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| La Garita |
The San Luis Valley was settled by Hispano families in the early 1800s. They built small irrigation ditches to carry stream water to subsistence crops (corn, beans) and to small herds of sheep and cattle. After the US obtained this territory as part of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Anglo settlers claimed water rights that these small Spanish-speaking ranchers had "failed to file for." The settlements began to shrink after they lost their water.
The church at La Garita has been rebuilt several times...the cemetery continues in use. Many of the headstones are simple rocks...many are close together indicating children's graves. These markers of both life and death represent the poverty and difficulty of life on this high desert valley. The crosses are repainted by the church congregants from time to time...maintaining ties to that hard not very distant past.
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| Cemetery at La Garita |
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Close by the church is the La Penitente Canyon...a place where Los Hermanos Penitentes, a religious brotherhood, practiced their religion out of sight of the Catholic authorities. The figure of Our Lady of Guadelupe looks down from one of the canyon walls...setting aside this somewhat remote area for worship.
The canyon is now touted for its "world-class" rock climbing...one wonders if at some future time, the climbing hardware punched into the rocks will seem to be artifacts from the past as are those white crosses on simple stones, the figure of the Virgin.
