Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America's Edge

In the failed rural subdivisions of Colorado's enormous San Luis Valley lives a community of people on the edge. In exchange for freedom from government and landlords, from the congestion and smog of cities, they endure a disconcerting lack of jobs, marginal schools, distant medical care, harsh weather, and other privations. Some residents have families, but many, older and disabled, are alone. Some are addicted to alcohol or marijuana. A few are veterans with PTSD. Some are felons; others might be if they were to get caught. All have chosen to live here, on a last frontier that retains the beauty of a century ago but whose contentious culture reflects an America at the crossroads.

In May 2017, Ted Conover left New York to join them. First volunteering as an outreach worker through a local charitable group and renting a plot for his trailer from a family who was home-schooling their five daughters, he went on to buy his own land and immerse himself in the community for four years--and counting. The result is a candid look at a unique brand of Americans: their self-sufficiency, their isolation from society, the connections they forge with each other and the land. The author creates an indelible portrait of hard lives lived amidst a stunning beauty.