I'm expecting to hear crickets with this question, but you never know. For those not from there, it was settled in BY's day by Mormons, so to this day, there is a big Morg presence there, something like 2 stakes and 12 or so wards for a population of probably 20,000.

Yes.

The little towns at the southern part of the valley are very mormon. Alamosa and north not so much. I'd say the population is about 40% Catholic, 40% mormon and the rest protestant or something. There used to be a few Japanese Buddhists but they've mostly died off.

Lately there have been quite a few Amish moving in too.

As far as I know I'm the only exmo in the Valley or at least the only one who considers himself exmo. I know lots of jackmos but no open apostates.

I've never heard about the Catholic Jews and would like to know more. There used to be a large number of Penitentes but they've all died off too. I wonder if they could be descended from the Jews?

Edited to add: This thread was supposed to come after Richard The Bad's thread.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2012 09:38PM by Charley.

Hi Charley,

check this out, very interesting:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/san-luis-valley.html

Thanks for the article Richard. That's fascinating. I knew a woman named Valdez who died young of cancer. This is the first I've heard about the Jewish ancestry. A lot of the Hispanics here think of themselves as Spanish rather than Mexican. I wonder if that has something to do with it?

The Spanish were the first white folk to settle in America.
These days there are a lot of SW Hispanic people who believe they might be Jewish (via Spain). They are joining Messianic Congregations like crazy.

Came from Arizona, over from Pagosa but turned off at south fork and up 149 for some camping. Beautiful country you have there.

How strong is the church there? Any other exmoes?

As Spanish land grant country the morg can't possibly be as strong as the Catholic church can it? Interesting place for many reasons. I forget what they are called, but there was a large group of jews who went underground as Catholic during the inquisition and settled there.

Also one of the largest known concentrations of Folsum archaeological sites in the nation in that valley.

It's also where I learned how to make green chili. Although I never livee there, I have lots of good memories of the place.

She said there are lots of mormons there.

I lived in Alamosa several years ago, with my ex-wife while working for a big box retail store. Nice place. I thought it had a good sized mormon population for being outside the morridor.

I know some folks in the valley. I wonder if any of you are relatives?

I grew up in Sanford. Originally established as a Mormon community by the name of Ephriam, companion community with Manassa. Later moved the town, due to water problems, and renamed it Sanford after one of the leaders, if I remember correctly.

Rattledaysnakes, I'll bet we're related. They say that if you're related to a certain family in Sanford you're related to them all. There are also quite a few descendants of John D. Lee in the Sanford area. The King Sisters were the most well known.

Lately I've been trying to figure where Ephraim was located. Must have been near the river if it was so swampy.

Charley, I'm very curious to find out if we know each other. Here is my email address if you care to identify yourself: rattledaysnakes@gmail.com

Check your email.

My mom's adoptive father was from Manassa.

I think my family name also has roots in the area. It's basically the Smith version of Spanish names.

Good to hear from you, Charley. I asked because DW and ALL her family live in the valley (mostly Alamosa). I actually lived there for a couple of years, years ago. You're right--very strong LDS presence in Sanford, La Jara, Manassa.

She's Catholic, but has some funny stories about Mormons.

Both my parents are from there and I'm descended from Sanford Smith through one line. I'm probably related to a few of you. My family used to go back and stay along the Conejos river in the mountains every summer.

Helloooo! Here I sit in Sanford, from long line of Sanford and Manassa Mormons. I'm not the only exmormon in town but it sure feels like it most of the time. I'd love to get in touch with other real live people like me!