The Milagro Beanfield War

Milagro, New Mexico is a poor, drought-stricken village populated largely by Mexican Americans. The only economic activity of any note is the development of the partially state-funded Miracle Valley Recreation Area which will consist of a ski resort and golf course among other items. It is being developed by rich out-of-town white people, namely the [Ladd] Devine Land Development Company, for rich out-of-town white people. Handyman Joe Mondragon, who just wants to earn money to support his family, can't even get a job with Devine working on this development. In frustration, Joe kicks and breaks a sluice on an irrigation ditch that is diverting all the water of the region to Devine's development. That break ends up flooding a small field owned by Joe. It is a former beanfield passed down to him by his father, which is located in the middle of the recreation development area. He is the one resident who did not sell. In this act, he comes up with the idea of "stealing" the water to do with the field as it was intended, namely to plant a crop of beans. With that stealing of water caught up in state bureaucracy, Joe's act of public mischief draws the battle lines largely by race and pro versus anti-Miracle Valley development, with the field itself the physical symbol of the battle. While some necessarily need to straddle the line, such as Chicano Sheriff Bernabe Montoya, others may not be as one-sided in the matter as they appear on the surface.