Texas oil baron’s billionaire son, 37, builds 20 miles of barbed wire fence around his $105 million Colorado ranch to keep out locals who claim they are legally allowed on the land

The billionaire son of a Texas oil baron is clashing with the descendants of the original settlers after building 20 miles of barbed wire to keep them off his $105 million ranch.

William Harrison, 37, in 2017 purchased the 88,000-acre tract of land called the Cielo Vista Ranch, which stretches through Colorado’s San Luis Valley.

Hundreds of local residents, who are descendants of original Mexican and Spanish settlers, claim they are entitled to legal access to the property under an 1844 agreement that allows them to graze their livestock, hunt and harvest timber.

But after purchasing the property, Harrison began building a mile-long, eight-foot-high barbed wire fence, claiming it was necessary to contain his herd of bison and keep out intruders.

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

Hundreds of locals claim they are entitled to legal access to the property under an 1844 agreement

Since Harrison purchased the land, the community has been embroiled in a series of lawsuits, contesting access and use rights.

He built a 20-mile fence before a group of residents, descendants of the land’s original settlers, convinced the district court to order a yearlong moratorium on fence construction.

The ban expires in September, and a trial will take place in the autumn to decide whether the existing structure should be demolished.

Shirley Romero Otero, whose Jicarilla Apache ancestors were among the valley’s first settlers, told the Colorado Sun: “What is difficult for us who live here every day to internalize and articulate is the psychological impact.

“He is doing this to us because he has always treated this community as second-class citizens.

“The bottom line is that he wants to prevent us as access holders from accessing our rights, and that will never happen.”

Residents say cameras and drones monitor the fence while armed guards man the gates, meaning even those with keys to the gates have been harassed.

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

He built a thirty-mile fence before a group of residents, descendants of the land’s original settlers, convinced the district court to order a one-year moratorium on fence construction.

Residents say cameras and drones monitor the fence while armed security guards man the gates

Harrison’s attorney, Jamie Cotter, told the Colorado Sun that Harrison was being demonized, saying, “There has been an ongoing effort to dehumanize and demonize Mr. Harrison since he purchased the ranch.”

“It makes it much easier to hate someone if he or she isn’t seen as human.”

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

But residents say the fence has led to fewer elk and deer, captured mountain lions and smaller animals, and problems with erosion and irrigation.

They say bulldozing the 20-foot-wide strip so the fence can run along it diverts water into trenches, which now deepen and turn into canyons in the sand instead of spreading evenly as irrigation.

In addition to the ecological impact, residents say the fence has had a huge impact on the community’s traditions, such as fencing off a cemetery and blocking a popular route used during a Catholic Good Friday parade.

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

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

Harrison organizes private land-based elk hunts, charging up to $10,000 for five days

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

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

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

Previous ranch owners have been shot at and their homes set on fire, while residents have been beaten and taken to court.

A 1981 case over access to land with a previous owner became Colorado’s longest-running lawsuit, lasting 19 years, ending in 2002 with a ruling stating that about 5,000 native Spanish and Mexican settler residents had access and use rights to the land .

Local Joseph Quintana told the Colorado Sun that Harrison’s new fence was built “in the most destructive way possible.”

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