The San Luis Valley © 1999 by the University Press ofColorado Publishedby the University Press of Colorado P.O. Box 849 Niwot, Colorado 80544 All rights reserved. First edition 1979 Second edition 1999 Printed in the United States ofAmerica. The University Press ofColorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, inpart, byAdamsState College, Colorado State University, FortLewisColiege, Mesa StateCollege, MetropolitanStateCollege ofDenver, University ofColorado, UniversityofNorthem Colo­ rado, University ofSouthemColorado, and WestemState College ofColorado. The paper usedin this publication meets the minimum requirements ofthe American Na­ tional Standardfor Information Sciences-PermanenceofPaper for Printed Library Mate­ rials. ANSI Z39.48-1984 Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Simmons, Virginia McConnell, 1928- TheSan Luis Valley: land of the six-armed cross / Virginia McConnell Simmons. -2nd ed. p. em. Includesbibliographical references and index. ISBN 0--87081-S30-X (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. San Luis Valley (Colo. and N.M.}--History. 2. San Luis Valley (Colo. and N.M.}-Geography. I. Title. F782.S2S56 1999 978.8'33--dc21 99-11379 CIr Credits Front cover; Fred F. Haberlein Archival photographs are from the collections of the Colorado Historical Society unless otherwise noted. Prints ofsketches are from Heap,Central Route to the Pacific; United States Pacific Rnilway Explorations and Surveys, 38th and 39th Parallels; Darley, Passionists ofthe Southwest;and the Denver Journal ofCommerce. The map of the Sangre de Cristo Grant is from the collections of the Colorado Historical Society. The two original maps showinggeographyofthe San Luis Valley are by George C. Simmons. 0807060504 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Contents Foreword by David Frid~of Halaas vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter I A Most Beautiful Inland Prospect 3 Chapter II When the Sun Stands Still 13 Chapter III Those Who Are Considered Subjects of the King 21 Chapter IV Refreshing My French Grarrunar and Overseeing the Works 33 Chapter V In the Nibor Hood of Tause 43 Chapter VI Mule Tail Soup, Baked White Mule, and Boiled Gray Mule 55 Chapter VII More Mule Meat 65 Chapter VIII In Voices of Gladness 77 Chapter IX A Matter of Grace 111 Chapter X Do You Want to Work for Wages or the First Day's Brandings? 125 Chapter XI Bring Their Heads 141 Chapter XII I Had a Dream 153 Chapter XIII Thirty-Six Saloons and Seven Dance-Halls 175 Chapter XN Significant Little Evidences of Refinement 193 Chapter XV Manassa Was Strong on Religion 215 Chapter XVI They Do it In Good Faith 247 Epilogue The Six-Armed Cross 269 Appendix Hispanic Place Names of the San Luis Valley 271 Endnotes 309 Bibliography 329 Additional Suggested Reading 343 Index 347 ) © George C. Simmons Foreword Human habitation in Colorado and New Mexico's San Luis Val­ ley stretches back to distant time. Ancient peoples lived here thou­ sands of years ago, as did the Utes, who claim the valley has been theirs forever. Other native peoples-Comanches, Kiowas, Navajos, Pueblos, Apaches, Arapahos, Cheyennes-knew the valley, too. So did Europeans. DonJuan de onateclaimed the valley for King Phillip II of Spain in 1598, although neither he nor any other of the king's men had yet seen it. Not to be outdone by their European rivals, French traders indicated an abiding interest in the region by spread­ ing their goods among the peoples of the upper reaches of the Rio Grande. In the nineteenth century American trappers and explor­ ers-men such as Zebulon Pike, Kit Carson, Bill Williams, John Charles Fremont, and John Gunnison-also penetrated the valley. When Mexico gained independence from Spain, the republic encouraged permanent settlement here by issuing generous land grants to enterprising colonists. And when the United States conquered the present American Southwest via the Mexican War, the valley quickly saw the founding of many settlements, from the Plaza de los Manzanares to San Luis and Guadalupe. The land filled so much, in fact, that in 1852 Fort Massachusetts was built to protect the mostly Spanish-speaking settlers. A year before, in 1851, a group of Hispanos filed Colorado's first recorded water right, the San Luis People's Ditch. Other irrigation ditches came in quick succession: the San Pedro, followed by the Acequia Madre, the Montex, Vallejos, Manzanares, and Acequiacita. All reflected the importance, indeed the imperative, of water to this high, dry expanse. Water in the San Luis Valley is a story unto itself. viii Foreword But the San Luis Valley has many stories, told in many voices. The place names of the land speak for the stories of the Utes and Hispanos. Other people who crisscrossed the valley recorded their stories in a bewildering array and mixture of languages-Spanish, English, French, as well as Navajo, Kiowa, Apache, and Pueblo. Soldiers stationed at Forts Massachusetts and Garland-including the famed African-American Buffalo Soldiers-told their stories as well. Suddenchange enveloped the San Luis Valley following the 1859 discovery of gold in Colorado's high country. The towering San Juan Mountains proved irresistible to onrushing fortune seekers. The world seemedto rushin-orthrough-the valley. Quicklycameboom towns, farms and cattle ranches, railroads, a cash economy, ar,d sometimes disorder. Prior Hispanoresidents resisted the change as bestthey could, retaining their language, customs, and towns, andlife wenton, different to be sure, butstill familiar. Perhaps this is the larger story of the San Luis Valley resistance to the influences ofnewcomers and explosive growth. Today the valley remains an island unto itself or, rather, as author Virginia McConnell Sinunons explains, it is an archipelago of islands, for several localities within the basin are home to clusters of distinctive traditions and lifeways. 1n this sparkling new edition of The San Luis Valley: Land of the Six-Armed Cross,Sinunons lays before the reader the stories and voices of this multi-cultural land. Like the six-armed cross atop the church at La Garita, the valley reaches out in all directions, yet remains uniquely remote and locked in its own independent course. -DAVID FRIDljoF HALAAS, Chief Historian, Colorado Historical Society, Denver Acknowledgments This book offers not a first look but a fresh look, it is hoped, at the history of the San Luis Valley of Colorado. It is a synthesis of a mass of material about the region. The bibliography and footnotes in this volume indicate many of the books, articles, and other records which the author consulted. In addition, the names of several indi­ viduals and repositories deserve special mention because of their as­ sistance. For this Second Edition"Additional Suggested Reading" has beenprovided following the Bibliographyinorderto recommend mate­ rials that have been published since 1979 and to indicate some oppor­ tunities for future research and writingby others. During the past decade members of the San Luis Valley Histori­ cal Society have given generously of their time and energy to the collecting of documents and interviews. Much of this work appears in The San Luis Valley Historian, their quarterly which has been used extensively in the writing of this book. One individual whose name, by chance, does not appear in my bibliography, but who should be recognized for her devoted work in the society, is RuthMarie Colville. At Adams State College the library contains files on regional his­ tory which were made available through the helpfulness of Christine Moeny, special collections librarian. The faculty and graduate stu­ dents of the history department at Adams State College, also, are commended for the many excellent theses, which are available to subsequent researchers. The State Historical Society of Colorado possesses extensive files and documents, and Enid Thompson, librarian there at the time of my research, was most helpful in locating papers which were related to this study. Ofspecial value at the same society was The Colorado Maga­ zine, the quarterly in which have appeared many useful manu­ scripts about the San Luis Valley. Also, Dr. LeRoy R. Hafen, who for x Acknowledgments many years was historian of the society, is saluted for the remarkable service he performed in collecting, compiling, editing, and publish­ ing an enormous amount ofmaterial on state and local history and for his encouragement of contributions by those who were part of that history. The Denver Public Library's Western History Department offered much assistance through its efficient and friendly staff. Alys Freeze, formerly head of the department, and her successor, Eleanor Gehres, especially are thanked. Robert Svenningsen, chief ofthearchives branch of the FederalArchives and Records Center in Denver, was veryhelpful in guiding me to material atthe center. Other repositories in Colorado which were useful for research in regional history were located at the U.s. GeologicalSurvey, at Colorado College's Tutt Library inColorado Springs, and in the Colorado history collections at the University of Colorado Libraries in Boulder. Both the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives and the New Mexico State Library contain much material related to Colorado's San Luis Valley. Dr. Myra Ellen Jenkins, chief of the his­ torical services division, provided excellent guidance to the docu­ ments in the Records Center and Archives, while Virginia Jennings helped me with materials at the State Library. For their reading the manuscript and offering many suggestions, my deep appreciation is extended to Dorothy D. Wilson, former cu­ rator of the museum of Adams State College and a director of the San Luis Valley Historical Society; to Dr. Duane A. Smith, Depart­ ment of History, Fort Lewis College; and to Thomas C. McConnell, my son. Fred A. Pruett and his editor Gerald Keenan of Pruett Publishing Companybrought the First Edition into print, and I remaingrateful for that edition and two subsequent printings. For this Second Edition, publishedbythe University Press ofColorado, mydeep appreciationis extended to the director of the press, Luther Wilson, and to its editor Laura Furney.