Darrel Nash

Some History and Reminiscences of the San Luis Valley, Colorado: The United States in Microcosm Darrel Nash

Who does this land belong to? How have cultures gained access to this land? Who gets to decide who is right? These are the questions that inspired Nash to write the book. Although in recent decades there have been significant studies and reports on the history San Luis Valley, and more generally the southwestern United States, this intriguing story is largely unknown to many residents. More importantly, most of the history commonly known is told by those that won the Valley from several previous inhabitants and cultures. This work gives a prominent place to the stories as told by Indigenous people and others before the arrival of descendants of northern Europeans. Nash draws from a wide variety of sources to bring a condensed version of this broader story.