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The lure of gold, silver and other minerals caused an influx of people and the population increased rapidly until 1893. With the decline of the mining industry, agriculture became the basic industry of the Basin. Many of the miners, disappointed in their search for gold and silver, turned to stock raising and gro~ing of crops as a means of livelihood. Irrigation ~as found necessary to mature crops and by 1900 most of the readily available sources of irrigation ~ater had been developed by private individuals and small irrigation companies. Population The population of the Gunnison River Basin in 1960 is estimated at approxi- mately 36,000. Montrose is the largest incorporated city ~ith a 1960 population of 5,044. Delta had a 1960 population of 3,832, Gunnison 3,477, Paonia 1,083 and Ouray 785. Population of the Basin by counties, based on 1960 U. S. Census, is as follo~s: Gunnison River Basin Population, 1960 County 1960 Population Delta Gunnison Hinsdale * Mesa * Montrose * Ouray Saguache * 15,602 5,477 147 451 12,811 1,601 l~ Total 36,227 *Estimated for portion of county ~ithin Basin. Soils Soils of the Gunnison River Basin have developed on gently to strongly sloping floodplains and terraces, moderately to strongly sloping mesas and 10" rolling hills, and steep to very steep rough mountainous uplands. They have developed in alluvium, residuum and colluvium from shale, sandstone, rhyolite, breccia and tuff, under lo~ to high effective precipitation, at elevations ranging from 5,000 to 14,000 feet. Natural vegetation consists of desert shrubs, sagebrush, oakbrush, juniper, pinyon pine, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, Engleman spruce, alpine fir, ~spen, alpine willo~s and associated climatically adapted grasses and forbs. On the basis of the climatic influence on soil characteristics, five major groupings of great soil groups have been recognized. These groupings have - 4 -