dred-thousand-acre grants, including the Luis Maria Baca
Grant Number Four, which lies just south of Crestone,
surrounding the Baca Grande development.
When gold was discovered in the southern Rocky
Mountains in 1858, prospectors flooded the area. In 1880,
the Crestone town plat was filed; the population at that
time was 50. The name Crestone means "cock's comb,"
the shape of the 14,000-foot peak by the same name.
Over the next ten years, gold prospectors and service-
providers flocked to the town. By 1890, when the Denver
& Rio Grande Railroad built a spur into Crestone, the
population had reached 2,000. In 1896 gold was discov-
ered near Cottonwood creek. The Independence Mine
and its associated 100-stamp mill were the center ofCres-
tone's gold boom. By 1904 the gold had played out, and
the population of Crest one had dwindled to 100. In 1907,
the mine and mill were dismantled.
Crestone's population remained small until 1971,
when the Baca Grande Corporation established the
Baca Grande Subdivision adjacent to Crestone. Many
of the lots in the subdivision were sold to young, over-
seas military personnel for their future retirement, so
population growth remained quite low.
In 1978, Hanne and Maurice Strong arrived in the
Baca Grande. She met with Glen Anderson, a local
mountain man and prophet who said that "many of the
world's great religions and great truths would gather
and begin working for a better future for the world and
mankind" and that "the Baca would be the laboratory
of the future." In 1988, the Manitou Foundation was
founded to provide land grants and financial support
to religious, environmental, and educational projects in
the Baca Grande area and beyond.
At present, the population of the Crestone/Baca area
continues to grow as people seek the small-town atmo-
sphere, the breathtaking beauty of the mountains, and
the cultural diversity characteristic of the area.