La Loma de San Jose Diorama
In
1859 a group of 14 families left the area around Santa Fé, New
Mexico, to establish a settlement in what would become southern
Colorado. These were the first Euro-American settlers of what
would be Rio Grande County, and these pioneers faced the threat of
hostile Indians and adverse environmental conditions in this new
land.
The history of that settlement, known as La Loma de San José, is shown in this permanent exhibit at the Museum through photographs, maps, and a scale model of the settlement. Materials and information gathered from archaeological work at the site, and from detailed historical research that gathered information from the descendants of those early settlers, are combined to present the history of this early community. An excellent history of La Loma de San José has been prepared by Pat Richmond and contributed to this site. Click here to view it. |