Great Sand Dunes National ParkSouthern Colorado's unique Great Sand Dunes rise to a height of 750 feet above the San Luis Valley floor and are the nation's highest dunes not adjacent to an ocean or lake. The sweeping dunes were protected as a national monument in 1932 and as a national park in 2000. From prehistoric hunter-gatherers to the historic Ute Indian tribe, inhabitants have long used the resources of the land around the dunes. Zebulon Pike was the first American explorer to witness the dunes in 1807, followed by a long procession of other explorers, ranchers, and miners. Today, visitors from around the world come to climb up and slide down the dunes in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. |
Contents
Acknowledgments | 6 |
American Indians Explorers and Mountain Passes | 23 |
The Herard Family | 45 |
The Wellington Family | 59 |
National Monument Formative Years | 79 |
National Monument Modern Years | 95 |
National Park Ecosystem Preserved | 115 |
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Common terms and phrases
acres Alamosa Baca Grant Baca National Wildlife Baca Ranch cattle Causby Cleveland Peak Colorado construction Crestone Crestone Peaks Cristo Mountains dunefield Dunes area Dunes National Monument Dunes National Park dunes parking lot east Ernest Wellington Frank Wellington gold groundwater GRSA Herard family HERARD RANCH hikers Hispanic settlers homestead Hooper hunting Indian irrigation ditch Julia Herard land located Maria Medano Canyon Medano Creek Medano Creek bed Medano Pass Primitive Medano Ranch miles Mission 66 Monte Vista Montville Mosca Pass Mount Herard MVHS National Park Service Nature Conservancy Park & Preserve Pass Primitive Road photograph shows Pike Pike’s Pinyon Flats Campground Pueblo purchase railroad ranchers sabkha San Luis Valley Sand Dunes National sand sheet Sangre de Cristo sawmill Spanish SUPERINTENDENT’S HOME today’s Toll Ulus Ulysses Herard Uracca Ute tribe vehicles Visitor Center Volcanic Mining Company WELLINGTON CABIN WELLINGTON FAMILY Zapata Ranch Zebulon Pike