The Barlow and Sanderson stagecoach in Monte Vista is a mud wagon like those that operated in the 1870s and 1880s along Barlow and Sanderson lines in the San Luis Valley. The only regional example of its type, the stagecoach was acquired by the Monte…

Rio Grande County is located in the western San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado. It covers 912 square miles and ranges in elevation from 7,000 feet on the valley floor to over 13,000 feet atop several mountain peaks. Del Norte is the county seat,…

Built in 1881, St. Francis of Assisi Mission Church is a Catholic church in Los Valdeses, a town along the Rio Grande about halfway between Del Norte and Monte Vista. One of the few Hispano churches in the San Luis Valley with a cruciform plan, St…

Located east of Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley (3694 Sherman Ave, Monte Vista, Colorado), the State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home was established in 1889 as a home for aging and disabled Civil War veterans in Colorado. The facility grew over the years…