Attractions (in subcategory: Historic Sites)

Get a taste for what state of the art flour production was like in 1873. A tour of the Robertson's Flour Mill will teach you about the art of making flour, its importance to the local economy, and its relation to the Ute Indians. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the mill is one of the last water-powered flour mills remaining in the US. Tours are given by the current owners by appointment. As you imagine the sound of massive grinding stones and the smell of fresh ground wheat, you'll be entertained with the lore of the Valley.

Colonel Albert Pfeiffer emigrated from the borderland between the Netherlands and modern Germany to the United States in 1855 and settled in Taos, New Mexico Territory. During that time Pfeiffer was a merchant, Ute Indian agent, and finally an army officer in the New Mexico militia. He fought in a number of Indian campaigns with his friend and commander, Kit Carson. After the Civil War Pfeiffer was mustered out of the army and moved to Rio Grande County in 1866. There he operated a cattle ranch west of present day Del Norte, CO, where his gravesite is located.

The interpretive site marking Don Diego de Vargas's 1694 crossing of the Rio Grande is site #11 on the interpretive route laid out along Los Caminos Antiguos ("The Ancient Roads") Scenic & Historic Byway. In July 1694 Don Diego de Vargas, the governor-general of New Mexico, raided the village of Taos to feed the hungry Spanish settlers in Santa Fe. Fearing retaliation by the Taos Pueblo Indians, he rode north into the largely unexplored San Luis Valley. In the 19th century the site was heavily used by pioneers crossing via the Costilla ferry.

Visit a landmark that represents the rich cultural history and civil rights struggles of Hispano settlers in the San Luis Valley. After the forced annexation of Mexican Territory and U.S. violation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which protected property rights of Mexicans living in the Southwest, Hispanos faced racial intolerance and land loss. Patterned after New Mexico mutual aid societies that protected the civil rights of members during industrialization of the Southwest, the Sociedad Proteccion Mutua De Trabajadores Unidos (Society for the Mutual Protection of United Workers or SPMDTU) was founded in 1900 in Antonito, Colorado.

The Old Spanish Trail consisted of a network of trails that passed through six western states. These trails probably originated with seasonal migrations of large game animals but later served as paths followed by nomadic hunters. Through time the trail segments evolved into a trade route that linked the villages of northern New Mexico to Los Angeles. Blankets, furs, and sheep traveled westward while much valued horses and mules made the trip eastward. The North Branch of the Old Spanish Trail carried traffic through the San Luis Valley from the 1820s until Colorado territory became part of the United States.

Experience firsthand the remote wilderness that became the scene of General John C. Fremont's disastrous fourth expedition. While exploring possibilities for a transcontinental railroad route through the San Juan Mountains in the winter of 1848-49, the men were caught in severe weather. Imagine waist-deep snow, dwindling food supplies and primitive tools, and you'll get a sense of the struggle that took place as they forged their way into the new territory. Begin your hike at Cathedral Campground, named for the nearby cliffs, and walk in 4.5 miles to the historic sites of Fremont's Christmas and December 27th camps.

Gain insights into the adventures and capture by the Spanish of U.S. Explorer Zebulon Pike, who built a stockade on this site on the banks of the Conejos River in 1807 while exploring in Spanish territory. Pike likely knew he was on Spanish land and that his capture was imminent. The journals written during his captivity in Santa Fe and published in the nineteenth century gave an expanding U.S. a hunger for the West.

The Colorado State Veterans Center was established in 1889 as the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home and is listed on the Colorado Register of Historic Properties. The mission of the Home was to provide a peaceful and comfortable home for retiring Civil War and Spanish American War veterans. At one time Homelake included a hospital and an infirmary, reflecting the Center's philosophy of caring for the medical, physical, mental, social, and spiritual needs of its residents. Many of the historic buildings are still in use. The cemetery dates to the Civil War and is the oldest veterans' cemetery in Colorado.