MONTICELLO or PLACITA
|
MONTICELLO or PLACITA |
|
|
|
|
NAME: Monticello
or Placita COUNTY: Sieara County ROADS: Paved, 2WD GRID #(see map): 4 CLIMATE: Cool winter, hot summer BEST TIME TO VISIT:Anytime |
COMMENTS: 25
miles north of Truth or Consequences. REMAINS: some of the town's original buildings, including the school house, a dance hall and several homes, still stand. |
|
Monticello
(originally named Canada Alamosa Spanish for "Canyon of
the Cottonwoods") was settled by ranchers and farmers in
1856. It was built in a square to protect residents from attack.
Descendants of the original settlers still live and ranch in
the area. The town was headquarters for the Southern Apache Agency
before a post was established at nearby Ojo Caliente in 1874. About 500 Apaches lived at Canada Alamosa in 1870. Cochise and his Chiricahuas visited the area in 1871. Most of the Apaches were gone by 1877. The town was renamed in 1881 by its first postmaster, John Sullivan, of Monticello, N.Y. Monticello's cemetery is located on a hill northwest of the historic plaza. Mass is still celebrated at SanSan Ignacio Catholic Church on the Ignacio Church, which stands on the plaza along withplaza in Monticello was built in 1908. The original church was built in 1869, John Sullivan's home, the old stage stop (now a private the first in Sierra County.residence) and other original buildings. Two miles south of Monticello along the Canada Alamosa River is Placita ("Little Plaza"). It was settled in the 1840s by the Sedillo family, whose descendants still live there. San Lorenzo Church, built in 1916, and some of the town's original buildings, including the school house, a dance hall and several homes, stillstand. More than 1,000 families lived in Monticello Canyon, which contains both Monticello and Placita, during its peak. Today, there are fewer than 100 families.(Courtesy Michael Cook) |
 SanSan Ignacio Catholic Church on the Ignacio Church, which stands on the plaza along withplaza in Monticello was built in 1908. (Courtesy Michael Cook)  Monticello Courtesy Bill Yanneck
|
|
|
