[1] His grandfather, William Head, was a Revolutionary War veteran and a pioneer settler of central Missouri, arriving about 1811.

He failed to disclose the enslaved children in an initial report he wrote on Native American slaves in Colorado.

[3] Head enlisted as a Private, Second Regiment, Missouri Volunteers and saw battle at La Canada, Embudo Pass, Taos and Santa Clara Springs during the Mexican–American War (1846-1848).

Head served three years as U.S. Marshall for the northern district of New Mexico Territory and a term as Sheriff of Rio Arriba County.

[4] In 1854 Head moved into the lower part of the San Luis Valley with fifty Mexican families who formed the village of Guadalupe along the Conejos River.

"[7] Head was commissioned a Lieutenant in Colonel St. Vrain's regiment of volunteers in 1855 and served six months fighting the Utes and Apaches.

On arrival they were met by Lafayette Head and Don Jesus Velasques, "the principal men of this miniature commonwealth."

In his account of the trip, Father Ussell noted that Head was a convert to Catholicism, had been baptized by Bishop Lamy, and married a Mexican lady from a very good family.

Head's home served as a temporary church for two days while Fathers Machebeuf and Ussell heard hundreds of confessions and offered communion.

[12] In 1868, Head returned to Washington, DC with another Ute delegation and signed the March 2, 1868 treaty as a witness, listing himself as U. S. Indian Agent.

Signing as Commissioners for the United States were A. C. Hunt, Governor of Colorado Territory, and Kit Carson.