Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Human beings have known about, visited, or lived near the Great Sand Dunes for a long, long time. The oldest evidence of humans in the area dates back about 11,000 years, and the most recent visitors may include you and your family. What brought those early people here? What will bring you? People have had an enduring connection with Great Sand Dunes for many generations. Below is a history of those who have travelled through or lived near this natural landmark. Clovis points from the Great Sand Dunes area have been identified by archeologists as spear points that were likely used by early mammoth hunters.

In 1694, Don Diego de Vargas became the first European known to have entered the San Luis Valley, although herders and hunters from the Spanish colonies in present-day northern New Mexico probably entered the Valley as early as 1598. De Vargas and his men saw and hunted a herd of 500 bison, apparently in the southern part of the Valley, before returning to Santa Fe. In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza II and a huge entourage of men and livestock probably passed near the dunes as they returned from a punitive raid against a group of Comanches. At this time, the San Luis Valley was a travel route between the High Plains and Santa Fe for Comanches, Utes, and Spanish soldiers. For some of them, the dunes were likely a visible landmark along the trail.

At age 27, Zebulon Pike (left) led a group of US soldiers in mid-winter over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Though he and his men were frostbitten and hungry, he found the inspiration to write down in poetic language the first known written words about Great Sand Dunes.