The so-called Buffalo Soldiers were several African American cavalry and infantry regiments that operated in the American West during the late nineteenth century. While there is no evidence that the black troops themselves adopted it, the nickname…

Built in about 1894, Capilla de San Isidro is a Catholic church in Los Fuertes in the San Luis Valley. The church is dedicated to St. Isidore, the patron saint of farming, and continues to play an important role in the local community, with Mass…

Founded in the 1850s or 1860s by Hispano settlers near the Culebra River, the Catholic Capilla de Viejo San Acacio in the San Luis Valley is the oldest non–Native American religious space in Colorado. Over the years the church has had many repairs and…

Costilla County lies in south-central Colorado within the San Luis Valley. It covers nearly 1,227 square miles and ranges in elevation from 8,400 to 10,300 feet. Costilla County borders Conejos County to the west, Alamosa County to the northwest,…

The US Army operated Fort Garland in the San Luis Valley for twenty-five years, from 1858 to 1883. The fort was built to protect early settlers from Native American raids in the years before treaties, reservations, and removal made that mission obsolete…

Located in Chama in the San Luis Valley, Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción (Church of the Immaculate Conception) is a Catholic church built in 1938 under the supervision of Father Onofre Martorell. It continues to serve as an important community center…

Located in San Francisco in the southeastern San Luis Valley, Iglesia de San Francisco de Assisi is a Catholic church featuring Gothic and Mission Revival elements. Constructed in the 1950s using concrete blocks and casement windows, the building shows…

Located in San Pedro in the San Luis Valley, Iglesia de San Pedro y San Pablo (Church of St. Peter and St. Paul) is a Catholic church built in 1933–34 under the supervision of Father Onofre Martorell. The cruciform-plan Territorial Adobe building…