It is an area that most people, unless they live in Colorado, pay scant attention. But Pueblo, the hub of southern Colorado, plays a vital role in the state in so many ways. And the towns—many unknown to so many state residents—to its east, west and south make their own contributions to the state.
LaVozColorado has worked hard trying to bring some of the stories of this region to light each and every week for more than a decade. It has told stories, certainly of Pueblo, but also of the many things that happen in ‘off-the-beaten-path’ places of this exciting southern Colorado region.
LaVozColorado has written extensively about the social, political and cultural happenings in Alamosa, San Luis—Colorado’s oldest town—the Arkansas Valley, Caῆon City, Florence and towns many have never even heard of. One example is the town of Hooper.
Now Hooper, population 80, is no cultural hotbed. But every spring and summer—weather permitting—thousands of people by design or accident visit Hooper to scan the skies for UAP, unidentified anomalous phenomenon, UFOs. There, Judy Messoline runs what might be the country’s only seasonal land- ing spot for UFO believers, even skeptics, to gather to scan the skies.
Hooper and the San Luis Valley have been known for decades for strange sightings in the sky. The area just east of Alamosa gained fame in the 1960s and 1970‘s when cattle mutilations were reported across the region. The mutilations occurred during a period when locals and others reported strange sightings in local skies. The most famous case was one that involved ‘Snippy’, a young Appaloosa whose remains were found miles from its corral. It had been ‘surgically’ mutilated.
While Hooper might be a curiosity, the San Luis Valley’s Adams State University is anything but. LaVozColorado has featured stories on the treasure ASU is to the region. It is also a Hispanic Serving Institution, a designation given a college with a Hispanic enrollment of 25 percent or higher. Since 1921, ASU has graduated thousands of young men and women, many of whom have remained in the Valley serving as the intellectual, political and cultural leaders of the region.
One of its graduates is Armando Valdez who now serves as president of Colorado State University-Pueblo. Valdez grew up in the Valley. He was appointed Chief Executive of CSU-Pueblo in February 2024. Prior to his appointment Valdez served as a member of Colorado’s university board of governors. CSU-Pueblo is also designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution.
Pueblo, once home to the largest steel manufacturing plant in the American west, has moved away from steel. While steel has a presence in the city it no longer can boast of a 10,000-member workforce as it could up to the mid-70’s. But Pueblo today owns bragging rights to one of the world’s largest manufacturing plants for the wind turbine industry.
Evraz Steel, a Russian-owned company, had filled the void in steel making in Pueblo but late last year announced it was getting out of business in Pueblo. Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the company had come under the scrutiny of the U.S. government and decided to shift its operations. Last year it laidoff 600 workers.
LaVozColorado has also written about the agricultural contributions made to Colorado and the nation from the Arkansas Valley, the area directly east of Pueblo where towns like Manzanola, Sugar City, Fowler, Rocky Ford and La Junta dot the highway.
Perhaps watermelons and cantaloupe are the most famous crops from the region. From Pueblo, there is an almost direct line to one of the state’s most fertile and productive fields growing everything from alfalfa to zucchini.
Of course, any Coloradan with a taste for chile knows about Pueblo, a spot that, according to its Chamber of Commerce literature, grows the hottest and most flavorful chile in the country (some even say ‘the world’).
Each September, the city celebrates this ubiquitous fruit—yes, it is a fruit—with its annual Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival. Last year’s version welcomed more than 150,000 people. This year’s Festival, set for the weekend of September 20-22nd will mark its 29th celebration.
In 2019, Pueblo ditched its city manager form of government and opted for a strong mayor version. Pueblo native Nick Gradisar became the city’s first mayor in more than a century. But even before his term had expired, a petition to return to a city manager fell short. Gradisar also fell short in his bid to win reelection. He was succeeded in office by the first woman to hold the city’s highest elected office when former city council member Heather Graham took the reins.
In the fall of 2023, Pueblo did what other cities can only dream of doing. It opened five new schools, including two new high schools. Pueblo East and Pueblo Centennial opened their doors last fall along with Franklin and Sunset Park Elementary. Also part of the mix was a K-8 Expeditionary School. In 2019, city voters passed a $219 million bond issue to build the new schools, several of which were well over 60 years old and deemed too expensive to upgrade.
Pueblo and southern Colorado continue to be important parts of the state in so many ways. As such, LaVozColorado remains an active bilingual source of news and will continue to feature stories on the people and places that make up one of the most vibrant and growing parts of Colorado.
