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not until the intercession of Theodore Roosevelt that access was granted; investigation revealed that the sources of the blockade ran directly to Harriman. Fenneman and Gale reported on the richness of the Yampa Coal Field and its need for a railroad in 1906. The next year a report commissioned by Moffat and compiled by William Weston was finished. In a series of evaluations of the natural resources of the region, they note the great economic potential (Fenneman and Gale 1906; Weston 1907). Weston added to the clamor for a railroad: Now, however, the fuel famine, which prevails in the states north, south, east, and west surrounding this untouched coal field, has caused people to demand that the coal be produced for the use of dwellers in the western states, and for whose benefit it was originally created. This will now be done, and as rapidly as the men and money available will accomplish it. As already stated, but little development has been done (Weston 1907:60). The railroad emerged from Gore Canyon in 1907, headed for the coal of the Yampa Field -- its primary source of revenue. The first train arrived in Oak Creek on October 9, 1908; a carload of coal waiting for it was loaded by wheelbarrow and shovel and shipped to Denver (DeKraay 1951:77). The railroad finally reached its western terminus at Craig in 1913. Cattle interests boomed with the arrival of the railroad, peaking about 1910. By 1913, following the general pattern, Craig, as end of track, had become a major cattle shipping center (Athearn 1976). However, not everyone benefitted from the railroads arrival,. David Gray noted: The railroad came and coal mining began on a larger scale. Mail contractors and freighters were put out of business. Farmers immediately felt the effect of this when there was no sale for long grain and hay. The country was thrown in competition with the outside world. As a consequence, grain farming for profit was a thing of the past because of loss of home market and high freight rates for outside markets (Gray 1941). The final blow to significant railroad expansion came in 1915 when the receivers of the Moffat, now the Denver & Salt Lake, convinced the London banker Pearson to dispose of his Mexican Central interests and complete the line to Salt Lake. He set sail for England to complete arrangements; unfortunately the ship was the Lusitania and a German torpedo sank the railroad's last hopes (Bollinger and Bauer 1962:139). After the heavy World War I demand for coal subsided, the railroad fell on increasingly hard times. Many problems beset the D & S L: high operating expenses on Rollins Pass, accidents, complaints by livestock shippers of stock frozen to death in some cars on the pass, deteriorating maintenance, and lack of money (Athearn 1977:105). The railroad applied for abandonment but was refused. The year 1922 saw the passage of the Moffat tunnel bond issue. The coming of the tunnel promised another boom for the region, but it did not pan out. After intense promotion of the region, the lettuce industry collapsed, and 47