 25 years of the Los Alamos Ranch School’s existence, more than 550 boys came to the Pajarito Plateau as students and/or summer campers. Almost all of them went on to earn college degrees and make contributions to their chosen communities and, in many cases, to the nation. The last four boys to graduate from the ranch school in late January of 1943 went on to make the school proud, and they epitomize the young men who were our “LARS boys.” By SHARON SNYDER
Los Alamos Historical Society The first airplane to land on the Pajarito Plateau set down in a open field in 1928. It was flown by Ashley Pond Jr., founder of the Los Alamos Ranch School. Pond had planned to volunteer for pilot training in World War I. He tried to enlist in the army, but at 45 he was turned down because of his age. Undeterred, he handed over the reins of the ranch school to A. J. Connell and joined the Red Cross. He served in France as a canteen worker near the front lines, so close that he came under fire during the American attack at St. Mihiel. Unwilling to give up his dream of flying after returning home, Ashley eventually began flying lessons in 1928 with Bill Cutter, the year that Cutter Flying Service was started in Albuquerque. What could have been more tempting for Pond than to fly over the school he created and land in the outer fields? By HEATHER MCCLENAHAN
Los Alamos Historical Society Few buildings induce the wonder and awe that Fuller Lodge evokes in first-time visitors. The majestic, three-story building of upright logs is the heart and soul of the community of Los Alamos. From its construction during the days of the Los Alamos Ranch School through today, it always has been. The building was designed by John Gaw Meem, a famous Southwestern architect known today as the father of Santa Fe’s Style. He used the Big House, the Ranch School’s dormitory, which also had upright log construction, as his model. By HEATHER MCCLENAHAN
Los Alamos Historical Society Many years ago, someone at Los Alamos High School penciled on the fore edge of a history book on the teacher’s desk, “In case of flood, grab this. It’s dry.” Perhaps many of us had the kind of high school history classes in which textbooks spewed forth dates and names for dead people—“Memorize these for the test!”— and listed names of battles that seemed far away. Such textbooks offered no context to illustrate the importance or why all that stuff should be learned. |
AboutThese articles are written by the Los Alamos Historical Society Staff. Many of these articles were originally published by the Categories
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