| The Sangre de Cristo wilderness encompasses 226,455 acres in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. This range is located in south-central Colorado, within the San Isabel and Rio Grande National Forests.The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is one of the youngest in Colorado. Designated in 1993, this area has over 60 alpine lakes, 400 miles of streams and nearly 400 miles of trails. Sangre de Cristo is Spanish for "Blood of Christ". According to legend, a Spanish Priest, Father Francisco, was mortally wounded by an Indian's arrow. In his dying moments, Father Francisco raised himself on his elbow, viewed the setting sun's red glow on the mountain range and gasped, "Sangre de Cristo."By the time the Conquistadors arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries, Ute, Comanche, Navajo and Pueblo peoples lived in the region. For 250 years, Spanish and Indian farming communities maintained a tenuous existence in the San Luis Valley. To encourage frontier settlement, Spain and independent Mexico granted enormous tracts of land to influential and enterprising citizens. Over 150 years later, the Sangre de Cristo and Luis Maria Baca land grants remain largely intact.In the 1870's and 1880's, American ranches and railroads flanked the Sangre de Cristo range. Over one million head of cattle and sheep grazed the San Luis, Huerfano and Wet Mountain Valleys, moving in to the high mountains for summer pasture. During this time, elk, bighorn sheep, and beaver nearly disappeared and grizzly bears were wiped out from the mountains of Colorado.Between 1860 and 1910, fires were purposely set, burning most of the forest to increase summer sheep pastures, expose minerals or produce charcoal. The glorious aspen glades we see today owe their origins to this period of burning. In 1902 the Sangre de Cristo range was set aside as the San Isabel Forest Reserve. The Reserve later became the San Isabel and Rio Grande National Forests, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. In 1993, Congress designated the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness. |
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