Gathering seeks return of more agriculture to Presidio Valley

By JOHN DANIEL GARCIA

PRESIDIO COUNTY – The fall La Junta Gathering at La Junta Ranch starts today and runs through Sunday. This season’s gathering is the first one open to the public and the fourth overall.

The gathering is being organized by La Junta Heritage Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 2009 by a group dedicated to preserve the vision of prolific nomadic artist A. Kelly Pruit, who before his death, advocated ecological renewal, sustainable building, and the return of sustainable agriculture, and cultural preservation to the La Junta area, at the confluence of the Rio Grand and the Rio Conchos, located in the Presidio Valley of West Texas.

The area, rich in history, served as a migration rout for Spanish priests and those searching for El Dorado, the lost city of gold. The site is also where Spanish conquistador Cabeza De Vaca crossed into North America.

The La Junta Heritage Center is governed by a 15-person board, made up mostly of friends of Pruit, and includes Terry Bishop. Bishop is the executor of Pruit’s estate. He and his family gave 73 acres of their Presidio Valley farm to the organization through a 99-year lease.

The theme for the gathering this month is “work-play-camp-learn.” The community is invited to the event to learn more about the group’s plans and the history of La Junta.

La Junta Heritage center takes donations from their website at www.lajuntaheritage.org and is looking to start a membership program. The gathering is free and all are invited to attend.

UFO abductions are not the responsibility of the organization.