The early inhabitants of the San Juan River area were the Ute people, who throughout the 1700s and 1800s continued to pass through the forest and valleys of their homelands in the San Juan River and the San Juan Mountains.
As farmable land along the Rio Grande River and in today’s northern New Mexico became scarce due to the increasing population, Hispano families began to drift north and northwest into Colorado. Over time, seasonal use of lands for sheep herding became an established pattern.
In the late 1800s, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad began its railroad line and the spur line from Gato to Pagosa Springs. This stop provided a mechanism to export sheep and wool without having to travel to other areas for sale.
After flooding occurred in 1911, which left the railroad destroyed along with buildings located in the Pagosa area, sheep herders had to move their communities. Many were forced to leave the area due to the filling of the Navajo Reservoir and started to localize churches around the area for community supplies and support.
As some may have seen numerous arborglyphs treasures in the area (art carved into aspen trunks by sheep herders), Pagosa has a long line of descendants who traveled through Pagosa, marking their travels as sheep herding through the area.
While arborglyphs are slowly disappearing from timber sales, disease and vandalism, we are honored to have some of this history preserved here in Pagosa.
Please join the Town of Pagosa Springs, Pagosa Springs Arts Council and the Spanish Fiesta Committee as we celebrate artist Chad Haspels’ creation of the bronze sculpture on Saturday, July 27, at 9 a.m., adjacent to the multiuse trail near Walmart, on the northeast corner.
“Weeminuche Meadows” pays homage to lifelong friends from Towaoc, inspired by this enduring friendship with Ute Mountain Reservation.
Haspels crafted this bronze cast to capture the meaningful and authentic Hispanic history and culture of Pagosa Country, representing a story often overlooked.
