Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />l 0654 <br /> <br />area is very sparsely settled. Trinj.dad, ~lith about 20,000 inhabitants <br /> <br /> <br />in the metropolitan area, is the largest town. A comparison of the popu- <br /> <br /> <br />lation figures from the United States Census for 1920, 1930, 1940, and <br /> <br /> <br />1950, indicates that for the rural area of that portion of Las Animas <br /> <br /> <br />County within the basin there was a 48 percent decrease from 1920 to1950; <br /> <br /> <br />while the population of the city of 1rinidad increased from 10,906 in <br /> <br /> <br />1920, to 12,204 in 1950, or an increase of 12 percent. Pertinent data in <br /> <br /> <br />detail on the trend of population for the basin are given in appendix C. <br /> <br /> <br />23. Resources and industries. - The principal industries in the <br /> <br /> <br />upper Purgatoire River watershed are coal mining, agriculture, mercantile, <br /> <br /> <br />and manufacturing. The mining of coal is a major industry in the water- <br /> <br /> <br />shed, even though the production of coal declined from 4,345,110 tons in <br /> <br /> <br />1920, to 895,064 tons in 1949. At the present time practically all of the <br /> <br /> <br />coal mined in Las Animas County is used in the manufacturing of steel. <br /> <br /> <br />With the market reduced to this basic demand, it probably has reached the <br /> <br /> <br />minimum level. Coal mined in the Trinidad area has good coking properties <br /> <br /> <br />and the freight rates to the mills are favorable. Reserves in this area <br /> <br /> <br />are estimated at 22 billion tons. <br /> <br /> <br />24. The only commercial timber resources of the watershed consist <br /> <br /> <br />of the conifer forests in the mountainous section. <br /> <br /> <br />25. Agriculture. - Livestock raising is the most important phase of <br /> <br /> <br />the agricultural industry in Las Animas County. In 1949, the value of all <br /> <br /> <br />farm products sold amounted to $6,847,335, of which $5,781,395 was live- <br /> <br /> <br />stock and livestock products. <br /> <br /> <br />26. In the portion of the valley under consideration, the majority <br /> <br /> <br />of the agricultural improvements are located in the irrigation areas. <br /> <br /> <br />Dry farming areas represent less than one percent of the agricultural <br /> <br /> <br />developments. The principal irrigated crops in the order of their im- <br /> <br /> <br />portance are alfalfa, dry beans, corn, sugar beets, and small grains. <br /> <br />9 <br /> <br />,>,-"",'i;t <br /> <br />