San Luis Valley, Colorado

                                       AUGUST 14, 2014

Today, we visited Fort Garland, San Luis and Manassa. 

Fort Garland was a military post from 1858 to 1883,  constructed to "protect the settlers in the San Luis Valley".  After the military abandoned the fort, it became a private ranch and was used for temporary housing.  In 1928, local educator, Luther Bean, formed the Fort Garland Historical Fair Association to "save the fort". In 1950, the Colorado Historical Society opened the fort as a museum with five of its original buildings. Local craftspeople restored the adobe structures using techniques from its original construction.  Since the 1990's, archaeological research of a field school at Adams State University (in Alamosa) is uncovering the footprints of the original buildings.

Phaeton Buggy and Runabout

Army Escort Wagon

Tom Tobin's Buckboard

Army Ambulance

Infantry Barracks 

Our next stop was San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado. San Luis is predominantly Hispanic with strong ties to Spain's religious, cultural and artistic traditions. These traditions are reflected in the town's adobe architecture and the layout of the town. Overlooking San Luis is a Catholic shrine with bronze statutes depicting the Stations of the Cross and a memorial to Mexican priests who were killed by the military from 1926-1929.  

La Capilla de Todos Los Santos (The Chapel of All Saints)

San Luis from the mesa

We chose Sam's Covered Wagon, from a variety of Mexican restaurants along the main street.        We had opportunities to try Mexican food in Alamosa, but when in San Luis...   What the restaurant lacked in design, it made up for in taste and service. Jonathan ordered a pork dish called carnitas.  Our server graciously answered my questions about different dishes to help me decide. I was tempted to try the Chiles Rellenos but it's deep fried and cheesy and spicy, perhaps a tad overwhelming for my Nova Scotia system.  I ordered tamales. Each of our meals came with refried beans and rice. Mine also came with a lettuce salad and JD's a spicy salad of tomatoes, red and green peppers, and onion, which I helped him finish. Delicioso!

"The People's Ditch": an acequia built in 1851 to transport
water from the Culebra River. It continues to be used today.
Could  the people of San Luis teach us how to protect our
water resources?

Jack Dempsey, The Manassa Mauler 

This was our view on our return to Alamosa.
Notice the darkness of  the clouds.
Five minutes later, a rain cloud did hover over us and drop some rain.

 On the road between Manassa and Romeo, an Amish woman in her horse and buggy drove past us in the opposite lane.        I took a picture of this sign about ten minutes later. According to an article in the Denver Post, since 2002, Amish people have been settling in San Luis Valley, Colorado.