Conejos County Colorado History

Our beautiful valley holds evidence of human habitation dating back thousands of years. Archeologists have identified dozens of ancient sites throughout the San Luis Valley. As recently as 200 years ago, and as far back as 11,000 years, nomadic Native American hunters came to Conejos County in search of food, shelter, and medicines. They found our area bountiful. In those times, before grazing cattle and trophy hunters, tall grasses covered most of the valley floor creating a perfect home for many varieties of wildlife.

Word of the abundant and beautiful lands of North America reached Europe and by the mid 1500's, exploration of this magnificent wilderness began. This began centuries of uneasy and sometimes violent relations between Native Americans, who hunted seasonally in the valley, and the newcomers. In 1742 a group of Spanish livestock producers, farmers, trappers and miners petitioned the Spanish Crown for a land grant in what is known today as the San Luis Valley. Surrounded by majestic mountains and the headwaters of the Rio Del Norte, it was a beautiful area to settle. Permanent settlement didn't actually occur until the mid 19th Century when during the year of 1851, the towns of San Luis and Guadalupe were established within months of each other.

In the early 1800's, current day Conejos County was in the possession of Mexico. In 1848, the war between Mexico and the United States was settled with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the United States victory, the Conejos Land Grant became the territory of the U.S. When the territory of Colorado was created in 1861, the major part of the San Luis Valley was divided into two counties, Costilla County to the east and Guadalupe County to the west. Once the Colorado Territory was established, Guadalupe County was quickly renamed Conejos County. The county acquired the new name because of the abundance of rabbits in the area. Conejos means rabbits in the Spanish language.

By 1870 there was a scattering of villages along the rivers and waterways of Conejos County. In 1877, Mormons, or Members of the Church of Latter Day Saints arrived, led by John Morgan. They settled in and around Manassa and Sanford. The relationship between the Hispano/Catholic and the Anglo/Mormon has always flavored the story of Conejos County as have the Native American, the Presbyterians, Mennonites, Syrian merchants, Jewish business men, Japanese, Swiss, Dutch, English, Irish and German farmers, ranchers, miners, and railroad builders.