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About 400 years ago, the Spaniards first arrived at the Great Sand Dunes.
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Zebulon Pike's journal contains the first known writings of the Great Sand Dunes.
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John C. Fremont was hired to find a railroad route, and it passed through the Sangre De Cristo mountain range.
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Fort Massachusetts was built, and relocated to Fort Garland 20 miles from the dunes.
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The Mosca Pass Toll Road was developed and regularly used by stages, and for a mail route.
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The Volcanic Mining Company established a gold mill the retrieve gold from the sand.
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Herbert Hoover signed a bill into law to make the Great Sand Dunes a national monument.
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Great Sand Dunes become a National Park and Preserve.
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Over 6,000 vehicles are recorded to have been at the sand dunes during memorial day weekend of 2016.
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A rare phenomenon happened at the sand dunes called a surge flow. Water from Medano Creek flows across the sand, and the sand forms a dam. The pressure becomes to great after about 20 seconds and the dam breaks. The process starts all over again forming a rhythmic flow.