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Primero is a
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
in Las Animas County,
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
,
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. The community was a company
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
mining town for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company during the early 20th century.


Description

The
mining community A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historic mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendig ...
was one of the first in the region, hence the name. In 1921, the mine employed roughly 275 miners. The town eventually came to contain 175 total buildings, including one
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and one
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
church, a
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, and other amenities. The Protestant church, Union Protestant, was dedicated in April 1917 and hosted cultural events along with worship. The coal produced at the Primero mine was largely employed in steel manufacturing, including at the CF&I plants at
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
–the Minnequa Steel Works–and Segundo. The closing of the steel works had an adverse effect on the demand for coal from the Primero mine, playing a role in the 1921 labor dispute between CF&I miners and the Company. During the duration of its operation, the mine produced 8,177,567 tons of coal.


History

A post office called Primero was established in 1901, and remained in operation until 1933. An explosion at the Primero mine killed 75 miners on 31 January 1910. The mine explosion has been cited as a relevant example of the unsafe conditions prevalent in CF&I mines in the years prior to the 1913-1914 Strike. On 8 November 1910, an explosion at the
Victor-American Fuel Company Victor-American Fuel Company, also styled as the Victor Fuel Company, was a coal mining company, primarily focused on operations in the US states of Colorado and New Mexico during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Prior to a 1909 reorganiza ...
mine at Delagua killed 76. Miners from Primero helped for survivors and recover bodies from the rubble. In September 1913, a
strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
was called by the independent
United Mine Workers of America The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...
union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
against CF&I. Over the next several months, sporadic violence saw deaths, including Primero. The violence escalated to 20 April 1914, when Colorado National Guard and company-supported militia committed the Ludlow Massacre against striking miners, leading to further violence in what is known as the
Colorado Coalfield War The Colorado Coalfield War was a major labor uprising in the Southern and Central Colorado Front Range between September 1913 and December 1914. Striking began in late summer 1913, organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) agai ...
. Following the strike, CF&I–helmed by
John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...
and under the advisory of future
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...
–implemented a series of reforms intended to promote support for the Company. Among these were investments in new town infrastructure in communities owned by CF&I. Among the structures built was a Catholic church, which, until the completion of the nearby Protestant church, housed the liturgies of multiple denominations.
Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
John Henry Tihen, bishop of the Diocese of Denver, visited the church in Primero in May 1921. During the visit, he
confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
17 children in the town. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, at least 48 men from Primero joined the
United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...
. The town also contributed $34,900 ($550,000 in 2015) in
liberty bond A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financi ...
s during the Third Liberty Loan. In 1921, a labor dispute over pay changes saw miners strike for several months, from 23 August through November. During the strike–referred to by the Company as a "closure"–saw a large number of the mine's employees leaving Primero. In part, the fight over the wages pertained to whether those at Primero would be represented by their choice of the UMWA–membership of which was then prohibited by CF&I–or the company union that was a part of the Company's Industrial Representation Plan. Ultimate, Colorado's Industrial Commission sided with the company in prohibiting membership to the UMWA and enforcing CF&I's wages that were negotiated with the company union. The town was depopulated in 1928, and by 1 August 1933 all assets were either sold or dismantled.


References

{{Las Animas County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado Geography of Las Animas County, Colorado Company towns in Colorado