PROJ00450 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

. . . Early History Most early settlers were miners and prospectors who turned to irrigated agriculture after being unsuccessful in mining attempts. Settlement of the project area started in 1880 while western Colorado was still inhabited by the Ute Indians, Early efforts by white settlers to inhabit the area were slowed by hostile Indians until a compromise between the United States and the Ute Indians was reached in 1881, The agreement specified that the Indians leave the area and locate on the Uintah Indian Reservation in the Territory of Utah. In 1920,40 Italian families were brought New York by the Midland Railroad Company to operate coal mines in the Silt area. When the railroad failed a short time later, the families remained and turned to farming in the vicinity, Irrigation systems were soon constructed and a wide variety of small grains, hay, and vegetables were successfully grown, Sugar beets were introduced about 1910 and were a major cash crop until the early 1950's, when transportation and field labor shortages forced the producers to grow other crops, Farming and Ranching Because transportation and labor problems are still evident today, farming is primarily concerned with forage for livestock, Major crops are alfalfa, irrigated pasture and small grain for livestock feed, A small acreage is used for production of fruit and vegetable crops, Alfalfa has the highest consumptive use, requiring 25 to 29 inches of irrigation water depending on effective precipitation, Irrigation is accomplished by either surface (contour ditches, gated pipe) or sprinkler irrigation, Livestock is the most important part ofthe area's agriculture, Most livestock operations are cow-calf, A few ranchers raise feeder calves and sell them to commercial feedlots elsewhere, The Rifle-Silt area is surrounded by land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, Most ranchers in the area lease grazing allotments on these lands for summer grazing. Hay, grain, and forage for ensilage are grown under irrigation and fed to the livestock in winter.