Natural Arch, Del Norte, Colorado

I had this bright idea that we had to go see the Natural Arch. It was listed as something to see while we were in Del Norte, and the map showed it was not very far from where we were camped. The only bad thing is that it was 12 miles on a Rio Grande National Forest road of dirt full of pits and washboard. Jim was not happy about beating up the Excursion going to see the arch. But once we got going on the road, we kept going. There was actually a subdivision out there in the middle of the Forest Land. Anyway, when we got to the end, I thought we were going to have to hike some more to see the arch, but I turned around and there it was. 

Underground Mining Museum, Creede, Colorado

It is amazing to me that there was so much mining going on in Colorado. We visited the Underground Mining Museum, which highlighted the Humphrey's Mine.  We saw the remnants of the Humhrey's Mine when we drove a bit past the museum. I found this website (mining artifacts) that talks about all the mining that took place in Colorado.

Urraca Cemetery, Great Sand Dunes Oasis Campground, Mosca, Colorado

We stayed at the Great Sand Dunes Oasis Campground when we visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park. I look at Google Maps when we get to a campground and in the middle of the tent sites I saw an icon for Urraca Cemetery. I walk the dogs on the roads that go around the tent sites and today I actually found the cemetery.  There are three grave sites in this particular cemetery, so I had to do some research to find out the history of the three occupants.

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, Mosca, Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Park was established in September 2004. Before 2004 it was a national monument. Our first trip to the Dunes was in 1993. There was quite a bit more greenery and the Medano creek was running. We camped near the Dunes and since becoming a national park, it has been completely redone. New campgrounds have been built, a Visitor Center established and a picnic area with access to the Dunes. I think it was the picnic area where we first camped back in 1993. We took our nephew Jonathan on our first trip. Below are a few of our pictures from the 1993 trip.

Josh & Jonathan

St. James Hotel, Cimarron, New Mexico

The St. James Hotel was established by Henry Lambert along the Santa Fe Trail in 1872. By that time countless men, mules, oxen and freight wagons had passed this way for 50 years on this major trade route, 800 miles long, between American and Mexican frontier settlements. The hotel sits along the mountain route which came through Raton, New Mexico. Even though the Santa Fe Trail was no longer used to navigate goods, travelers continued to arrive at the Hotel via stagecoach. It was a welcome oasis, taking a night's rest in Cimarron, even though it was a community whose violent and lawless reputation in 1880 rivaled any Kansas cowtown.

Front of St. James Hotel

Ludlow Massacre Memorial Site, Ludlow, Colorado

We visited the Ludlow Massacre Memorial Site back in 2004 and decided to make another stop to see it again. The site marks the area where coal miners and their families lived in the 1900s. They went on strike demanding better wages, an eight-hour work day, a safe workplace, less company control over their lives, and the right to organize. After the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) called the strike in September 1913, the coal companies evicted thousands of miners and their families from their homes in company towns. The UMWA leased the land, provided tents, and even issued a small allowance. Ludlow was the largest tent colony, with about 200 tents made of canvas and wood and 1,200 people. The tents averaged 10 x 14 feet in size and were reinforced with interior wooden panels and wooden floors. This provided a buffer from the weather. Cellars offered additional living area, storage space and protection from occasional gunfire.

Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

Over a century ago up to one million prairie chickens lived in the Texas and Louisiana gulf coast prairie. Each spring males gathered to perform an elaborate courtship ritual by inflating their yellow air sacs and emitted a strange, booming sound across a sea of grasses.

Today, less than 1% of the coastal prairies remain, and the prairie chicken has come close to extinction. The Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge offers one of the last hopes for survival of this endangered bird. We did not see any when we visited but were told that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is in the process of raising chickens in certain places on the refuge to eventually release them into the wild.