Sheep in the Wilderness

Abstract

The sheep thought they’d gone to heaven. Antonio feared he was headed in the other direction. It was the night of August 17, 1989, and he, his wife, Molly, and sheepherder Martin were driving over 1,100 mothers and their lambs under a full moon onto the William A. Humphries Wildlife Management Area without a permit. Antonio knew the country well. He’d had many adventures growing up in these northern New Mexico mountains, hunting, camping, fishing. But those adventures seemed very far away, and very innocent, compared with what lay ahead. He was committing criminal trespass, and the responsibility weighed on him heavily. They would be judged as heroes or fools, depending on how things turned out.