San Luis Valley

San Luis Valley

The ride descends into San Luis Valley from La Veta Pass. The San Luis Valley is the broad, generally flat, valley at the headwaters of the Rio Grande in south central Colorado and far north central New Mexico. The area was administered as part of the Spanish, later Mexican, province of Nuevo Mexico until the area was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. A spiritual, intriguing land offering a sense of peace amid epic 100-mile views and sand dunes circled by soaring peaks, the valley is peppered with the legacy of American Indian, Hispanic and European settlers and explorers, steeped in history and ripe with folklore. Hardy towns are spread across the windswept plains, including Alamosa, Del Norte, Walsenburg and San Luis — dating back to 1540. Ride ends in Fort Garland, built in 1858 when increased settler protection became a priority. With an infantry and cavalry unit, each with up to 100 soldiers, it protected new settlers in the San Luis Valley against resistant Ute Indians, who had made their traditional home there for centuries. Over its life, the fort drew distinguished soldiers, including storied frontiersman Kit Carson.