History
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Alamosa County includes landmarks tied to the San Luis Valley’s frontier, religious, and transportation history. Fort Garland served the valley from 1848 to 1883 as a frontier adobe fort, was once commanded by Kit Carson, and now interprets the lives of frontier soldiers and Hispano settlers. Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Conejos is home to the oldest parish in Colorado; parishioners built the first adobe and wood church in 1857, it burned in 1926, and it was immediately replaced by the present building. Pike's Stockade, reconstructed by the Colorado Historical Society, was originally erected in the winter of 1806-7 by Lt. Zebulon M. Pike and eleven men, where Spanish soldiers captured Pike, charged him with trespassing on Spanish Territory, and escorted him to Chihuahua, Mexico. Los Caminos Antiguos Scenic and Historic Byway passes through land once under the rule of the Spanish Empire and leads travelers to San Luis, Colorado's oldest community, and Fort Garland, one of the territory's first military posts.
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Alamosa, Colorado · United States
