USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 52
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NORTH PARK FIELD
"This field comprises nearly the entire area of the most northern of the inter- range parks of the state, extending from its northern end as far south as the divide separating the drainage of this park from that of Middle Park. The measures through the center of the area are covered by post-Laramie beds of considerable thickness. The beds outcropping on the northern edge of the park have a slight dip to the south for a short distance, when they gradually assume a northern dip, owing to the presence of an anticlinal fold, the beds on each side of which have an inclination of about 15°.
"There are in this field apparently three workable beds, all remarkably free from shaly impurities and of considerable size. The largest is from 21 to 32 feet thick, another is 15 feet, and the third is from 4 to 5 feet.
472
HISTORY OF COLORADO
"The character of the coal is essentially the same as that of coals in the South Platte field, namely, lignitic, but not true lignite.
"This is the least developed field in the state, the only openings being for the supply of the ranches in the immediate vicinity. The region is so remote from markets, and the probability of railroad extension into the district so slight, that there is no immediate prospect of its development.
YAMPA FIELD
"This field lies altogether on the drainage of the Yampa River. For the sake of convenience, however, a portion of the Rawlins field of Wyoming, lying within Colorado, on the drainage of the Little Snake River, is included in this description. Indeed, it is quite probable that the two fields are continuous under the great thickness of post-Laramie beds which occupy the high ground between the two exposures. This field is situated but a few miles north of the Grand River field, the two being separated by a small eroded anticlinal valley from the sides of which the strata of the two fields dip in opposite directions, doubtless at one time having been connected. There is a small area of coal-bearing meas- ures on the top of the Flat Top Mountains, a short distance west of the main field, containing about 80 square miles of coal measures, with an average thick- ness of not more than 100 feet, in which four coal beds, from 4 to 5 feet in thickness, have been discovered. This area is at present practically inaccessible.
"There has been very little development done in the main field-by no means enough to determine with accuracy the number of coal beds or the character of the coals, except at a few localities. There are no mines operated other than the small banks which supply the ranches. The field has no railroad connection to render the coals accessible to markets.
"Both the Laramie and the post-Laramie formations are coal bearing in this field, and the same uncertainty exists here as in the Grand River field in deter- mining the exact limit between the generally shaly Montana formation below and the sandstones of the Laramie. The total thickness of the Laramie cannot, how- ever, be far from 2,000 feet.
"The disturbances determining the structure of the field were those associated with the principal orographic movements and those connected with the later period of eruptive activity. The former resulted in the production of two folds, one along the southern border, extending east and west, the measures adjacent to which are inclined from 45° to 50° to the north, and the second fold on the northeastern border, parallel with the axis of the Park Range. The measures at this point dip from 10° to 15° to the southwest. The effect of the eruptions is confined to local dislocation and upturning. The area thus affected is limited, with the exception of an intrusive sheet on Elk Head Creek, to the portion along the northern border of the state.
"The coal beds of the Yampa field have been exposed at a number of points along its northern border, but there has not been enough work done to determine with accuracy the number of beds contained in the field. A bed 71/2 feet in thickness has been exposed on Elk Head Creek, and a few miles farther down that stream are two small beds of anthracite. This character is doubtless very . local, depending upon the presence of a sheet of eruptive rock. About 8 miles
473
HISTORY OF COLORADO
southeast two beds have been exposed, one of anthracite, from 7 to 10 feet thick, and 160 feet above it a seam of semi-coking coal 5 feet in thickness. The degree of alteration depends upon the nearness of an intrusive sheet, which at one point approaches the upper bed, producing anthracite, and leaving the lower bed semi-coking. Along the Yampa River the coal is exposed at three places. Near- est the head of the river the exposure shows a bed 17 feet in thickness. On Oak Creek, at the eastern extremity of the field, there are four workable beds exposed, the lowest being 10 feet thick.
"Prospecting on the Little Snake River has developed a bed II feet thick, above which is another, not always of workable thickness. The coal in these beds very closely resembles the celebrated Rock Spring coal, which is an excel- lent domestic fuel. There are several small beds higher up in the measures (one containing anthracite), none of which are of workable thickness at the points exposed.
"The post-Laramie strata contain several beds of lignitic coal, which will not be developed until the coals of the underlying measures are exhausted, although at present there are several small banks operated on the beds of these measures. One bed worked near the town of Craig is 4 feet in thickness, and another, near Hayden, is a little thicker.
GRAND RIVER FIELD
"This is prospectively the most valuable field of the state, both because of its extent and because of the varied character of the coals which it contains. It forms the eastern extension of the Green River Basin, while the Wasatch field of Utah forms the western extension. It extends from the state line eastward to the base of Mount Wheatstone, near Crested Butte, a distance of 150 miles, and from the drainage of the Yampa River on the north to the Gunnison River on the south, a distance of over 100 miles.
"The productive area has been divided into a number of separate districts, viz: Crested Butte, Baldwin, and Ruby, in the southeastern portion; Coal Basin and Jerome Park, immediately north and separating the former from the Grand River district. These are the only portions of the field now reached by railroads, and only a small portion of the accessible areas of these districts has been devel- oped. At the northeastern edge of the field there is a still larger area, at present non-productive, which contains extensive reserves of coal.
"The thickness of the coal-bearing Laramie varies from 2,000 feet along the southwestern border to 3,500 feet near the mines of Coal Ridge, on Grand River. The exact limiting beds are very hard to define at all points, and the change from the predominantly shaly beds of the Montana to the sandstones which comprise the greater part of the Laramie is so gradual that an arbitrary dividing line has been established at the massive sandstone immediately under the lowest of the coal beds. The determination of the summit of the Laramie is equally difficult.
"As elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain region, the structure of the field has been produced by two agencies, first, the mountain-forming movement, and sec- ond, the post-Cretaceous eruptive activity. Most of the eruptions occurred in the southern half of the field.
474
HISTORY OF COLORADO
"The number of coal beds in this field varies considerably in the different localities. In the eastern, southern, northern and southwestern areas from two to four beds of workable size are known, while through the central tract and along the northwestern border there are from 5 to 7 beds, containing a total of from 22 to 106 feet of clean coal.
"The character of the coal invariably depends on the presence or absence of intrusive eruptive rocks and on their relation to the several coal seams. The coal along the northern border of the field is nearly all semi-bituminous, while that in the southern half varies from semi-bituminous to anthracite. The gradu- ation is well shown on Slate River, where the mines at Crested Butte are located upon a zone of coking coal less than one mile in width which grades on one side into semi-coking and on the other into anthracite. The coke made from the coals of the Coal Basin district is superior to any produced in the Rocky Moun- tain region, being remarkably similar to the Connellsville (Pa.) product, both in chemical composition and in physical structure.
"The various parts of this field which are at present productive are reached by branches of the Denver and Rio Grande and Colorado Southern railroads. These roads carry the product to the markets of the eastern portion of the state or deliver it to the other roads that convey it to the markets as far west as San Francisco.
LA PLATA FIELD
"This, the southernmost of the fields on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, is located in the southwestern part of the state and extends thence into New Mexico and Utah. Hence the state lines form portions of both the southern and western boundaries of the Colorado field. The other boundaries are well defined, topographically, by a line of high bluffs resulting from the ero- sion of the underlying soft marine beds.
"The extent of the field along the southern state line is 85 miles, north of which it extends about 15 miles, giving a superficial area of 1,250 square miles in which the coal-bearing strata are either exposed and accessible or covered by later deposits. The drainage channels, consisting of the San Juan, Piedra, Los Pinos, Florida, Animas, La Plata and Mancos rivers, have cut deep canyons across the field and deeply notched the northern margin.
"There are two productive districts, the Durango and the La Plata. The first is located near the town of that name, and its product is entirely coking coal. The La Plata adjoins it on the west. There are several non-producing districts which will doubtless be developed as this part of the state becomes more thickly settled.
"There are in this basin two distinct coal-bearing horizons, both of which are probably in rocks of Montana age. In the upper series massive, light-colored sandstones predominate, while the lower series consists of thin-bedded sandstones with numerous bands of shale.
"The inclination of the strata along the northern border of the basin varied from nearly horizontal at each end to 36° on the Animas River near the center of the northern margin. This high angle is confined to the upper series. The lower has not been affected to so great an extent by the flexure caused by the
475
HISTORY OF COLORADO
upheaval of the La Plata Mountains, which are adjacent to this part of the field on the north. There are no bodies of eruptive rocks of any magnitude within the area, though the great La Plata Mountain eruption doubtless had a decided effect upon the character of the coal along the northern border.
"The upper series contains a great aggregate thickness of coal at all points along its outcrop. The individual seams, however, vary to a marked extent. At one point in the Durango district there is a total of 80 feet of coal in 100 feet of strata. This marks the thinnest point of the intervening beds of clay and shale which a few miles to the east have separated the coal into four distinct beds. The lowest is four feet thick and is separated by 100 feet of barren strata from a bed 15 feet thick; this in turn is separated by 50 feet from a bed 20 feet thick, which is 80 feet from the top seam, containing 5 feet of coal. The seams of the lower series are generally small, the thickest reaching a total of but 5 feet of coal.
"The coal at the two extremities of the field is of the semi-coking or domestic variety, while that of the central portion of the northern border possesses pro- nounced coking qualities. A few bee-hive cvens are in operation near Durango, the coal used being obtained from the lower measures, since none of that from the upper measures produces a coke. The southern and central portions of this field have not been examined sufficiently to give any detailed idea as to the char- acter of the individual seams or of the structural features of that portion of the area.
"The market for the product from this field is very limited, being confined almost entirely to the mining towns of the La Plata Mountains and the smelter at Durango.
"The Denver and Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Southern roads are as yet the only railroads constructed to this part of the state, though as all of the can- yons form practicable routes it is thought that one or more of the trunk lines are contemplating westward extension by the way of Durango.
TONGUE MESA FIELD
"This includes a long, narrow, isolated strip of Laramie measures occupying the ridge between the Cimarron and Uncompahgre rivers.
"The strata, which are not steeply inclined, contain two beds of workable thickness. The lower is from 15 to 20 feet thick, the upper, 400 feet above, is 5 feet thick and contains a better grade of coal. The coal is dry, closely resem- bling the lignitic coals of the eastern slope. As there is no railroad connection the production is limited entirely to the supply of local demands. The greater part of the output is consumed in the town of Montrose, on the line of the Den- ver and Rio Grande Railroad, about 10 miles northeast of the field.
COAL IN THE DAKOTA FORMATION
"At a number of places through the western part of the state, south of the Grand River drainage, coal beds are exposed at the base of the Dakota forma- tion.
"As a rule these seams are so thin and the coal is of such inferior quality that
476
HISTORY OF COLORADO
they are not of economic value. There are, however, places at which they attain a thickness of 20 inches to 3 feet, and owing to the distance from the railroads these areas are of value for local supply, and several small mines are in opera- tion. The character of the coal depends entirely upon the proximity of some body of eruptive rock, the alteration at two points having produced anthracite. The beds at these points are so badly faulted, however, as to render the coal of no value. The utilization, in a large way, of the coals from these areas will not take place until the coals of the other fields of the state are nearly exhausted."
THE COKE INDUSTRY
The industry of coke-making may be said to have begun in the State of Col- orado in the year 1879. In this year coke works were established at El Moro, Las Animas County, by the Colorado Coal and Iron Company. By 1883 there were 250 ovens in the state. This location was six miles south of El Moro and near the New Mexican boundary line. In 1883 Colorado was the only locality outside of the Appalachian Basin in which coking attained any importance as an industry. The product of this state was exceeded only by that of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee. The iron and steel industry was the principal factor in creating the demand for coke, also the smelting of the ores of precious metals and the high cost of this fuel when transported from the east.
The principal coking operations are now carried on in the vicinity of Trini- dad, in the northern end of the Raton Mountain region. Considerable quanti- ties of Colorado coke are produced at plants forming parts of establishments which include coal mining, iron and steel manufacturing, smelting and refining of precious and semi-precious metals. All the coke ovens in the state are of the beehive type.
The following statistics, from the year 1880, which are taken from the annual reports of the U. S. Geological Survey, will exhibit the growth of the coke in- dustry in Colorado:
Coal Used Coal Produced
Year
Establishments
Ovens
Tons
Tons
Value
1880
I
200
51,891
25,568
$145,226
1881
2
267
87,508
48,587
267,156
1882
5
344
180,549
102,105
476,655
1883
7
352
224,089
133,997
584,578
1884
8
409
181,968
115,719
409.930
1885
7
434
208,069
131,960
512,162
1886
7
483
228,060
142,797
569,120
1887
7
532
267,487
170,698
682,778
1888
7
602
274,212
179,682
716,305
1889
9
834
299,73I
187,638
643,479
1890
8
916
407,023
245,756
959,246
1891
7
948
452,749
277,074
896,984
1892
9
I,128
572,904
365,920
1,201,429
1893
8
1,154
628,935
362,986
1,137,488
1894
8
1,154
542,429
317,196
903,970
1895
9
1,169
580,584
340,357
940.987
.
477
HISTORY OF COLORADO
Coal Used Coal Produced
Year
Establishments
Ovens
Tons
Tons
Value
1896
II
1,275
639,238
363,760
1,046,306
1897
.12
1,273
616,592
342,653
999,216
1898
.12
1,253
803,686
474,808
1,230,428
1899
12
1,243
898,207
530,424
1,333,769
1900
13
1,488
997,861
618,755
1,746,732
190I
15
2,060
1,148,90I
671,303
1,626,279
1902
17
3,414
1,695,188
1,003,393
2,754.34I
1903
18
3,959
1,776,974
1,053,840
3,089,783
1904
I7
3,923
1,376,354
789,060
2,590,25I
1905
17
3,925
2,368,365
1,378,824
4,157,517
1906
17
4,103
2,566,196
1,455,905
4,504,748
1907
18
4,683
2,388,91I
1,421,579
4,747,436
1908
18
4,705
1,546,044
982,291
3,238,888
1909
18
4,700
1,984,985
1,251,805
4,135,93I
1910
18
3,611
2,069,266
1,346,21I
4,273,579
IQII
16
3,606
1,810,335
1,177,023
3,880,710
1912
15
3,588
1,473,112
972,94I
3,043,994
1913
15
3,588
1,349,743
879,461
2,815,134
1914
14
3,573
1,048,25I
666,083
2,203,03I
1915
3,573
1,026,019
670,938
2,242,453
1916
1917
1,990
987,977
Prior to 1912 the statistics for Utah are included with those of Colorado.
CHAPTER XXIII
AGRICULTURE IN COLORADO
FIRST AGRICULTURISTS-BEGINNING OF IMPROVED CULTIVATION-AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS- THE SAN LUIS VALLEY-NORTHWESTERN COLORADO-MOUNTAIN PARK DISTRICTS-EASTERN COLORADO-PINTO BEANS-COLORADO LAND AND SET- TLEMENT-PRODUCTION OF 1917-COUNTY AGENTS-FRUIT GROWING CROP STATISTICS
FIRST AGRICULTURISTS
It is reasonable to suppose that the first agriculturists upon Colorado's soil were the Cliff Dwellers, those mysterious and interesting people who lived in the southwestern corner of the state. However, they were not skillful farmers and their crops consisted merely of a small and hard variety of Indian corn, which became sparser every year. In fact, the total failure of this source of food supply is advanced by some writers as the reason for their disappearance from the Mesa Verde district. Strange and cumbersome farming implements have been found in the ruins of the cliffs, together with stone affairs for grinding the corn into coarse meal, also burned cobs and kernels have been discovered in the vicinity.
The modern plains Indian, as known by the first white men in Colorado, de- pended very little upon grain for subsistence. The hordes of buffalo which ranged over the plains supplied him with unlimited quantities of meat, which rendered unnecessary the labor of tilling the soil.
In 1840 a colony of nearly fifty families of Mexicans from Santa Fé and other pueblos of that vicinity made settlements on the Costilla, the Culebra and the Conejos, tributary streams of the Rio Grande, in the southern end of the San Luis Park, where the settlements have prospered until this day.
The fur-trading period brought with it the first improved attempts at farm- ing. In the late '20s and early '30s small crops of grain were raised at the various trading posts on Colorado soil and in the years from 1840 until 1855 the Mex- ican settlers along the Arkansas River further developed their tillable land by means of irrigation.
The first actual settlers to cultivate the soil within the present boundaries of Colorado were a party whose names were Fisher, Sloan, Spaulding, Kinkaid, and Simpson. These men raised a crop of corn on the site of Pueblo in 1842. In March, 1843, in the valley of the Hardscrabble, thirty miles from Pueblo, another crop was raised by George S. Simpson.
Charles Autobees, a French half-breed, cultivated a farm at the mouth of
478
479
HISTORY OF COLORADO
the Huerfano River about this time and "Zan" (Alexander) Hicklin of Mis- souri, who married a half-breed daughter of William Bent, settled on Green- horn Creek and there, with peon labor, planted a large field with grain and vegetables. Francis Parkman, who was at the site of the "Pueblo" in 1846, mentions the "great fields of corn" near the post, upon the Arkansas bottoms. These attempts to raise successful crops were for the purpose merely to supply the local needs of the settlements. Consequently, when the pioneers of 1859 came to Colorado, about the only farming district was along that portion of the Rio Grande lying within the present borders of the state.
The pioneers of 1858 and 1859 gave little thought to agriculture. This had not been their purpose in coming across the plains to Colorado. Gold !- that was the all-compelling force which encouraged them and induced them to endure countless hardships and dangers, but there were many who came who faced the necessity of earning a living while they dug for the gold. This "many" rapidly became a majority and the land along the rivers and streams began to claim the attention of those in this predicament. Vegetables were raised almost exclusively in 1859, principally on the Arkansas River, at the mouth of Fountain River, and on Clear Creek. Below Golden, on the last named stream, David K. Wall laid out a hot bed for experimental gardening and raised fully two acres of vegetables, irrigating his ground by a small ditch from Clear Creek. In 1860 Wall planted seven acres and sold his vegetables as far away as Denver. In 1859, also, the first irrigation ditch of importance was built in the Cache a la Poudre Valley, in Larimer County. Wall's success led other settlers to follow his example.
BEGINNING OF IMPROVED CULTIVATION
Agriculture now had come into its own and, although the Civil War and the Indian troubles seriously retarded the development of farming the path had been broken for greater and more scientific progress. In 1860 and 1861, just prior to the outbreak of the Rebellion, a great increase in cultivated acreage was made in Colorado, even in the face of the fact that many people believed the land wholly unfit for successful agriculture. A writer of the time, describing the agricultural prospects in Colorado, stated:
"Agriculture in Colorado is an entirely different pursuit from what it is in the Eastern States, and the farmer who comes to the state and enters upon the cultivation of the soil in the style he has been accustomed to, will find that failure is more likely to result from his labors than success. He has so much to unlearn. It is better to abandon all notions and begin anew. Dependent upon irrigation for the growth of his crops, he must study the methods and meet the requirements of the climate. With a fixed purpose in his mind to overcome all the obstacles that will daily present themselves to him, it will not be long before the new order of things will be familiar to him. Once understanding the method, he may rely upon Nature for the rest."
Irrigation was a subject just beginning to be learned. Without knowledge of it, the Colorado settler would never have been successful in cultivating the soil of the state. Samuel Bowles, in his volume "Across the Continent," speaks of the nature of this territory as follows:
"The burden laid upon all agriculture, the absolute want of all horticulture,
480
HISTORY OF COLORADO
as yet in all this country, are among its serious drawbacks. The winds, the sun, the porous yet unfriable soil, the long seasons of no or inadequate rain, leave all vegetation gray and scanty, except it is in direct communication with the water courses. Trees will not live in the house yards, house owners can have no turf, no flowers, no fruits, no vegetables-the space around the dwellings in the towns is a bare sand relieved only by infrequent mosses and weeds. The grass is gray upon the plains; cottonwood and sappy pine are almost alone the trees of the mountain region; no hardwood is to be found anywhere; and but for the occasional oases by the streams, and the rich flowers that will spring up on the high mountain morasses, the country would seem to the traveler nearly barren of vegetable life."
This article was written in 1865 and undoubtedly drew an unfair picture of Colorado soil. Many other journals and newspapers belittled the prospects of this western country at that time, but others staunchly maintained that, with proper methods and care, excellent crops could be raised. The Rocky Mountain News, in 1873, in refuting some of the derogatory remarks made by an eastern paper, stated: "There has been enough of success at farming in Colorado to prove the contrary; not only that farming can be successfully carried on here, but that it can be followed with a larger and more certain annual profit than in any other part of the United States."
. After the close of the Civil War in 1865 the population of Colorado increased 60 per cent before 1870. Agriculture underwent a corresponding increase. The greater part of the soil cultivation during this period was confined to the upper section of the Arkansas River Valley, to small spaces in the San Luis Valley, and to certain districts near the foothills on the South Platte and its tributaries.
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