On Sacred Ground
Los Caminos Antiguos Scenic & Historic Byway
Isolated from the rest of Colorado, the San Luis Valley is often a forgotten place. For Native American tribes including the Utes, Apache, Navajos, and others, this Valley is a source of life - a place where humans and spirit enter and leave this world. Majestic Sierra Blanca (White Mountain) before you is considered by the Navajos as one corner of their sacred home.
"We are the ‘Dine’ (pronounced dee neh); the Spanish called us the Navajo. We call the mountain that stands before you ‘Sisnaajinii’. This mountain is one of our four sacred peaks in the Navajo Land. You may now know this mountain as Mount Blanca; it was given this name by the first Spanish explorers who came to the San Luis Valley.
“‘Sisnaajinii’, or ‘White Shell Mountain’, is the eastern boundary and the doorway into Navajo Land. We believe that the first beings, ‘First Man’ and ‘First Woman’, came up from the underworld and placed a grain of sand that made these four mountains. We dressed them in four colors and put them at the edge of Navajo Sacred Land.”
The Navajo People
[Upper right photo caption]
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains were given their name by Father Francisco Torres. Father Torres was mortally injured in an encounter with the Navajo people. As he lay dying, he looked up at the crimson light of the
this page online
[Middle left map caption reads]
“Dinétah” was homeland to these Athabascan people called the Navajos. Wars between the Utes and other people forced the Navajos to move west.
[Bottom left mountain drawing caption reads]
When you arrive here, you climb 2000 feet into this high mountain desert. You are over half way to the top of Sierra Blanca!
[Bottom center photo caption reads]
Medano Creek disappears into the earth to replenish the giant aquifer flowing beneath you.
[Bottom right drawing caption reads]
Did you know that you are standing over a giant aquifer?
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Exploration • Hispanic Americans • Native Americans. A significant historical year for this entry is 2000.
Location. 37° 28.653′ N, 105° 36.125′ W. Marker is near Blanca, Colorado, in Alamosa County. Marker is on State Highway 150, 0.2 miles north of U.S. 160, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Alamosa CO 81101, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 13 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. "The Magic Dog" (here, next to this marker); Welcome "Caminante" to ... (here, next to this marker); Los Caminos Antiguos
View to north along State Route 150
Credits. This page was last revised on November 23, 2020. It was originally submitted on February 19, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 1,460 times since then and 71 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on November 23, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 2. submitted on February 19, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. 3. submitted on November 23, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 4, 5. submitted on February 19, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.
