Coal mining in Colorado
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Early coal mining in Colorado in the United States was spread across the state. Some early coal mining areas are currently inactive, including the
Denver Basin The Denver Basin, variously referred to as the Julesburg Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin (after Julesburg, Colorado), or the D-J Basin, is a geologic structural basin centered in eastern Colorado in the United States, but extending into southeast W ...
and
Raton Basin Raton or Ratón (Spanish for "mouse") may refer to: Places: * Raton Basin, a geologic structural basin in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico * Raton, New Mexico, the county seat of Colfax County, New Mexico ** Raton Downtown Historic ...
coal fields along the
Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...
. There are currently 11 active coal mines, all in western
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 ...
.


History

Coal mining in Colorado dates back to 1859, when a pair of men began mining a coal deposit between the gold rush settlements of Denver and Boulder.


Labor struggles

The early history of coal mining in Colorado was one of discontent on the part of miners, and periodic confrontations with the mine operators. The work was dangerous, and Colorado's death rate in the mines was high. In 1917, 121 people died in the Hastings mine explosion.
Erie, Colorado The Town of Erie is a Statutory Town located in Weld and Boulder counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 30,038 at the 2020 United States Census, a +65.64% increase since the 2010 United States Census. At the 2020 census, 17,3 ...
claims the first mining labor union in Colorado, which was the
Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...
, Local #771, established in 1878.Town of Erie, A Selected Timeline of Erie's History, http://www.erieco.gov/index.cfm?objectid=DEEF1EB2-D614-E19E-26FD7FC0215D314C retrieved February 21, 2010. The Knights of Labor opposed the creation of the National Federation of Miners and Mine Laborers during the 1880s.Dwight La Vern Smith, The American and Canadian West: a bibliography, ABC-Clio, 1979, page 87 The first strike was called in 1885 by the Knights of Labor. Then in 1886 a regional miners organization was formed, called the Coal Miners' Federation of Northern Colorado. The United Mine Workers (UMW) were defeated in large part because of the activities of a company spy in a strike in the southern field in 1903-04. The UMW called another strike in Colorado's northern coal fields north of Denver in 1910. The strike was inconclusive, but prompted a 10 percent wage increase for ten thousand Colorado miners. The union's real target in Colorado was the larger southern field located south of
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 ...
toward Trinidad. A statewide strike called in September 1913 resulted in the Ludlow Massacre. Neutralized by the dispatch of federal troops after ten days of skirmishes provoked by the massacre, the UMW essentially suspended most activities in Colorado for more than a decade. Meanwhile, the organization grew stronger in the east until about 1920, when it collapsed after a national strike. The United Mine Workers were defeated during the 1913-14 strike in Colorado and focused their attention elsewhere. In 1927 Colorado coal miners again laid down their tools, this time under the banner of the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
(IWW).
Colorado Fuel and Iron The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) was a large steel conglomerate founded by the merger of previous business interests in 1892.Scamehorn, Chapter 1, "The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1892-1903" page 10 By 1903 it was mainly owned and co ...
, a major conglomerate of steel mills in Pueblo and coal mines around the region, opposed the strike. The company once again hired spies to infiltrate the union. The 1927–28 strike is best remembered for the
Columbine mine massacre The Columbine Mine massacre, sometimes called the first Columbine massacre, occurred in 1927, in the town of Serene, Colorado. A fight broke out between Colorado state militia and a group of striking coal miners, during which the unarmed mine ...
. This strike also led directly to Rocky Mountain Fuel Company's decision to unionize the workforce, and President
Josephine Roche Josephine Aspinwall Roche (December 2, 1886 – July 1976) was a Colorado humanitarian, industrialist, Progressive Era activist, and politician. As a New Deal official she helped shape the modern American welfare state. She was inducted into the ...
announced that she would recognize any union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. In announcing this policy, President Roche avoided recognizing the radical IWW, which had successfully shut down 113 of the state's 125 coal mines. Thus, in 1928 the United Mine Workers was awarded its first contract in Colorado. In 1933, legislation enabled unionization throughout Colorado's coal fields.


Current production

Colorado is the tenth largest coal-producing state in the country. In 2014, Colorado mines produced 21.8 million metric tons (24.0 million short tons) of coal, and employed 2,069 miners. Most Colorado coal is used for electric power generation. Eleven coal mines operate in Colorado, including eight underground mines in Delta, Garfield, Gunnison, La Plata, Rio Blanco, and Routt counties, and three surface mines in Moffat and Montrose counties. All active coal mines are on the western slope, although the New Elk coal mine in Las Animas County is expected to reopen in 4th quarter 2010.Cline Mining
New Elk Coal, Colorado
accessed 19 November 2010.
In 2015, coal provided 31 TWh of electricity in Colorado, while gas supplied 12 TWh and
wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...
made 7 TWh.2016 State of the Interconnection
page 23. '' WECC'', 2016
Archive
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See also

*
Gold mining in Colorado Gold mining in Colorado, a state of the United States, has been an industry since 1858. It also played a key role in the establishment of the state of Colorado. Explorer Zebulon Pike heard a report of gold in South Park, present-day Park County ...
* Silver mining in Colorado *
Uranium mining in Colorado Uranium mining in Colorado, United States, goes back to 1872, when pitchblende ore was taken from gold mines near Central City, Colorado. The Colorado uranium industry has seen booms and busts, but continues to this day. Not counting byproduct u ...
* Mining in Colorado Springs


Notes


External links


Colorado Geological Survey: ''Colorado Coal: energy security for the future''

Colorado Geological Survey: Publications on Colorado coal resources''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coal Mining In Colorado . . Colorado Mining Boom Coal Wars Labor disputes in Colorado History of Colorado