The High Road to Taos turns and heads west for a bit after descending into the Valley of Vadito (Picuris Pueblo). This road goes almost due west and straight down to Dixon near the Rio Grande but a few miles down there's a well-marked left turn which is where the High Road goes south again. (Just in case: today I'm making this drive backwards, from Taos to Santa Fe.)
The Valley here is quite settled with families of Spanish and Picuris descent. In the early days of Spanish colonization, the folks of Picuris Pueblo put up a resistance and the Spaniards made an example of them: they completely destroyed the Pueblo. The Spaniards even went so far as to send troops up to El Cuartelejo (an Apache-controlled area along the Arkansas River near Pueblo), trying to hunt down Picuris Indians who'd escaped. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 happened for many good reasons, including the Spanish depradations here.
