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
Rael family history
“It is very certain, or almost certain, that only one Rael came to the New Continent and that he came as a soldier from Spain and that is how the name Rael originated.”
The End of the Trail for Horse and Buggy—J.P. Rael
Bad roads were an obstacle to the industry. Every time a Model T went over this road on its way to Taos it made an awful racket.
Women’s Work
Things sold at the store were flour, sugar, salt, kerosene for the lamps, matches, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and vinegar.
Our Houses
Questa’s first homes were made in a U shape. That way when the Indians came to attack them, they closed the gates in the plazuela
Before the Spanish Entrada
Evidence of Clovis, Folsom, and Oshara/ Upper Rio Grande Cultures in Questa Area
Baptism
When a baby was taken to be baptized, the Padrinos of the baby would say to the parents of the baby after they came back
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