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<br />scale commercial mining highly profitable. Substantial <br />coal production continued as the mainstay of the area's <br />economy until the early 1900s when a gradual decline <br />began. As other fuels became more common, coal opera- <br />tions declined, and agriculture and ranching assumed <br />a more important part of the general economy. <br /> <br />Today, agriculture and ranching are still a major <br />portion of the economy, but much of the county's income <br />now results from tourist trade. A slow, but steady, <br />growth rate is expected for the county in the foreseeable <br />future. The gradual growth of the economy is reflected <br />in the population trends of Las Animas County. The <br />population figures for 1960, 1970, 1974, and projected <br />for 1980, are 19,983, 15,291, 16,300, and 18,826, respec- <br />tively. Because of the varying topography, large cli- <br />matic differences occur within short distances. <br />Temperatures of the area are characteristic of those <br />of the high plains. The average annual maximum and <br />minimum temperatures are 66.0oF and 36.80F, respectively. <br />Average annual precipitation varies from 21.7 inches <br />at North Lake to 13.5 inches at Trinidad. <br /> <br />The Purgatoire River and Raton Creek are the only <br />continuous flowing streams studied, whereas the Apishapa <br />River and other tributaries of the Purgatoire are <br />intermittent flowing streams. The North and Middle <br />Forks of the Purgatoire originate in the Culebra Range <br />of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains and form the Purgatoire <br />River at their confluence 29 miles west of Trinidad. <br />The Purgatoire River flows 186 miles in a northeastern <br />direction to join the Arkansas River near Las Animas, <br />Colorado, and has watershed elevations varying from <br />14,407 feet atop Culebra Peak down to 4300 feet at <br />the county limits. Trinidad Dam controls the drainage <br />from approximately 671 square miles of the Purgatoire <br />basin. Upstream from Trinidad, the "Picket Wire" <br />valley is narrow, varying in width from a few hundred <br />feet in the mountains to a quarter-mile on the plains, <br />then narrow again in the Purgatoire Canyon in the <br />eastern half of the county. As is characteristic <br />of streams in the area, the Purgatoire River flows <br />in shifting channels in a broad, shallow streambed <br />with low, flat overbanks throughout the study area. <br /> <br />6 <br />