Frida Troyer, Ferman Troyer and their friend Jacob Byler play on a one of the Troyer's wagons in their barn near Monte Vista, CO, in the San Luis Valley. (Judy DeHaas | The Denver Post)

After generations spent in the East and Midwest, Amish families have put down roots in three communities in and near what locals call "the Valley" — the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado — during the past eight years. "We had been wanting a little more room, a change in the environment," said Magdalena Troyer, who moved to the Monte Vista area three years ago from Missouri. "There was a pull to move to the wild West, I guess you'd call it."


Amish women prepare pies in the Miller Family Bakery south of Monte Vista, Friday, July 30, 2010, for the Alamosa Farmers' Market that following Saturday. (Judy DeHaas | The Denver Post)

Light filters through large windows, spotlighting floury hands that knead dough for breads, roll out crust for pies and create cookies and cakes. The Miller Family Bakery, a year-old endeavor, is perhaps the most visible Amish business in the San Luis Valley. As is typical of Amish businesses, the bakery is a family affair.

Tougher rules to protect water users from contamination in wells will be considered Monday by the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission. Monte Vista and Manassa were ordered to chlorinate water in February as part of the process. There are still 37 waivers that have been retained, including for the towns of La Jara, Romeo, Sanford, Blanca, Fort Garland and the San Luis Water and Sanitation District in the San Luis Valley.

Today's parade in Manassa showcased the first place float, "Earthlings Beware!" To see more parade photos, visit this Flickr set.

A Manassa resident captures photos and writes about the event where "around 20 police officers staked out the house of the mother of Conejos County Jail escapee Shane Bagwell" on Wednesday.

The guy wasn’t even there?? After they had watched the house all day, brought in the military, a State Patrol sniper, and SWAT, they guy wasn’t even f&&King there… Now, the house is boarded up..And the escapee is still on the loose.. Oh, and I know a guy who spent a couple of weekend in jail, and he said this guy was seperated from the rest, because he was a snitch. Welcome to the police state.

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Authorities remain on the lookout for a jail escapee following an unsuccessful search Wednesday night. Shane Bagwell, 30, of Manassa, escaped from the Conejos County jail Saturday while helping unload a grocery delivery.

Pacheco Adobe is a blog that documents the building of a passive solar adobe wall house in Manassa.

Monte Vista and Manassa, like nine other valley communities, had operated their domestic water systems for decades with a disinfection waiver from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But now the state is ordering them to chlorinate.

A Tuesday, Jan. 5, special meeting of the Manassa Town Board brought a unanimous agreement by the members with the Colorado Department of Public Health to attack potential safety issues with the water system by chlorination in the near future.

Manassa Police Chief Charles DeHerrera was arrested Nov. 12 by Conejos County Sheriff's deputies who responded to a disturbance call in the community. DeHerrera, 55, was arrested on charges of felony menacing, third degree assault and prohibited use of a weapon. The menacing charge is a class 5 felony, the assault charge and the weapons charges are class 2 misdemeanors.

The 2009 Manassa Pioneer Days from above—right before the Saturday parade.

Manassa Elementary School has become the latest County school to begin a project to update its playground equipment.

A new road sign cautions drivers to watch for Amish horse-drawn carriages in the valley beneath Colorado's Sangre de Cristo mountains. Highway pull-offs and dedicated horse-and-buggy paths are in the works. Amid the serenity and isolation of southern Colorado, hamlets like Westcliffe, La Jara and Monte Vista are welcoming Amish families who are moving West to escape high land prices and community overcrowding back East in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The District Attorney’s Office has charged a Manassa man with distribution of a schedule II controlled substance. The amount of the drugs involved in the case has an approximate street value of $300. According to the DEA, Meperidine, sold under the name Demerol, is currently used for pre-anesthesia and the relief of moderate to severe pain, particularly in post-operative situations.

As a part of Conejos County’s Amish community, Hochstetler and his wife Susan, the bookkeeper for their business, prefer hand tools and traditional methods to build and/or repair horse-drawn wagons, carriages, manure spreaders, and pony carts. For the last several months, the two have operated their wagon and wheel repair shop north and west of Capulin, at 27052 County Rd. 6.

A young child suffered an apparently accidental drowning death in Manassa, on Saturday April 18.

Officials with Manassa’s Organization to Provide Education and Recreation for All have received a $19,393 shot in the arm from the County.

The Mission of the Manassa Project is to consolidate, preserve and share the history of Manassa, Colorado and its residents.

William Harrison Dempsey was born in Manassa, Colo., on June 24, 1895. After graduating from 8th grade, he began preparing for his vocation. In his book “Jack Dempsey The Manassa Mauler,” Randy Roberts writes: “At 11 he was bathing his face and hands in beef brine, giving them a leather-like texture,” and chewing pine resin to add strength to his jaw. Known at first as “Kid Blackie,” he began fighting for money in 1914 by challenging anyone willing to fight — regardless of their size or age. His early fights were held in crude saloons and mining camps.

Orlando Lujan Martinez

The green tinted popular tree in the yard was full of singing birds. when woke up in morning. After several cups of coffee I decided too take few days off to pay a visit to San Acacio, in El Grande Valle de San Luis in Colorado, where I scattered the ashes of my parents. I packed a few clothes into a suitcase, jump into my car and rode off into the morning sun. It was San Mateo Boulevard to 1-25 and out of Albuquerque.

Old familiar towns drifted by, Santa Fe the home of the Anglo gentry and the notorious Española, where an offended Native American chopped off the foot of the statue of Juan Onate, the conquistador, Ojo Caliente and Tres Pietras. Then along the base of San Antonio, the last mountain before entering El Valle. The last miles of my journey rolled by and then Antonito , the first town in the San Luis Valley, appeared just around a sharp curve in the highway. It is a half worn out town, with boarded up stores, but still glowing with the memories of the past and had me wondering why happiness is sometimes touched by sadness.

Back in the fifties, the last time the good times were rolling for that town, Antonito was a Friday and Saturday night Boggie town. Rancheros and canciones bounced out of five taverns and dance halls and the large Rainbow Ball Room a mile on the other side of town.

I rented a room at the Palace Hotel, an old stone two story structure built in 1902 with none of the toilet in each room and the air conditioning that the tourists demand. This relic from the past had the toilet down the hall, wallpaper, and in the tall lobby there was a mural of a pine forest on a wall and a large statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe and a holy shrine. A little touch of comfort for the weary catholic traveler. It was just the place to escape the institional feeling of the modern motel and the suspicion that the sheets hadn’t been changed since April, May, June and July.