• Los Caminos Antiguos video
• Laminated Colorado map
• Map of the Southwest prior to U.S. ownership (about late 1700s)
• Chart paper and markers
• Spanish/English dictionary

• Laminated Colorado map (can be shared in small groups)
• Paper
• Pencil
• Markers suitable for laminated surfaces

1. Using the Colorado map, locate Alamosa in the San Luis Valley. There will be a series of green dots indicating Los Caminos Antiguos. Have students trace the byway on the map, using a marker. Determine mileages between the cities on this route. To give students an idea of how far this area is from Denver, use the map mileage chart or figure the distance between Denver and Alamosa, and between Denver and Antonito.
   
   
2. Write down the names of the counties in which this byway travels. They are all Spanish names. These are the translations: Costilla = rib; Conejos = rabbits; Alamosa = grove of cottonwoods. Sharing these translations with the students, make predictions about why these counties were named as such. Encourage students to think about physical land features (e.g., cottonwood trees tend to grow along rivers or other bodies of water).

To give students a specific responsibility for viewing, they will try to determine, through visual and verbal clues, how the counties and towns came to be named by the early settlers in the San Luis Valley. Students need to draw a line that divides a sheet of notebook paper into a two-column note format. On the narrow side, they need to list the names of the counties through which Los Caminos Antiguos passes and the names of the towns along the route. The larger side of the paper will be used for noting ideas about how these names came about.

BEGIN the video when the music starts, immediately after the acknowledgments.

PAUSE when the name “America's Byways” appears on the screen (the narrator also says the words “America's Byways”). Allow the students time to record what they saw in the way of visual clues that would influence why places were given these names. The teacher may want to STOP the video now. Discuss what the students recorded. Make a class chart compiling these, acknowledging each one as a possibility.

REWIND the video to where the music began. Direct the students to focus their attention on the narration that talks about who used this road.

RESUME video and PAUSE after “American pioneers staked a claim.” Discuss with the class where the Spanish settlers came from, and who might have been the American pioneers.

FAST FORWARD to the scene where the road is full of cars, walkers, and people on horseback, as one rider is about to join the group. Direct the students to listen to why people came along this route. This will allow the students to make inferences using background knowledge.

RESUME video and PAUSE after “drew Spanish explorers northward into recent-day Colorado.” Allow time for note taking. Discuss with the students again where the explorers came from. (Note: A timeline could be made to show when they entered the state. Other dates can be included as the video progresses.) Ask the students to make predictions about who was here prior to 400 years ago. Also inquire about why they came and settled here. The video notes that the Spaniards came for faith. Faith in what? What else might the land offer? Students will watch this next segment to see if there are any answers to these questions.

RESUME video and PAUSE after “around the valley for probably 10,000 years.” Discuss with the students what appeal there would be to settle in the valley (land, climate, water, other natural resources). There is a dynamic contrast here between bodies of water and very dry land. If the students are struggling, rewind the video to the previous stopping point and replay the segment. Tell the students that they will now focus on how the Hispanics traveled through the valley.

RESUME video and PAUSE when the map is on the screen and the line has finished drawing the route of the byway. The narrator has discussed how and in what direction the explorers traveled. Ask the students if they now have any more clues to add about why cities were so named. Refer to the Colorado map, and ask students if all the names of cities are Spanish. (Note: Mosca = mosquito or fly in Spanish.) Do they notice one that isn't? Look at its location and ask them to infer from what direction the people who settled there might have come. Earlier in the video it was stated that Spanish settlers came to this region for faith. The next segment will show the students the depth to which that faith may have played a part in naming towns. Encourage the students to look at natural habitats and mountains for naming clues.

RESUME video and STOP after Maclovio Martinez says, “Offered so little yet so much.” For student information, the names of the towns translate as follows: San Luis = Saint Louis, San Acacio = Saint Acacio.

Discuss with the students all clues (translations, visuals, narrations) relating to how towns and counties got their respective names. This is the study of toponyms, the meanings of place names. Using the physical/political map of Colorado and the video's inferences, have the students write a paragraph about how the Spanish-named towns and counties got their names.

Using the Colorado maps, students can find other towns and/or counties in the southwestern part of the state and try to determine the meaning of their names.

Campa, Arthur L.
Treasure of the Sangre de Cristos—Tales and Traditions of the Spanish Southwest.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963.

Dawson, J. Frank.
Place Names in Colorado.
Lakewood: The Jefferson Record, 1954.

Eichler, George R.
Colorado Place Names.
Boulder: Johnson Publishing, 1977.