History Colorado

Sylvia Fransua’s family in their home in Dog Patch, with many other family photos hung on the wall behind them (2006)

Each of the Dog Patch oral history interviews is filled with examples of families coming together. To Dog Patch residents, family represents a way that traditions can be carried on.

Many of Selina Ozuna-Sanchez’s favorite memories involve her family, especially her grandparents.

Listen to Selina's oral history from 1:09 to 3:02. Her words are typed out below.

I would be able to walk to my grandma and grandpa’s house in a matter of five minutes. And it never occurred to me that it was different for everybody else or that their family was spread apart throughout the country. I was just so used to being able to see my family and extended family on a regular basis. And part of that is this little, close-knit community. Because my grandparents were here on Dean Lane. My parents live here on Tenth St. And so Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving was just three or four blocks away.

Some of my favorite memories would probably be, one of them, when I was about my youngest son’s age, at ten, I got frustrated with my mom, and I told her, “I’m running away.” So I packed up my little purse, and I walked briskly to my Grandma Connie’s house. And I did that a couple times. And my grandma never let me know that my mom had called. But my mom would call and make sure I got there. She’d time me. She’d be like, “Okay, she should be there now.” 

So she’d call, and I’d be like, “Who’s that, Grandma?”

And she’d be like, “Ah, nobody.” Because she wanted her house to feel like a haven that I can always run to, and that’s what it was. A lot of my childhood was there. Was making mudpies in the back or playing in the front with my cousins. Or just on a random day, going to say hi and having one of her enchiladas whipped up out of nowhere. Because she would do that. She would always have cheese and onion, and tortillas, and say, “I can make you an enchilada.”

Family in Dog Patch

Take a tour around the Dog Patch neighborhood to see some of its most important locations. If you made a map of your neighborhood, what would you include?

Around the Neighborhood

Many primary sources from Dog Patch show or tell about the activities people did for fun. In their pictures, kids play with kites and pinatas or make snowmen. Music and art helped connect the neighborhood through shared culture. Sports like basketball and cheer, and holidays like Halloween, Memorial BBQs, Christmas, and the 4th of July are often pictured. 
The St. Anne’s Festival was a community wide event that everyone played a part in. Some residents believe events like this will be how they are able to make their community stronger today. 

Fun in Dog Patch

Six kids, including Bertha and Vera Valenzuela and Darlene Gallegos, pose in front of a car in Dog Patch

Changing Times

Sam Guerrero, Juanita Guerrero’s father, receiving a plaque from the Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner in honor of his life long service to the community (2009)

Activism in Dog Patch

What does the name Dog Patch have to do with life in the neighborhood? Longtime resident Thelma Moore explains that Dog Patch was the name of a movie and that the neighborhood got the nickname because people used to drop their dogs off there when they didn’t want them anymore. She told a story of how her mother insisted she call the neighborhood its official name, Eiler’s Heights. A 2006 Pueblo Chieftain article says it was named Dog Patch because of the lack of sewer and electricity services in the early days of the neighborhood.
No matter what the reason it’s named Dog Patch, many dogs are featured in pictures of the early neighborhood. If photographs were much more difficult to take, like they used to be, what would you take a picture of when you had the chance?

What's In a Name

Many residents remember the importance of religion in Dog Patch. Religious events like baptisms, weddings, communions, and funerals were reasons for the whole community to get together. Listen to the clip linked below from an oral history interview with sisters Elaine Madrid, Marsha Montoya, and Priscilla Hernandez. Then add in speech or thought bubbles to this picture of Elaine and Priscilla to imagine what they might have been thinking about as little girls preparing for Easter.

Religion in Dog Patch

Use this timeline to explore how Dog Patch has changed over time.

Dog Patch Over the Years

Dog Patch is a neighborhood in the East Side of Pueblo, CO, founded in the 1950s. Its majority Hispanic and economically disadvantaged residents live there still, advocating for fair treatment and working to combat stereotypes about their community. In many ways, the themes discussed by Dog Patch residents reflect other majority-Hispanic communities across Colorado.

Nuestras Historias: Mexican American/Chicano/Latino Histories in Denver

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Dog Patch- Exploring Change in a Colorado Hispanic Community

Family in Dog Patch