A Little Chapel in the Mountains

Driving into Colorado from Missouri I'm always on the lookout for Pikes Peak. It's the first mountain landmark I can easily distinguish. After that I look southwest for the Spanish Peaks. They are super easy to spot. Look for two mountain tops real close to each other. The Ute Indians who first inhabited this area called them "Wahatoya" which means "Breasts of the Earth". Look below and you'll see why it's a fitting name.

Spanish Peaks

So why do I care about the "Breasts of the Earth"? I guess it's because every time Mom and I travel to Colorado she's looking for the Spanish Peaks. So in turn I do the same. I know I've been there before. There are photos to prove it. But until fairly recently I couldn't remember visiting these mountains.

My parents were married at Cuchara Chapel 43 years ago.

Mom's not the only one who looks for the Spanish Peaks. They've been used by Spanish explorers for hundreds of years to find routes to the interior of Colorado.  According to legends the first Europeans into the area were Spanish militia and some priests looking for gold. They found a vein of gold and enslaved native Indians to dig up the gold. Once they had the gold, they killed the Indians and headed south to Cuchara Pass. Somewhere near the river banks they were ambushed by Indians and killed. I'm going to assume for retribution.

River at Cuchara

The first recorded exploration of the Spanish Peaks comes from 1706. This is 100 years before Zebulon Pike discovered Pikes Peak. Militia from Santa Fe came up to put an end to the Comanche raids. It took some time, but they finally killed Green Horn a great Comanche war chief. In the 1820s the Spanish Peaks provided direction for travelers on the Santa Fe trail.

Entering Cuchara

Nestled in the Spanish Peaks is Cuchara. This is where my mom was married. This town wasn't always called Cuchara, though. It used to be called Nunda Valley. Nunda is an Indian word for potato. The first Anglos came to the valley because land was free as long as they built a house with a real door and window. These Anglos followed in the ways of the Indians and planted potatoes in the meadows. By the end of the 1800s the valley was referred to a Cuchara.

Returning to the chapel in 2013

The word Cuchara is Spanish for spoon. There are two different reasons for the name. One legend says that early explorers found spoons along the river. Unless spoons have a different meaning, I'm not inclined to believe that story. The second story claims it's named spoon after the spoon shape of the valley itself. This sounds a little more plausible to me.
A few years ago, Mom got her wish and my brother and I accompanied her to Cuchara. The air was cool and crisp on this July morning and the chapel area was quiet.

Mom took this photo of us.

After visiting the chapel we visited the shops in town. By then there were more people roaming around and shopping.

Love the sign and flowers

In 1908 George Mayes and his wife moved to Cuchara valley for the health benefits. Once he laid eyes on the the valley, he decided it would be a great place for a summer resort. By 1910 there were several cabins in Cuchara and it became a real community.

One of the Cuchara cabins

I love mountain wildflowers!

The Spanish Peaks are also home to a neat geologic feature that's commonly known as Devil's Backbone. They are actually the eroded remains of dikes. Dikes are created when magma tunnels through existing rock. Over time the surrounding rock eroded leaving the igneous rock exposed.

Devil's backbone 

One of my favorite photos has trees growing out of a rock on Devil's Backbone.

So cool!

The only thing left to do is bring my sister to Cuchara someday. I'm glad I'll have another opportunity to visit this town again. Do you know any special Colorado towns? Share them with me. I'd love to find more small mountain towns to visit.

Resources: http://www.lavetarealty.com/area-info/history-and-legends/
                  http://lavetacucharachamber.com/visitor-info/area-history/