Front Matter
...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.
From Our Hearts and Minds
J.P. Rael’s poem Los Pobladores de Questa (The Founders of Questa) is probably the first written history of Questa.
Don Diego Vigil lived in this valley for many years and during his stay he was very active and prosperous in all his enterprises.
The boy that grew up in Questa, who was an integral part of the community, merchant, farmer and a prosperous business man. - by J.P. Rael
From the Record
Evidence of Clovis, Folsom, and Oshara/ Upper Rio Grande Cultures in Questa Area
“…who loves to be told of his greatness…” and “jealous of anyone who may know as much or more of any subject than himself…”
The Cycle of Birth, Life & Death
...they made the coffins from pine wood and covered them with a nice material.
...a posse of eight men... went up Red River canyon... caught Conelly in a cabin and brought him down to the justice of peace.
Everyday Life in the 1920's to 1940's
Things sold at the store were flour, sugar, salt, kerosene for the lamps, matches, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and vinegar.
A lot of our local wisdom is in our sayings, or dichos.
We played Las Iglesias. We played kick the can, baseball, marbles, hide and seek, and tell stories.
There were no lunch boxes; we just used an empty pail from jam or syrup.
Our first health clinic came here in the early 1940s.
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.
Appendix
"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."