Mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
This exhibit showcases the numerous mines of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and its predecessor companies: Central Colorado Improvement Company, Southern Colorado Coal & Town Company, the Colorado Fuel Company, the Colorado Coal and Iron Company, The Grand River Coal & Coke Company and the Denver Fuel Company.
CF&I created an important industrial base for the economic growth of Colorado. Capital and labor was brought to Colorado by CF&I and numerous communities were built to support the heavy industry of CF&I. As the first vertically integrated corporation West of the Mississippi, CF&I was essential in the development of agriculture, transportation, secondary manufacturing, and energy production in the region. None of it was possible, however, without the CF&I mines in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. CF&I also had mines in Oklahoma and Utah, but their impact was much less than the coal and iron mines. In addition to coal and iron, CF&I also had lime quarries and a fluorspar mine to help their vertically integrated business model of producing quality steel, coke, and heating coal.
A lot of focus and attention has been given to the coal mines of CF&I so this database strives to also include the important developments of the mines that produced lime, iron, and fluorspar.
Notes on How to Use this Book
This Scalar is intended as a research and general knowledge database of mines that were either owned or leased by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. To use this book, simply click the index up in the left corner to browse by chapter or use the search function to search for specific mines or media. Anything that has been written within this book can be searched using the search function, including dates, locations or types of mine. Each media file has been labeled to correspond with each mine for easier searching. For more questions about the images and media used in this scalar, questions should be directed to the either the authors of this book, or the archivists at the Steelworks Center of the West.
There are some pages with audio files that play automatically. If you do not wish to hear them simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and you can pause the audio player that plays the file. The audio clips were chosen with the hearing impaired in mind and do not include vital information about any of the mines.
