Like other Taos Blue Lake collections at Princeton, the Bobbie Greene Collection of White House Papers documents part of an important land title dispute between the Taos Indians of New Mexico and the federal government. The 1906 creation of the Carson National Forest robbed Taos Pueblo of thousands of acres of land, including Blue Lake, a vital and sacred Pueblo religious shrine. After a fight of sixty-four years, the United States returned the disputed land to the Pueblo.This small manuscript collection pertains to the involvement of the Nixon administration in the case. Bobbie Greene, a graduate of Yale Law School, was serving as a White House Presidential Fellow when Blue Lake restoration legislation was pending in C ongress. From her position in the White House, Greene lobbied for administration support of the Pueblo and of the return of the sacred lands. She also endeavored to dissolve or mitigate the strident opposition of New Mexico Senator Clinton P. Anderson (18 95-1975). Her efforts on behalf of the Taos Indians helped make administration support a reality: Nixon endorsed restoration legislation before Congress in July of 1970, and 48,000 acres of land, including Blue Lake, were shortly thereafter returned to th e Taos Indians. The Bobbie Greene Collection of White House Papers includes copies of correspondence and memoranda exchanged between various administration personnel and White House staff. Also included are documents pertaining to the history of the dispute, various policy statements and recommendations, and correspondence exchanged between the Nixon White House and various congressmen.

The materials in this series have been maintained in the order in which they were transferred to the Mudd Library.

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This collection of manuscript materials documents a significant part of the history of an important land title dispute between the Taos Pueblo Indians of northern New Mexico and the federal government. in creating tie Carson National Forest in 1906, Pr esident Theodore Roosevelt carved away thousands of acres of Taos Pueblo land. This land, viewed as sacred by the Indians, surrounded and included Blue Lake: a vital religious shrine in Pueblo religion. Sixty-four years passed before the United States ret urned the land to the Indians.Instrumental in the fight for the return of Blue Lake and the surrounding wilderness was Corinne Locker (1927 - ). Locker became involved in the Blue Lake case while serving as secretary to Oliver La Farge (1901-1963) in Santa Fe, during La Farge's tenure as President of the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA). At La Farge's death, Locker became Southwest Field Secretary for the Association and stepped up her involvement in the Blue Lake fight. in doing so, she worked closely with the members of Taos Pueblo, most notably Paul Bernal. When, in 1966, disputes arose between the Pueblo and its attorneys, Locker filed a report with the AA1A that addressed possible conflict of interest existing among lawyers for the tribe who also served on AAIA decision-making bodies. The report resulted in Locker's dismissal from her AAIA position.Shortly thereafter, Locker formed the National Committee for the return of the Blue Lake Lands in conjunction with Rufus Q. Poole, an Albuquerque attorney, Paul Bernal, and others. As Coordinator of the organization, Locker operated as an effective liaison from the tribe to the non-Taos world. The National Committee lobbied for congressional and administration support of Blue Lake's return to the Indians; it also engineered a fundraising and publicity drive. Locker also worked closely with William C. Schaab (1927- ), special attorney to the Pueblo in the Blue Lake campaign. Much of the work of the committee involved attempts to mitigate the opposition of New Mexico Senator Clinton P. Anderson (1895-1975) and the United States Forest Service.The Nixon administration endorsed Blue Lake restoration legislation in the summer of 1970. Later that year, a bill returning 48,000 acres of land, including Blue Lake, was signed into law. Corinne Locker was honored for her efforts on behalf of Taos Pueblo at a subsequent ceremony in New Mexico.The Corinne Locker Papers, originals and copies alike, include the correspondence of Oliver La Farge in regards to AAIA involvement with the Blue Lake case; correspondence and documents relating to Locker's involvement as Southwest Field Secretary; materials in regards to Locker's report addressing possible conflict of interest among Pueblo attorneys; correspondence regarding the founding and functioning of the National Committee for the Restoration of the Blue Lake Lands; considerable correspondence r elating to proposed Blue Lake Legislation; materials related to the opposition of Senator Clinton P. Anderson, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Forest Service. There are also folders that pertain to miscellaneous activities of the AAIA in New Mexico and among the Pueblo Indians in particular. Locker's files were "working files," and their organization, for that purpose, has been largely been maintained. Readers will perhaps find it helpful to first read through the entire guide.

The materials in this series have been maintained in the order in which they were transferred to the Mudd Library.

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Like other Taos Blue Lake collections at Princeton, the Rufus G. Poole Papers chronicle a portion of the fight by New Mexico's Taos Indians to regain land taken from them in the 1906 creation of the Carson National Forest.Rufus G. Poole (1902 - 1968), a New York attorney who had settled in New Mexico for health reasons, was a regional attorney for tie Association on American Indian Affairs when the Pueblo retained him as a special liaison to Senator Clinton P. Anderson (1895-1975') in 1966. Anderson, a powerful New Mexico Senator, was opposed to congressional legislation which would return large amounts of land to the Pueblo directly; his opposition was enough to keep Blue Lake restoration legislation bottled up in Senate committees. Poole was hired to mollify Anderson's strident opposition. Not until President Richard Nixon issued an endorsement of the Blue Lake restoration bill in 1970, however, was the Pueblo able to see its long fight come to a successful end.The Rufus G. Poole Papers include copies of Poole's correspondence regarding the Blue Lake case and his role as special attorney to the Pueblo. Also included are copies of materials relating to Poole's role as a founding member of the National Committee for the Restoration of the Blue Lake Lands. Poole and other Pueblo supporters founded the National Committee in 1967, following a break with the Association on American Indian Affairs, included in the collection are copies of correspondence exchanged between Poole and William C. Schaab (1927--), tie Albuquerque attorney who replaced Poole as special attorney (at Poole's suggestion). Documentation regarding tie history of the Blue Lake case, contained in Box 3, was prepared by Schaab.

The materials in this series have been maintained in the order in which they were transferred to the Mudd Library.

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Like other Taos Blue Lake collections at Princeton, the William C. Schaab Papers chronicle a portion of the history of the Blue Lake land title dispute. In creating the Carson National Forest in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt carved away thousands of acres of land belonging to the Taos Pueblo Indians in northern New Mexico. Sixty-four years later, Congress passed a bill returning the land, including sacred Blue Lake, to the tribe.William C. Schaab (1927- ) was an attorney in a large Albuquerque law firm when he entered the fight for Blue Lake in 1967. At the suggestion of Rufus G. Poole, already an attorney for the tribe, Schaab was retained as special attorney (ostensibly to replace Poole, who was in ill health). Though Schaab accepted the position reluctantly, he soon turned out to be invaluable to the cause. He quickly prepared detailed documentation of the history of the Pueblo's fight for Blue Lake restoration, deflecting point by point the objections raised by the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service.While restoration legislation was continually bottled up in the Senate (after passing the House several times), largely because of the powerful opposition of New Mexico Senator Clinton P. Anderson, Schaab was instrumental in seeking White House contacts in support of restoration. His efforts and those of the National Committee for the Restoration of the Blue Lake Lands proved successful, as President Richard Nixon issued a strong endorsement of pending Blue Lake restoration legislation in July of 1970. Shortly thereafter, the measure passed the Senate, and Blue Lake and its surrounding wilderness were returned to the Taos Indians.The Schaab papers contain documents prepared by Schaab which analyze the history of the dispute. Also included are Schaab's correspondence files which contain exchanges with nearly every principal individual involved in the Blue Lake case, friend and foe of the Pueblo alike. Publicity regarding the case is present, as are official records of congressional hearings on proposed legislation.Readers should be aware of other pertinent Princeton collections, including: the Corinne Locker Papers, the Bobbie Greene Collection of White House Papers, the Rufus G. Poole Papers, the archives of the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA), an d the AAIA files of Oliver La Farge.

The materials in this series have been maintained in the order in which they were transferred to the Mudd Library.

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