Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area

11/05/2026

Juan Bautista de Anza — A Trailblazer in Many Lands!

Discover the story of Juan Bautista de Anza and how his historic journeys helped shape the American Southwest. Four National Heritage Areas Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (AZ), Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area (AZ), Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area (UT) and Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area(CO), have partnered with Discovery Road to explore the connections between our landscapes, cultures, and communities.

In the San Luis Valley, Dr. Nick Saenz of Adams State University and Ken Frye of the Rio Grande County Museum share insights into Anza’s travels and lasting influence on our region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP6akb-UGkw

We’re proud to be part of this collaboration celebrating our shared heritage!

Juan Bautista de Anza—a Trailblazer in Many LandsFour National He...

11/03/2026

It’s that time of year again when the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area comes together to honor the local veterans who have served our country with courage and pride.
We’re gathering stories, memories, and photos of our hometown heroes — and we’d love to include your loved ones.
Submit your Veterans Recognition Questionnaire to [email protected]. Together, we can shine a light on the men and women who have given so much for our community.
Let’s keep their stories alive, honor their service, and show our gratitude.

It’s that time of year again when the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area comes together to honor the local veterans who have served our country with courage and pride. We’re gathering stories, memories,

10/31/2026

SdCNHA’s Scary Stories, Folklores, and Legends, no. 11

-The Legend of Sleepy Hollow-

Our final legend is a classic and one that is rooted in Dutch American ancestry, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The seemingly quintessential Halloween horror story was, first published in 1819 and written by Washington Irving, the same author of Rip Van Winkle. The legend tells the tale of Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster from Connecticut, who has a run in with the infamous Headless Horseman in the drowsy, Dutch American hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, located along the banks of the Hudson River in southern New York. The story has become a classic of American literature, and while set in a mid-Atlantic state, its legacy has stood the test of time and has infiltrated even the small towns and villages of our Heritage Area. A legend drenched in Americana, its premise is as follows:

Ichabod Crane moved from Connecticut to Sleepy Hollow, New York to be the new school master in the hamlet. Sleepy Hollow’s residents were direct descendants of the Dutch settlers who originally settled in the area. The hamlet seemed to have a lot of supernatural occurrences, and the most famous being the sighting of the infamous Headless Horseman, the ghost of a Hessian soldier who lost his head during the American Revolution. Legend had it that during his night rides he was out in search of his missing head. Through his status as a schoolmaster, Ichabod became familiar with Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a successful farmer, and taken with her flirtatious charms, he set out to win her hand in marriage. Ichabod wasn’t the only suitor in Sleepy Hollow in pursuit of Katrina however. Brom Van Brunt played pranks on Ichabod to try to shake his pursuit of Katrina, but Brom failed in his efforts. One day, Ichabod was invited to a party at the Van Tassel’s. Hoping to win the heart of Katrina at the event, she sadly seemed disinterested, and Ichabod left the event disappointed. Ichabod rode his horse home through haunted areas of the community, when upon passing a lightning-stricken tulip tree, he ran into the Headless Horseman. Ichabod rode off to flee the Horseman, and upon crossing a bridge looked back, when the head of the Horseman was hurled at him by the rider, and Ichabod fell of his horse and disappeared into the night. Ichabod’s horse was seen the next morning eating grass at his master’s gate. Katrina Van Tassel was left to marry Brom Van Brunt, and Ichabod was never seen again. Some believe it was in fact Brom in disguise who hurled a jack-o-lantern at Ichabod that fateful night, while many of the old Dutch residents believe Ichabod was in fact “spirited away by supernatural means.”

We hope you have enjoyed these stories throughout the month and were able to learn more about the cultures and contributions of many of the groups in our Heritage Area.

Happy Halloween from the SdCNHA Staff!

Art - The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane by John Quidor

10/30/2026

SdCNHA’s Scary Stories, Folklores, and Legends, no. 10

-The Tale of the Dance in Conejos County-

Recently, Luke Lyons, an editor of the Valley Courier, shared some of his family’s scary legends and tales that have been passed on for years. One of the stories that was shared is one that many in Conejos County have heard about for years; it is the tale of a dance that occurred in Conejos County, which is as follows:
“A woman was dancing the night away during Lent in Conejos County. Suddenly, a handsome man appeared. No one at the dance knew the man. He approached the woman and asked for a dance. She did not know him, but he was so handsome she could not refuse. The two danced for hours. Suddenly, the man turned away and left. As he walked away the woman gazed down at his feet. What she saw horrified her. Instead of a pair of shoes, or human feet, she saw two hooves, much like those of a goat. She fled the dance in horror. The man was never seen again.”
There are not many other specifics known about the story, as to which dance hall it was, and what year this may have taken place. The story is one that is very interesting to think about, and very fitting as we get closer to Halloween.

Source – Luke Lyons, Valley Courier, Oct. 17, 2022

Photograph of Main Street, Antonito, Colorado.

10/29/2026

SdCNHA's Scary Stories, Folklores, and Legends, no. 9

-The Folklore of the Chupacabra-

The chupacabra is a legendary creature in the folklore of the Americas and was first reported being seen in Puerto Rico in 1995, even though some in Puerto Rico have said to have seen it as early as the 1970s. The name translated in English means “goat sucker.” The name comes from the beast having characteristics of a vampire, as it is said to attack livestock, particularly goats, and drink their blood. In Puerto Rico, the chupacabra is said to look reptilian or alien-like, while in Latin America and the southwestern United States it appears more dog-like. In 1975 in the small town of Moca, Puerto Rico, a series of livestock killings took place that were later attributed to being from “el vampiro de Moca.” In 1995, eight sheep were found dead in Puerto Rico with puncture wounds in the chest and each had been completely drained of their blood. Months later, an eyewitness reported seeing some sort of creature in Canovanas, Puerto Rico where one hundred fifty animals and pets had been killed. After these deaths were reported, reports began to spring up across Latin American and the United States of similar livestock killings, leading the legend being spread throughout North and South America. While the chupacabra is nothing more than an urban legend and has been debunked by biologists and wildlife management officials, many still believe in the legend and are curious about such a creature.

Model of a chupacabra from the exhibit “Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches” at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. Courtesy of Britannica.

10/28/2026

Congressman Joe Neguse is the Ranking Member on House Committee on Natural Resources: Democrats' Federal Lands Subcommittee and has been a strong champion for all three of Colorado's National Heritage Areas. Thank you for being a member of The National Heritage Area Caucus!



Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area
South Park National Heritage Area
Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area

10/28/2026

SdCNHA's Scary Stories, Folklores, and Legends, no. 8

-The Kaidan of Botan Doro-

The Kaidan of Botan Doro (The Ghost Story of the Peony Lantern), is another traditional Japanese ghost story that comes from mainland Japan. The story was first recorded in the seventeenth century, and was actually a retelling of a Chinese tale, but was retold with a Japanese setting with Japanese symbolism and culture for a Japanese audience. The story has been retold many times with many different versions, but the most traditional version is as follows:

On the first night of Obon, a three-night Japanese celebration to honor the spirits and one's ancestors, a beautiful woman named Otsuyu, and a young girl who was holding a peony lantern, walked by the home of the widowed samurai Ogiwara Shinnojo. Ogiwara was taken with Otsuyu's beauty, and vowed to have an eternal relationship with her. Every night after that, Otsuyu and the young girl visited Ogiwara, but always left before dawn broke. One of Ogiwara's neighbors began to get suspicious of Otsuyu, and one night looked through the window of Ogiwara's home and saw Ogiwara laying in bed next to a skeleton. Later on, Ogiwara learned that he was in danger of losing his life if he didn't resist Otsuyu, and placed a protective charm on his home so she couldn't enter. That night, Otsuyu, unable to enter Ogiwara's home, called for him to come outside. Ogiwara became unable to resist her, and went outside to meet her. Otsuyu led Ogiwara to her home, which was a grave in a temple. When dawn broke, Ogiwara's co**se was found embracing Otsuyu's skeleton.
Art by Tsukioka Yosh*toshi (1839)

10/27/2026

SdCNHA’s Scary Stories, Folklores, and Legends, no. 7

-A Horse Named Snippy-

One of the biggest unsolved mysteries to ever take place in the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area is a true story that happened in Alamosa on September 7, 1967. On that day a three-year-old Appaloosa named Snippy did not return home to the fence behind a ranch owner, Harry King’s home for her usual water and treat. Two days later Mr. King went out looking for the horse, he sadly ended up finding her remains around a quarter mile away from the ranch house. What he saw next was bone chilling and unexplainable. According to Mr. King, Snippy’s neck and head had been completely stripped of their flesh, leaving nothing but bare bone visible. However, the rest of Snippy’s body had remained unscathed. No blood was found around the body, and the flesh had been removed with extreme precision. Around one hundred yards away from the body there were a series of six small, round indentions in the ground that had flattened shrubbery. There were other strange reports surrounding the body, such as reports of a “sickly-sweet smell” around the body, and the exposed bones appearing bright pink to one person. With these strange reports and the incident itself being unexplainable at the time, including rumors of unexplained lights in the sky of the area during that time, amateur mystery solvers began to attribute Snippy’s death to aliens. Such an event shocked the agricultural communities of the Valley, and many newspaper articles were published around this time period with different reports of what may have happened to Snippy. While today, we cannot be sure what happened to Snippy, UFO believers and enthusiasts alike are drawn to this local story that no one can seem to explain.

For more information visit: https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/western-history/ufos-and-horse-called-snippy?fbclid=IwY2xjawU8k81leHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAWJyaWQRMVJXTXFqd1IzUk40REdhY2xzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeC919O1wSFxx-c6CJuFxAzOBrTuYYdRzotjskoUlj90d4wLAyCUSE9UXkWX0_aem_UIBgO5jJ8QIyT92E00y0Ww

10/26/2026

SdCNHA’s Scary Stories, Folklores, and Legends, no. 6

-The Fairytale of Godfather Death-

German Americans first moved to the Valley after the passing of the Homestead Act in 1862 during the American Civil War. Many of them were former soldiers, miners, and trappers from failed settlements in eastern Colorado. With no knowledge of the west, many of their farming practices failed, pushing them to move even farther west into the Valley. After the war, many German American cavalry soldiers who were stationed in Guadalupe used their mustering-out scripts to pay for homestead claims. In the early 1900s, as the railroad expanded into Alamosa, many of the new immigrants that settled in the Valley were German settlers. Other German Americans moved from cities like Chicago. Two of the most famous German authors were the Brothers Grimm, who first published the tale of Godfather Death in 1812. The story is as follows:
The tale tells the story of a poor man who had twelve children. Upon the birth of his thirteenth child he ran into the street to look for a godfather for his newborn. After being approached by both God and the Devil as possible godfathers, he chose Death, for Death treated all equally. Years later after the child had grown, Death gave him the gift of being a physician and showed him a special herb that could heal all. Death told him that he would appear in the presence of his patients. If he appeared at the patient’s head the child could tell them they would live and heal them, but if Death appeared at their feet, the child had to tell them there was no remedy for their ailment, and thus they were Death’s for the taking. He was warned by his godfather not to use the herb against his will. The child became the most famous physician in the world, when soon the King became ill, and the physician was summoned to find out if the King would live or die. Death appeared at the feet of His Majesty. Hoping his godfather would choose to look the other way at his decision, the physician moved the King to position him so Death would be standing at his head. He healed him. Death was angered yet forgave him this time, but warned him if he disobeyed him again his life would belong to Death. Soon the King’s daughter fell ill, and said whoever saved her would marry his daughter and inherit the kingdom. The physician came to her bedside and Death appeared at her feet. Blinded by her beauty, the physician moved her so Death was at her head and healed her with the herb, saving her life. Death grabbed the physician and took him to his cave under the earth which was filled with candles of the lives of all mortals. The physician pleaded with Death to save his life by lighting a new candle for him. Instead, Death let the physician’s candle fall and be extinguished, leaving him to be in the hands of Death.

Illustration by Heinrich Lefler

10/24/2026

SdCNHA’s Scary Stories, Folklores, and Legends, no. 5

-The Myth of the Coco Man-

The Coco Man, sometimes known as “El Coco,” is defined in many Spanish dictionaries as “the bogeyman,” a mythical monster. The Coco Man is a character in Hispanic culture that is used often times to scare and discipline children so they do not misbehave. The character has been very prominently mentioned in the Hispanic American households of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, but there are variations of the Coco Man that have been told throughout much of the southwest. Mothers and fathers were often able to set their children straight just by mentioning him. The myth of the Coco Man is thought to originate on the Iberian Peninsula before it was brought to North America, as it is popular in both Spanish and Portuguese folklore. Versions of the following nursery rhyme have also been sung to children in Spain and New Mexico:

-Original Spanish-
A la ruru, mi hijito,
Duermase ya,
Que viene el coco
Y se lo comera!
-English Translation-
Lullaby, my little son,
Sleep now,
For the coco man might come,
To eat you up!

Source: Chicano Folklore: a Guide to the Folktales, Traditions, Rituals and Religious Practices of Mexican Americans by Rafaela Castro

Art: Que Viene el Coco (1799) by Goya