Huerfano County Historical Society

   As long as humans have walked through this part of North America, they have been drawn to put down roots beside these mountains.  Whether it was the various Native American tribes, who treated this area as a sacred space that all could pass through, to the Spanish settlers and French trappers, to the Yankee farmers and Texas cattle herders, to the flood of laborers who came in the late 19th and early 20th century with the railroads and the mines, this was a destination.
   The mines and ranches of Huerfano County have long been the Ellis Island of the Rockies.  
   People from all across the world ‘washed ashore’ here, where the mountains meet the prairie, in search of opportunity and a better life.
    Some stayed for just a little while and moved on, while others dug in and made this amazing place their home for themselves and their descendents.
   If you are looking for information on your ancestors who may have lived, worked and died here, we have resources and knowledge to help you in your search.