Salazars: Colorado’s ‘first family’

Growing up humbly to Henry and Emma Salazar in Los Rincones, the Salazar children grew up with loads of work and integrity. In good company, the eight children grew their own food and were taught honesty and how to get along. “Our parents were adamant about education,” Rep. John Salazar noted. Even without electricity and running water, the eight Salazar children were able to become the first generation of college graduates in the family. “We read the bible and other books by the light of an oil lamp. With no T.V., we became pretty close knit,” the congressman said. After the United States victory against Mexico, the Salazar family began farming along the Rio Grande and Chama River in New Mexico. Antonio de Salazar had requested land in 1714 and it was in the 1850s when the Salazars moved north to Los Rincones, just four miles southeast of Manassa. John and Ken Salazar’s great-grandfather, Francisco Esteban de Salazar spent the duration of his life in Los Rincones and was the first to be buried in the region. Today, the family has resided in Colorado for five generations, farming the land their ancestors have for hundreds of years. “When I was a young man there were 10 homes in a three- mile radius,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. Today their ranch is the only one that remains...more