Borderlands of Southern Colorado

A new exhibit on view at the History Colorado Center “explores the shifting geopolitical history of southern Colorado.” While examining colonization and conflict, Borderlands of Southern Colorado also presents the area’s rich cultural legacy.

If you’d like to learn more about the people, life and culture of southern Colorado, you can find numerous books and resources at the State Publications Library. The following titles can be checked out and delivered to your local library by requesting them through Prospector:

Enduring Legacies: Ethnic Histories and Cultures of Colorado

“Traditional accounts of Colorado’s history often reflect an Anglocentric perspective that begins with the 1859 Pikes Peak Gold Rush and Colorado’s establishment as a state in 1876. Enduring Legacies expands the study of Colorado’s past and present by adopting a borderlands perspective that emphasizes the multiplicity of peoples who have inhabited this region.” –University Press of Colorado

La Gente: Hispano History and Life in Colorado

Eleven essays examining Spanish-Mexican exploration, conquest, and settlement in early Colorado; biographical sketches; employment patterns; and twentieth century political and cultural shifts. History Colorado also offers an accompanying online exhibit.

The Geology, Ecology, and Human History of the San Luis Valley

This 518-page volume “explores the rich landscapes and diverse social histories of the San Luis Valley, an impressive mountain valley spanning over 9,000 square miles that crosses the border of south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico and includes many cultural traditions. Twenty-six expert scholars and educators—including geologists, geographers, biologists, ecologists, linguists, historians, sociologists, and consultants—uncover the natural and cultural history of the region, which serves as home to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the San Juan Mountains, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, and the Rio Grande headwaters.” –University Press of Colorado

Pleas and Petitions: Hispano Culture and Legislative Conflict in Territorial Colorado

“The first in-depth history of Hispano sociopolitical life during Colorado’s territorial period, Pleas and Petitions provides fundamental insight into Hispano settlers’ interactions with their Anglo neighbors, acknowledges the struggles and efforts of those Hispano assemblymen who represented southern Colorado during the territorial period, and augments the growing historical record of Hispanos who have influenced the course of Colorado’s history.” –University Press of Colorado

The San Luis Valley: Land of the Six-Armed Cross

This book presents an overview of the history and people of the San Luis Valley, from ancient to more recent times. Also included is an Appendix providing the history of the Valley’s Hispanic place names.