PERMFILE111168

• Permit No: C1981013
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 12/11/2001
• Section_Exhibit Name: EXHIBIT 05 CULTURAL AND HISTORIC RESOURCE INFORMATION
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

('.~~ 2 6
These rail developments, in unison with the growth of coal
mining, precipitated economic and social changes. The importance
of the area for mining was established when extensive outcrops
of coking coal (suitable for iron smelting) were discovered in
the Raton Basin. Mines were established near Trinidad in the
late 1870s and the Walsen Mine near Walsenburg was begun in 1881.
Many of these mines were owned by Colorado Coal and iron Company.
It merged with Colorado Fuel Company in 1892 to form Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company (CF & I).
f In 1899, CF & i established a transportation subsidiary, the
Colorado and Wyoming (C 6 W) Railway. The C & W had three
divisions: Northern Division (Hartville Junction to Sunrise,
~~ Wyoming), Middle Division (adjacent to the Pueblo steel plant),
and Southern Division (Trinidad to Cuatro along the Purgatory
River). It also ran a short line to the Hezron Mine in Huerfano
County and operated the Crystal River Railway near Glenwood
Springs. The construction of the C & W up the Purgatiore River
Valley was an important development in the local history. A
~ brief divergence to describe the historical development of the
~ C & W Railway and its effect upon the social communities is
appropriate. This history is derived from McKenzie (1982).
` Wozk on the Southern Division began on December 23, 1900 at
~! Jansen, immediately west of Trinidad. The line reached Segundo,
11.87 miles west, on May 17, 1901. A short (3.4 miles long) line
was extended north to the Primero Mine in June, 1901.
Concurrently, construction of the coke ovens and coal washeries
at Segundo were begun in 1901. The washeries wee finished and
began operation on March 15, 1902. The 800 coke ovens (four
batteries of 200 ovens) were finished 10 months later in January
1903. At the time, they were the largest group of coke ovens
west of Chicago. In March, 1903, 427 men were employed in
Segundo: 347 at the coke ovens, 60 on the. washeries, and 20 on
'_~ construction.
The C ~ W line was continued for another 17.4 miles to Tercio
(founded November 1901) and completed on March 19, 1902. A short
(1.26 miles) line was extended to Cuatro in February 1903; this
became the westernmost end of the C & W line.
`- When the Frederick Mine opened at Valdez in October 1907, it and
the Primero Mine supported a large number of workers. Most of
the workers at the Primero Mine lived at the company town
constructed near the mine. At Segundo, there were two villages:
a company town on the south side of the river and old Segundo
(originally called Los Baros or Varros) on the north bank and 1/4
mile upstream. The two villages were studies in contrast: the
't neat company town with ordered rows of dwellings and Varros with
'J its jumble of adobe houses, store, saloon, and Catholic church.
r~ Segundo did not escape the general unrest and violence that
surround miner's strikes in the early 1900s. A confrontation
occurred on December 7, 1903 between the strikers and company