%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en Colorado and the Four Wests: An Introduction to the Political Economy Section http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-and-four-wests-introduction-political-economy-section <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Colorado and the Four Wests: An Introduction to the Political Economy Section</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2481--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2481.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/coal-miners-strike"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/colorado-and-four-wests-introduction-political-economy-section-media1_0.jpg?itok=VElmsyRm" width="1000" height="701" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/coal-miners-strike" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Coal Miners on Strike</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Coal mining was an integral part of Colorado's industrial economy in the early twentieth century, but dangerous work conditions and low pay often led to strikes. Here, striking coal miners near Trinidad pose with weapons during the Coalfield War of 1913-14.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-04-24T14:28:55-06:00" title="Monday, April 24, 2017 - 14:28" class="datetime">Mon, 04/24/2017 - 14:28</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-and-four-wests-introduction-political-economy-section" data-a2a-title="Colorado and the Four Wests: An Introduction to the Political Economy Section"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcolorado-and-four-wests-introduction-political-economy-section&amp;title=Colorado%20and%20the%20Four%20Wests%3A%20An%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Political%20Economy%20Section"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Why has Colorado’s economy experienced booms and busts? Which Coloradans have profited the most from the state’s <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/things/natural-resources"><strong>natural</strong></a> and human resources? In what ways have Colorado’s<strong> </strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/place/cities-towns"><strong>cities, towns</strong></a><strong>,</strong> and regions competed against one another to secure investment, migration, and authority—and how have they cooperated to draw labor and investment from beyond the state’s borders? What visions of the good life have Coloradans of different socioeconomic classes and ideological perspectives embraced, and how have they struggled against one another to realize these visions through popular mobilization, public policy, and law? How has the expansion of the federal government—and, at times, its contraction—affected Colorado’s diverse peoples? How have corporations and labor unions—most of them based outside of Colorado—attempted to influence the state’s economy and politics? Why has financial and political power in Colorado remained concentrated among a relatively small elite, and by what means have grassroots movements attempted to redistribute—and thus to equalize—wealth and privilege?</p> <p>These are just some of questions that the study of political economy brings to our understanding of Colorado’s past, present, and future. At its core, political economy refers to the relationship between individuals and society and between markets and the state. The scope of these relationships and the complex forms they have assumed over the course of Colorado’s tumultuous history defy easy summary, but dividing this vast and unruly story into three sequential phases—the Old West, the Middle West, and the New West—nonetheless helps to highlight the most important twists and turns between the mid-1800s and the present day.</p> <p>The label for the first of these draws upon the hallowed place of the frontier in American culture and mythology, while the name of the third phase invokes the growing sense, both within and outside the American West following <strong>World War II</strong>, that Colorado and the rest of the region had changed significantly—perhaps even fundamentally—from their frontier roots. In truth, though, the arrival of railroads in 1870 initiated a new increasingly industrial period in Colorado’s political economy: the Middle West phase. A few parts of the state seem to have experienced such far-reaching political-economic shifts in recent years that they appear to be entering a fourth phase—let’s call it the Newest West era—defined by unprecedented economic diversification, political estrangement from Colorado’s rural regions, and such pathbreaking and problematic innovations as the full legalization of <a href="/article/cannabis-marijuana"><strong>marijuana</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <h2>Old West (ca. 1858–ca. 1870)</h2> <p>The <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>discovery of gold</strong></a> in a chilly tributary of the <a href="/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte River</strong></a> in 1858 did more than any other single event to initiate the Old West phase of Colorado’s political economy. Old West Colorado outwardly resembled the mythic West of dime novels and Western movies. Poised on the outer edge of a rapidly industrializing United States, the economy of the area that the US Congress organized into <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> in 1861 represented a throwback, its political economy driven by farming for subsistence purposes and local markets; open-range <strong>ranching</strong>; real estate speculation and development, especially in towns and cities; and, above all, the <a href="/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mining of precious metals</strong></a>.</p> <p>More than a few self-proclaimed pioneers would later look back upon Old West Colorado with profound longing. In their minds, at least, this phase represented an era of practically boundless opportunity—a time when financial independence required only hard work and a little luck —and possibly even a fortune. Those who looked backward with memories of their own success, though, generally chose to discount or forget the many other Coloradans who had lost out in the bargain: the hundreds of thousands of prospectors, <a href="/article/homestead"><strong>homesteaders</strong></a>, and other home seekers who abandoned Colorado as abject failures; the more select but no less disillusioned ranks of investors and entrepreneurs who had been deceived, cheated, or forced out of the lucrative mining claims, agricultural lands, and businesses in which they had invested their time and hope, as well as their money; the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/terminology-latino-experience-colorado"><strong>Hispano</strong></a> individuals and communities who found their land and <a href="/article/water-colorado"><strong>water</strong></a> rights challenged by incoming Americans; and the <strong>Arapaho</strong>, <strong>Cheyenne</strong>, <a href="/search/google/ute"><strong>Nuche (Ute</strong></a><strong>)</strong>, and other indigenous peoples who had been dispossessed, herded onto reservations, and killed by Colorado militiamen, US troops, and federal negotiators.</p> <h2>Middle West Political Economy (ca. 1870–ca. 1945)</h2> <p>While Colorado’s Old West political economy centered on freewheeling and often ruthlessly competitive mineral prospecting, open-range ranching, and town building, the political economy of Colorado during the Middle West period was inextricably industrial, urban, and corporate.</p> <p>The incorporation of Colorado into American <strong>railroad</strong> networks starting in 1870, and the subsequent extension of tracks into nearly every nook and cranny of the state by the early 1900s, inaugurated the Middle West. Instead of ending abruptly, the Middle West took more than a century to peter out. The Middle West subsided in part because of major economic shifts: the collapse of silver mining and smelting in the <a href="/article/panic-1893"><strong>depression</strong></a> of the 1890s; the eclipse of railroads by explosive growth in automobile, truck, and bus traffic in the late 1910s and 1920s; and dramatic declines in output, employment, or both in subsequent decades by the state’s mines and factories (especially at <a href="/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron</strong></a>’s (CF&amp;I) Pueblo <strong>steel mills</strong>). Political and cultural changes, however, also contributed: <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/progressive-era-colorado"><strong>Progressive</strong></a> and <a href="/article/new-deal-colorado"><strong>New Deal</strong></a> reforms softened some of industrialism’s harder edges, while the rise of consumerism in the form of recreational <strong>tourism</strong> and lifestyle-oriented suburban development in the 1920s and 1930s paved the way for a New West future in which a rising percentage of Coloradans defined themselves more through leisure and purchasing than through productive labor.</p> <p>Colorado’s Middle West political economy rested on a foundation forged by the railroads’ wide-ranging mobility, steel’s strength and versatility, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/coal-mining-colorado"><strong>coal</strong></a>’s seemingly boundless energies. The Middle West phase left an enduring legacy of brick and metal structures: trestles, skyscrapers, warehouses, and mansions. More subtly, this era served to integrate Colorado into the heart of the American and global economies. A region that had previously served up furs, hides, and precious metals from a wide-open, sometimes lawless milieu increasingly resembled the places in the northeastern and Midwestern United States and northwestern Europe, where the vast majority of newcomers to Colorado originated.</p> <p>Industrialism’s reign over Colorado faced challenges from several fronts. Workers in smelters, steel mills, and mines, like those on the railroads themselves, labored in remarkably dangerous conditions. Every year, on-the-job accidents claimed hundreds of lives—and thousands of limbs—in the state. The most dramatic workplace tragedies were mine disasters such as a trio of coal-dust explosions that killed more than 200 coal miners in <a href="/article/las-animas-county"><strong>Las Animas County</strong></a> in a ten-month period in 1910. The misgivings kindled by the violence laboring Coloradans experienced at work were aggravated by the indignities of poor pay; long hours; ongoing efforts by employers to control workers and combat labor unions through private detectives, company housing, and other intrusions; and the outsized influenced that mine operators, railroad companies, smelter owners, and the CF&amp;I exerted over political and legal institutions at the local and state levels.</p> <p>Given these conditions, it should come as little surprise that the state’s Middle West witnessed the worst labor management conflicts in Colorado history. Many Colorado workers joined labor unions in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Virtually all of these labor organizations sought to improve wages, limit the daily labors of men and women to eight hours, mitigate workplace hazards, and coordinate efforts to advance workers’ interests at the ballot box and in the state capitol.</p> <p>But some of Colorado’s unions sought not simply to gain greater security, prosperity, and control for workers within the existing structures of capitalism and democracy but wanted to destroy the existing order and build a new one from its ashes. The largest and most famous of Colorado’s radical labor organizations was the <a href="/article/western-federation-miners"><strong>Western Federation of Miners</strong></a> (WFM), founded in Butte, Montana, in 1893 with the help of delegates from Colorado’s smelters and silver and gold mines.</p> <p>The growing economic, political, and cultural power of the state’s spectrum of workers’ movements prompted a range of responses among Colorado’s large employers, as well as the state’s growing middle classes. In some towns and industries, unions encountered little opposition and made considerable headway advancing their aims. Even the more revolutionary WFM gained significant ground in many parts of the state during the 1890s, turning the booming <a href="/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a> Gold District into the so-called Gibraltar of Unionism after a successful strike campaign in 1894.</p> <p>The 1890s also revealed another core feature of Colorado’s Middle West phase: the growing power of outside corporations over the state’s political economy. Like all frontier regions, Old West Colorado possessed almost no capital. Yet even though most of the state’s early enterprises were financed by investors from the eastern states—as well as from Great Britain, Holland, and other parts of Europe—Colorado’s pioneer entrepreneurs nonetheless retained most of the prerogatives of ownership and control. In the wake of the financial crisis that began in 1893, though, Coloradans learned firsthand of Wall Street’s burgeoning power. By the early twentieth century, many of Colorado’s most important corporations were headquartered in New York (or, in some instances, Boston or Chicago) and controlled by such titans of industry and finance as John D. Rockefeller (the biggest shareholder in CF&amp;I starting in 1903) and the <strong>Guggenheim</strong> family (which leveraged a fortune made in <a href="/article/leadville"><strong>Leadville</strong></a> into the monopolistic American Smelting and Refining Company).</p> <p>As capitalists beyond Colorado’s borders assumed command over the core of the state’s Middle West era economy, they closed ranks with local elites—especially the leaders of <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>’s big banks and business-friendly political officials—to roll back labor unionism. In a massive set of strikes in 1903–04 that affected the state’s gold, silver, and coal mines and smelters, Colorado’s organized workers suffered major defeats. Ten years after the state’s corporations shattered the Gibraltar of Unionism at Cripple Creek, a brutal fifteen-month conflict erupted in Colorado’s southern coalfields when the <a href="/article/united-mine-workers-america"><strong>United Mine Workers of America</strong></a> sought recognition from the region’s coal operators as the collective bargaining agent for everyone laboring in and around the area’s coal mines and coke ovens. In the coal miners’ strikes of the early 1910s (1910–14 in northern Colorado, 1913–14 in southern Colorado), as in so many other labor disputes during the state’s Middle West phase, the Colorado National Guard played a decisive and controversial role, killing eighteen strikers at the <a href="/article/ludlow-massacre"><strong>Ludlow</strong></a> tent colony and making it easier for the state’s coal corporations to maintain production by protecting strikebreakers.</p> <p>Unionization constituted just one set of threads within a larger tapestry of campaigns to reform—or, in the case of the WFM, to revolutionize—Colorado’s Middle West political economy. While workers on the state’s railroads and in its mines and mills paid an especially heavy toll for Colorado’s industrial “progress,” a host of other Coloradans also bristled against the rule of what gadfly Denver attorney J. Warner Mills bemoaned as the state’s “Throne Powers.”</p> <p>Farmers on the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>eastern plains</strong></a> accused railroad and grain elevator companies of monopolizing the markets for transportation and grain. Owners of small businesses groused that corporations, cartels, trusts, and monopolies made it impossible for them to compete. And consumers and citizens of all sorts complained about the control big business exerted over Colorado’s economic and political life.</p> <p>These widespread, diverse, and sometimes contradictory critiques of corporate dominance fueled a variety of reform campaigns, of which the two most consequential were <a href="/article/populism-colorado"><strong>Populism</strong></a> and Progressivism. Populism forged a short-lived coalition between farmers, workers, nonconformists of various stripes, and an array of Coloradans concerned with propping up the state’s vital silver industry. Under the auspices of the People’s Party, Colorado Populists showed their strength by electing <strong>Davis Waite</strong> to the governorship in 1893. Waite was voted out of office just two years later, and the People’s Party declined almost as swiftly as it had risen to prominence. Yet several core Populist causes fed into Progressivism.</p> <p>Like Populism, Progressives sought to grind down industrialism’s hard edges and limit corporate power by rebuilding grassroots democracy and increasing government regulation and oversight. But in Colorado, as in the United States more broadly, some Progressives also wanted government to exert tighter command over social and cultural life—whether by prohibiting alcohol, restricting immigration (particularly from Asia and southern and eastern Europe), or compelling indigenous peoples on the <strong>Southern Ute</strong> and <a href="/article/ute-history-and-ute-mountain-ute-tribe"><strong>Ute Mountain Ute</strong></a> Reservations and recent immigrants to assimilate into the dominant society by forsaking their native cultures and embracing what advocates called “100 percent Americanism.”</p> <p>During <a href="/article/colorado-world-war-i"><strong>World War I</strong></a>, the federal government’s war production policies favored workers and their unions while advancing many of the regulations, social programs, and government interventions in the economy favored by Populists and Progressives. Workers’ gains evaporated, however, during newly elected president Warren Harding’s “return to normalcy.” The rise of Colorado’s <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ku-klux-klan-colorado"><strong>Ku Klux Klan</strong></a>, meanwhile, and the broader resurgence of business-friendly conservatism checked the further growth of the state and federal government (though some Progressive causes remained vibrant enough to secure the passage of restrictive federal immigration regulations in 1924 and ongoing state, local, and federal crackdowns on alcohol, prostitution, and organized crime). By the mid-1930s, when Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal codified the right of labor unions to organize and enshrined federal responsibilities for providing at least a modicum of economic security for those Americans—mostly white and male—protected by Social Security and other new entitlements, most of the core industries of Colorado’s Middle West period were either faltering or in total collapse.</p> <h2>New West Political Economy (ca. 1945–ca. 2010)</h2> <p>The New West political economy of Colorado, like its predecessors, took hold in some places earlier than in others; it even left some stretches of the state largely untouched well into the twenty-first century. Colorado was almost certainly one of the first parts of the United States to grapple with deindustrialization, thanks to the silver bust of the 1890s and the stagnation of railroads, steel, and coal by the 1920s. But people in many parts of Colorado, unlike those in most other American places afflicted during the 1900s and early 2000s by the blight of shuttered mines and factories, managed to build new economic foundations as the old ones crumbled away. The most picturesque exceptions became ghost towns, while the most troubling departures from emerging New West trends could be found in the deteriorating working-class neighborhoods of Denver and <a href="/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>, as well as in the eviscerated Middle West heartlands of <a href="/article/aspen"><strong>Aspen</strong></a>, <strong>Trinidad</strong>, and other once rollicking mining towns founded on silver and coal.</p> <p>Compared to the Middle West before it, New West Colorado was more suburban than urban; more oriented to the consumption of the state’s scenery, <strong>climate</strong>, and recreational opportunities than to the extraction and transformation of the state’s natural resources into marketable products; and more fully premised on the notion of the state as a special and distinctive place. Trains continued to play a crucial role in shipping and the streetcar systems built in the late 1800s and early 1900s did not reach peak ridership until the 1940s, but New West Colorado depended utterly and inextricably on automobiles, trucks, and the roads and highways upon which these motor vehicles traveled.</p> <p>New West Colorado was not so much postindustrial as alt-industrial. Farming and ranching grew more intensive and productive thanks in no small part to ever-growing quantities of fossil fuels, chemical inputs, and <a href="/article/irrigation-colorado"><strong>irrigation</strong></a> water. Mining remained important too, though the targets shifted away from precious metals and coal toward molybdenum, <a href="/article/uranium-mining"><strong>uranium</strong></a>, and gravel even as mechanization and strip mining reduced the industry’s labor requirements. And though Coloradans imported most of the fuel burned by their growing fleets of cars and trucks, petroleum and natural gas extraction eventually emerged as key drivers of growth in parts of the <a href="/article/western-slope"><strong>Western Slope</strong></a> and the northern <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>.</p> <p>The rising power of the federal government played a pivotal but sometimes overlooked role in creating and sustaining New West Colorado. National parks and national forests established in the late 1800s and early 1900s helped to ensure the state’s continuing role as a tourist destination; so did federal subsidies for the state’s roads. New Deal relief and assistance programs resulted in the construction of hiking trails and other recreational amenities, including world-renowned <a href="/article/red-rocks-park-and-amphitheatre"><strong>Red Rocks Amphitheatre</strong></a>, as well as K–12 schools and new classrooms and dormitories at Colorado’s state institutions of higher learning.</p> <p>During <strong>World War II</strong>, Colorado, like other western and southern states, benefited immensely from federal military spending and wartime investment. This infusion of government funds continued throughout the ensuing Cold War, with several important consequences. Military posts like <strong>Fort Carson</strong> near Colorado Springs; <strong>Lowry Air Force Base</strong> outside Denver; and <a href="/article/camp-hale"><strong>Camp Hale</strong></a>, on the opposite side of Tennessee Pass from Leadville, exposed hundreds of thousands of American service members to Colorado for the first time. Many of those who enjoyed their time in the Centennial State pulled up stakes and made new lives in Colorado after their military commitment ended. Federal defense spending also laid the basis for the state’s emergence as an important center for research, development, and innovation in fields ranging from aerospace to climate change. Finally, and perhaps more subtly, federal programs from the New Deal and World War II through the Cold War era established the infrastructure of highways, water systems, and power transmission and communications networks upon which the rapid growth of New West Colorado depended.</p> <p>Coloradans responded to growing federal involvement in the state’s economy with mixed emotions. Government money could spur growth and development, but it also raised fears that federal officials would try to leverage increased government spending into centralized political authority over the state. Organized opposition to federal programs during the New West phase stretched from Democratic governor <strong>Edwin “Big Ed” Johnson</strong>’s attempts to refuse New Deal aid through the successful campaign by wilderness activists to prevent the damming of <a href="/article/echo-park-dam-controversy"><strong>Echo Park</strong></a> in <a href="/article/dinosaur-national-monument"><strong>Dinosaur National Monument</strong></a> in the 1950s and the <strong>Sagebrush Rebellion</strong> that pitted some Colorado ranchers against the <strong>Bureau of Land Management</strong> and other agencies starting in the 1970s.</p> <p>Champions of small government at the state level won a signal victory with the 1992 passage of the <strong>Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR)</strong>. This constitutional amendment sought to roll back the expansion of state and local government by restricting their ability to generate revenue. Though touted as a way to harness the expansion of governments that conservatives blamed for enacting restrictive regulations and engaging in unwarranted interventions in economic, social, and cultural life, TABOR’s many critics lambasted the amendment for straitjacketing the ability of Colorado’s public institutions to serve Colorado’s rapidly growing population.</p> <h2>Newest West Political Economy (ca. 2010–)</h2> <p>By the early 2000s, at least some parts of Colorado appeared to be entering a fourth phase—the Newest West—distinguished from its New West precursor largely by the solidification of the <a href="/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a> corridor as a dynamic megalopolis tied much more closely to national and global trends and markets than to other parts of Colorado and the Interior West. For the first time in its history, Denver has finally unburdened itself from the inferiority complex that bedeviled it from the Colorado Gold Rush onward. Freed of the burden of imitating San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Dallas, the city has come into its own. New generators of economic growth—particularly the emergence of the world’s first legal marijuana industry following the passage of Amendment 64 by Colorado voters in 2012 but also the fluorescence of <strong>craft brewing</strong> and other neo-artisanal pursuits—have combined with old mainstays such as real estate development and speculation and New West innovations in high technology, financial services, petroleum extraction, and recreational tourism to fuel explosive economic growth along the Front Range, as well as in scattered pockets elsewhere in the state.</p> <p>These trends in and around the Denver region have complicated effects on other parts of Colorado. Most important, and perhaps most worrisome, has been an apparent upswing in the longstanding divides and resentments pitting rural Coloradans—especially on the Western Slope and the eastern plains—against citizens of the state’s urban and suburban core. These antagonisms are especially evident in national elections, as well as in the special-issue politics surrounding <strong>gun control</strong> and other hot-button issues. Whether or not the countervailing trends of pragmatic action across party lines in day-to-day state politics and the rising influence of unaffiliated voters (whose ranks now outnumber <strong>Republicans</strong> and <strong>Democrats</strong> in Colorado) will mitigate these growing economic, cultural, and political divides remains to be seen.</p> <p>All we can conclude with any confidence is that for us, as for earlier generations of Coloradans, the future will remain uncertain, up for grabs, and subject to the incessant winds of change that continue to shape and reshape the political economy that draws various people together at the same time it sets us apart.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/andrews-thomas-g" hreflang="und">Andrews, Thomas G.</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/political-history-colorado" hreflang="en">political history colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/economic-history-colorado" hreflang="en">economic history colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-economy" hreflang="en">colorado economy</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-politics" hreflang="en">colorado politics</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/nineteenth-century-colorado" hreflang="en">nineteenth century colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gold-mining" hreflang="en">gold mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/sugar-beets" hreflang="en">sugar beets</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/native-americans" hreflang="en">native americans</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indigenous-people" hreflang="en">indigenous people</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fur-trade" hreflang="en">fur trade</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-history" hreflang="en">colorado history</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> Mon, 24 Apr 2017 20:28:55 +0000 yongli 2480 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Hastings Mine Explosion http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/hastings-mine-explosion <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Hastings Mine Explosion</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-02-16T13:21:41-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 16, 2021 - 13:21" class="datetime">Tue, 02/16/2021 - 13:21</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/hastings-mine-explosion" data-a2a-title="Hastings Mine Explosion"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fhastings-mine-explosion&amp;title=Hastings%20Mine%20Explosion"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Hastings Mine Explosion was the deadliest mining disaster in Colorado history. Caused by the misguided striking of a match in the Hastings coal mine north of <strong>Trinidad</strong> on April 27, 1917, the blast killed 121 coal miners; one other worker died of overexertion while trying to recover the bodies. Even in an era when mine accidents were tragically common, the number of casualties in the Hastings blast was extraordinary, reflecting the high human cost of one of the state’s most profitable industries.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As was typical in mining disasters of the early twentieth century, the victims of the Hastings explosion were mostly European immigrants and from other marginalized groups, indicating the type of people that Colorado’s business community and public were willing to sacrifice in order to have warm homes and a robust economy. Disasters like the Hastings Explosion, which is generally left out of Colorado history books, remind today’s Coloradans that economic prosperity often comes with a human toll that is not always visible.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Background</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Coal was Colorado’s most important commodity in the early twentieth century. It fueled the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>gold- and silver-mining industries</strong></a>, propelled railroads, heated brick kilns for construction, and warmed hundreds of homes in cities such as <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>. In 1917 Colorado had 238 coal mines operating throughout the state, most of which were divided between three companies: <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel and Iron</strong></a>, the <strong>Rocky Mountain Fuel Company</strong>, and <strong>Victor American Fuel Company</strong>. That year, the state’s coal mines produced a total of some 12.5 million tons of coal, an increase of nearly 2 million tons from the previous year.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Working in coal mines was dirty and dangerous. Even in the 1910s, when strikes and violent labor conflicts such as the <a href="/article/ludlow-massacre"><strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong></a> rocked the state’s coalfields, workers had made minimal gains in either pay or workplace safety. They still worked up to twelve hours a day, six days a week. They inhaled coal dust all day long, which led to the devastating respiratory disease known as black lung. Mine shafts could collapse or flood. Rockslides and fires were also common; in 1917 the state mine inspector reported that sixty-six miners died from routine accidents, including “falls of rock, falls of coal, mine cars and motors, explosives,” and “electricity.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In addition, methane and other flammable gases released from coal beds often built up in the mines. Each morning an inspector had to check the air quality with safety lamps before work could begin; flames in safety lamps burned differently when held close to flammable gases. If mine inspection was not done properly, explosions could occur, such as when the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jokerville-mine-explosion"><strong>Jokerville Mine exploded</strong></a> near <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/crested-butte"><strong>Crested Butte</strong></a> in 1884 or when the <strong>Vulcan Mine</strong> in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/garfield-county"><strong>Garfield County</strong></a> blew up three times between 1896 and 1918.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Hastings Mine</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Coal mining near Hastings, in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/las-animas-county"><strong>Las Animas County</strong></a>, began in the 1870s, and expanded after a rail connection arrived in 1889. A second seam of the coal mine was opened in 1912. Although productive, the mine was known to be volatile; in his report on the Hastings explosion, US Bureau of Mines inspector C. A. Herbert noted that “large quantities of gas are given off at all times from both the floor and coal.” This hazard led to several blasts at the mine before 1917, prompting the company to install “fans and air chutes sufficiently that it was thought to be safe.”</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Explosion and Aftermath</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>For reasons still unknown, around 9:30 am on the snowy morning of April 17, 1917, Hastings Mine inspector David H. Reese took apart his safety lamp and struck a match to relight it, “causing an explosion that spread with great violence throughout almost the entire mine.” Incredibly, despite the size of the blast, “not a sound was heard outside.” Although up to 125 were feared dead, officials held out hope that some miners had survived the blast.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Recovery of bodies was a slow process that took many days, owing to the dangerous conditions that lingered in the mine. It soon became clear from these conditions, which included, according to the deputy state inspector of coal mines, “destruction of stoppings and falls of rock . . . and all the workings below the fourth north being full of gas,” that there would be no survivors. The first body was brought out of the mine around 9 am on April 28; the body of mine inspector David H. Reese was not pulled out until May 10. Gathering the bodies was no easy task, as shown by the death of rescue worker Walter Kerr, who died of heart failure while carrying a body out of the mine (Kerr’s family was awarded compensation in the amount of $8 per week for six years).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The majority of the 121 miners killed were Austrian, Greek, Black, Italian, Mexican, or Polish, and most were between the ages of twenty and forty. In the days after the blast, a shaken crowd of hundreds gathered around the wrecked mine, including wives and children of the deceased. Newspapers related the shock and grief of those who lost loved ones. Wrote the <em>Montrose Daily Press</em>, “Up the snowclad hill trudged at intervals thru [<em>sic</em>] the day a long line of figures, mourning women in whose hearts the spark of hope had died.” The wife and daughter of a Mexican miner sat nearly motionless outside the mine for hours, peering into the blackness, their faces twisted with “the fear and the longing, and the sadness that shown in their big liquid brown eyes.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Near Reese’s body, which was notably untouched by flame or “violence,” was the inspector’s disassembled safety lamp. Twenty-two matches were found in Reese’s pocket, according to the deputy state inspector’s report, and “matches and tobacco” were reportedly removed from other bodies as well. These details shocked mining officials; matches were not supposed to be allowed in such a volatile mine, and it was the inspector’s job to search miners for them. Moreover, Reese was a highly regarded inspector who knew well the risks of open flames in mines; he had overseen a rescue effort after a smaller explosion at the Hastings in 1912. To this day, nobody has offered a plausible explanation for Reese’s flouting of such obvious safety protocols.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The state of Colorado began a workmen’s compensation program in 1915. Program records from the years after the Hastings blast show that at least sixteen families of the miners were each paid $75 for funeral expenses. As a result of his tragic mistake, the state reduced compensation to Reese’s family by 50 percent.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Industrial disasters such as the Hastings explosion reveal the true costs of cheap energy in Colorado, a problem that has not gone away. Today’s oil and gas industry is reliant not on coal but on <strong>hydraulic fracturing</strong>, or fracking, a controversial drilling process that produces a wealth of energy but also can cause negative health effects in surrounding communities. In addition, although they are not as common as they were in early twentieth-century coal mines, industrial accidents on fracking sites still happen relatively frequently. The sacrifices made by those workers as well as residents near oil and gas developments allow everyone in the state to have cheap energy in the twenty-first century.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hastings-mine" hreflang="en">hastings mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hastings-mine-explosion" hreflang="en">hastings mine explosion</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mining-disasters" hreflang="en">mining disasters</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal" hreflang="en">coal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/las-animas-county" hreflang="en">Las Animas County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/victor-american-fuel-company" hreflang="en">victor american fuel company</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining-colorado" hreflang="en">coal mining in colorado</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=MDP19170430-01.2.13&amp;e=--1917---1917--en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-hastings+explosion-------0-----">117 Bodies Are Found in Wrecked Mine; Rescuers Think Three Still Alive</a>,” <em>Montrose Daily Press</em>, April 30, 1917.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=MPT19170525.2.111&amp;srpos=1&amp;e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-Hastings+mine+explosion+Reese+lamp-------0-----">Blast Caused by Lamp</a>,” <em>Middle Park Times</em>, May 25, 1917.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=MDP19170428-01.2.2&amp;srpos=1&amp;e=--1917---1917--en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-hastings+explosion-------0-----">Coal Mine Horror at Trinidad May Claim 125 Men</a>,” <em>Montrose Daily Press</em>, April 28, 1917.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>James Dalrymple, <a href="https://spl.cde.state.co.us/artemis/nrserials/nr930010internet/nr9300101917internet.pdf"><em>Fifth Annual Report of the State Inspector of Coal Mines—1917</em></a> (Denver: Eames Brothers, 1917).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Industrial Commission of Colorado, “<a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112108137081&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=11">First Report of the Industrial Commission of Colorado: August 1, 1915 to December 1, 1917</a>,” 1917.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Stephanie Kirchgaessner, “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/10/fires-explosions-front-range-residents-fracking-colorado-climate">Fires, Explosions and Toxic Releases: Front Range Residents Fight Fracking Boom</a>,” <em>Guardian</em>, October 10, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jesse Paul, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/27/hastings-mine-explosion-1917-colorado-history/">A 1917 Coal Mine Explosion in Southern Colorado Killed 121. But It’s Just a Faint Memory in the State’s History</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, April 27, 2017.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Kathy Weiser-Alexander, “<a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/hastings-colorado/">Hastings, Colorado and the Worst Mining Accident</a>,” Legends of America, August 2018.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Thomas G. Andrews, <em>Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War </em>(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 16 Feb 2021 20:21:41 +0000 yongli 3538 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Columbine Mine Massacre http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/columbine-mine-massacre-0 <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Columbine Mine Massacre</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-02-16T13:13:08-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 16, 2021 - 13:13" class="datetime">Tue, 02/16/2021 - 13:13</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/columbine-mine-massacre-0" data-a2a-title="Columbine Mine Massacre"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcolumbine-mine-massacre-0&amp;title=Columbine%20Mine%20Massacre"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>On November 21, 1927, members of a Colorado militia fired into a crowd of hundreds of striking miners in the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/weld-county"><strong>Weld County</strong></a> town of <strong>Serene</strong>, killing six and wounding twenty. The Columbine Massacre showed that little had changed in Colorado in terms of relations between workers and companies, as well as between labor and the state, in the thirteen years since the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ludlow-massacre"><strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong></a>, the deadliest labor conflict in state history.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Coal Mining in Colorado</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Mining in Colorado is often associated with <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>precious metals</strong></a> such as gold and silver, but by the late nineteenth century, coal had become the state’s most important commodity. It underwrote the entire industrial economy, from gold mining and smelting to construction and railroads. Coal also heated hundreds of homes in cities such as <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>. Unlike coal operations in the eastern United States, coal mining in Colorado was dominated by only a handful of large companies, with the two most prominent being <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron</strong></a> and the <strong>Rocky Mountain Fuel Company</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Working in coal mines was dirty and dangerous. Even in the 1920s, after decades of labor activism had resulted in some gains for workers, coal miners still worked up to twelve hours a day, six days a week. They inhaled coal dust all day long, which led to the devastating respiratory disease known as black lung. Mine shafts could collapse or flood. Rock slides and fires were also common. Flammable methane gas released from coal beds often built up in the mines, and each morning an inspector had to check the air quality before work could begin. If this was not done properly, explosions could occur, such as when the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jokerville-mine-explosion"><strong>Jokerville Mine exploded</strong></a> near <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/crested-butte"><strong>Crested Butte</strong></a> in 1884 or when the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/vulcan-mine-explosions"><strong>Vulcan Mine</strong></a> in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/garfield-county"><strong>Garfield County</strong></a> blew up three times between 1896 and 1918.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Rise of the Colorado Wobblies</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Given the slew of accidents, injuries, and deaths at the state’s coal mines, it is no wonder that many miners turned to unions to advocate for better working conditions in the early twentieth century. At Ludlow in 1914, workers were represented by the <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/united-mine-workers-america">United Mine Workers of America</a></strong> (UMWA). The UMWA largely withdrew from Colorado by the 1920s after its lack of success in the previous decade. In its place came a more radical union, the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/industrial-workers-world"><strong>Industrial Workers of the World</strong></a> (IWW), whose members were known as “Wobblies” and explicitly embraced Communism. This position made the union a major target of local newspapers and state officials during the late 1910s and 1920s, when anti-Communist sentiment ran rampant across the country. In 1919, for instance, famous IWW leader <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-dudley-haywood">William “Big Bill” Haywood</a></strong> was jailed along with several other union leaders; these actions, however, only resulted in other members stepping into the leadership void.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Strike of 1927</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1927 the catalyst for union activity in Colorado actually came from far beyond the state’s borders. On August 23, two Italian immigrants and anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were wrongfully executed for murder in Massachusetts. In response, the IWW—made up of immigrant workers from dozens of nations—urged coal miners in Colorado to go on a strike in solidarity with Sacco and Vanzetti. Some 10,000 responded in a daylong walkout, indicating that conditions were ripe for further union activity in the state. Mine owners and state officials retaliated by firing some of the solidarity strikers and closing common meeting grounds for miners, such as pool halls.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Despite those measures, in early September IWW leaders met in Aguilar, in southern Colorado, to finalize demands for a strike. They wanted wages upped from about $6 to $7.50 per day, employment of union check weigh men (who verified each miner’s tonnage, which figured into how much they were paid), and the recognition of pit committees (groups of employer and worker representatives who dealt with labor problems at mines).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The strike officially got under way in October, with some 8,400 workers leaving mines across the state. Governor <strong>William H. “Billy” Adams</strong> refused to recognize the IWW and declared the strike illegal.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Conflict at the Columbine Mine</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>While the bulk of the state’s coal industry was crippled by the walkouts, the Columbine Mine near Lafayette was able to remain in operation by hiring 150 strikebreakers. Opened by the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company in 1919, the Columbine had quickly become one of the largest and most productive coal mines in the state, employing hundreds and leading Colorado in tonnage by 1923. Such production came at a price, however: by 1927 workers had experienced dozens of accidents there, many of them fatal.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>During the strike, conditions at the Columbine quickly grew tense. To protect the strikebreakers and keep out union agitators, armed company guards converted the Columbine Mine town of Serene into “an armed camp,” complete with barbed-wire fencing and gates. Meanwhile, to recruit more workers to its cause, the IWW sent out carloads of singing agitators from Lafayette who made the rounds of the state’s coalfields, belting out the union’s anthem, “Solidarity Forever.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On the morning of November 14, the quiet of Serene was broken by a demonstration of, according to the Longmont <em>Daily Times</em>, “four hundred striking miners, led by their wives, who waved flags and sang patriotic airs.” They then piled into fifty cars and drove around the coalfields of Boulder County in a show of solidarity. With no end to the strike in sight and a diminishing coal supply as winter approached, the Longmont <em>Daily Times </em>gravely noted that “the situation is getting serious, to say the least.”</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Massacre</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The disputed events of the next week would prove the <em>Daily Times </em>tragically correct. On the morning of November 21, a crowd of about 500 striking miners and their wives marched to the gates of Serene, intending to go on to the Columbine Mine to prevent strikebreakers from working. They were met by armed mine guards, and, at mine owners’ request, members of the Colorado Rangers—also known then as the Colorado State Police—a volunteer law enforcement group modeled after the Texas Rangers and ordered to Serene by Governor Adams.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>When Colorado Rangers leader Louis Scherf ordered the crowd to halt, IWW leader Adam Bell went to the gate and asked it to be unlocked. Instead, he was taunted and struck with a club, and a sixteen-year-old boy next to him had an American flag ripped out of his hand. The strikers surged forward, with some climbing over the gate, and Rangers launched tear gas canisters into the crowd, striking one woman in the back. A bloody brawl ensued, with strikers wielding rocks, fists, and knives and Rangers swinging clubs and firing tear gas. The state police then fell back and opened fire on the crowd, which had intentionally left its firearms behind. Miners claimed a mounted machine gun also created a crossfire. Two men were killed instantly, while four more later died of their wounds and some twenty additional men and women were injured. Several guards and state policemen were also hurt.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The slain miners were John Eastenes, Nick Spanudakhis, Rene Jacques, Frank Kovich, Mike Vidovich, and Jerry Davis. The last names reflect the varied nationalities and backgrounds of the miners, all of whom pledged solidarity to one another under an American flag that was now, as one 1989 account of the massacre put it, “riddled with bullets and stained with blood.”</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Aftermath</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The massacre prompted Governor Adams to organize the National Guard in preparation for a statewide battle, similar to the aftermath of Ludlow. However, the guard never left Denver; somewhat surprisingly, there were no reprisal attacks in the northern or southern coalfields, suggesting strikers had tired of violence. Thereafter, the strike lost momentum, as workers and other unions distanced themselves from the IWW and resumed negotiations with the state’s industrial board. The board had refused to recognize the IWW but otherwise recognized miners’ right to petition. After several more outbursts of violence between the state police and IWW strikers across Colorado’s southern coalfields, the strike finally ended in May 1928. New Rocky Mountain Fuel owner <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/josephine-roche"><strong>Josephine Roche</strong></a> was a prominent union sympathizer, and she instituted a $7 wage and recognized the UMWA as the company’s official union.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The strike that led to the Columbine Massacre shows that coal miners’ working conditions had changed little despite decades of organizing, while the massacre itself indicates that state officials’ contempt for organized labor had not dissipated in the roughly fourteen years since Ludlow. The events of 1927–28 were in many ways a reprise of Ludlow, except without much retaliatory aggression by miners. Still, no Rangers or mine guards were held responsible for their actions on November 21. The massacre also sounded the death knell for the IWW in Colorado, as workers came to realize that the union did not have the political sway to get them what they needed.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Today, a sign at a rest area east of Lafayette off State Highway 7 pays tribute to the events of November 21, 1927. In 1989 local historical societies and labor organizations dedicated a memorial to the massacre victims at the Lafayette Cemetery. Left out of most Colorado history books, the Columbine Mine Massacre nonetheless remains one of the most tragic events in the state’s long and brutal struggle between workers and their corporate exploiters.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/columbine-mine" hreflang="en">columbine mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/columbine-mine-massacre" hreflang="en">columbine mine massacre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/labor-history-colorado" hreflang="en">labor history colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-miners" hreflang="en">coal miners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/serene" hreflang="en">serene</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lafayette" hreflang="en">Lafayette</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county" hreflang="en">boulder county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county-history" hreflang="en">boulder county history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/louisville" hreflang="en">louisville</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> Tue, 16 Feb 2021 20:13:08 +0000 yongli 3537 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Coal Mining in Colorado http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/coal-mining-colorado <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Coal Mining in Colorado</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-02-16T13:06:10-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 16, 2021 - 13:06" class="datetime">Tue, 02/16/2021 - 13:06</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/coal-mining-colorado" data-a2a-title="Coal Mining in Colorado"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcoal-mining-colorado&amp;title=Coal%20Mining%20in%20Colorado"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, coal mining was the most important industry in Colorado. Coal mines served as the crucibles of empire, churning out the fuel needed to power the railroads, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>precious-metal mines</strong></a>, and smelters that helped develop the region. They were also contested sites of worker resistance and rebellion where the power dynamics of industrial capitalism were acted out in tragic ways.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Although it is no longer mined in Colorado at the rates it once was, coal has maintained its relative importance to the state’s energy economy through the present. Today, coal mining remains an important industry in the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/moffat-county"><strong>Moffat County</strong></a>, and coal-fueled power plants provide electricity to hundreds of thousands of residents along the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>. These coal mines and power plants are sources of air and water pollution, and the industries coal helped fuel are equally pollutive.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Formation of Coal</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>About 70 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period, much of Colorado was covered by a shallow, tropical sea. When the uplift of the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a> began about a million years later, it pushed up the inundated land, giving rise to many swampy bogs. It was in these bogs that Colorado’s coal began to form as millions of years of the sun’s energy became trapped in vegetation that died and decomposed on top of itself. The plant material was gradually compressed into a primordial muck that eventually hardened into coal.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>When engineer <strong>Ferdinand V. Hayden</strong> surveyed the geology of Colorado in the late 1860s and early 1870s, he identified several areas that held vast coal reserves. These included the Raton Basin in southern Colorado, whose coal Hayden described as being “inexhaustible and of excellent quality,” as well as the northwest part of what was then <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Advent of Industrial Coal</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The earliest coal mining in Colorado took place in the late 1850s near the fledgling town of <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, but industrial development of the state’s coal resources awaited the arrival of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-jackson-palmer"><strong>William Jackson Palmer</strong></a> in the late 1860s. Over the next two decades, Palmer turned coal into Colorado’s most important commodity. In addition to founding the tourist town of <a href="/article/colorado-springs"><strong>Colorado Springs</strong></a> in 1871, Palmer opened dozens of new coal mines in southern Colorado, and his <strong>Denver &amp; Rio Grande Railroad</strong> (D&amp;RG) brought that coal to market in Denver. To manage his new coal empire, Palmer started Colorado Coal &amp; Iron, which eventually became <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel and Iron</strong></a> (CF&amp;I), arguably the state’s most powerful coal company. The southern Colorado towns of <strong>Trinidad</strong> and <strong>Walsenburg</strong> became important hubs of coal mining and transport, with the latter known as “The City Built on Coal.”</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Coke and Industry</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Coal mining in Colorado developed alongside precious-metal mining. In addition to providing the fuel needed to transport gold and silver ore, coal also warmed the homes of residents in Denver and other mushrooming Front Range cities.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the 1860s, as gold and silver miners left behind panned-out streambeds and began extracting more metal-bearing ore from the mountains, it became apparent that extreme heat was needed to separate gold and silver from the rock that held it. Coal would provide that heat, but not just any coal would do. Smelters, the heat-driven facilities that melted gold and silver ore to extract the metals, required coal that would burn hot enough to melt rock. This type of coal, a densely layered type called <em>coking coal</em>, was formed by the supercompression of underground coal seams. When heated without oxygen, coking coal turns into <em>coke</em>, a fuel that burns hot enough to melt rock and forge steel.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1880s, coke became even more essential in Colorado, as it fueled William Jackson Palmer’s <strong>steel mill</strong> in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>. Coking coal was most commonly found in Colorado’s southern coalfields, making those fields even more important to the state’s industrial economy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Major Coal Mining Locations</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>As Palmer’s southern coalfields coalesced in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/las-animas-county"><strong>Las Animas</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/huerfano-county"><strong>Huerfano</strong></a> Counties, railroad expansion allowed other parts of the state to become major coal producers as well. In 1881 the D&amp;RG reached <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/crested-butte"><strong>Crested Butte</strong></a>, in northern <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gunnison-county"><strong>Gunnison County</strong></a>, which would contain some of the most productive mines in the state; it was also the site of the grisly <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jokerville-mine-explosion"><strong>Jokerville Mine Explosion</strong></a> that killed fifty-nine workers in 1884. Toward the end of that decade miners began tapping coalfields in <a href="/article/boulder-county"><strong>Boulder County</strong></a>, which fueled the growth of towns such as <strong>Louisville</strong> and <strong>Lafayette</strong> in the 1890s.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/garfield-county"><strong>Garfield County</strong></a> in western Colorado also held productive mines, including the volatile Vulcan Mine, which suffered <strong>three deadly explosions</strong> between 1896 and 1918. In the early 1900s, thanks to the completion of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-northwestern-pacific-railway-hill-route-moffat-road"><strong>Moffat Road</strong></a> rail line, a relatively smaller coal industry developed in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/routt-county"><strong>Routt County</strong></a> in the northwest part of the state. After the Moffat Road reached Craig in 1913, the coal beds of Moffat County could be tapped, too.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By 1917 Colorado had 238 coal mines operating throughout the state, most of which were divided between three companies: CF&amp;I, <strong>Rocky Mountain Fuel Company</strong>, and <strong>Victor American Fuel Company</strong>. That year, the state’s coal mines produced a total of some 12.5 million tons of coal, an increase of nearly 2 million tons from the previous year.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Even as it gradually lost market share to oil and natural gas, coal mining continued throughout the twentieth century in Colorado. In Moffat County, for instance, production reached more than 100,000 tons annually between 1943 and 1951. Mining in the state also shifted during this period from deep mining, the kind that sent miners far belowground, to open-pit mining, where heavy machinery is used to excavate shallower coal seams. By the 1960s, coal production had dwindled to the point where the industry had only a small fraction of its earlier power and influence.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Work in the Coal Mines</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Working in coal mines was dirty and dangerous, and labor conditions were dismal and underregulated. Most coal mines grouped together men from more than a dozen different nations and backgrounds, including Austria, Britain, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Poland, and the United States. In the 1880s, coal miners worked from fourteen to sixteen hours per day for paltry wages that were often paid in scrip, a kind of currency that could be used only at company stores. Since many coal camps were remote, these stores were often the sole local source of food and supplies, keeping miners tethered to the company. Moreover, coal companies such as CF&amp;I often built whole company towns, where workers paid rent to live. Along with company stores, company housing ensured that most wages were returned to the company.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the mines, workers inhaled coal dust all day long, which led to the devastating respiratory disease known as black lung. Mine shafts could collapse or flood. Rock slides and fires were also common; in 1917 the state mine inspector reported that sixty-six miners died from routine accidents, including “falls of rock, falls of coal, mine cars and motors, explosives,” and “electricity.” In addition, methane and other flammable gases released from coal beds often built up in the mines, and each morning an inspector had to check the air quality before work could begin. Employed since the early 1800s, safety lamps, whose flames burned differently when held close to flammable gases, helped determine whether a mine’s air quality was safe. Davy lamps with longer wicks were also used to burn off harmful gases.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Most mines employed inspectors to monitor safety conditions, but even a slight mistake could spell instant death for dozens of miners. This was the case in the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/hastings-mine-explosion"><strong>Hastings Mine Explosion</strong></a>, Colorado’s deadliest mining disaster, which occurred north of Trinidad in 1917. For unknown reasons, the mine inspector took apart his safety lamp and attempted to relight it with a match, triggering a gas-fueled explosion that killed 121 workers. In addition, some mines exploded despite being declared safe; this occurred in the Jokerville Mine blast of 1884, which killed fifty-nine miners. A total of eighty-five workers perished during the three explosions of the Vulcan Mine between 1896 and 1918. These disasters reflected the troubling trend of Colorado miners dying at a rate of twice the national average between 1884 and 1912.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Labor Strife</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Coal miners were victims of owner exploitation and hazardous working conditions, and they often tried to improve their lot. As early as the 1870s, they organized strikes and walkouts, and later they joined unions such as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/united-mine-workers-america"><strong>United Mine Workers of America</strong></a> (UMWA), formed in 1890. The first UMWA local in Colorado was formed in the Boulder County town of Erie that year, and the union organized its <strong>first major strike</strong> during the <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/panic-1893">financial calamity</a> </strong>of 1893-94. Thousands of coal miners across the state walked off the job, hoping to produce a coal shortage that would force owners to meet their demands of abolishing company stores and paying workers in cash. In the end, however, there were not enough walkouts to produce a shortage, so miners went back to work under prestrike conditions. By 1900 similar actions had earned some hard-won improvements, including a state law mandating an eight-hour workday, but coal miners had to pressure companies such as CF&amp;I to follow the laws.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Recognizing the power of strikes, mine owners and companies took them seriously, employing both economic oppression and violence to stop them. Owners fired striking workers and hired strikebreakers to work for lower wages than strikers were demanding, hoping to end the strikes. When these approaches failed, mine owners and companies raised citizen militias or petitioned the state to call in the National Guard to force miners back to work.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In Colorado the UMWA was most active in the early twentieth century, with thousands of members joining strikes in the southern coalfields of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fremont-county"><strong>Fremont</strong></a>, Huerfano, and Las Animas Counties. A <strong>strike in 1903–4</strong> again called for the abolition of scrip and company stores, as well as implementation of the state’s eight-hour workday law. The failure of that strike led to rising tensions that exploded again in the spring of 1913. The UMWA led a strike in the southern coalfields that involved about 90 percent of the state’s coal workers and resulted in the <a href="/article/ludlow-massacre"><strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong></a> when National Guard members fired on striking miners and set the strikers’ tent colony on fire. It was the deadliest labor conflict in state history.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Coal mining conditions were hardly improved for miners by the time another major conflict broke out in the late 1920s. In 1927, during a strike in the northern coalfields of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/weld-county"><strong>Weld County</strong></a>, the Colorado State Police (then known as the Colorado Rangers) <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/columbine-mine-massacre-0"><strong>opened fire on strikers</strong></a> and their wives at the Rocky Mountain Fuel company town of Serene, killing six and wounding twenty.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Strikes and labor conflict became less common after the passage of the federal Wagner Act in 1935, which recognized workers’ rights to unionize. Still, there remained periods of strife, such as in 1978, when miners at the Allen and Maxwell Mines in Las Animas County walked off the job for three months as part of a national strike organized by the United Mine Workers.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Environmental Effects</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In addition to the injuries and health hazards to workers, coal mining has produced a number of negative environmental effects that Coloradans continue to deal with today. Air pollution is the largest environmental cost of coal production. To make the air in coal mines breathable, methane and other harmful gases are vented out into the atmosphere, contributing to local smog and global climate change. The West Elk Mine in Gunnison County is the largest methane emitter in Colorado, belching out emissions in 2017 that equaled those of 98,000 cars. Abandoned coal mines also release methane. Nationwide, coal mines account for almost 10 percent of all methane emissions.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In addition, mines often need to be expanded to maintain their profitability, which leads to deforestation and other forms of habitat destruction. As such, environmental groups often take the coal industry to court over mine expansion as well as pollution. At the West Elk Mine, for example, a proposed expansion into a designated roadless forest resulted in years of litigation before it was ultimately blocked in 2020—but only after the company illegally bulldozed a road through the area.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Coal-fueled power plants are another major source of pollution. In 2020 <strong><em>The Denver Post</em></strong> named Colorado’s six coal-fired power plants among the state’s top ten greenhouse gas emitters. Coal-fired power can contaminate water sources, too; in 2019 an investigation by the <strong>Platte River Power Authority </strong>found that groundwater near the Rawhide Energy Station in <a href="/article/larimer-county"><strong>Larimer County</strong></a> was contaminated with selenium, a chemical that can harm both humans and wildlife. Aware of coal’s ongoing potential to harm air and water quality and wildlife, environmental groups such as the <strong>Sierra Club</strong> and <strong>WildEarth Guardians</strong> have repeatedly sued to stop the expansion of the coal industry in the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Despite its environmental effects, coal mining continues in Colorado today. In Moffat County, coal still underwrites the local economy. As much as 46 percent of the total property value in the county is generated from its two major coal mines, the Colowyo and Trapper Mines. The Craig Station power plant, completed in the early 1980s and operated by the <strong>Westminster</strong>-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission company, provides hundreds of jobs in Moffat County and supplies power to some 250,000 square miles in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Despite its importance to local economies in places like Craig, Tri-State has decided to shut down the company’s coal-fired plants in Colorado and New Mexico by 2030.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Even though production has declined almost every year since 2012, Colorado remains the eleventh-largest producer of coal in the country, with nearly one-quarter of its coal exported to other countries. The West Elk Mine remains one of the state’s largest, employing around 220 people and producing nearly 4 million tons of coal in 2016. Coal from within and beyond the state provides more than half of Colorado’s net electricity generation. This means that coal will play a part in Colorado’s economy for at least the next decade, even as state and industry leaders move toward less pollutive and renewable energy sources.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining-colorado" hreflang="en">coal mining in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-miners" hreflang="en">coal miners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal" hreflang="en">coal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mines" hreflang="en">coal mines</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/moffat-county" hreflang="en">Moffat County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/craig" hreflang="en">Craig</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/energy" hreflang="en">energy</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/smelter" hreflang="en">smelter</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/railroads" hreflang="en">railroads</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colowyo" hreflang="en">colowyo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/routt-county" hreflang="en">routt county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/west-elk-mine" hreflang="en">west elk mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/crested-butte" hreflang="en">crested butte</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jokerville-mine" hreflang="en">jokerville mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/garfield-county" hreflang="en">Garfield County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/vulcan-mine" hreflang="en">vulcan mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hastings-mine-explosion" hreflang="en">hastings mine explosion</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county" hreflang="en">boulder county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/weld-county" hreflang="en">weld county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/las-animas-county" hreflang="en">Las Animas County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ludlow-massacre" hreflang="en">Ludlow Massacre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ludlow" hreflang="en">ludlow</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-fuel-iron" hreflang="en">colorado fuel &amp; iron</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/pueblo" hreflang="en">pueblo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coking-coal" hreflang="en">coking coal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/huerfano-county" hreflang="en">huerfano county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/walsenburg" hreflang="en">walsenburg</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lafayette" hreflang="en">Lafayette</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/louisville" hreflang="en">louisville</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/strike" hreflang="en">Strike</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/labor-history" hreflang="en">labor history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/united-mineworkers-america" hreflang="en">united mineworkers of america</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/umwa" hreflang="en">umwa</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/unions" hreflang="en">unions</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/columbine-mine-massacre" hreflang="en">columbine mine massacre</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>John Aguilar, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/18/west-elk-mine-court-ruling-poania/">State Orders Coal Company to Cease Expansion of West Elk Mine Into Roadless Area Near Paonia</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, June 18, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas G. Andrews, <em>Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War </em>(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Aspire Mining Limited, “<a href="https://aspiremininglimited.com/what-is-coking-coal/">What Is Coking Coal</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Allen Best, “Amid the Pandemic, Can Colorado Still Lead on a Just Transition From Coal?” <em>Energy News Network</em>, August 5, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sam Brasch, “<a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/03/05/craig-colorado-believes-in-coal-now-it-needs-a-plan-to-reinvent-itself/">Craig, Colorado Believes in Coal. Now It Needs a Plan to Reinvent Itself</a>,” <em>Colorado Public Radio</em>, March 5, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Center for Biological Diversity, “<a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/lawsuit-launched-over-illegal-air-pollution-colorado-coal-mine-2019-12-17/">Lawsuit Launched Over Illegal Air Pollution at Colorado Coal Mine</a>,” December 17, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Tessa Cheek, “<a href="https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2015/05/14/environmentalists-are-targeting-colorado-coal-successfully/">Environmentalists Are Targeting Colorado Coal, Successfully</a>,” <em>Colorado Independent</em>, May 14, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Tamara Chuang, “<a href="https://coloradosun.com/2019/03/19/colorado-coal-ash-water-contamination/">Chemical Contamination From 7 Colorado Coal-Fired Power Plants Found During Groundwater Monitoring</a>,” <em>Colorado Sun</em>, March 19, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>City of Lafayette, Colorado, “<a href="https://www.lafayetteco.gov/DocumentCenter/View/152/Coal-Mining-Heritage-of-Lafayette?bidId=">The Coal Mining Heritage of Lafayette</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.craigdailypress.com/news/craig-station-works-to-supply-the-demand/">Craig Station Works to Supply the Demand</a>,” <em>Craig Press</em>, October 14, 2014.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>James Dalrymple, <a href="https://spl.cde.state.co.us/artemis/nrserials/nr930010internet/nr9300101917internet.pdf"><em>Fifth Annual Report of the State Inspector of Coal Mines—1917</em></a> (Denver: Eames Brothers, 1917).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/08/feds-approve-west-elk-mine-expansion/">Feds Approve Expansion of West Elk Mine in Western Colorado Against Environmental Group Objections</a>,” <em>Grand Junction Daily Sentinel</em> (via <em>The Denver Post</em>), September 8, 2017.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ferdinand V. Hayden, <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/0384/report.pdf"><em>Preliminary Field Report of the United States Geological Survey of Colorado and New Mexico</em></a> (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1869).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Bruce Finley, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/01/19/colorado-air-pollution/">What’s Polluting Colorado’s Air? 125 million Tons a Year of Heat-Trapping and Hazardous Gases</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, January 19, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Mark Jaffe, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2015/05/11/colorado-mine-approvals-failed-to-look-at-environmental-impacts/">Colorado Mine Approvals Failed to Look at Environmental Impacts</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, May 11, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/05/lawsuit-targets-arch-coal-s-illegal-air-pollution-colorado-coal-mine">Lawsuit Targets Arch Coal’s Illegal Air Pollution at Colorado Coal Mine</a>,” Sierra Club, May 14, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Noré V. Winter et al., <a href="https://www.treadofpioneers.org/pdf/Routt_County_Historic_Context_1994.pdf"><em>Historic Context of Routt County</em></a> (Boulder, CO: Winter and Company, 1994).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Kelsey Ray, “<a href="https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2016/05/03/colorados-worst-methane-polluter-is-an-arch-coal-mine-west-elk-john-hickenlooper/">Colorado’s Worst Methane Polluter Is an Arch Coal Mine</a>,” <em>Colorado Independent</em>, May 3, 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Christopher J. Schreck, “<a href="https://scalar.usc.edu/works/the-colorado-fuel-and-iron-company/strikes-and-other-labor-disputes">Strikes and Other Labor Disputes</a>,” Labor Relations in the Industrial West, updated December 14, 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Brian K. Trembath, “<a href="https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/remembering-colorados-coal-warsand-coal-miners">Remembering Colorado’s Coal Wars  . . . And Coal Miners</a>,” Denver Public Library Western History and Genealogy Department, September 2, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>University of Denver, “<a href="https://www.du.edu/ludlow/cfhist.html">A History of the Colorado Coal Field War</a>,” Colorado Coal Field War Project, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Energy Information Administration, “<a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/mining-and-transportation.php">Coal Explained: Mining and Transportation of Coal</a>,” updated October 28, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Energy Information Administration, “<a href="https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=CO">Colorado: Profile Analysis</a>,” updated March 19, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Environmental Protection Agency, “<a href="https://www.epa.gov/cmop/sources-coal-mine-methane">Coal Mine Methane Sources</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Bian Zhengfu et al., “Environmental Issues From Coal Mining and Their Solutions,” <em>Mining Science and Technology </em>20 (2010).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Earthjustice.org, “<a href="https://earthjustice.org/features/colorado-forests-and-coal">Coal’s Toll on Colorado’s Forests</a>,” updated June 8, 2017.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ferdinand V. Hayden, <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70038931"><em>Seventh Annual Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, embracing Colorado</em></a> (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1873).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Fawn-Amber Montoya, ed., <em>Making an American Workforce: The Rockefellers and the Legacy of Ludlow</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2014).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>F. Darrell Munsell, <em>From Redstone to Ludlow: John Cleveland Osgood’s Struggle Against the United Mine Workers of America </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2009).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Randall H. McGuire and Paul Reckner, “<a href="https://users.clas.ufl.edu/davidson/Historical%20archaeology%20fall%202015/Week%204/McGuire%20&amp;amp;%20Reckner%202003.pdf">Building a Working-Class Archaeology: The Colorado Coal Field War Project</a>,” <em>Industrial Archaeology Review</em> 25, no. 2 (2003).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jonathan H. Rees, <em>Representation and Rebellion: The Rockefeller Plan at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1914–1942 </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2010).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 16 Feb 2021 20:06:10 +0000 yongli 3536 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Western Federation of Miners http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/western-federation-miners <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Western Federation of Miners</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-01-21T15:17:40-07:00" title="Thursday, January 21, 2021 - 15:17" class="datetime">Thu, 01/21/2021 - 15:17</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/western-federation-miners" data-a2a-title="Western Federation of Miners"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fwestern-federation-miners&amp;title=Western%20Federation%20of%20Miners"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Founded in 1893, the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was one of the largest and most active labor unions in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American West. The union was involved in some of the most important labor disputes in Colorado and American history, including the <strong>1894 Cripple Creek Strike</strong>, the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/leadville-strike-1896%E2%80%9397"><strong>Leadville Strike of 1896–97</strong></a>, and the <strong>Colorado Labor Wars of 1903–4</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The WFM stood out among other labor unions at the time on account of its steadfast belief in socialism and its willingness to use violence against the property and agents of industry. In 1905 WFM leaders helped create a larger union, the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/industrial-workers-world"><strong>Industrial Workers of the World</strong></a> (IWW), but eventually the two unions separated. In 1967 the WFM merged with the <strong>United Steel Workers of America</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Origins</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In the late nineteenth century, <a href="/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mining operations</strong></a> across the American West were becoming more consolidated, with large companies acquiring not only mines but also the mills, railroads, and smelters. This happened in part because the technological demands of hard-rock mining increasingly required more capital investment, which drove many smaller and medium-sized firms out of the mining industry. A major <a href="/article/panic-1893"><strong>crash in silver prices</strong></a> in 1893 only exacerbated this trend, as only the wealthiest companies could make the investments required to continue operation. As large companies like <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel and Iron</strong></a> became more powerful, they assumed greater control over their labor forces, which began to push back against corporate exploitation.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Whether they worked in coal or metal mines, nineteenth-century miners held one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. They worked fourteen-hour shifts in dirty, cramped conditions. Mine shafts could collapse, flood, or fill with flammable gas and explode, like when the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jokerville-mine-explosion"><strong>Jokerville Mine</strong></a> blew up near <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/crested-butte"><strong>Crested Butte</strong></a> in 1884. Meanwhile, mill and smelter workers were also subject to injuries from machinery, toxic air, and other workplace hazards. Many companies paid miners not in cash but in scrip, a kind of company currency that could be used only at “company stores,” which were often the sole local source of tools and food; this ensured that most wages were ultimately returned to the company.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In this arrangement, workers held little power. Before the 1890s, when they struck to protest their pay, hours, and conditions, they were often fired or jailed for trying to improve their situation. These brutal corporate reprisals created fertile ground among workers for the formation of labor unions.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Formation</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1893—the year silver prices collapsed and threw thousands of miners into poverty—miner Edward Boyce formed the Western Federation of Miners from a jail cell in Butte, Montana. Union chapters soon sprang up in other western states, and the WFM grew after its success during the 1894 <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a> Strike in one of Colorado’s wealthiest gold districts.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The WFM started out as a more traditional union, but its leadership soon took a radical turn in response to escalating conflicts with organized, antagonistic mine owners. In the wake of the Leadville Strike of 1896–97, in which armed strikers attacked strikebreakers in a confrontation that left five dead, WFM president Boyce announced support for “rifle clubs” among union members. In 1897 the WFM withdrew from its coalition with the American Federation of Labor (AFL), which had failed to support the strike. In 1902 the union elected a socialist president, Charles Moyer. Historian Katherine Benton Cohen writes that the WFM “did not shy away from lawbreaking and sabotage, nor did its opponents.”</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Activity in Colorado</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The WFM’s formation stemmed from violent conflicts in Idaho and Montana, but in 1900 the union moved its headquarters to Denver, Colorado. It is in Colorado where the WFM solidified its reputation as one of the most powerful labor unions in the West.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>WFM activity in Colorado began with the 1894 Cripple Creek Strike, where the union was helped by a sympathetic politician, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/populism-colorado"><strong>Populist</strong></a> Governor <strong>Davis Waite</strong>. During the conflict, Waite initially refused to send in the <strong>National Guard</strong> to assist mine owners. When owners got the local sheriff to bring in an armed, strike-breaking posse, WFM members dynamited the train platform where the posse was about to disembark. Violence continued on both sides until Waite finally brokered an agreement that favored the miners, gaining the WFM fame and a broader membership. By 1903 the union had 28,000 members in Colorado across forty-two local chapters.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Part of the 1894 agreement was an eight-hour workday, and in 1899 the Colorado legislature enshrined that into state law. But in 1903 mining and smelting companies broke their promise and the law, cutting wages to make up for lost productivity. This prompted WFM strikes across the state, from mines in <strong>Idaho Springs</strong>, <a href="/article/telluride"><strong>Telluride</strong></a>, and Cripple Creek to smelters and mills in <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>. Urged by WFM secretary <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-dudley-haywood"><strong>Bill Haywood</strong></a>, nearly 4,000 miners left their posts in the Cripple Creek District. When mine owners hired strikebreakers to keep mines operating, WFM strikers clashed with strikebreakers, sabotaged mine equipment, and even dynamited a mine, acts that resulted in casualties for both sides.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>This time, however, the WFM ran into a less sympathetic governor in <strong>James Peabody</strong>, who declared martial law in Cripple Creek and sent in the National Guard to arrest strikers and kick them out of the district. Eventually, jailed strikers were freed by a court order, and those who were deported were paid a total of $60,000. Meanwhile, Peabody also sent National Guardsmen to Telluride, where in 1904 National Guard captain and local mine manager <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bulkeley-wells"><strong>Bulkeley Wells</strong></a> built <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-peabody"><strong>Fort Peabody</strong></a> on a mountain pass east of town to keep WFM miners out of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-miguel-county"><strong>San Miguel County</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>During the Cripple Creek Strike, Haywood wrote directly to President Theodore Roosevelt, arguing that “a duty devolves upon you as President of the United States to investigate the terrible crimes that are being perpetrated in Colorado in the name of law and order.” In 1905 the Roosevelt administration began such an investigation, uncovering documents such as “yellow dog” contracts, in which the signer pledged not to join a union as a condition of employment. The contracts, legal then but later banned in the 1930s, were clear attempts to disempower workers.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>For all the efforts and sacrifices of its members, the WFM’s actions in Colorado made little headway for workers. By 1904 most mines had reopened with nonunion labor, and WFM membership had dropped by about 4,000 across the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>From the West to the World</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Even though the union met with some success in its early years, by 1905 the WFM’s involvement in violent disputes across the American West resulted in declining membership, as well as a lack of allies and public support. To address these shortcomings, WFM leaders, including Secretary Haywood and President Moyer, met in Chicago to form a new, international workers’ union. The result was the International Workers of the World, also known as the “Wobblies.” The IWW adopted the core principles of the WFM, which now reaffirmed its existence as “an industrial union endorsing socialism and united economic and political action by the working class,” according to historian Eric Clements.  </p>&#13; &#13; <p>However, the IWW was plagued with leadership problems from the start. It was also ideologically split between moderate unionists, who favored bargaining with corporations, and radicals who sought an end to the existing arrangement between companies and workers. Eventually, the infighting resulted in a more moderate WFM detaching itself from a radical IWW in 1907. Bill Haywood, long known as a radical unionist, was among those who stayed with the IWW. Meanwhile, at its 1908 convention, the WFM reelected Moyer as president and announced it would focus on growing its ranks instead of pursuing a more radical agenda. Three years later, the WFM rejoined the AFL.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Decline</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Several factors contributed to the waning influence of the WFM in the 1910s, but among the most important were the failures of its strikes during the previous decade and the infighting that undermined it. In Colorado, hard-rock mining was also in decline during that period, as most of the profitable veins had been tapped out and many surviving mines folded when metals prices declined after World War I. In 1916 the WFM changed its name to the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-world-war-i"><strong>World War I</strong></a>, when the nation’s attention turned to the alleged evils of Communism, the Socialist IWW suffered declines in membership and public support. Mining and industrial unions did not regain power until the 1930s, when the WFM/IUMMSW was again revived under a Communist banner; this time, the union’s influence spread not only through the West but also the South and East, especially among steelworkers. But after <strong>World War II</strong>, anti-Communist sentiment prevailed again, and aside from a 1950 strike among zinc miners in New Mexico, the IUMMSW was not very active. In 1967 the union merged with the United Steelworkers of America.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/western-federation-miners" hreflang="en">Western Federation of Miners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jokerville-mine" hreflang="en">jokerville mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mining-history" hreflang="en">mining history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mining-colorado" hreflang="en">mining colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/labor-history" hreflang="en">labor history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/labor-unions" hreflang="en">labor unions</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/strikes" hreflang="en">strikes</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cripple-creek" hreflang="en">Cripple Creek</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/leadville" hreflang="en">Leadville</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/telluride" hreflang="en">Telluride</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/smelter" hreflang="en">smelter</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/crested-butte" hreflang="en">crested butte</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/teller-county" hreflang="en">teller county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/san-miguel-county" hreflang="en">san miguel county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/front-range" hreflang="en">front range</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/metal-mines" hreflang="en">metal mines</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hard-rock-mining" hreflang="en">hard rock mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-fuel-iron" hreflang="en">colorado fuel &amp; iron</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and David McComb, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State</em>, 3rd ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1994).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>AFL-CIO, “<a href="https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/battle-cripple-creek">The Battle of Cripple Creek</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Katherine Benton-Cohen, <em>Borderline Americans: Racial Division and Labor War in the Arizona Borderlands</em> (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>David R. Berman, <em>Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890–1920: Socialists, Populists, Miners, and Wobblies</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2007).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Eric L. Clements, “Pragmatic Revolutionaries? Tactics, Ideologies, and the Western Federation of Miners in the Progressive Era,” <em>Western Historical Quarterly</em> 40, no. 4 (Winter 2009).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>History Matters, “<a href="https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5653/">Ideas in Conflict: Opposing Views of the Cripple Creek Strike</a>,” George Mason University, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>History Matters, “<a href="https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5654">Union-Busting at Cripple Creek</a>,” George Mason University, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>William Philpott, <em>The Lessons of Leadville: Or, Why the Western Federation of Miners Turned Left</em> (Denver: Colorado Historical Society, 1995).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>University of Colorado Libraries, “<a href="https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/2018/03/16/western-federation-miners#:~:text=The%20Western%20Federation%20of%20Miners%20(WFM)%2C%20which%20in%201916,in%20the%20nonferrous%20metals%20industry.">The Western Federation of Miners</a>,” March 16, 2018.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Jan MacKell, <em>Cripple Creek District: Last of Colorado’s Gold Booms </em>(Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2003).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>MaryJoy Martin, <em>The Corpse on Boomerang Road: Telluride’s War on Labor 1899–1908 </em>(Ouray, CO: Western Reflections, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Benjamin McKie Rastall, “<a href="https://librarycollections.law.umn.edu/documents/darrow/Labor_History_Cripple_Creek_thesis_1908_Rastall.pdf">The Labor History of the Cripple Creek District: A Study in Industrial Evolution</a>,” <em>Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin</em>, no. 198 (1906).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Pikes Peak Library District, <em>The Colorado Labor Wars: Cripple Creek 1903–1904, A Centennial Commemoration </em>(Colorado Springs: Pikes Peak Library District, 2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p> </p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sharon Lynne Reitman, <em>Class Formation and Union Politics: The Western Federation of Miners and the United Mine Workers of America, 1880–1910</em> (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1991).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Arnold Stead, <em>Always on Strike: Frank Little and the Western Wobblies</em> (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2014).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>George G. Suggs, Jr., “Catalyst for Industrial Change: The WFM, 1893–1903,” <em>Colorado Magazine</em> 45, no. 4 (Fall 1968).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 21 Jan 2021 22:17:40 +0000 yongli 3476 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org United Mine Workers of America http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/united-mine-workers-america <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">United Mine Workers of America</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-01-21T14:09:27-07:00" title="Thursday, January 21, 2021 - 14:09" class="datetime">Thu, 01/21/2021 - 14:09</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/united-mine-workers-america" data-a2a-title="United Mine Workers of America"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Funited-mine-workers-america&amp;title=United%20Mine%20Workers%20of%20America"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) formed in 1890 to fight for better pay and working conditions for the nation’s coal miners. In Colorado the union was most active in the early twentieth century, with thousands of members joining strikes in the southern coalfields of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fremont-county"><strong>Fremont</strong></a>, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/huerfano-county"><strong>Huerfano</strong></a>, and <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/las-animas-county"><strong>Las Animas</strong></a> Counties. In the spring of 1913, the UMWA led a strike there that resulted in the <a href="/article/ludlow-massacre"><strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong></a> and the ensuing <strong>Coalfield Wars</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The UMWA’s involvement in the Coalfield Wars made it one of the most famous unions in Colorado history. Unlike Colorado’s other famous union, the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/western-federation-miners"><strong>Western Federation of Miners</strong></a> (WFM), the UMWA still exists today; it serves about 70,000 workers across seven districts in the United States and Canada. Colorado is part of the union’s western district, which serves about 4,000 members, most of whom belong to the <strong>Navajo Nation</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Origins</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>With coal fueling most of the nation’s industry during the late nineteenth century, coal companies accumulated great wealth and political power. In Colorado, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-jackson-palmer"><strong>William Jackson Palmer</strong></a>’s <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel and Iron</strong></a> was among the largest corporations in the nation, consisting not only of coal mines throughout the state but also <strong>railroads</strong> and a <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/minnequa-steelworks-office"><strong>steel mill</strong></a> in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Meanwhile, nineteenth-century coal miners held one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. They worked fourteen or sixteen hours a day in dirty, cramped conditions. Mine shafts could collapse, flood, or fill up with flammable gas and explode, like when the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jokerville-mine-explosion"><strong>Jokerville Mine</strong></a> blew up near <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/crested-butte"><strong>Crested Butte</strong></a> in 1884. Companies paid miners not in cash but in scrip, a kind of company currency that could be used only at company stores, which were often the sole local source of tools and food. This practice ensured that most wages were returned to the company. Miners also paid the company to live in “company towns,” corporate-controlled villages that reflected companies’ desires to keep their workforce close and under control.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In this arrangement, workers held little power. Before the 1890s, miners were often fired or jailed for trying to improve their situation by organizing and striking. These brutal corporate reprisals created fertile ground among workers for the formation of labor unions.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Formation</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The United Mine Workers was forged in the battlegrounds of the Midwestern coalfields, where workplace accidents and punishment for labor activism were common. The UMWA began on January 25, 1890, when two Ohio-based unions, the Knights of Labor and the National Miners’ Federation, joined forces in Columbus. Their constitution called for a strategy of “conciliation, arbitration, and strikes” to improve pay and working conditions for miners. Among their initial demands was an end to company stores and the outlawing of “non-resident police officers” who were often deployed against striking miners. Dues were set at five cents per month.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The union’s initial membership consisted mostly of British immigrants. The UMWA was among the first unions to explicitly allow African American miners in its ranks, though they were not treated equally and were often relegated to more menial jobs. The union also included workers who fought on both sides of the <strong>American</strong> <strong>Civil War</strong> and later brought together various groups of European immigrants, breaking down language barriers with solidarity based on common problems. Over the years, the UMWA’s inclusive approach to organizing became its hallmark, allowing the union to outlast other, more exclusive unions.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1897 the union scored its first victory when it earned an eight-hour work day from mine operators after a strike that involved 150,000 coal workers across the Midwest. Later, in 1902, the UMWA became the first union to be recognized by the federal government when President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated the end to another strike in the Midwest. Companies, however, were reluctant to recognize the union, so labor strife persisted throughout the twentieth century.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>First Activity in Colorado: Strike of 1894</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The UMWA made early inroads in Colorado, which was the heart of the western coal industry at the time. In 1890 two colliers from Erie, on the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>, founded the state’s first UMWA chapter. By 1892 there were some 800 members throughout the state, including Italians, Austrians, Greeks, Britishers, Latino, and others.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1894 miners in Fremont County participated in the UMWA’s nationwide strike, the first activity associated with the union in Colorado. Groups of strikers traveled to Las Animas and Huerfano Counties, encouraging other coal miners to join in the strike. A depressed regional economy—reeling from the <strong>Panic of 1893</strong>—hurt the union’s recruiting efforts, but the strikers persevered. They reorganized into larger groups and continued marching for solidarity in the southern coalfields, even as they witnessed company-hired thugs beating union members in some of the camps. Strikers numbered some 1,200 strong by the time their procession reached <strong>Trinidad</strong>. Miners from Crested Butte walked out in solidarity as well.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Among the strikers’ demands was a fairer pay system that included a semimonthly payment in cash instead of scrip, as well as abolition of the company store. But the strikers could only hold out for so long, living off food and other donations from friendly farmers and townspeople. In August 1894, 400 strikers from Fremont County narrowly voted to return to work at prestrike wages, a decision echoed by the other UMWA groups in Colorado. Although the 1894 strike was unsuccessful, it proved that southern Colorado was fertile ground for union activity and that unions had community support.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Strike of 1901</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the turn of the twentieth century, the power of coal bosses and companies such as CF&amp;I created a terrible situation for Colorado coal miners. When they attempted to organize for a redress of grievances such as pay and work conditions, local authorities jailed, fired, or assaulted them on behalf of companies. Huerfano County Sheriff Jefferson Farr was particularly known for his violent raids on union gatherings. One observer referred to this expression of corporate power in the southern coalfields as “a reign of terror.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Under these conditions, in January 1901, UMWA workers in southern Colorado organized a strike against CF&amp;I in solidarity with other company workers in Gallup, New Mexico. This time, CF&amp;I chief <strong>John Osgood</strong> gave in to some of the miners’ demands, including revision of the unfair compensation system that paid miners by weight of coal mined. This system often created unsafe work environments, as it drove miners to spend more of their time gathering coal instead of shoring up safety features. Osgood agreed to several changes that made the weight system fairer but did not dispose of it. The strike also failed to win concessions from bosses on things such as scrip or company stores.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the wake of the 1901 strike, the state of Colorado created a legislative committee to investigate the working and living conditions of coal miners. When the committee’s work was published, its account of miners living in rudimentary housing on paltry wages and enduring beatings by sheriffs turned public sentiment against companies like CF&amp;I and generated sympathy for unions. The investigation prompted CF&amp;I to set up a “sociological department” in 1901 to improve living conditions in company towns, many of which lacked basic necessities such as clean water. In this way, the UMWA’s partially successful 1901 strike laid the groundwork for future labor gains.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Labor Wars of 1903–4</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>After a brief lull in 1902, Colorado was again rocked by labor conflict in 1903–4. The Western Federation of Miners led walkouts in the metal mining districts of <a href="/article/telluride"><strong>Telluride</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a>, while in September 1903 the UMWA again organized a strike among southern coalfield workers. The strikers made many of the same demands as in 1894, including semimonthly payments in cash, higher wages, and adherence to laws that required proper ventilation in mine shafts. Again, they were defeated, as Governor <strong>James Peabody</strong> was an antiunionist who sent in the National Guard to crush the strikes.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Ludlow and the Coalfield Wars</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Even though companies like CF&amp;I had promised to shorten workdays and reform company towns, historian Clare V. McKanna notes that “town life had improved little” by 1913. That fall, UMWA coal miners in southern Colorado again went on strike to demand better wages and improvements to working and living conditions. Again, they were met with force from mine owners and the government. On behalf of mine owners, who had already bought such union-busting tools as an armor-plated car, Governor <strong>Elias M. Ammons</strong> deployed the National Guard to the coal camps in Las Animas County. On April 20, 1914, guardsmen opened fire on armed miners at the Ludlow tent colony, about fifteen miles north of Trinidad. Guardsmen then lit the encampment on fire, and thirteen women and children—families of the miners—burned to death while taking shelter in a pit beneath a mattress in one of the tents.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>When other miners in the area learned of the guard’s actions, they went on the warpath. Dozens of people were killed on both sides over the next week, until President Woodrow Wilson sent in the US Army on April 28. The strike did not end until December 10, 1914.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The <em>Rocky Mountain News </em>referred to the incident that started the Coalfield Wars as the “Ludlow Massacre,” and the guard’s callous disregard for miners’ families won the union public sympathy. UMWA leaders leveraged the tragedy into a successful public relations campaign that turned even more Americans against the companies. In response, CF&amp;I owner John D. Rockefeller, Jr., sought to forge a middle route by creating a company union. Although this signaled a tolerance for worker organization that scarcely existed before Ludlow, the formation of the company union dealt a blow to the UMWA because it did not gain the recognition it sought during the strike.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Post-Ludlow Activity</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The 1920s saw more labor disputes across the state, especially in the northern coalfields in <a href="/article/boulder-county"><strong>Boulder County</strong></a>. Tensions remained high in the south, too. In 1921 CF&amp;I cut miner pay by thirty cents, prompting independent mines in southern Colorado to do so as well. In response, the UMWA organized another strike, doling out $800 to striking miners and their families during the work stoppage. After this unsuccessful strike, mining demographics began to shift, as about 60 percent of new hires in the mining industry were of Mexican or other Spanish-speaking ancestry. Other strikes occurred again in 1922 and 1927, neither of which afforded workers much respite from their ongoing plight. Instead, the strikes of the 1920s, combined with changes in federal law, helped convince CF&amp;I to abandon its company union in 1933.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Labor and industry were both decimated by the <strong>Great Depression</strong> of the 1930s, but the election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a prolabor Democratic Congress in 1932 was a shot in the arm for the nation’s struggling labor movement. In 1933 Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Recovery Act, which banned company unions and allowed collective bargaining. Two years later, the Wagner Act compelled businesses to bargain with unions that had majority employee support. With two scrawls of his pen, Roosevelt accomplished what the UMWA had sought for more than three decades—union recognition.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the 1940s, Colorado’s UMWA chapters had more Latino members, as the Spanish-speaking working class expanded through immigration and guest-worker programs like the <strong>Bracero Program</strong>. In April 1946, UMWA President John L. Lewis organized a nationwide strike to win union-sponsored healthcare, another aspect of miners’ lives that remained under company control. Company doctors had incentives to downplay conditions such as black lung, a deadly respiratory disease caused by breathing in coal dust. The 1946 strike involved 400,000 miners from twenty-six states, including Colorado, where coal mines in Routt County went “idle” and railroads from <strong>Steamboat Springs</strong> to <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/aspen"><strong>Aspen</strong></a> ran fewer trains on account of the coal shortage. Eventually, President Harry Truman saw the strike as a threat to the nation’s postwar economic recovery, so he ended it by presenting UMWA leadership with an agreement that created the UMWA health and welfare fund, which still serves union members today.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Over the ensuing decades, the power of coal companies waned as oil began to overtake coal as the nation’s preeminent fossil fuel. This translated into fewer strikes and direct actions by unions like the UMWA.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The UMWA survived President Ronald Reagan’s union-busting campaign and endures today. The union serves not only coal miners but also workers from the manufacturing, health care, and corrections industries. It has more than 70,000 members from all fifty states as well as Canada.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In an era marked by widespread divestment from coal, Navajo coal miners in the UMWA’s western district are among the strongest advocates for continuing coal production. In 2013 the UMWA helped organize Navajo miners to support a new lease that would have kept their nation’s coal plant operating until 2044. Although the new lease passed, the plant’s parent company, Salt River Project, decided to abandon the lease after finding cheaper energy elsewhere.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In Colorado, the legacy of the UMWA is tied to the Ludlow Massacre. Union leaders voted to put up a monument to the victims of the massacre in 1916, and in 2014 Governor <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/john-hickenlooper"><strong>John Hickenlooper</strong></a> included UMWA representatives on his team tasked with commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the tragedy.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/united-mineworkers-america" hreflang="en">united mineworkers of america</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/united-mine-workers" hreflang="en">United Mine Workers</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/labor-history" hreflang="en">labor history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-labor-history" hreflang="en">colorado labor history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/union" hreflang="en">union</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/labor-unions" hreflang="en">labor unions</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ludlow" hreflang="en">ludlow</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/las-animas-county" hreflang="en">Las Animas County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-miners" hreflang="en">coal miners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal" hreflang="en">coal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-jackson-palmer" hreflang="en">william jackson palmer</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-fuel-iron" hreflang="en">colorado fuel &amp; iron</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/john-d-rockefeller-jr-0" hreflang="en">john d rockefeller jr</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/rockefeller" hreflang="en">rockefeller</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/trinidad" hreflang="en">Trinidad</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ludlow-massacre" hreflang="en">Ludlow Massacre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coalfield-wars" hreflang="en">coalfield wars</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Dave McComb, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State </em>3rd ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1994).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas G. Andrews, <em>Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War </em>(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=STP19460404&amp;e=01-04-1946-----en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-strike-------0-----">Coal Mines Idle as New Contract Is Being Debated</a>,” <em>Steamboat Pilot</em>, April 4, 1946.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=ADT19460509.2.7&amp;srpos=74&amp;e=01-04-1946-----en-20--61-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-strike-------0-----">Coal Strike Stops Aspen Daily Train</a>,” <em>Aspen Daily Times</em>, May 9, 1946.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.dispatch.com/article/20120125/NEWS/301259720">Columbus Mileposts——Jan. 25, 1890: United Mine Workers Form; Daily Wage Low</a>,” <em>Columbus Dispatch</em>, January 25, 2012.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=STP19460530.2.41&amp;srpos=131&amp;e=01-04-1946-----en-20--121-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-strike-------0-----">Commenting on Current Events</a>,” <em>Steamboat Pilot</em>, May 30, 1946.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Alan Derickson, “The United Mine Workers of America and the Recognition of Occupational Respiratory Diseases, 1902–1968,” <em>American Journal of Public Health</em>, 81, no. 6 (June 1991).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Herbert Hill, “Myth-Making as Labor History: Herbert Gutman and the United Mine Workers of America,” <em>International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society </em>2, no. 2 (Winter 1988).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“Independent Mines Close,” <em>Herald Democrat </em>(Leadville, CO), December 5, 1921.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Library of Congress, “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/labor-unions-during-great-depression-and-new-deal/">Labor Unions During the Great Depression and New Deal</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Clare V. McKanna, <em>Homicide, Race, and Justice in the American West, 1880–1920 </em>(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Fawn-Amber Montoya, ed., <em>Making an American Workforce: The Rockefellers and the Legacy of Ludlow </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2014).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>F. Darrell Munsell, <em>From Redstone to Ludlow: John Cleveland Osgood’s Struggle Against the United Mine Workers of America</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2009).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>United Mine Workers of America, “About,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>UnionFacts.com, “<a href="https://www.unionfacts.com/union/United_Mine_Workers">United Mine</a> Workers,” updated November 15, 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>UnionFacts.com, “<a href="https://www.unionfacts.com/lu/58575/UMW/22">United Mine Workers<strong>,</strong> District 22</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=CTR18940314.2.14&amp;srpos=3&amp;e=-------en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22united+mineworkers%22-------0--">Washington Notes</a>,” <em>Colorado Transcript</em>, March 14, 1894.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Keith Gildart, “Two Kinds of Reform: Left Leadership in the British National Union of Mineworkers and the United Mineworkers of America, 1982–1990,” <em>Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas</em> 3, no. 2 (2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>UMWA Union, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5nzONL68Rs">: 125 Years of Struggle and Glory</a>,” YouTube, April 21, 2017.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://umwa.org/">United Mine Workers of America</a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>University of Denver, “<a href="https://www.du.edu/ludlow/cfhist3.html">A History of the Colorado Coal Field War</a>.”</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 21 Jan 2021 21:09:27 +0000 yongli 3475 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Jokerville Mine Explosion http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jokerville-mine-explosion <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Jokerville Mine Explosion</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-01-21T13:35:31-07:00" title="Thursday, January 21, 2021 - 13:35" class="datetime">Thu, 01/21/2021 - 13:35</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jokerville-mine-explosion" data-a2a-title="Jokerville Mine Explosion"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fjokerville-mine-explosion&amp;title=Jokerville%20Mine%20Explosion"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>On January 24, 1884, the Jokerville Mine outside of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/crested-butte"><strong>Crested Butte</strong></a> was full of methane gas and exploded, killing fifty-nine workers. As the third-deadliest mine disaster in Colorado history, the Jokerville explosion demonstrated the dangers of coal mining, even as coal was an essential industry for the state at the time. Over time, disasters like Jokerville helped convince Colorado miners to embrace unions such as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/western-federation-miners"><strong>Western Federation of Miners</strong></a>, which started organizing in the state in the 1890s.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Coal Town</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Crested Butte began in 1878 as a supply depot for the silver mines of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gunnison-county"><strong>Gunnison County</strong></a>. In 1880, though, high-quality coal beds were found nearby, the kind that could produce coke—a higher-carbon, hotter-burning fuel. Industrialist <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-jackson-palmer"><strong>William Jackson Palmer</strong></a> had just formed Colorado Coal and Iron (CC&amp;I), the predecessor to the goliath <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel and Iron</strong></a>, and he saw Crested Butte’s coal as an integral part of his plan to open a steelworks in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>. Palmer extended his Denver &amp; Rio Grande Railroad to Crested Butte, and in 1881 the remote mountain outpost became a booming coal town.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Jokerville Mine</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>On November 24, 1881, CC&amp;I opened the Crested Butte Mine about one mile west of town. By September it was known as the Jokerville Mine and was among the most productive in the area. By 1883 it boasted fifty coke ovens, where the raw coal was superheated into coke. That coke was hauled off by rail to Pueblo, where it powered the creation of steel.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Working in coal mines like the Jokerville was dirty and dangerous. Miners inhaled coal dust all day long, which led to the devastating respiratory disease known as black lung. Shafts could collapse or flood. Flammable methane gas released from coal beds often built up in the mines, and each morning an inspector had to check the air quality before work could begin.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Miners braved all these hazards for twelve to fourteen hours and two dollars a day. Even children worked the mine—the youngest employees at the Jokerville were two twelve-year-olds, William Neath and Tommy Lyle.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>During a routine inspection in December 1883, state mine inspector John McNeil observed that the mine appeared to be “well ventilated” and “everything was in proper order”—though he still considered “the Crested Butte mine a very dangerous one.”</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Explosion</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>On the frigid morning of January 24, 1884, fire boss Luke Richardson finished his daily inspection of the Jokerville Mine. He found the mine clear of gas except for one chamber—number eighteen, on the second level. Richardson told the miners it was safe to go to work even though the partition in the gassy chamber had to be repaired to prevent buildup in the rest of the mine. Workers had already begun their shifts as Richardson left to get materials for the repair.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>It was then that Richardson heard the sickening sound of a blast that shredded the mine entrance. The explosion instantly killed the two boys who worked near the mine opening, as well as Neath’s older brother, seventeen-year-old Morgan Neath.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thinking the explosion was much smaller than it was, Richardson ran into the mine with his lamp and immediately came across the body of another worker, John Rutherford. Then, ten more workers came struggling out of the deeper reaches of the mine; they survived the blast but were choking on the “after-damp”—gas that lingered after the explosion. All ten made it out safely, including worker John Angus, who had been injured in the blast. The other survivors set to work repairing the ventilation fan damaged by the explosion; nobody could enter the mine to recover bodies until the toxic air was cleared.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Aftermath</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>When Colorado mine inspector McNeil arrived the next day, he took control of the cleanup and recovery of the dead. On the mine’s first level, he encountered a grisly scene:</p>&#13; &#13; <p style="margin-left:.5in;">Some of the bodies on the main level . . . had been exposed to the full force of the blast, and in several cases arms and legs were found broken and bodies otherwise battered by being thrown against the jagged walls.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Moving past the “carcasses of nine mules,” McNeil followed the air-intake route deeper into the mine and found “eighteen of the missing bodies huddled and piled in little groups in indiscriminate confusion.” McNeil observed that the “men had evidently been making their escape before the deadly after-damp checked their attempt, when but a few hundred feet from air.” It took nearly a week to recover all fifty-nine bodies.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>When he heard of the blast, Palmer, the mine’s owner, immediately sent a telegram with $1,000 to be divided among the families of the deceased miners. The company also paid for transportation and burial of the bodies.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>McNeil’s interviews with survivors suggested that the blast was the result of at least some negligence on the part of Richardson, the fire boss. Garvin Dickson, a twenty-four-year coal mining veteran, said that John Anderson, the miner working in the gas-filled chamber the morning of January 24, “did not know much about gas.” Still, Richardson allowed Anderson to attempt the repairs to the chamber partition, according to Dickson. This contradicted Richardson’s own story that he was just getting his tools to make the repairs when the explosion happened.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In his final inspection statement, McNeil wrote that he thought “there had been carelessness to cause such an accident, but could not locate it; it is difficult for the most expert miner to locate carelessness after an explosion.” He further noted that “if Anderson had allowed the fire-boss to have preceded him [into the mine], the fire-boss . . . would have done the self-same thing . . . thus the accident might have happened at the fire-boss’ hands.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The explosion shuttered the Jokerville Mine for a year, until another entrance was dug out about a half-mile west of the blown-out one. The mine remained productive through 1891, when a labor strike disrupted activities. The mine closed in 1895 after a larger coal seam was found nearby.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The explosion garnered national attention, with in-depth articles published in the <em>New York Times </em>and <em>Harper’s</em>, but neither the media coverage nor McNeil’s report spurred any reforms of a dangerous industry.  Accidents like the Jokerville blast, though unfortunate, were generally acknowledged to be part of the risk of mining at the time. The danger of such disasters did, however, play a role in making miners more open to unions that started organizing in Colorado mining towns at the end of the nineteenth century.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the early 1990s, Crested Butte residents put up a plaque with an incomplete list of the names of the miners killed in the disaster. In September 2017, the town placed a new granite memorial in the Crested Butte cemetery with the full list of fallen miners.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Today, the Jokerville Mine disaster is a reminder that men, and sometimes boys, often paid the ultimate price for an industry that powered railroads, smelters, steelworks, and even heated homes in Denver. In this way, modern Colorado was born out of the daily sacrifices of coal miners throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jokerville-mine" hreflang="en">jokerville mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jokerville-mine-explosion" hreflang="en">jokerville mine explosion</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/crested-butte" hreflang="en">crested butte</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-jackson-palmer" hreflang="en">william jackson palmer</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-miners" hreflang="en">coal miners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal" hreflang="en">coal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mine-disasters-monday" hreflang="en">mine disasters Monday</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/october-5" hreflang="en">October 5</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/2020" hreflang="en">2020 -</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>“<a href="https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/crested_butte_news.pdf">A Coal-Mining Horror</a>,” <em>New York Times</em>, January 25, 1884.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Charles Graham, “The Disaster at Crested Butte, Colorado,” <em>Harper's Magazine</em>, February 16, 1884.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gunnison County Libraries, “<a href="https://steamboatlibrary.marmot.org/Archive/gunnison%3A3117/LargeImage">Jokerville Mine Explosion Memorial</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John McNeil, “<a href="https://spl.cde.state.co.us/artemis/nrserials/nr930010internet/nr9300101884internet.pdf">Crested Butte Disaster</a>,” in <em>First Annual Report of the State Inspector of Coal Mines, Year Ending July 31, 1884</em> (Denver: Collier &amp; Cleaveland, 1885).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Steelworks Center of the West, “<a href="https://scalar.usc.edu/works/mines-of-the-colorado-fuel-and-iron-company/jokerville-coal-mine">Jokerville Coal Mine</a>,” updated April 14, 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Toni Todd, “<a href="https://crestedbuttenews.com/2017/08/crested-butte-looks-to-commemorate-the-jokerville-miners/">Crested Butte Looks to Commemorate the Jokerville Miners</a>,” <em>Crested Butte News</em>, August 2, 2017.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Thomas G. Andrews, <em>Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War</em> (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Duane A. Smith, <em>Crested Butte: From Coal Camp to Ski Town</em> (Ouray, CO: Western Reflections, 2005).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 21 Jan 2021 20:35:31 +0000 yongli 3472 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Routt County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/routt-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Routt County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2303--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2303.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/routt-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Routt_County_0.png?itok=f18dfdkj" width="1024" height="741" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/routt-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Routt County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Routt County was established in 1877 and named after John L. Routt, the first governor of the state of Colorado.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3019--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3019.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/steamboat-ski-resort-0"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Steamboat_20190119_0002_1.jpg?itok=EZwIWlsR" width="1090" height="818" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/steamboat-ski-resort-0" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Steamboat Ski Resort</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Steamboat Resort is a major ski area in northwestern Colorado, It is located on Mount Werner, a mountain in the Park Range in the Routt National Forest. The ski area first opened on January 12, 1963.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3020--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3020.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/routt-national-forest"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Steamboat_20180916_0003_0.jpg?itok=1qu__PJN" width="1090" height="728" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/routt-national-forest" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Routt National Forest</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests extend from north central Colorado to central Wyoming. The Forests encompass portions of many mountain ranges including the Gore Range, Flat Tops, Parks Range, Medicine Bow Mountains, Sierra Madre, and Laramie Range. The Forests provide year-round recreation opportunities for thousands of people. They also provide wildlife habitat, timber, forage for livestock, and are a vital source of water for irrigation, domestic use, and industry.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://www.stateparks.com/routt_national_forest_in_colorado.html">ROUTT NATIONAL FOREST</a></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3038--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3038.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/buffalo-pass"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Steamboat_20180916_0001_0.jpg?itok=0iouP0XA" width="1090" height="728" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/buffalo-pass" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Buffalo Pass </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>This approximately 15-mile stretch of scenic dirt road crosses the diverse habitats within the Park Range of the Rocky Mountains. It rises from sagebrush and gamble oak habitat to lodgepole pine, quaking aspen, and spruce-fir dominated forests. The elevation ranges from 6,700 feet in Steamboat Springs to 10,400 feet at Summit Lake Camp Ground. This road offers spectacular views of the Yampa and North Park valleys below, multiple alpine lakes within walking distance, access to the Mount Zirkel Wilderness, multiple disperse camping sites and Summit Lake Campground with restroom facilities. Additionally, there are numerous hiking, horseback and motorized vehicle trails to suite a range of outdoor activity needs.</p> <p><a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/Rocky_Mountain/BuffaloPass/index.shtml">Source: USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Region Viewing Area Buffalo Pass</a></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-02-02T16:26:44-07:00" title="Thursday, February 2, 2017 - 16:26" class="datetime">Thu, 02/02/2017 - 16:26</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/routt-county" data-a2a-title="Routt County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Froutt-county&amp;title=Routt%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Routt County is a large county in northwest Colorado, encompassing 2,368 square miles of the Elk and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/yampa-river"><strong>Yampa River</strong></a> valleys and the Park Range and Elkhead Mountains. It is bordered by the state of Wyoming to the north, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jackson-county"><strong>Jackson</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/grand-county"><strong>Grand</strong></a> Counties to the east, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/eagle-county"><strong>Eagle County</strong></a> to the south, and <a href="/article/rio-blanco-county"><strong>Rio Blanco</strong></a> and <a href="/article/garfield-county"><strong>Garfield</strong></a> Counties to the southwest.</p> <p><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/image/steamboat-ski-resort"><img alt="Steamboat Ski Resort" src="/sites/default/files/Steamboat_20190119_0001.jpg" style="width: 480px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; height: 360px; float: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;"></a>Routt County has a population of 24,130. <strong>Steamboat Springs</strong>, the county seat and largest city, lies in the Yampa valley along US Hwy 40 and is one of the state’s most popular ski destinations. Farther upstream, Colorado State Highway 131 connects the communities of <strong>Oak Creek</strong> and <strong>Yampa</strong>. Downstream from Steamboat Springs, the Yampa flows through pasture- and farmland and the communities of <strong>Milner</strong> and <strong>Hayden</strong>. Yampa Valley Regional Airport, near Hayden, provides seasonal air service to various parts of the country and year-round service to and from <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>.</p> <p>Historically, the Routt County area was home to nomadic Ute Indians before the mid-nineteenth century, when gold discoveries near <strong>Hahn’s Peak</strong>, above the Elk River valley, attracted white prospectors. Ranchers and farmers followed the miners, taking advantage of the area’s fertile river valleys. Routt County was established in 1877 and named for then governor <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/content/john-l-routt"><strong>John L. Routt</strong></a>, the first governor of the State of Colorado. The county assumed its current size after the creation of Moffat County in 1911.</p> <h2>Native Americans</h2> <p>The mountains and river valleys of present-day Routt County have a long history of human occupation, dating back to the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indian period</strong></a> of nearly 11,000 years ago. Back then, indigenous hunter-gatherers quarried stone for tools at Windy Ridge, which overlooks the divide between <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/walden-north-park"><strong>North</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/grand-county"><strong>Middle</strong> <strong>Park</strong></a> in what is now southeast Routt County.</p> <p>During the warmer months, the Yampa and Elk valleys drew large amounts of game, including <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a>, <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>mule deer</strong></a>, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bison"><strong>bison</strong></a>. These animals provided the core sustenance for indigenous peoples from the Paleo-Indians of thousands of years ago through the Yampa Utes, who began living in the area by the fifteenth century AD. The Yampas (also known as Yamparikas or Yampaticas) derived their name from the Yampa plant, which has an edible root not unlike a water chestnut. The plant was a staple part of the Utes’ nonmeat diet.</p> <p>Like earlier native peoples, the Utes were hunter-gatherers who followed a seasonal circuit between the high and low country. They spent summers hunting game in the mountains and returned to lower elevations and the shelter of river valleys for the winter. The Utes were also well acquainted with the mineral-rich hot springs near present-day Steamboat Springs, which they visited often to revive both body and spirit. Utes lived in temporary or mobile wooden dwellings, such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/tipi-0"><strong>tipis</strong></a>. The Yampa Utes traveled widely during the year, ranging west into Utah, north into Wyoming, and east to North Park.</p> <h2>Early American Era</h2> <p>The United States acquired the Routt County area as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, though it remained officially unexplored until <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/beaver"><strong>beaver</strong></a> trappers arrived in the 1820s. One of these early trappers allegedly provided the inspiration for the name of Steamboat Springs, likening the sound of the springs’ water to that of a chugging steamboat. In 1843 and 1845, American explorer <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/keyword/john-c-fremont-0"><strong>John C. Frémont</strong></a>, guided by trapper-turned-scout <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kit-carson"><strong>Kit Carson</strong></a>, traversed the Routt County area to survey a possible railroad route. No route was found, however, and demand for beaver pelts fell off by the 1840s. Irish hunter <strong>George Gore</strong> followed a Ute trail over what is now Gore Pass in 1855, but white interest in the Yampa valley and the rest of present Routt County largely subsided until the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1858–59.</p> <p>In 1862, a year after Congress created the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>, German immigrant Joseph Hahn and two other prospectors headed west from Georgetown in search of the next big gold strike. They made their way over Gore Pass into the Yampa valley and continued up the Elk River, where they found gold in a stream at the base of Hahn’s Peak. The onset of winter forced the group to head back east. Hahn returned to the area with another party in 1865, panned for gold, and again left before winter.</p> <p>In summer 1866, Hahn brought a third group to the site. Despite an attack by Utes, who killed some pack animals and made off with some of their possessions, the men panned out a decent amount of gold. This time, Hahn and two of his companions—William Doyle and George Way—decided to stay for the winter. In October Way left to get supplies but never returned. After making it through the winter with almost no provisions, Hahn and Doyle began a desperate snowshoe trek toward <strong>Empire</strong>. The starving men made it as far as Middle Park, where Hahn died and local residents rescued Doyle.</p> <p>About a year after Hahn met his fate, the federal government brokered the <a href="/article/ute-treaty-1868"><strong>Treaty of 1868</strong></a>, which transferred all Ute lands east of the Continental Divide, as well as the Yampa River valley, to the United States. In return, the Utes were given a large reservation on Colorado’s Western Slope and promised annual payments and supplies, which they would receive at various <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-agencies-and-agents"><strong>agencies</strong></a> built throughout the reservation. Having lost the valley that bears their name, the Yampa Utes were to report to the <a href="/article/white-river-ute-indian-agency"><strong>White River Agency</strong></a> near present-day <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/meeker"><strong>Meeker</strong></a>.</p> <p>As the Yampa Utes struggled to adjust to life on the new reservation, American geologist <strong>Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden</strong> led a surveying expedition through present-day Routt County in 1873. Hayden’s expedition identified major coal deposits in the Yampa valley, but those deposits would not receive much attention until it was certain the region did not have a future cast in gold.</p> <p>In 1874 several companies expanded on Hahn’s modest mining operations near Hahn’s Peak. In 1875 Chicagoan J. V. Farwell made a considerable investment in the area, building a toll road from Laramie, Wyoming, and setting up a sawmill and a store. The mining settlement took the name <strong>Hahn’s Peak Village</strong>. Since the area was originally included in several different counties, it is difficult to determine exactly how much gold the Hahn’s Peak district produced,&nbsp;but it was apparently enough to stimulate further development in the area.</p> <h2>County Development</h2> <p>While miners pulled gold out of the Hahn’s Peak district, several settlements were developing in the Yampa River valley. <strong>James H. Crawford</strong>, a prospective <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>homesteader</strong></a> from Missouri, arrived in the summer of 1874 and was immediately smitten by the valley’s beauty. Crawford built a cabin where the Yampa begins its westward bend, near natural springs that gushed into verdant meadows. Like the prospectors before him, Crawford had to leave the remote valley before the winter snows hit, but he returned the following summer with his family.</p> <p>Over the next few years, the Crawfords lived in friendship with the Yampa Utes, who often camped near the springs and traded with the family. The Crawfords’ cabin became the hub for a small community of white settlers, serving as the area’s first post office, school, and church. In 1884 James Crawford organized the Steamboat Springs Town Company, which platted the town and built the first bathhouse around the springs.</p> <p>In 1873 veteran explorer Colonel&nbsp;Porter Smart located the site of present-day Hayden,&nbsp;naming it&nbsp;for the surveyor&nbsp;who had passed through the area&nbsp;in 1871. One of the first to arrive in Hayden in 1874 was Porter's son Albert and his family, along with his brother Gordon and a number of others, such as&nbsp;Thomas Isles, who were part of&nbsp; the Bear River Colony. Albert Smart established the Hayden post office in 1875 at his homestead near the Yampa River. In 1876 JB Thompson, a former <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-agencies-and-agents">Indian agent</a>,</strong>&nbsp;brought his family to the valley and established a trading post near the Smarts.</p> <p>When Routt County was established in 1877, Hayden was appointed the county seat because it was in the center&nbsp;of the new county, whose boundaries&nbsp;extended westward to the Colorado-Utah border. J.B.&nbsp;Thompson served as the County Clerk until a countywide election could be held. The town of Hahn's Peak was chosen in the next election. Hahns&nbsp;Peak proved too remote, however, so in 1912&nbsp;residents voted to move the county seat to Steamboat Springs.</p> <p>Rancher Preston King&nbsp;settled with several other people near present-day Toponas in 1878. But the county’s main influx of white immigrants began after the Utes were forcibly&nbsp;removed to Utah in 1880. That year, cattleman A. W. Salisbury began a workhorse ranch in the Hahn’s Peak area in partnership with boardinghouse operator Bob McIntosh. With the help of one of his five brothers, Charlie Temple drove 1,500 cattle into the Yampa valley in 1884 and acquired a ranch near Hayden. In 1886 the Laughlin family homesteaded near present-day Yampa and Charley Honnald established what is now the Focus Ranch, along the Snake River near the Wyoming border.</p> <p>The arrival of these early ranchers demonstrated to the rest of Colorado what the Utes had known for generations: the meadows watered by the Yampa and its tributaries were ideal for supporting large herds of grazing animals—except now those animals were domesticated cows instead of wild bison. By 1890&nbsp;the US Census of Agriculture reported that “cattle raising is the principal industry” of Routt County and “the greater part of the water” from irrigation ditches was “used for hay and meadow lands.”</p> <h2>Coal Mining</h2> <p>In 1910 Routt County had more than 94,000 head of cattle, but ranching was not the only lucrative industry in the area. In 1908 the <strong>Union Pacific</strong> Railroad reached Steamboat Springs via the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-northwestern-pacific-railway-hill-route-moffat-road"><strong>Moffat Road</strong></a>, finally allowing coal, cattle, and farm products to be shipped throughout the state and the nation. With rail access, the economic and population center of the county shifted decisively from the Elk valley to the Yampa valley, and Steamboat Springs was named the new county seat in 1912. The railroad also brought a new wave of settlers, and the Routt County population increased from 3,661 in 1900 to 7,561 in 1910.</p> <p>Coal mining in particular required an efficient means of transport before it could be a major industry in the county. In 1892&nbsp;a US Geological Survey study confirmed &nbsp;large bituminous coal deposits near Oak Creek,&nbsp;<span class="m_8141334106253517332gmail-m_8596187790300088334gmail-scayt-misspell-word" style="background: url(&quot;https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/ehaIrPUwCBBpeqho4HohlN7ZiM3xsGXYnJAfv33_WGJqe3SNky7GcaM=s0-d-e1-ft#http://waveline.gif&quot;) 52% 100% repeat-x transparent; padding-bottom: 0px; display: inline;">Twentymile</span>&nbsp;Park, and most of western Routt county, along with anthracite coal deposits in the California Park area.&nbsp;Before the arrival of the railroad, several dozen small coal mines operated in Routt County, providing fuel for local ranchers and farmers. But once&nbsp;companies knew a railroad was on its way, they began buying up these smaller mines in preparation for larger operations.</p> <p>Following the county’s shift toward corporate coal, Sam Bell, John Sharpe, and D. C. Williams—all businessmen from <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a>—organized the Oak Creek Town, Land and Mining Company in 1907. They platted Bell Town, later renamed Oak Creek, and by 1915&nbsp;the town was home to more than 2,000 people, mostly coal miners and their families. Other coal mines and mining towns could be found in the towns between Milner and Hayden, along what is now US 40 - MacGregor, Coal View, Bear River, and Mt. Harris.</p> <p>Like other coal miners in Colorado, Routt County miners labored in dark, hazardous environments for ten to twelve hours per day, receiving only meager wages in return. Fully aware that their labor kept Colorado’s economy going, many joined unions such as the <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/united-mine-workers-america">United Mine Workers of America</a> </strong>(UMWA) to lobby for better pay and working conditions. In 1913 more than 400 Routt County coal miners joined a statewide strike that ended only after martial law was declared. Coal mining continued throughout the twentieth century; by the 1960s, most coal came not from mine shafts but from strip mines, created by heavy machinery moving tons of earth to expose coal deposits.</p> <h2>Skiing and Tourism</h2> <p>Rails shipped coal out of the county, but they also brought in tourists, another valuable part of the local economy. Despite snow sheds and snowplows, early passenger travel along the Moffat Road was fraught with danger, as the railroad’s route over the Continental Divide often sent locomotives through snowdrifts taller than the trains themselves. Nevertheless, by 1909&nbsp;tourists began traveling to Steamboat Springs to enjoy the bathhouse and mountain scenery. The railroad also proved important to the development of Steamboat’s ski industry.</p> <p>In 1914 Norwegian <strong>Carl Howelsen</strong> organized the first Winter Carnival, which hosted Steamboat’s first competitive ski events. Before then, skiing had simply been a necessity in snowy Routt County. But after Howelsen built a ski jump on a steep hill southwest of town in 1915, the carnival and recreational skiing in Steamboat became a tourist dynamo.</p> <p><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/howelsen-hill"><strong>Howelsen Hill</strong></a>, as the ski area came to be known, underwent many improvements throughout the twentieth century, including the addition of a 150-seat grandstand, a skating rink, and a ski lift powered by a Ford Model T engine. After a $1.1 million renovation, Howelsen Hill hosted the North American Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Championships in 1978. Today the Steamboat Resort welcomes more than 1 million skiers annually.</p> <p>Routt County tourism received another boost in the early twentieth century after President Theodore Roosevelt established the Park Range Forest Reserve (now the Routt National Forest) in 1905. Although the designation may have earned the ire of local ranchers who were subject to grazing regulations, the forest now draws large crowds of campers, hikers, cross-country skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts. Additionally, <strong>Steamboat Lake State Park</strong>, formed around a picturesque reservoir in the shadow of Hahn’s Peak in 1967, remains a popular destination for boaters and anglers.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Today the Routt County economy is mainly driven by the accommodation, construction, and retail sectors, key parts of the county’s tourism industry. Steamboat Ski &amp; Resort Corporation employs 210 people, for instance, while Wyndham Vacation Rentals employs another 160. The county’s largest employer, the Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs, employs 582 people. Another 196 jobs are provided by Peabody Energy, which operates the Twentymile Coal Mine, a strip mine in southern Routt County. The mine provides fuel for coal-fired power plants that provide nearly 65 percent of the power to Routt and Moffat Counties.</p> <p>Routt County also continues its strong ranching tradition. Its flock of more than 8,800 sheep ranks eighth out of Colorado’s sixty-four counties, and its 37,200 cattle and calves are the eighteenth-largest herd in the state. The county raises 3,131 horses and ponies. Beekeeping is also a significant, if less-heralded, agricultural pursuit; the county has more than 1,400 bee colonies, the ninth-most among forty-eight bee-raising counties.</p> <p>While towns such as Hayden remain agriculturally oriented, Steamboat Springs is the county’s cultural and educational hub. In 1972 the town’s historic train <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/steamboat-springs-depot"><strong>depot</strong></a> became the home of the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, which hosts the only professional orchestra in northwest Colorado as well as the annual All Arts Festival and a number of art workshops throughout the year. The city is also home to the <strong>Tread of Pioneers Museum </strong>and the <strong>Northwest Colorado Cultural Heritage Program</strong>, both of which act to preserve and promote the history of Routt County and northwest Colorado.</p> <p>Steamboat Springs also hosts a branch campus of <strong>Colorado Mountain College</strong> and the nonprofit Yampatika, an environmental education organization formed in 1992. The group, which hosts youth camps, trains teachers in concepts related to environmental sustainability, and runs the Environmental Learning Center at the city-owned Legacy Ranch, is dedicated to protecting the natural environment that makes Routt County such an attractive place to live and visit.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/routt-county-history" hreflang="en">routt county history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/steamboat-springs" hreflang="en">Steamboat Springs</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/howelsen-hill" hreflang="en">howelsen hill</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hahns-peak" hreflang="en">hahns peak</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/yampa-river" hreflang="en">Yampa River</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/yampa" hreflang="en">yampa</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/clark" hreflang="en">clark</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/milner" hreflang="en">milner</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hayden" hreflang="en">hayden</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/joseph-hahn" hreflang="en">joseph hahn</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/james-h-crawford" hreflang="en">james h crawford</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Jan Michael Kaminski, “<a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Programs/SHF_Survey_Hayden2009.pdf">Town of Hayden</a>,” Historic Resources Survey I, Project #2006-M2-013 (Steamboat Springs, CO: Mountain Architecture Design Group, 2009).</p> <p>Charles H. Leckenby, “<a href="http://www.crawfordpioneersofsteamboatsprings.com/pdfs/FoundingOfSSandHahnsPeak.html">The Founding of Steamboat Springs and of Hahns Peak</a>,” <em>The Colorado Magazine</em>, May 1929.</p> <p>Steven F. Mehls and Carol Drake Mehls, <a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/crforms_edumat/pdfs/620.pdf"><em>Routt and Moffat Counties, Colorado, Coal Mining Historic Context</em></a> (Denver: History Colorado, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, 1991).</p> <p>Northwest Colorado Cultural Heritage, “<a href="http://nwcoloradoheritagetravel.org/hahns-peak-colorado/">Hahn’s Peak, Colorado</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Peabody Energy, “<a href="https://www.peabodyenergy.com/content/279/media-center/fact-sheets/twentymile-mine">Twentymile Mine</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Tom Ross, “<a href="https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2003/oct/18/history_in_our/">History in Our Back Yard</a>: Windy Ridge Quartzite Quarry Was Vital to Early American Indians,” <em>Steamboat Today</em>, October 18, 2003.</p> <p>Tom Ross, “<a href="https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2009/jan/16/altered_course/">Railroad Came to Steamboat 100 Years Ago</a>,” <em>Steamboat Today</em>, January 16, 2009.</p> <p>Routt County, “<a href="http://www.co.routt.co.us/DocumentCenter/View/619">Rock Creek Stage Stop</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Laureen Lafferty Schaeffer and Jim Crawford, “<a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/NRSR/5RT473.pdf">Crawford House</a>,” National Park Service Form 10-900b (Denver: History Colorado, 2005).</p> <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p> <p>Steamboat Springs Arts Council, “<a href="https://steamboatarts.org/about/">About Us</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Matt Stensland, “<a href="https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/king-coal-the-underground-economic-engine-that-is-routt-countys-twentymile-coal-co/">King Coal: The Underground Economic Engine That is Routt County’s Twentymile Coal Co.</a>,” <em>Steamboat Today</em>, January 20, 2013.</p> <p>Tread of Pioneers Museum, “<a href="https://www.treadofpioneers.org/page.php?id=44">Routt County Ranch Histories</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="http://agcensus.mannlib.cornell.edu/AgCensus/censusParts.do?year=1890">Colorado, Contd.</a>,” US Census of Agriculture (1890).</p> <p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/">2012 Census of Agriculture County Profile: Routt County Colorado</a>,” National Agricultural Statistics Service.</p> <p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="http://agcensus.mannlib.cornell.edu/AgCensus/getVolumeTwoPart.do?volnum=6&amp;year=1910&amp;part_id=1094&amp;number=1&amp;title=Reports%20by%20States:%20Alabama%20-%20Montana">Reports by States: Alabama—Montana</a>,” US Census of Agriculture, vol. 6, part 1 (1910).</p> <p>Yampa Valley Data Partners, “<a href="https://yampavalleypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/YVDP_RealtorsSBS_EconomicOverview_Q1_2015_FINAL.pdf">Economic Overview: Routt County, Q1 2015</a>,” 2015.</p> <p>Yampatika, “<a href="https://yampatika.org/about/">About Yampatika</a>,” n.d.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://coloradomtn.edu/campuses/steamboat-springs/">Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.crawfordpioneersofsteamboatsprings.com/">Crawford Pioneers of Steamboat Springs, Colorado</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Peter R. Decker, <em>“The Utes Must Go!” American Expansion and the Removal of a People</em> (Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://hahnspeakhistoric.com/">Hahns Peak Area Historical Society</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.colorado.com/cities-and-towns/hayden">Hayden (Colorado Tourism)</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.haydenheritagecenter.org/">Hayden Heritage Center</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://nwcoloradoheritagetravel.org/">Northwest Colorado Cultural Heritage</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.co.routt.co.us/">Routt County</a>, Colorado</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/oahp/routt-county">Routt County</a> (History Colorado)</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/SteamboatLake">Steamboat Lake State Park</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://steamboatsprings.net/">Steamboat Springs</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.steamboatcreates.org/">Steamboat Springs Arts Council</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.steamboat.com/">Steamboat Resort</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.treadofpioneers.org/index.php">Tread of Pioneers Museum</a></p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 02 Feb 2017 23:26:44 +0000 yongli 2304 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Las Animas County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/las-animas-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Las Animas County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2048--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2048.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/las-animas-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Las_Animas_County_0.png?itok=TJ9NkRIw" width="1024" height="741" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/las-animas-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Las Animas County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Las Animas County, the largest county in Colorado, was established in 1866.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-11-14T16:20:10-07:00" title="Monday, November 14, 2016 - 16:20" class="datetime">Mon, 11/14/2016 - 16:20</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/las-animas-county" data-a2a-title="Las Animas County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Flas-animas-county&amp;title=Las%20Animas%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Las Animas County, the largest county in Colorado, covers 4,775 square miles in the southern end of the state, east of the <strong>Sangre de Cristo Mountains</strong>. It was originally part of a larger Huerfano County that encompassed all of southeast Colorado. Today, it is bordered by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/huerfano-county"><strong>Huerfano County</strong></a> to the northwest, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo-county"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/otero-county"><strong>Otero</strong></a> Counties to the north, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bent-county"><strong>Bent County</strong></a> to the northeast, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/baca-county"><strong>Baca County</strong></a> to the east, the state of New Mexico to the south, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/costilla-county"><strong>Costilla County</strong></a> to the west.</p> <p>Las Animas County encompasses a number of important geographic features, including (from west to east) the <strong>Spanish Peaks</strong>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/raton-pass-0"><strong>Ratón Pass</strong></a>, and the <strong>Purgatoire (purgatory) River</strong>, a tributary of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arkansas-river"><strong>Arkansas River</strong></a>. <em>Las Animas </em>is Spanish for “souls,” a reference to the lost souls of sixteenth-century Spanish soldiers allegedly killed along the Purgatoire River. The North, Middle, and South Forks of the Purgatoire flow east out of the Sangre de Cristos and converge to form the main river near the small community of <strong>Weston</strong>. Shadowed by State Highway 12, the river continues east through the industrial ghost town of Segundo, the former coal-mining town of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cokedale-historic-district"><strong>Cokedale</strong></a>, and the county seat of <strong>Trinidad</strong>. Flowing northeast out of the foothills, the Purgatoire takes a southward bend near Hoehne before continuing northeast again, cutting a canyon through the plains of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/comanche-national-grassland"><strong>Comanche National Grassland</strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>Interstate 25</strong> runs along the foothills in eastern Las Animas County, connecting the town of <strong>Aguilar</strong> and the city of Trinidad before continuing north to <strong>Walsenburg</strong> and south to Raton, New Mexico. US Highway 160 runs east from Trinidad to the small town of <strong>Kim</strong>. South of US 160 lay the small communities of Trinchera and Branson, the southernmost town in Colorado. US Highway 350 runs northeast from Trinidad into Otero County and passes through the unincorporated communities of Model, Tyrone, Thatcher, and Delhi.</p> <p>Historically, the Las Animas County area was inhabited by various indigenous peoples, including the Nuche (<strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/Ute">Ute</a></strong>), <strong>Apache</strong>, and<strong> Comanche</strong>. The first Anglo-Americans arrived in 1821, when trade with Mexico was opened up via the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/santa-f%C3%A9-trail-0"><strong>Santa Fé Trail</strong></a>. In 1866 Las Animas County was established as part of the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. By the early twentieth century its coal mines were among the most productive in the nation. The county was the site of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ludlow-massacre"><strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong></a>, a deadly conflict between striking miners and state militia in the coalfields north of Trinidad on April 20, 1914. Today Las Animas County has a population of 14,058, with more than 9,000 living in Trinidad.</p> <h2>Native Americans and Spaniards</h2> <p>The land south of the Spanish Peaks and east of the Sangre de Cristos has a long history of human occupation, beginning around 11,500 years ago with <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indian</strong></a> groups and continuing through the Middle <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/archaic-period-colorado"><strong>Archaic</strong></a> period (3,000–1,000 BC), the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sopris-phase"><strong>Sopris</strong></a> culture (AD 950–1200), and the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/apishapa-phase"><strong>Apishapa</strong></a> culture (AD 1050–1400). Most of these groups were hunter-gatherers who lived off <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a>, <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>mule deer</strong></a>, and other game. The Apishapa culture left behind <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rock-art-colorado"><strong>rock art</strong></a>, images of human and animal figures carved into boulders or cliff faces.</p> <p>By the time the Apishapa left the area in the 1400s, Ute people began arriving from the west. What is now western Las Animas County was originally home to a band of Utes called the Muache, or “cedar bark people.” Their territory lay east of the Sangre de Cristos, extending north into the Wet Mountain Valley and along the Front Range and south into New Mexico. The Utes had particular reverence for the Spanish Peaks, which they referred to as <em>Huajatolla</em>, roughly translated as “breasts of the earth.” Like other indigenous people before them, the Utes were hunter-gatherers, but unlike some, they did not build permanent dwellings. Instead, they lived in temporary or portable structures such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/tipi-0"><strong>tipis</strong></a>. In 1640 the Utes obtained horses from Spanish Santa Fé, affording them greater mobility.</p> <p>The Jicarilla Apache, a semi-sedentary people who fished, hunted, and farmed, also occupied what is now Las Animas County by the seventeenth century. This brought them into conflict with the Ute, who began attacking their settlements. The Apache’s plight did not improve with the arrival of the Comanche, a horse-mounted people who came from the north and conquered Colorado’s southeastern plains in the early eighteenth century. The Muache Ute and Comanche formed an alliance, and by about 1730 they had driven the Apache from the Purgatoire and Arkansas Valleys. With their common enemy gone, Ute-Comanche relations soured, and by the 1750s the Muache were joining the Spanish in battle against the Comanche.</p> <p>It was once thought that Spanish explorers, namely a party led by Francisco Leyva de Bonilla in 1593, were the first to visit the Purgatoire River in the sixteenth century. An attack by Native Americans killed all but one of the Bonilla party at some point after it left New Mexico and reached the <a href="/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a>. The attack was initially thought to have occurred on the Purgatoire; the river was so named because of the unblessed Catholic souls that were allegedly sent to <em>el purgatorio—</em>purgatory—along its banks. The name stuck (its current version is French), but the river may be named for the souls of men who never reached it—the location of the Bonilla expedition’s demise remains uncertain.</p> <p>By the mid-eighteenth century the northern boundary of Spanish New Mexico lay near the northern edge of present-day Las Animas County. However, for more than 100 years Ute and Comanche raids had prevented Spanish settlement north of Taos. The Spanish Era in North America came to an end with Mexican independence in 1821.</p> <h2>Mexican Era</h2> <p>Spanish authorities had previously barred trade with Americans, but a newly independent Mexico quickly opened trade with the United States in the 1820s. The Santa Fé Trail, which connected Missouri and Santa Fé, became the most important trade route in the nineteenth-century southwest. The trail had two branches, one of which—the Mountain Branch—took traders through present-day Las Animas County. From Missouri, the route followed the Arkansas River west to the Purgatoire, where it turned south to Ratón Pass and on to Santa Fé. Mexicans, Native Americans, and European Americans all traded along the trail. In 1833 the American trader <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-bent"><strong>William Bent</strong></a> established <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bents-forts"><strong>Bent’s Fort</strong></a> on the Arkansas River, which then marked the border between Mexico and the United States. The <a href="/article/nineteenth-century-trading-posts"><strong>post</strong></a> soon became the center of trade along the Santa Fé Trail, worrying some Mexican officials who thought the Americans might try to encroach on their northern territories.</p> <p>In an effort to affirm ownership of that area, the Mexican government began issuing <strong>land grants</strong> in what is now New Mexico and Colorado in 1832. In 1841 Mexico gave the Canadian trader <strong>Charles Beaubien</strong> and Mexican official Guadalupe Miranda the Maxwell grant, which included land in present New Mexico as well as what is now the southwest corner of Las Animas County. Two years later, Mexico awarded a land grant to Cornelio Vigil and <strong>Ceran St. Vrain</strong>, a naturalized Mexican citizen and partner of William Bent. This massive grant covered the western half of present-day Las Animas County, stretching between the Purgatoire and Arkansas Rivers and into the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a>. Conflict with white Texans and Comanches, however, delayed Mexican settlement of the land grants, and any hope Mexico had of retaining its northern territories disappeared in 1846, when US General <strong>Stephen W. </strong><strong>Kearny</strong>’s Army of the West clambered over Ratón Pass and invaded Mexico.</p> <p>As the Mexican-American War raged in 1847, John Hatcher, an employee of the Bent, St. Vrain &amp; Company, set up a farm in the Purgatoire Valley, intending to supply Bent’s Fort with corn and other produce. Hatcher built log cabins, completed the area’s first irrigation ditch, and planted fields, but Utes drove him off the land before the crops could be harvested.</p> <h2>Early American Era</h2> <p>The United States acquired the Las Animas County area as part of the land ceded by Mexico at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. By then the regional <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fur-trade-colorado"><strong>trade in furs</strong></a> and bison hides had declined; in 1849 William Bent was forced to abandon his post on the Arkansas. After the trader-turned-scout <strong>Richard Wootton</strong> passed through the Purgatoire Valley in 1858, several Hispano families (former Mexican citizens who became Americans after 1848) set up ranches in the area.</p> <p>A regional market for food and other supplies was created when the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1858–59 spurred the development of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>. In 1860 the New Mexicans <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/don-felipe-baca"><strong>Don Felipe Baca</strong></a> and Pedro Valdez loaded four wagons with corn and other goods and headed north for Denver. On their way to and from the new mining town, they camped along the Purgatoire near the site of present-day Trinidad. Baca envisioned a prosperous settlement there, and decided to return with his family in 1861.</p> <p>Also in 1860, another group of New Mexican traders led by Albert and Ebenezer Archibald passed through the Trinidad area on their way to sell sauerkraut and onions in Denver. When the brothers returned to the area to start a farm in March of the following year, they found Baca and two other men, William Frazier and Riley Dunton, building log homes. These modest structures became the foundation for modern Trinidad.</p> <p>As Baca and others built homes on the Trinidad site, Congress established the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. However, the area was still largely the domain of the Utes and their native allies. Despite the US government’s earlier attempts to remove the Utes by treaty, in 1865 there was still a significant population of Muaches near the Spanish Peaks who refused to abide the Anglo/Hispano encroachment on their homelands. That year, Wootton completed a toll road over Ratón Pass, increasing the amount of white traffic through the region. This led to conflict between Utes and whites over livestock theft along the roads. Amid growing distrust and discord between federal Indian officials and the Utes in 1866, Muaches led by Kaniache began attacking white and Hispano ranches and other settlements in the Purgatoire Valley. US cavalry arrived, and with the help of local volunteers, defeated the Utes in battle.</p> <h2>County Development</h2> <p>Trinidad incorporated on February 6, 1866, and three days later the territorial legislature formed Las Animas County out of the southern part of what was then Huerfano County. In 1868 the legislature amended the boundaries again, shrinking Huerfano County to its current size and creating what are now the western boundaries of Las Animas County. Eastern Las Animas County stretched to the Kansas border until <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/baca-county"><strong>Baca County</strong></a> was created in 1889.</p> <p>When the town was founded, the only stage lines connecting Trinidad to Denver went by way of Bent’s Fort, remnants of the once-burgeoning Santa Fé Trail. In 1867 Abraham Jacobs and William Jones established the Denver and Santa Fe Stage &amp; Express Company, which started a direct line south from Denver to Trinidad. The stage line led to the creation of dozens of stations between the two destinations, including many in northern Las Animas County. It also fed the development of Trinidad, which by 1867 had a general store, Catholic church, and schools, as well as one of two drug stores in the 400 miles between Denver and Santa Fe.</p> <p>Las Animas County’s industrial future also began to take shape in 1867, as <a href="/article/william-jackson-palmer"><strong>William Jackson Palmer</strong></a> explored rich coal deposits near Trinidad. Palmer, who dreamed of a grand railroad line chugging south from Denver through utopian cities, became convinced that Las Animas County coal would fuel his industrial empire in the West.</p> <p>As Trinidad developed along the Purgatoire, Hispano settlement commenced along the Apishapa River farther north. In 1866 farmer Julian Gonzales built the first irrigation ditch in the area, and in 1867 Agapito Rivali built a trading post catering to Hispano farmers and Indians. As more Hispanos set up farms and ranches in the area, a small adobe town developed where the Apishapa flows out of the foothills onto the plains; this town was the beginning of present-day Aguilar.</p> <h2>Early Social Strife and Cooperation</h2> <p>By 1870 there were a number of small Hispano and Anglo settlements in western Las Animas County. These settlers brokered an uneasy coexistence with the Utes, who resented the encroachment on their land. In the <a href="/article/ute-treaty-1868"><strong>Treaty of 1868</strong></a>, the Ute leader <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ouray"><strong>Ouray</strong></a> and several others agreed to move to a large reservation on the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/western-slope"><strong>Western Slope</strong></a>, but many Utes continued to travel to traditional hunting grounds, including the Purgatoire Valley. As late as 1873 the <em>Denver News </em>reported that “Kanneache [sic] and his band, which have never yet obeyed the treaty of 1868 . . . have been in the habit of annoying the settlers of the valleys of the Cucharas and the Huerfano.” The paper opined that this activity “should be stopped—peacefully, if possible, forcibly, if necessary.”</p> <p>Such forcible action, however, did not come to southern Colorado but rather to northwest Colorado in 1879. After the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/meeker-incident"><strong>Meeker Incident</strong></a> there in September, Utes living in northern Colorado were removed to Utah. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/brunot-agreement"><strong>Brunot Agreement</strong></a> of 1873, also negotiated by Chief Ouray, gave the United States the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-juan-mountains"><strong>San Juan Mountains</strong></a> and created a reservation for southern Colorado’s Utes near present-day <strong>Durango</strong>. By the 1880s most of the Muache Utes had left Las Animas County for the reservation.</p> <p>If there were tensions between Native and non-native people in early Las Animas County, there were also divisions between Anglo and Hispano settlers. Their heads filled with notions of an Anglo-centric “<strong>Manifest Destiny</strong>,” many Anglos in southern Colorado saw Hispanos as a lower class of people. After visiting the Purgatoire Valley, Anglo observer <strong>William E. Pabor</strong> captured this sentiment in an 1883 agricultural publication, writing that “Mexicans” were “rude” and “uncultivated husbandmen” and that “their method of raising wheat is slovenly, and without signs of thrift.”</p> <p>Tension between Anglos and Hispanos in Trinidad was on display far earlier than 1883, however. On Christmas Day, 1867, an Anglo man had shot a Hispano man in Trinidad and was jailed. When other Anglos tried to free the shooter, Las Animas County Sheriff Juan Gutiérrez, a Hispano, raised the alarm, and the town’s Hispanos took up arms against the Anglos. Eventually, US troops were called in to help diffuse the standoff. Local Utes offered to help Gutiérrez, but the sheriff rebuked them, so they watched the gunfight from the surrounding hills. Hispano politician <strong>Casimiro Barela</strong> also witnessed Anglo-Hispano tension on multiple occasions while serving as county sheriff from 1874–75.</p> <p>Though tension between Anglos and Hispanos produced conflict, for the most part both groups managed to coexist. Hispano ranchers sold wool and other goods at Anglo shops in Trinidad, and in the 1860s both Anglos and Hispanos served as county commissioners, county clerks, sheriffs, judges, and other government positions.</p> <p>Las Animas County also produced some of the first Hispano members of the Anglo-dominated territorial and state governments. Baca and Barela were among the first Hispanos to serve in the territorial legislature in the 1870s, and Barela even helped draft the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-constitution"><strong>Colorado Constitution</strong></a> just before the territory became a state in 1876. Barela also led the push for a resolution that required Colorado laws to be published in Spanish as well as English for twenty-five years.</p> <h2>Coal Mining and Labor Conflicts</h2> <p>While Hispanos and Anglos were busy establishing Las Animas County’s early towns and ranches, William Palmer was busy turning his dreams of a Colorado empire into reality. By 1875 he had extended his <strong>Denver &amp; Rio Grande Railroad</strong> (D&amp;RG) south from Denver, founding the towns of Colorado Springs and South Pueblo. The line also extended west into the coalfields of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fremont-county"><strong>Fremont County</strong></a>, where Palmer built collieries in 1872.</p> <p>In 1876 the D&amp;RG reached Aguilar, and later that year it reached the Purgatoire River northeast of Trinidad. There Palmer’s railroad built the town of El Moro, disappointing residents in Trinidad who anticipated an economic boom with the railroad’s arrival. To manage his new coal mines and other industrial endeavors, Palmer formed the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Coal &amp; Iron Company</strong></a> (CC&amp;I) in 1880. In 1881 the company completed the Minnequa Works in Pueblo, the nation’s first steel mill west of the Missouri River.</p> <p>Coal shipped from mining camps around Trinidad and Aguilar fueled Palmer’s steel works, as well as the many smelters in Pueblo and Denver that extracted gold and silver from raw ore. By the 1890s Las Animas County mining camps included Grey Creek, Engleville, Starkville, and Sopris near Trinidad, as well as Hastings, Delagua, and Berwind south of Aguilar. The camps drew workers of more than a dozen nationalities, including Mexicans, British, Italians, Swiss, Germans, African Americans, and Greeks. With the influx of workers and families tied to the coal industry, the county’s population surged from 4,276 in 1880 to 21,842 in 1900.</p> <p>Coal miners in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries worked between ten and twelve hours per day in extremely dangerous conditions for meager wages. Often they were paid in scrip, company cash that could only be redeemed at a company store in exchange for necessities such as tools and food. Knowing that Colorado’s economy depended on their labor, many miners joined unions such as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/united-mine-workers-america"><strong>United Mine Workers of America</strong></a> (UMWA) and organized strikes to demand better pay, shorter work days, and safer working conditions.</p> <p>In 1894 more than 1,200 striking coal miners from across southern Colorado converged in Trinidad in an attempt to stage a strike that would suspend coal production and force companies such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron</strong></a> (CF&amp;I)—the descendant of Palmer’s CC&amp;I—to address their grievances. Companies like CF&amp;I and the Trinidad Coal and Coke Company responded to union pressure by hiring strikebreakers, firing strikers, and closing off other camps to prevent union influence. The strikers failed to shut down the industry, however, and so eventually had to return to work at pre-strike wages and conditions.</p> <p>Though it failed to achieve its goals, the 1894 strike nonetheless demonstrated the growing power of the labor movement in Las Animas County. But it pales in comparison to the Coalfield Wars, which cast a shadow of death and destruction over the county in 1913–14. Conditions and pay had changed little since the 1890s, and the UMWA again found traction in the southern coalfields. In the summer of 1913, several thousand mineworkers, their families, and sympathizers convened in Trinidad and declared their intent to strike.</p> <p>The strike began in September and continued throughout the fall, and as attempts to reconcile the two sides failed, Colorado officials grew anxious at the possible fuel shortfall for the winter. Governor <strong>Elias M. Ammons</strong> sent in the National Guard to suppress the strikers, ratcheting up tension. Sporadic conflict between the National Guard and strikers continued throughout the winter. The powder keg finally exploded on April 20, 1914, when gunfire erupted between the National Guard and strikers near the union’s Ludlow tent colony north of Trinidad. Many of the miners’ families fled the tent colony once the fighting began, so the National Guard believed the camp to be empty when they set it on fire. Hidden in a pit underneath one of the tents, however, were thirteen women and children, who died of smoke inhalation.</p> <p>After hearing about the events at Ludlow, other miners went on a rampage across the southern Coalfields, killing mine operators and guards. It is still not known how exactly how many people died during the entire conflict, but at least nineteen died at Ludlow, making the event the deadliest labor conflict in American history. In 1918 the UMWA built a statue at the Ludlow site to honor those killed in the massacre. Coal mining continued in Las Animas County until the 1920s, when demand tapered off due to the availability of other fuels.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Today, the Las Animas County economy, especially in the eastern part, reflects its pastoral and agricultural heritage. In 2012 it had 602 farms and a total of nearly 42,000 cattle and calves, and it ranked near the middle of the state’s sixty-four counties in corn and wheat production.</p> <p>Tourism is also a major part of the county economy. Every year, thousands of outdoor enthusiasts visit the <strong>Spanish Peaks Wilderness</strong> to climb, camp, hike, bike, and fish around the prominent twin mountains. Trinidad’s historic district, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/el-corazon-de-trinidad-national-historic-district"><strong>El Corazón de Trinidad</strong></a> (“the heart of Trinidad”), was created in 1972 and attracts heritage tourists with its eclectic mix of Anglo and Hispano architecture. The city is also home to a thriving creative district and arts community, as well as <strong>Trinidad State Junior College,</strong> which was established in 1925 and has an enrollment of 2,219 as of 2013.</p> <p>Trinidad Lake State Park surrounds the 800-acre <strong>Trinidad Lake</strong>, a reservoir built for flood control purposes in the late 1950s. The lake is well-stocked with fish, making it a popular destination for anglers, while the surrounding park offers camping, an archery range, and ten miles of hiking trails, among other amenities.</p> <p>After the <a href="/article/dust-bowl"><strong>Dust Bowl</strong></a> of the 1930s, the federal government bought 440,000 acres of cultivated land in southern Otero and northeast Las Animas Counties and returned it to native grassland. In 1960 this land was designated as the Comanche National Grassland. In 1991, after staging tank drills in the area for twenty years, the US Department of Defense added <strong>Picketwire Canyon </strong>to the Comanche National Grassland (“picketwire” is the Anglo mispronunciation of “purgatoire”). The canyon is the site of 150-milion-year-old dinosaur tracks as well as parts of the historic Santa Fé Trail. Picturesque landscapes and native prairies draw hikers, birdwatchers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.</p> <p>In 2009 the Ludlow Massacre site was declared a National Historic Landmark, and April 20, 2014, marked the hundredth anniversary of the tragedy. To commemorate the massacre, Governor <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/john-hickenlooper"><strong>John Hickenlooper</strong></a> organized a commission that planned a slew of activities, including a speakers’ series, symposia, a play, museum exhibits, and a Sunday church service at the Ludlow site.</p> <p>In 2016 the Colorado Economic Development Commission added Las Animas County to its rural Jump-Start Program, which offered tax breaks to approved businesses for locating to the state’s most distressed areas. Las Animas County officials have said that industrial hemp and self-driving cars are among the industries they are attempting to attract with the incentives.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/las-animas-county" hreflang="en">Las Animas County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/las-animas-county-history" hreflang="en">las animas county history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ludlow-massacre" hreflang="en">Ludlow Massacre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-fuel-iron" hreflang="en">colorado fuel &amp; iron</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-jackson-palmer" hreflang="en">william jackson palmer</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/trinidad" hreflang="en">Trinidad</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/spanish-peaks" hreflang="en">spanish peaks</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/aguilar" hreflang="en">aguilar</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/comanche-national-grassland" hreflang="en">comanche national grassland</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hoehne" hreflang="en">hoehne</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/purgatoire-river" hreflang="en">Purgatoire River</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ludlow" hreflang="en">ludlow</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/raton-pass" hreflang="en">raton pass</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/felipe-baca" hreflang="en">felipe baca</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/casimiro-barela" hreflang="en">casimiro barela</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and David McComb, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State </em>3rd ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1995).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Apishapa Valley Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.aguilarhistory.com/html/jraguilar.htm">The Jose Ramon Aguilar Story</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Apishapa Valley Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.aguilarhistory.com/html/history.htm">History</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas G. Andrews, <em>Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War </em>(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Richard Carrillo, Abbey Christman, Kathleen Corbett, Lindsay Joyner, and Jonathon Rusch, <a href="https://issuu.com/coloradopreservation/docs/historic-context-study-ranching"><em>Historic Context Study of the Purgatoire River Region</em></a> (Denver: Colorado Presevation, Inc., 2011).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Phil Carson, <em>Across the Northern Frontier: Spanish Explorations in Colorado </em>(Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 1998).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado Parks &amp; Wildlife, “<a href="https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/TrinidadLake/Pages/default.aspx">Trinidad Lake</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>José E. Fernández, <em>The Biography of Casimiro Barela</em> (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Pekka Hämäiläinen, <em>The Comanche Empire </em>(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Janet Lecompte, <em>Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn</em> (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>William E. Pabor, <a href="https://mountainscholar.orgbitstream/handle/10217/46927/Colorado_As_An_Agricultural_State.pdf?sequence=1"><em>Colorado As An Agricultural State</em></a> (New York: Orange Judd, 1883).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Martha Quillen, “<a href="https://www.cozine.com:8443/2001-december/mexican-land-grants-in-colorado">Mexican Land Grants in Colorado</a>,” <em>Colorado Central Magazine</em>, December 1, 2001.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Army Corps of Engineers, “<a href="https://www.spa.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Recreation/Trinidad-Lake/">Trinidad Lake Project</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/">2012 Census of Agriculture County Profile: Las Animas County Colorado</a>,” National Agricultural Statistics Service.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Morris F. Taylor, <em>Trinidad, Colorado Territory </em>(Pueblo, CO: O’Brien Printing &amp; Stationery, 1966).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&amp;d=TEP18730912.2.43&amp;srpos=2&amp;e=-------en-20-TEP-1-byDA-txt-txIN-utes-------0-"><em>Trinidad Enterprise</em>, September 12, 1873</a>.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Colorado Preservation, Inc., “<a href="https://coloradopreservation.org/programs/endangered-places/endangered-places-archives/el-corazon-de-trinidad/">El Corazón de Trinidad</a>.”</p> <p><a href="https://vlsicad2022.org/">Corazón de Trinidad Creative District</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.historictrinidad.com/tourism.html">Historic Trinidad</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.lasanimascounty.net/">Las Animas County</a></p> <p>Rocky Mountain PBS,&nbsp;<a href="https://video.rmpbs.org/video/2365918089/">"Trinidad,"</a>&nbsp;<em>Colorado Experience</em>, December 22, 2016.</p> <p><a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/psicc/recarea/?recid=80758">Spanish Peaks Wilderness</a></p> <p><a href="https://trinidad.co.gov/">Trinidad</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.trinidadstate.edu/">Trinidad State Junior College</a></p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 14 Nov 2016 23:20:10 +0000 yongli 2049 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Colorado Fuel & Iron http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-09-29T16:45:11-06:00" title="Thursday, September 29, 2016 - 16:45" class="datetime">Thu, 09/29/2016 - 16:45</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron" data-a2a-title="Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcolorado-fuel-iron&amp;title=Colorado%20Fuel%20%26%20Iron"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&amp;I) was a coal and steel company based in <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> and <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo-0">Pueblo</a>.</strong> Most of its <strong>coal</strong> mines were located in southern Colorado. Its only <strong>steel mill</strong> was located in Pueblo. The firm came into existence as a result of a merger between the Colorado Coal and Iron Company and the Colorado Fuel Company in 1892. By 1910 it employed approximately 15,000 people, or about one-tenth of the entire Colorado workforce. During the 1920s it was the largest industrial corporation in the state.</p> <p>CF&amp;I also pioneered welfare capitalism—a strategy in which a company provides support in all aspects of employees’ lives in order to improve morale and loyalty. In 1901 it created a “Sociological Department,” an umbrella administrative organization for many management-sponsored programs such as schools and beautification efforts for mining towns, clubhouses for workers, a company hospital, and new housing. A glossy magazine, <em>Camp &amp; Plant</em>, was sent all around the country to highlight these activities. This publication contributed to the spread of welfare capitalism to other industries and regions. Management ramped down the Sociological Department’s programs during the 1908 recession, thinking them unnecessary. This led to the most important labor dispute in the company’s history.</p> <p>CF&amp;I was the main opponent of the <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/united-mine-workers-america">United Mine Workers of America</a> </strong>(UMWA) during the union’s efforts to organize the Colorado coalfields in the early twentieth century. As the largest mining firm in the state, CF&amp;I led the entire western coal industry during two major strikes in 1903–4 and 1913–14. Its staunch opposition in both disputes originated from the company’s primary stockholders and owners, the Rockefeller family of Standard Oil fame. During the bloody 1913–14 strike, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who ran the family’s interests for his retired father, publicly agreed with the notion that keeping unions out of CF&amp;I was worth it even “if it costs all your property and kills all your employees.” This attitude directly resulted in the infamous <a href="/article/ludlow-massacre"><strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong></a> in which at least nineteen people, including women and children, were killed.</p> <p>In response to bad publicity from the Ludlow Massacre, Rockefeller began to backpedal from his staunch opposition to worker organization, creating what came to be known as the Rockefeller Plan. The Rockefeller Plan was an employee representation plan designed to give CF&amp;I miners and steelworkers enough say over the terms and conditions of their employment so that they would not join a union or strike to gain union recognition. The results of the plan were mixed. Many workers, especially skilled ones, appreciated the plan both for the opportunity it gave them to voice their complaints and as a vehicle for the delivery of the company’s renewed efforts at welfare capitalism. However, less-skilled workers, particularly the Mexican and Mexican American workers who joined the company’s ranks, especially after World War I, did not have enough of a stake in the company to participate in the plan. As a result, CF&amp;I still faced major strikes in 1919, 1927, and 1933, when the UMWA finally organized the firm’s miners. The plan continued on in the steel mill until 1942, when it was invalidated by the National War Labor Board under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 as an illegal “company union.”</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/rees-jonathan-h" hreflang="und">Rees, Jonathan H.</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-fuel-iron" hreflang="en">colorado fuel &amp; iron</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cfi" hreflang="en">cf&amp;i</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-fuel-iron-history" hreflang="en">colorado fuel &amp; iron history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-jackson-palmer" hreflang="en">william jackson palmer</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/john-rockefeller-jr" hreflang="en">john rockefeller jr.</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/united-mineworkers-america" hreflang="en">united mineworkers of america</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal" hreflang="en">coal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coal-mining" hreflang="en">coal mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/pueblo-steel-mill" hreflang="en">pueblo steel mill</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Darrell F. Munsell, <em>From Redstone to Ludlow: John Cleveland Osgood’s Struggle Against the United Mine Workers of America </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2009).</p> <p>Jonathan H. Rees, <em>Representation and Rebellion: The Rockefeller Plan at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1914–1942</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2010).</p> <p>H. Lee Scamehorn, <em>Mill &amp; Mine: The CF&amp;I in the Twentieth Century</em> (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Thomas G. Andrews, <em>Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War </em>(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-4th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-4th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-4th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-4th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-4th-grade"><p><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif; font-size:12.0pt">In 1892 Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron Company (CF&amp;I) was formed. It was based in <strong>Denver</strong> and <strong>Pueblo</strong>. Its <strong>coal</strong> mines were mostly found in southern Colorado. Its only <strong>steel mill</strong> was built in Pueblo. In 1910 about one-tenth of Colorado workers were working for CF&amp;I. By 1920 CF&amp;I was the largest industrial corporation in the state.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif; font-size:12.0pt">There was a reason why CF&amp;I grew to be so large. A new idea called “welfare capitalism” began at CF&amp;I in 1901.This idea was very new in Colorado at that time. It meant that a company gave workers what they needed to live day-to-day. New housing was built for the workers. CF&amp;I also built a hospital, schools, and clubhouses. It was important to make the mining towns look beautiful. A magazine, <em>Camp &amp; Plant</em>, had pictures and articles to show the good things happening at CF&amp;I. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif; font-size:12.0pt">Then the recession of 1908 came. The company cut back on some of these basic supports. The workers were not happy with the new changes. CF&amp;I workers were not allowed to belong to an organized labor union. At that time the <strong>United Mine Workers of America</strong> (UMWA) was a well-known labor union. By 1913–14, the workers grew very frustrated and went on strike. The Colorado National Guard was sent to stop it. There was a fight between the two groups. Members of the National Guard killed striking miners and set a camp on fire. The event was called the <strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong>.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif; font-size:12.0pt">The owners of CF&amp;I lived in New York and not in Colorado. They heard about the Ludlow Massacre and knew a different plan was needed. Not all workers liked the new plan. There were more strikes in 1919, 1927, and 1933. This was when the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) finally organized the Company’s miners.&nbsp;</span></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-8th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-8th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-8th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-8th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-8th-grade"><p>In 1892 the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&amp;I) was a coal and steel company based in <strong>Denver </strong>and <strong>Pueblo.</strong> Most of its <strong>coal</strong> mines were located in southern Colorado. Its only <strong>steel mill</strong> was located in Pueblo. By 1910 it employed about one-tenth of the entire Colorado workforce.</p> <p>CF&amp;I also pioneered “welfare capitalism,” a strategy in which a company supports all aspects of employees’ lives to improve morale and loyalty. During the 1908 recession, CF&amp;I management halted many of these activities, thinking them unnecessary. This led to the most important labor dispute in the company’s history in 1913–14.</p> <p>CF&amp;I was the main opponent of the <strong>United Mine Workers of America </strong>(UMWA), a union that lobbied for better pay and working conditions for mine workers. The Rockefeller family, of Standard Oil fame, owned CF&amp;I during the bloody strikes of 1913–14. Owner John D. Rockefeller, Jr. stated publicly that unions should be kept out of CF&amp;I. This attitude led to the <strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong><strong>, a battle between striking coal miners and the Colorado National Guard. </strong><strong>At</strong> least nineteen people, including more than a dozen women and children, died in the massacre.</p> <p>Because of bad publicity from the Ludlow Massacre, Rockefeller created what came to be known as the Rockefeller Plan. It was designed to give CF&amp;I miners and steelworkers enough control over their employment so that they would not join a union. CF&amp;I still faced major strikes in 1919, 1927, and 1933. At that time the UMWA finally organized the firm’s miners. The Rockefeller plan continued at the steel mill until 1942, when it was overturned by the National War Labor Board as an illegal “company union.”</p> <p>CF&amp;I declared bankruptcy in 1990. Its steel mill still stands in Pueblo today.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-10th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-10th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-10th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-10th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-10th-grade"><p>Formed in 1892, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&amp;I) was a coal and steel company based in <strong>Denver</strong> and <strong>Pueblo.</strong> Most of its <strong>coal</strong> mines were located in southern Colorado. Its only <strong>steel mill</strong> was located in Pueblo. By 1910 it employed approximately 15,000 people, or about one-tenth of the entire Colorado workforce. During the 1920s, it was the largest industrial corporation in the state.</p> <p>CF&amp;I also pioneered welfare capitalism, a strategy in which a company provides support in all aspects of employees’ lives in order to improve morale and loyalty. A glossy magazine, <em>Camp &amp; Plant</em>, was sent all around the country to highlight CF&amp;I activities. This publication contributed to the spread of welfare capitalism to other industries and regions. During the 1908 recession, CF&amp;I management halted many of these activities, thinking them unnecessary. This led to the most important labor dispute in the company’s history.</p> <p>CF&amp;I was the main opponent of the <strong>United Mine Workers of America </strong>(UMWA). CF&amp;I led the entire western coal industry against the union during two major strikes in 1903–4 and 1913–14. Its opposition in both strikes came from the company’s owners, the Rockefeller family of Standard Oil fame. During the bloody strike of 1913–14, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., publicly agreed with the idea that keeping unions out of CF&amp;I was worth it, even “if it costs all your property and kills all your employees.” This attitude led to the <strong>Ludlow Massacre</strong><strong>, in which Colorado National Guardsmen fired on striking coal miners in southern Colorado. </strong>Nineteen people, including more than a dozen women and children, were killed.</p> <p>Because of bad publicity from the Ludlow Massacre, Rockefeller began to retreat from his opposition to worker organization. He created what came to be known as the Rockefeller Plan, which was designed to give CF&amp;I miners and steelworkers enough control over their employment so that they would not join a union. The results of the plan were mixed. CF&amp;I still faced major strikes in 1919, 1927, and 1933. At that time the UMWA finally organized the firm’s miners. The Rockefeller plan continued at the steel mill until 1942. It was overturned by the National War Labor Board as an illegal “company union.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 29 Sep 2016 22:45:11 +0000 yongli 1899 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org