The Barela Building

The Barela Building. . , The two-story building across the street, with ornate lintels above its windows and a pressed-tin cornice, was built in 1883 by one of Trinidad's most famous citizens, Casimiro Barela. Known as the Perpetual Senator because he served in the state senate for 40 years, 1876-1916, he had been in the Territorial Legislature for four years before that and helped frame the Colorado Constitution. , Born of unschooled parents in 1847 near Taos, New Mexico, he received his only formal education during four years of service with a parish priest in Mora, New Mexico. When he was 20, he led his family to a homestead on San Francisco Creek, 20 miles east of Trinidad. With that as a base, he became the third largest stockman in Colorado, raising both sheep and cattle. He had businesses in Trinidad, Taos, and Mora; founded two Spanish-language newspapers in Denver and Trinidad and owned a cattle ranch in Mexico, land in Costa Rica, and a coffee plantation in Brazil. He served as Denver Consul to several Latin American countries. He and his first wife, who died young, had three daughters. With his second wife, he reared nine foster children. , Senator Barela is one of only 16 pioneers honored with stained-glass portraits in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Denver. He died in 1920 and is buried in Trinidad.