It was spring of 1853 and all was peaceful in the village of San Acacio. The men went to the fields for a hard days work. The boys herded sheep. The women did their household chores and took care of the children. It was a custom to station two or three men to guard and watch for Indian attacks. Suddenly to the East they saw that a great band of Utes were approaching. The guards couldn't send for help, so a man named Juan Vigil asked his companions to join him in prayer to the patron saint of the village, San Acacio. They promised, if rescued, to build a church in honor of San Acacio. The Indians were close enough now to see their faces. Suddenly a strange look came on the painted face of the chief. Terror seized him, and he turned and fled with the warriors following him. The village knowing that their Saint had answered their prayers immediately began construction of the oldest Christian structure in Colorado.
Years later it would be told by an Indian that the attackers approached and in the sky over the village, as a vision, an image of a soldier mounted on a horse, guarding the plaza below. It was this apparition of San Acacio that had frightened the warriors and caused their retreat.
Didn't I tell you I love history? I need to paint this church again!
It was spring of 1853 and all was peaceful in the village of San Acacio. The men went to the fields for a hard days work. The boys herded sheep. The women did their household chores and took care of the children. It was a custom to station two or three men to guard and watch for Indian attacks. Suddenly to the East they saw that a great band of Utes were approaching. The guards couldn't send for help, so a man named Juan Vigil asked his companions to join him in prayer to the patron saint of the village, San Acacio. They promised, if rescued, to build a church in honor of San Acacio. The Indians were close enough now to see their faces. Suddenly a strange look came on the painted face of the chief. Terror seized him, and he turned and fled with the warriors following him. The village knowing that their Saint had answered their prayers immediately began construction of the oldest Christian structure in Colorado.
Years later it would be told by an Indian that the attackers approached and in the sky over the village, as a vision, an image of a soldier mounted on a horse, guarding the plaza below. It was this apparition of San Acacio that had frightened the warriors and caused their retreat.
Didn't I tell you I love history? I need to paint this church again!