by Virginia Simmons McConnell
Part 1 of 2
Romantic as tales of gold and silver discoveries may be, the history of mining in Central Colorado has its grimier chapters. Many tell us how people of this area once earned their livelihoods, producing materials that fed a steel mill.
In these stories, Central Colorado has strong links with the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) and its steel mill at Pueblo. Physically and symbolically, products from mines flowed downhill to Pueblo for a little more than a century. And, incidentally, with water capturing the spotlight today, let’s not forget that in 1905 CF&I acquired rights that moved water downhill to its steel mill from Sugar Loaf Reservoir — later called Turquoise Lake.