Another Time in This Place
Historia, Cultura y Vida en Questa, New Mexico, USA
Tessie Rael de Ortega and Judith Cuddihy

An Introductory Note
…first-person accounts of Rio Colorado [Questa] have been included to give a first-hand view of what life was like here over the years.

Table of Contents
Front Matter From Our Hearts and Minds From the Record The Cycle of Birth, Life & Death Everyday Life in the 1920’s to 1940’s Appendix
How We Made Soap
Soap was made from the fat of lambs or pigs. The fat was mixed with lye and crushed rosebuds were added to give it a
Petitions to Validate the San Antonio del Rio Colorado Land Grant
Mining would play an increasing role in the life and economy of Rio Colorado/Questa. The first Rio Colorado connection with the copper and gold rush

Los Hermanos, La Morada y el Calvario
Every year during Lent and Holy Week, newspapers and magazines all over the country contain an article of one kind or another about Los Hermanos
Our Water
In the 1920s to 1940s, very few people had wells. They drank water from the the Red River, Cabresto Creek, or the ditches, whichever was

The San Antonio del Rio Colorado Land Grant
A second group of settlers petitioned for a land grant on the Rio Colorado early in 1841, essentially for land that is now Questa proper.
Questa area timeline
Questa area timeline. 300 million years ago Area covered by shallow ocean 36–25 million years ago Sangre de Cristo Mountains formed, Rio Grande Riftbegins to

Before the Spanish Entrada
Evidence of Clovis, Folsom, and Oshara/ Upper Rio Grande Cultures in Questa Area

The 20th Century Comes to Questa
Our story now becomes less detailed. The end of the Indian raids and of the gold rush changed life in Questa to a more cyclical