RIO GRANDE NATIONAL FOREST — Travel to future adventures by traveling back in time along the Alamosa River Road, National Forest Service Road 250.  Along the route, you will find the 1908 Alamosa Guard Station.  The Alamosa Guard Station served as a Rio Grande forest district headquarters from 1908-1948 and is now part of the Conejos Peak Ranger District.  The National Forest Service, Rio Grande National Forest, is partnering with HistoriCorps organization to rehabilitate the Alamosa Guard station.  Area residents and visitors are invited to assist with this project in July. 

Early district rangers worked alone or sometimes had their families with them.  They were responsible for timber, range, roads/trails, minerals and fire suppression (basically Forest management and fee collection).  The hipped box style main building on the site was built in 1908 by Ranger Stron, the first ranger of the district.  This building is particularly significant as it was built in the same year the forest was established.  The station was built with a view of the Alamosa River running below.

Ranger stations were originally built to house forest rangers and to serve as outposts for work relating to forest management.  Two front doors, on the main building, suggest one entrance for a living space alongside an office entrance.  Hand hewn logs, cut from near the site, were used to construct the building.  Station buildings also include a barn, an equipment shed, and two small wooden sheds.  Used as district headquarters until 1948, the exterior walls and foundation have remained in good condition.  Building interiors, walls, and ceilings are in poor condition and in need of significant refurbishing. 

This guard station was built at a prime location near the entrance to Elwood Pass, a route traveled for centuries.  In 1878, Fort Garland soldiers built a wagon road from Fort Garland to Fort Lewis at Pagosa Springs.  The route has served many uses, including a road to the California gold fields, a miners’ freighting road, and a transcontinental telephone route.  The area’s geography provides natural routes to other areas we still celebrate today, including the healing hot springs of Pagosa Springs. 

The history of the Rio Grande National Forest’s Conejos Peak Ranger District is interwoven with that of the San Luis Valley because the people settling in the valley depended upon the surrounding mountains for much of their food, clothing, and shelter. Seeking out the many historic features that lie scattered over the District and adjacent land can be an exciting and enjoyable activity, lending an understanding of the area’s rich cultural background.

Rio Grande National Forest Archeologist, Marcy Reiser, is coordinating the work being completed by staff and volunteers of HistoriCorps, historicorps.org.  According to Reiser: “Without the help of this organization and its volunteers we may have lost these buildings.  Now we can look forward to their new use telling the forest story and lodging visitors.”  HistoriCorps is a nonprofit that provides volunteers of all skill levels with a hands-on experience preserving historic structures on public lands across America.  Volunteers work with HistoriCorps field staff to learn preservation skills and put those skills to work saving historic places that have fallen into disrepair. HistoriCorps, works to ensure America’s cultural and historical resources exist for generations to come.

Historicorps staff have been on site since May 28 to prepare for and begin this summer’s work sessions.  Pack rats have been removed, scaffolding is set up, generators are running and the mess tent has been raised.  From June 3 through 25, Southwest Conservation Corps staff were on site cleaning out and reroofing buildings. The work of Historicorps staff, conservation crews and volunteers will go a long way toward making this building ready for overnight visitors.