The San Luis Valley is dotted with small towns and villages, many with their own parrish churches. As we drove, I spotted a steeple with a cross, so we pulled off the highway onto a side road so I could take a look. A small Catholic church had been built here, and clustered around it were a few houses.

The Old Velasquez house, a reminder of the early settlement of San Rafael, has fallen into ruin over the decades since it was last occupied. Typical of homes constructed in Conejos County in the late 1800's through early 1900's, the adobe walls support large log beams, vigas in Spanish, that held an earthen roof above. The walls on the exterior and interior were plastered with a smooth clay finish and sat on a basalt rubble foundation. Photo by Jay Packer