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
Old Questa Murders
…a posse of eight men… went up Red River canyon… caught Conelly in a cabin and brought him down to the justice of peace.

A History Of Questa
In this story of Questa’s history, culture, and everyday life—the rich tapestry that provides our sense of community. We’ll start first with the oral

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.
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

Indians Depredations on Rio Colorado Continue
The arrival of the U.S. Military and the increased traffic on the Santa Fe Trail had served only to increase the anger of the Indians,

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.”
Work and Play in Questa
We played Las Iglesias. We played kick the can, baseball, marbles, hide and seek, and tell stories.

The Indian Threat Ends
For almost a century, settlers in Rio Colorado had been subjected to the raids of Indian tribes. By the end of the 1870s, these raids


Vecinos on the Northern Frontier
Don Francisco Laforet (his last name has many spellings, including La Forett, Laforee, Laforey, and Laport) is said to have come to live in the