MONTEZUMA—KING OF MEXICO
Montezuma was the ninth king of Mexico and a powerful general of the Aztec tribes. When Hernando Cortez conquered Mexico in the early part of the sixteenth century, Montezuma was the dominant war chief of the Western Hemisphere and was held in fear by other tribes. He tried, however, to avoid war with the Spaniards and welcomed them to the capitol. Cortez, having thus obtained an advantage, held Montezuma and the city captive. In the succeeding battles, Montezuma was killed by his own people.
The name has retained historically romantic significance and occurs frequently throughout the Southwest. It is appropriate for this forest where most of the names and many of the customs are of Spanish origin.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE AREA
Spanish traders and explorers made frequent trips into southern Colorado during the eighteenth century. Those of record were led by Capt. Juan Marie de Rivera, in 1765, and Padre Francisco Escalante, in 1776. Each party followed approximately the same route from Santa Fe to the San Juan Basin, westward to the Mancos River, thence northward across the forest through the Dolores and San Miguel Valleys to the vicinity of the present town of Placerville. From this point they crossed the Dallas Divide to the Uncompahgre and Gunnison Valleys. De Rivera’s route beyond that point is unrecorded. Escalante continued through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico to Santa Fe.
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During these expeditions, Spanish names were given to many of the geographical and topographical features and were retained throughout the forest. Farther north, they were replaced by English names.
In 1831, the St. Louis Fur Company employed a party under command of W. G. Walton to trap along the headwaters of the San Juan River. The party spent the summer of 1833 in the valley of the Rio Dolores and at Trout Lake. Parties under the command of Lieutenant Howard in 1861 and Colonel Nash in 1866 were also in the Dolores Valley. Prospectors soon followed, and claims were located in the vicinity of Rico in 1869. Ranchers came in very soon after the prospectors, and the mining and cattle industries were principally responsible for settlement and development within and adjacent to the forest.