About El Jefe

ABOUT EL JEFE RUBEN

Ruben Archuleta was born in Antonito, Colorado. Since Ruben's parents were continually on the move
while working in the fields and potato warehouses his paternal grandparents assumed the responsibility of
providing a stable family environment for him. Ruben grew up in an adobe house covered with a dirt roof,
no indoor plumbing, and was heated in the winter with a wood cook stove and heater.

In 1962, at the age of seventeen, Ruben graduated from Antonito High School and joined the Navy. After a
tour of duty in Vietnam, and upon completion of his four-year hitch with the military, he attended Southern
Colorado State College in Pueblo, Colorado. He maintained his ties with the Navy and Air Force as a
reservist for fifteen years. While attending college, Ruben joined the Pueblo, Colorado Police Department
in 1968 and eventually obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from CSU-Pueblo.

Ruben's law enforcement career flourished quickly. As a sergeant, he worked with the Colorado Attorney
General's Organized Crime Strike Force and as a state grand jury investigator. During these assignments,
Ruben worked in an undercover capacity infiltrating drug dealing organizations in Colorado and along the
Mexican border. He also participated in the investigation of Mafia related organized crime, which led to the
arrest of a murder suspect involved in an unsolved mob hit in Denver, Colorado. As a certified senior
scuba diver, Ruben was the dive master for his Department's underwater recovery team and participated in
several body recoveries and ice-diving training exercises in Colorado's high mountain lakes. Prior to his
promotion to police captain, Ruben attended the prestigious FBI National Academy in 1978.

During his tenure as a police captain, Ruben was trained by the U.S. Secret Service in Arizona and
Washington, D.C. and he worked with the Secret Service assisting in the protection of political
dignitaries. This included U.S. Presidents, vice-presidents, first ladies, presidential hopefuls, and high
profile Senators. Ruben worked with, and befriended Hollywood stars and sports figures and he still stays
in contact with some of them. Ruben applied his fluency in the Russian language when he was assigned to
work with the Soviets as law enforcement security liaison during the implementation of the INF Treaty. This
treaty called for the destruction of specific ballistic missiles by the United States and the Soviet Union. His
Spanish speaking abilities took him to Mexico where he worked for the Governor of Veracruz during an
anti-corruption campaign involving the Mexican State Police. Ruben was also involved in a
double-homicide investigation which led to Durango, Mexico after the suspects fled the United States.

Ruben became Pueblo's first Hispanic Chief of Police in 1995 and after serving his community as a police
officer for over thirty years, he retired effective January 16, 1999 and now lives in Pueblo West, Colorado.
However, retirement did not slow him down. Ruben was appointed by Governor Bill Owens to his transition
team in Denver and was then appointed by the Governor to the Columbine School Review Commission
headed by retired Colorado State Supreme Court Chief Justice, William Erickson. Ruben has been a board
member of the Pueblo Medal of Honor Foundation since 2000. He has written four books and several
magazine articles and also does his own photography, some of his work has appeared in numerous
magazines and in the Washington Times. Ruben also gives motivational presentations and speaks on the
Hispanic religious society known as the Penitentes. He produces pieces of stone and wood sculptures and
canes from catlinite (pipestone), antler and wood. Ruben's sculpture work has sold nationwide and is
available through galleries in Colorado and New Mexico.

Archuleta's Publications:
I Came From El Valle was published in December 1999. This autobiography covers Ruben's personal history
tracing his childhood, military, college, and law enforcement encounters.

In early 2000 Archuleta took advantage of his experiences and personal contacts with other agencies and
started on his second book, Unity of Command. This was a CIA novel about a not-so-typical Hispanic CIA
agent who was making waves in Washington due to his unorthodox methods of getting things done. Part of
the plot dealt with domestic terrorism in which a middle eastern terrorist group was going to blow up
NORAD and Falcon Air Force Station with suitcase-size nuclear weapons. 9/ll abruptly ended work on this
book, and it still sits on the shelf.

LAND OF THE PENITENTES LAND OF TRADITION was particularly difficult to write. The Penitentes are a
secretive society, and the numbers in the Brotherhood have dwindled in the last few decades. In spite of
the obstacles he encountered, the author managed to collect pictures and interviews some thought would
not be possible. Original family journals, personal interviews and newspaper articles support much of the
information that is included in the book.

EPPIE ARCHULETA AND THE TALE OF JUAN DE LA BURRA starts with a biography of world renowned weaver,
Eppie Archuleta, which includes black and white photos of Eppie, and special moments and characters in
her life. This is followed by ten color pages of her beautiful weavings. The rest of the book is dedicated to
an Hispanic tale that takes place centuries ago in New Mexico. There are colorful characters such as a
super strong caballero, a harsh king, princesses, scoundrels, and a magic mare. The story involves life as
it used to be in the days of old; romance, betrayal, bigotry, and exciting adventures in a mythical land.

PENITENTE RENAISSANCE, MANIFESTING HOPE is a coffee table book that includes 114 pages of color
pictures from Archuleta's Penitente photo collection. The book includes a history of the Brotherhood and
early 1900s rosters of over 600 Penitentes from northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Dr.
Marianne Stoller edited the book and wrote the introduction. The afterword was written by noted author
Marta Weigle. The foreword is by journalist Juan Espinosa. Radio personality, the late Paul Harvey, wrote a
very complimentary review of this book.

Snapshots From The Past