San Luis Valley Has a Rich Vein of Culture and Heritage

Jake Hughes
The Paw Print

ALAMOSA. Colo-     New discoveries on the high potential old Spanish trail bunker site on the eastern side of the San Luis Valley.  Since 2012 Angie Krall served the 12 acre site and has found over 350 artifacts. Some artifacts have dated back as early as 1625 and go all the way up to early 1800s. The San Luis Valley has a long line of history that is rich in culture and diversity, but thanks to Krall, we now know that the area has an abundance of archeology artifacts just waiting to be found.
Krall credited the mixture of cultural artifacts due to the diversity of people going through the San Luis Valley area. Cultural groups like the Indigenous people, American Indians and the Spanish have all said to occupy the area in the past.
One particular artifact Krall is proud of is the Springfield Model 1795 type 3 Musket, a Spanish musket from the 1800s. Krall said “The site is the most pristine archeological site in Colorado, even the whole of the United states.”
The huge trail that spans across six different states was used by traders. Krall credited the site’s diversity of archeological artifacts and vast openness to the traders riding on horseback and use of mules as their carts.
Along with a dedicated team Krall has had support from a number of different organizations, but one in particular – Forest Service National Historic Trails Program – has put a lot of time and effort into the project.
When asked how Krall felt about the archeological site she said “I have to pinch myself sometimes.”

Krall is the President of the Rio Grande Headwater Land and Trust Board of Directors. She is also the Heritage Program Manager for the San Luis Valley Public Lands Center.
Amongst all of Krall’s achievements and qualifications she has a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Southwest Studies from Colorado College, and a MA in Applied Archaeology from Northern Arizona University. Krall has served on the Oak Creek Town Board and the Board of the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps. A number of people from the community, and a couple Adam State University students attended the free and open lecture. The lecture room was full of enthusiastic historians and archeologists, with even one man boasting about his own archeological site.