Around 1876, when Colorado was in the process of becoming a state, Maximo Vigil acquired approximately 200 acres under the 1862 Homestead Act and established a farm near Capulin. During this time the water was also registered. The farmland has been worked by six generations of the Vigil family. Maximo worked the land for many years until his son Venancio Vigil took over in the late 1930s. Venancio worked the farm with his children growing peas, alfalfa, and barley. Venancio purchased an additional 80 acres to expand the farm in 1936. When Venancio’s son Pete Vigil Sr. returned from World War II in June of 1945 he began working the farm with his father and his siblings. Pete Vigil Sr. farmed and obtained the land in the 1950s growing peas, wheat, oats, barley, and alfalfa. In the early 1970s Maximo’s great-grandson Pete Vigil Jr. took over the farm, which is now identified as Vigil Farms. Pete made many improvements, such as building a reservoir in 1976 and land leveling the acreage. Pete has grown alfalfa on the 280-acre farm for over 48 years and worked the farm with his late son Michael Vigil. Pete Vigil Jr. continues to improve the farm every year, recently adding new head gates and a new sprinkler system and pipeline for more efficient irrigation. Pete received the 2012 Outstanding Conservationist of the Year Award from the Conejos County Conservation District and with his grandchildren continues his family’s tradition of farming and working hard to earn an honest living.