THE SPANISH PEAKS

A LEGENDARY HISTORY

     Las Cumbres Espanolas (The Spanish Peaks) in southeast Colorado have been among the most important landmarks of the Southwest, guiding Indians, Spanish, French and Settlers. The Ute, Apache, Comanche and earlier Indian tribes named the double mountains Wahatoya, or "Breasts of the World". They held them in religious awe as home of the Rain Gods and others, and the deposit of God's treasures. The ancient Aztecs of Mexico City believed the Peaks were a source of hidden gold.

     The first Europeans to view and explore the Spanish Peaks region traveled north from Santa Fe in 1706, 100 years before Zebulon Pike discovered Pike's Peak. After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and Pike's exploration of the new territory, trappers and traders headed into the new territory. The Santa Fe Trail was established in 1821 and the Spanish Peaks were guideposts to early travelers to Santa Fe, Taos, and the west coast. One branch of the Santa Fe Trail, "The Taos Trail" passed north of the Spanish Peaks along the Huerfano River, up Oak Creek and over the Sangre de Cristo Pass to the San Luis Valley and south to Taos. The usual trail either cut off from Bent's Old Fort near LaJunta CO (Mountain Route), or through Southwest Kansas (Cimarron Crossing, or "the dry cutoff"), southwest toward Santa Fe (south of the Peaks). Explorers and mountain men like Kit Carson, John Freemont, John Gunnison, "Wild Bill" Hickock, Buffalo Jones, William Bent and Zane Grey were frequent travelers through the area.

     About 3 miles from Walsenburg up the winding Bear Creek Canyon Road enroute to camp, you pass the remains of "Cameron", an old coal mining town of the early 1900's (now a ghost town). All that remains are the concrete foundations of a town that once had 3,000 to 4,000 people. Most of the frame houses and buildings at the site were moved to Walsenburg when the coal mining ceased after about 15 to 20 years.

     About halfway to camp, 50 ft. off the road and hidden behind huge granite and sandstone boulders is an ancient Indian "Picto-graph", carved in rock in the shape of two pine trees, the only sign that perhaps Indians actually stayed overnight in this "Forbidden Valley". Further up the canyon you become aware of the phenomenon of hundreds of world famous "Dikes" formed millions of years ago by molten magma forced into underground rock crevices, and now exposed by erosion. Directly above the Scout Ranch, at the base of the "Cirque" is an old deserted miner's cabin, and nearby the opening of three mine shafts where a man and his son prospected for gold in the early 1930's. They were unsuccessful, but geologists say the quartz-granite rock of the Peaks indicates that gold could exist in the area. Scout "Assault Teams" make weekly excursions to the cabin and mines, and into the "Cirque".

     The "Cirque" provides another fascinating, mysterious view at certain times in early morning and late evening. The low sun in the morning shining across the edges of the "Cirque" cast shadows of the head of an Indian maiden, then turning to a Screaming Indian warrior as it rises. Then as the sun sets in the evening, it forms the head of a miner in the "Cirque". The visions last for only a minute or two but can be viewed and photographed by alert campers.

     When certain atmospheric conditions are present, strange cloud formations encircle the peak, appearing to be layers of pancake shape, sometimes four or five high. The Spanish Peaks area is truly a Legendary Land.