Daily Postcard: Clouds layered at sunset Sunday over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Sangres are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. Why are they called Sangre de Cristo Mountains? In 1719, the Spanish explorer Antonio Valverde y Cosio, reportedly was awestruck by red-tinted snowy peaks at sunset, and called the mountain range, ‘Sangre de Cristo’ or ‘Blood of Christ’. At the time, the Spanish referred to the mountains as the ‘Sierra Madre’ or ‘Mother Mountain’ range. Source: en.wikipedia.org. Photo by DW Decker