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71-566: Company president John C. Osgood took lead of the company in 1903 after being forced out of another company he had founded, Colorado Fuel and Iron Company , by future part-owner John D. Rockefeller . Behind the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, the Victor-American Fuel Company was the second-largest coal company in the state–and the wealthiest owned by Coloradans–during the first decades of the 20th century. During

142-475: A 40-room dormitory (for bachelors), all with indoor plumbing and electricity . A school was constructed to educate the children of workers, and the Redstone Club was completed in 1902 at a cost of $ 25,000 ($ 880,000 in modern dollars ). It contained reading rooms stocked, according to a New York Times article, "with papers in different languages, the best of the weeklies and magazines". A library,

213-554: A company town . 249 coke ovens were built to turn coal into coke. The Crystal River Railroad was constructed to facilitate transportation of the coal from the mines at Coalbasin just over four miles to the west, and the coke to the foundries in Pueblo. Redstone became Osgood's experiment in welfare capitalism. Worker housing in mining towns was typically primitive; most were poorly built shacks. Osgood constructed 84 Craftsman -era Swiss chalet style cottages (for married workers) and

284-482: A Republican, won the gubernatorial election of 1914, on December 10, 1914 the union called off the strike due to a depletion of strike funds. Costs to both mine operators and the union were high. Due to reduced demand for coal resulting from an economic downturn many of CF&I's coal mines never reopened and many men were thrown out of work. The union was forced to discontinue strike benefits in February, 1915. There

355-427: A YMCA Center, elementary school, and some small businesses, as well as a company store . However air pollution was a constant health threat and the houses lacked indoor plumbing. As demand for metallurgical coke declined, the mine laid off workers and Segundo's population declined. After a major fire in 1929, CF&I left and Segundo became practically a ghost town. The CF&I held pervasive spying on workers in

426-413: A couple of acres available to each employee to grow vegetables, a public barn for worker's livestock, and a wash house for laundering clothes and linens. A dominant feature one mile from Redstone is Cleveholm Manor , commonly called "Redstone Castle" or "Osgood Castle", an opulent 42-room Tudor-style mansion that Osgood built for his second wife, Swedish Countess Alma Regina Shelgrem. Construction of

497-411: A few completely restored. 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. By 1903 it was mainly owned and controlled by John D. Rockefeller and Jay Gould 's financial heirs. While it came to control many plants throughout the country, its main plant was a steel mill on

568-531: A joint committee for establishing policy concerning the strike, but Osgood was the dominant voice. Osgood organized a publicity campaign to discredit the workers and union. He pressured Colorado Governor Elias M. Ammons to deploy the National Guard to the mines. Following the strike, he used his influence to persuade the judiciary to prosecute strikers. The reforms proposed by Rockefeller were delayed at Osgood's insistence. Rockefeller speculated that Osgood

639-700: A need for substantially more funds which were provided in exchange for acquisition of CF&I's subsidiaries such as the Colorado and Wyoming Railway Company, the Crystal River Railroad Company, and possibly the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company. Control was passed from the Iowa Group to Gould and Rockefeller interests in 1903 with Gould in control and Rockefeller and Gates representing a minority interests. Osgood left

710-543: A perennial shortage of railway cars to ship coal. There was a series of disastrous explosions from 1904 to 1910 at the coal mines near Trinidad which resulted in substantial casualties. Attempts to prevent such disasters resulted in substantial improvements in mine safety techniques by the company and by the coal mining industry generally such as increased mine ventilation , sprinkler systems to keep coal dust wet, and liberal spreading of rockdust to dilute explosive coal dust. Concern over mine safety resulted in creation of

781-463: A railway stop north of Trinidad. Under the protection of the National Guard, some miners returned to work and some strikebreakers imported from the eastern coalfields joined them as Guard troops protected their movements. In February, 1914 a substantial portion of the troops were withdrawn, but a sizable contingent remained at Ludlow. On April 20, 1914 a general fire-fight occurred between strikers and troops. The camp burned, and 15 women and children in

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852-549: A small theater, and a bathhouse were also part of the structure. The latter permitted workers to shower or bathe and change clothes after work. A saloon was also part of the Club, with card tables and pool tables, but specific rules were strictly enforced. To avoid drunkenness, the "No treating" rule prohibited buying rounds of drinks . The only gambling allowed was penny ante poker and dime wagers on pocket billiards . Other community facilities included an irrigated garden with

923-649: A state for fewer than six years, and few people besides John Osgood had the vision to see the possibilities of coal. He began to obtain huge tracts of coal land, and formed the Colorado Fuel Company in 1887. The business grew quickly, and five years later, they merged with the Colorado Coal and Iron Company to form the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company ( CF&I ), the largest in the state. The Bessemer iron works at Pueblo, Colorado became

994-603: A stock war in 1903. Osgood had lost control of CF&I, but he still owned the town of Redstone and Cleveholm. The new CF&I management was unsupportive of social programs, and Osgood was forced to abandon his experiment, devoting no time to the endeavor, and no subsequent social programs were ever attempted. To combat unionization, he used violence to intimidate union organizers and members, imported unskilled immigrants, hired ethnic or racial groups that disliked each other, became influential in local and state governments, and colluded with other mine operators. After he started

1065-924: A wire mill, and supporting facilities. The mill was renamed the Minnequa Works in 1901. Early sources of iron ore were hematite from the Calumet Mine north of Salida, Colorado , limonite from the Orient Mine on the west slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range east of Villa Grove and iron and magnesium rich ore which was a byproduct of silver mining at Leadville . Additional iron ore was obtained from New Mexico and Wyoming and reserves purchased in Utah. Company towns were built at isolated facilities such as Orient and Calumet. Deeper ores from Calumet contained greater quantities of silicon, which interfered with

1136-455: A younger sister, Julia, and a brother, Charles. After his father died in 1859, he was sent to Providence, Rhode Island to live with family and attend school. At age 14, he was on his own, working in the office of a cotton mill where he gained business knowledge. He left for New York City at age 16 and clerked for a Produce Exchange Commission firm while attending night school. After three years there, he returned to southeast Iowa as cashier of

1207-651: The Oak Creek fields, and Wadge Mine. Some of these mines were home to significant Asian-American populations, which occasionally were utilized as strikebreakers against collectivizing White miners, especially at Chandler. By 1987, Victor-American had registered itself as a corporation in Maine . At the Bowen Mine near Trinidad, Colorado , an explosion of dust ignited by giant powder on 7 August 1902 killed 13 people. On 8 November 1910, at Delagua, an explosion at

1278-704: The Panic of 1907 his need for funds resulted in transfer of his interests to Rockefeller. Gates preferred Lamont M. Bowers, his aunt's husband, with extensive management experience. Welborn was advised to take guidance from Bowers, who was hired as Welborn's subordinate. Welborn had little choice but to defer to Bowers which resulted in Welborn, the president of the company, being only a figurehead and sometimes resulted in him having to make decisions he would not have made on his own motion. Effectively in charge from 1908 to early 1915, Bowers applied his managerial skills to making

1349-576: The Rockefeller Foundation and head of its Department of Industrial Research, introduced the Colorado Industrial Plan, an internal system of worker representation which included guarantees of basic decency in working conditions and in company towns. Segundo, Colorado , was an example of a company town where CF&I offered adequate housing for its workers and promoted upward mobility through its sponsorship of

1420-781: The United States Army were deployed to the coalfields. There was a substantial increase in coal production in succeeding months. Attempts at negotiating a settlement in November, 1913 had been unsuccessful due to the coal operators refusal to talk to union representatives or to consider recognition of the union. After the violence in the Spring of 1914, United States Secretary of Labor William Bauchop Wilson attempted mediation . Further efforts by state and federal officials and experienced third parties who were brought in were also unsuccessful. Finally after George Alfred Carlson ,

1491-566: The United States Bureau of Mines in 1907 and enactment of improved mine safety regulations in Colorado. CF&I's early labor relations were set in the context of the volatile and violent Colorado Labor Wars . Over the course of its history, the company has had numerous major labor disputes. CF&I was accused of brutality against the UMWA in a strike called by that organization in 1903-04. The best known strike culminated in

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1562-405: The basic oxygen furnace (BOF) process for a number of years. This process was later replaced by electric arc furnaces (EAF). Currently, one EAF is used at the facility to convert over a million tons of scrap per year into steel billets of various sizes. The billets are then distributed to the three steel finishing facilities (rail mill, rod & bar mill, seamless tube mill) for processing into

1633-622: The 1913-1914 Colorado Coalfield War , strikebreakers and mine guards working for Victor-American that had been hired in response to the United Mine Workers of America -led labor uprising were targeted in attacks. Like other Colorado coal mining companies of the era, Victor-American operated company-owned mining towns that housed its workers across many sites. Victor-American acquired mining sites throughout Colorado, establishing towns to support operations. These mines include Bowen , Chandler , Delagua , Hastings, Pinnacle Mine in

1704-405: The 24,000 ft residence, which was designed by New York architects Boal and Harnois, began in 1897 and was completed in 1901 at a cost of $ 50,000 ($ 1.76 million in modern dollars ). The Castle was part of a 72-acre (29 ha) estate that also included servants' quarters, a gamekeeper 's lodge, a carriage house , and a greenhouse . Two gatekeeper 's lodges were built, one each on

1775-583: The 86, Jim Fair, and Union mines near Fierro and Hanover in Grant County, New Mexico . Substantial reserves were purchased near Cedar City in Iron County, Utah but remained unmined. Limestone was initially obtained from a quarry a few miles south of Pueblo at Lime near the St. Charles River and later from a high-grade low-phosphorus deposit of limestone and dolomite near Howard . In 1903 CF&I

1846-583: The Castle still contained 75 percent of its original furnishings. The historic dormitory in Redstone, which is independently listed on the National Register as Redstone Inn , is now operated as a resort inn, offering year-round accommodations. Many of the cottages are still used as homes. The Redstone Coke Oven Historic District was established, and several dozen ovens will be stabilized, with

1917-416: The Iowa Group in control. Often idle during the decades of the 1880s and 1890s due to stiff competition and the effects of the panic of 1893 , the steel mill at Pueblo was small and obsolete. Due to economic conditions it was not possible to modernize it until 1899 when substantial improvements were made. including a rolling mill, additional blast furnaces, a modern Bessemer converter, open hearth furnaces,

1988-503: The Rockefellers and the coal industry. The United States Commission on Industrial Relations conducted extensive hearings singling out John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the Rockefellers' relationship with Bowers for special attention. Bower was relieved of duty and Welborn restored to control in 1915 and industrial relations improved. In October, 1915 John D. Rockefeller Jr. with the assistance of William Lyon Mackenzie King , director of

2059-490: The Sociological Department. Their main focus was to better the lives of the workers and their families and to shape their political and economic views. The Sociological Department began educating the miners through night school to teach them English. The Sociological Department began to set standards for education by regulating the curriculum and getting miners' children involved. Richard Corwin came up with

2130-525: The Sunrise Mine, much of the workforce was inexperienced and not fluent in English. This complicated communication of mine and industrial safety information. Due to their lack of sophistication it was possible to influence how the workers voted. Fraudulent voting of this nature was employed extensively by company operatives to accomplish various personal and company goals. Lamont M. Bowers, effectively

2201-589: The Victor-American Fuel Company, his stays at Cleveholm became infrequent. His principal residence became New York City, but he traveled frequently, spending time at Palm Beach and cruising to Europe. Cleveholm was boarded up in 1913. There was a general mine strike throughout Colorado from 1913 to 1914. By this time, John D. Rockefeller Jr. controlled CF&I, but for the most part, he was an absentee owner. The three largest mining companies involved, Colorado Fuel and Iron, Victor American, and Rocky Mountain Fuel , had

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2272-640: The Victor-American Wadge Mine on Mount Harris in Routt County . John C. Osgood John Cleveland Osgood (March 6, 1851 – January 3, 1926) was a self-made man who founded the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and Victor-American Fuel Company but has been referred to as a robber baron . He also created Redstone, Colorado . Osgood was born in Brooklyn , but moved with his father to Burlington, Iowa at age 6. He had

2343-477: The Victor-American coal mine killed 76 miners. A group of recovery parties were gathered from the nearby mining communities at Hastings, Berwind, and others. Miners from Primero and Starkville , both CF&I towns that had suffered a major disaster earlier that year (the latter exactly a month earlier), rushed to send help. The Hastings Mine Disaster took place on 27 April 1917, killing 121 miners at

2414-522: The Victor-American mine. The Hasting mine was not far from Ludlow , site of the Ludlow Massacre , the most violent point in the 1913-1914 Colorado Coalfield War that saw some Victor-American property damaged by armed striking miners. At Delagua on 27 May 1927, six miners were killed in an explosion of the No. 3 shaft, the same that had collapsed in 1910. On 27 January 1942, 34 miners were killed at

2485-603: The White Breast Fuel Company, then learned the banking business as cashier of the First National Bank of Burlington. At age 26, he took over the White Breast Fuel Company. In the winter of 1882, Osgood was sent to Colorado to research that state's coal resources for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad . He visited every mine in the state and absorbed every detail. Colorado had been

2556-589: The beginning of the Great Depression due to falling demand. Production, which began in 1899 at the Sunrise Mine in Wyoming, was initially by open-pit mining at a cost of 15 cents a ton. By 1900, daily production was 2,000 tons. Purchase of the property was completed in 1904. Shortages of ore continued to plague operations at the refurbished Minnequa Works in Pueblo and some ore was obtained from

2627-413: The camp were burned to death. In the aftermath of the battle, bands of miners attacked coal company facilities in the area. Lieutenant Governor of Colorado Stephen R. Fitzgarrald again ordered National Guard troops into the coal fields, but guerrilla warfare by the striking miners continued, and the government troops were beaten back. The governor requested assistance from Woodrow Wilson and units of

2698-485: The chief executive officer of CF&I, in addition to his paternalistic concern regarding vices such as drinking, gambling, and prostitution which might affect the health of CF&I workers, and also company profits, and his efforts to clean up the mining towns and support enactment of prohibition in Colorado, was strongly anti-union and refused to recognize or negotiate with the United Mine Workers during

2769-468: The company in 1904 and devoted his efforts to operating competing coal and coke operations. An experienced manager, Frank J. Hearne, retired president of National Tube Company, one of the predecessors of U.S. Steel was brought in September, 1903 to manage the enterprise. In 1904 the assets of the firm and its subsidiaries were consolidated as Colorado Industrial Company whose stock was wholly owned by

2840-413: The company profitable, reducing employment rolls, closing marginal operations, and reducing improvements and the companies sociological and medical programs. His efforts were successful; profits increased and dividends were paid. The steel mill operated at full capacity and was slightly expanded. Greater profits proved elusive, however, due to eastern competition and limited transportation facilities such as

2911-647: The country, including E. G. Brooke in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania . The first, and only until World War II, integrated iron and steel mill west of St. Louis was built in 1881 in Pueblo on the south side of the Arkansas River by the Colorado Coal and Iron Company (CC&L), an affiliate of the narrow-gauge Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company (D&RG), controlled by General William Jackson Palmer and Dr. William Abraham Bell . Its purpose in part

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2982-399: The direction of Dr. Richard W. Corwin chief surgeon of CF&I. The facility operated a number of blast furnaces until 1982. The main blast furnace structures were torn down in 1989, but due to asbestos content many of the adjacent stoves and support buildings still remain. The stoves and foundations for some of the furnaces can be easily seen from Interstate 25 , which runs parallel to

3053-776: The early 1890s, demand for fuel fell, and the company faced stiff competition from the Colorado Fuel Company , which was closely associated with and provided coal to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q). John C. Osgood , who with other investors from Iowa and Colorado, the Iowa Group, had founded Colorado Fuel Company in 1883, which acquired substantial coal reserves in Las Animas and Garfield Counties by purchasing existing facilities. Other properties were acquired in Garfield, Huerfano, Las Animas, and Pitkin counties. On Osgood's initiative these two companies merged in 1892 to form Colorado Fuel and Iron with members of

3124-545: The extensive and coal rich lands of the Colorado portion of the Maxwell Land Grant near Trinidad in Las Animas County were purchased through its subsidiary, the Rocky Mountain Coal and Iron Company. Following this purchase mines and coking plants and railway connections were constructed by the Colorado and Wyoming Railway Company in 1901 and 1902 west of Trinidad, and facilities built for workers under

3195-573: The headquarters of the new company. Miner strikes in 1894 and 1901 were costly to CF&I, and they were mining three quarters of the state's coal in 1892. Osgood testified at a committee hearing of the Colorado General Assembly following the 1901 strike. He insisted that management knew what was best for the miners and labor unions were a threat to the United States. Osgood decided to try welfare capitalism , which

3266-638: The idea that Kindergarten would be the best way to help the immigrant children become better citizens. Through the Kindergarten program, children were taught English and the importance of industrial labor in hopes of making them good future employees. Also part of the multi-pronged efforts to promote support for the Company in the latter-half of 1914, several schools were constructed, including one in Primero . In 1900, anticipating high demand for coal,

3337-700: The infamous Ludlow Massacre at the Ludlow Depot, a stop on the Colorado and Southern Railroad which was near several coal mines, in 1914. Evidence from CF&I's archives reveals that the company infiltrated, propagandized against, and attempted to disrupt the Industrial Workers of the World . The labor force of CF&I was made up in large part of immigrants, many from eastern and southern Europe. Although experienced miners from Cornwall were encouraged to immigrate and were taken on particularly at

3408-456: The iron making process. Calumet was closed in 1899 and production shifted to the Sunrise Mine near Hartville, Wyoming about 100 miles north of Cheyenne which the company had leased in 1898. The Colorado and Wyoming Railway Company was organized as subsidiary to transport the ore. Orient was abandoned in 1905 but some ore continued to be mined and sold to the company by contractors until 1922 when it reopened, only to be permanently closed at

3479-523: The majority of CF&I's coal and coke production was located, and was fought by the coal mine operators association and its steering committee which included Welborn, president of CF&I, who was spokesman for the coal operators. Bowers, Rockefeller's man, remained in the background. Few of the miners actually belonged to the union or participated in the strike call, but the majority honored it. Scabs were threatened and sometimes attacked. Both sides purchased substantial arms and ammunition. Most dangerous on

3550-587: The mill had relied on the scant and variable flow of the St. Charles River, storing water in Lake Minnequa. Gates, Rockefeller's financial advisor, had little confidence in Jesse Floyd Welborn who had been elected by Gould and his allies to succeed Hearne as manager in 1907. Welborn had risen within the company from a clerk, knew the operation well, and had the confidence of the company's staff. When Gould suffered severe financial losses due to

3621-721: The mill in 1881-82 was 80 short tons (73 t) per year from the first blast furnace, while a second furnace was being built, and the mill employed 300-400. The first steel rails were produced in April 1882 for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad 's Silverton Branch . The market for steel was slow due to intense competition from eastern mills, and the mill was often idle. The company turned to production of coke and coal opening additional mines near Trinidad and others near Canon City , Walsenburg , and Crested Butte . Coke ovens were built at El Moro north of Trinidad and at Crested Butte. In

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3692-506: The miners, was fought vigorously with strikebreakers and reduced steel production. The company was able to maintain coal inventory for sale to the company's customers, thus preventing state interference due to a shortage of coal. Following the strike substantial investments were made to the mill including purchase of water rights in the Arkansas River and a reservoir at the site of Sugar Loaf Dam west of Leadville . Previously

3763-435: The new employer and the union. However, in September 2004, local unions 2102 and 3267 won both the strike and the unfair labor practice charges. All of the striking steel workers were returned to their jobs, and the company was forced to repay a record amount of back pay to all of the striking steel workers for the seven years of the strike. In addition to the blast furnace/open hearth steelmaking process, CF&I also used

3834-502: The north and south boundaries. There was a kennel for the dogs, and the stable could shelter 25 horses, as well as cattle, hogs, and chickens. The adjacent game preserve had abundant deer, elk and bighorn sheep ; a stocked pond was available for fishing. A collier strike at other Colorado mines left CF&I financially weakened, and Osgood successfully defended a takeover bid by John W. Gates of Chicago . However, billionaire John D. Rockefeller and heirs of Jay Gould eventually won

3905-416: The original name for the steel producer: Colorado Coal and Steel Works —with excavation of the foundation for the first blast furnace in February 1880, on a prairie south of what would later become South Pueblo . A neighborhood of makeshift homes arose near the works, initially called Taylorville, then Steelworks, then, as more permanent dwellings were constructed, Bessemer in 1881. Initial capacity of

3976-487: The period leading up to the major strike of 1913-14. The effects of that prolonged and violent strike ended his career with the firm. Company Government National Guard Events Locations Commemorations The strike, called in September, 1913, by the United Mine Workers over the issue of union representation , was against coal mine operators in Huerfano and Las Animas counties in southern Colorado where

4047-522: The plant's west boundary. In 1902, facing cash flow problems, Osgood turned to George Jay Gould a principal stockholder of the Denver and Rio Grande for a loan. Gould, via Frederick Taylor Gates , Rockefeller's financial adviser, brought John D. Rockefeller , creator of the Standard Oil monopoly, in to help finance the loan. Analysis of the company's operations by John D. Rockefeller Jr. showed

4118-644: The precious metals smelting industry fell off as first silver production was impacted by the panic of 1893 and then gold production fell off in the first decade of the 20th century and used refining techniques which did not require large quantities of coke. The large copper smelting companies operating in the area, Phelps Dodge and The American Smelting and Refining Company , invested in their own coal mines and coking plants in Colfax County, New Mexico and Cokedale, Colorado . In 1901, in an effort to deal with its mostly immigrant workforce, CF&I formed

4189-564: The projects of the Central Colorado Improvement Company , founded by General William J. Palmer in 1872, with plans "to purchase lands, minerals springs, coal and iron and other mines and quarries in Colorado Territory, and the establishment and building up of colonies, towns, coal mining, iron making and manufacturing works, and to build canals and wagon roads." The work on the mill began—under

4260-486: The rest of Oregon Steel's holdings, were acquired by EVRAZ Group , a Russian steel corporation, for $ 2.3 billion. Through the process of vertical integration , the company came to own more than just the main steel plant. Over the course of a century, CF&I operated coal mines throughout southern Colorado, as well as iron mines in Wyoming and Utah , limestone quarries, smaller mines for other materials going into

4331-479: The shareholders of CF&I, mainly Gould and Rockefeller. This put all properties of the firm under a single management. Gross sales were substantially increased but increasing profit proved elusive due to competition from eastern produces. Income in 1907 was $ 1.07 million on sales of $ 23.8 million in 1907. In November, 1903 the United Mine Workers struck the coal mines near Walsenburg and Trinidad. The strike, which lasted 11 months, produced no gains and demoralized

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4402-585: The south side of Pueblo, Colorado , and was the city's main industry for most of its history. From 1901 to 1912, Colorado Fuel and Iron was one of the Dow Jones Industrials. The steel-market crash of 1982 led to the decline of the company. After going through several bankruptcies , the company was acquired by Oregon Steel Mills in 1993, and changed its name to Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. In January 2007, Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, along with

4473-503: The steel making process, and the Colorado and Wyoming Railway . In Redstone, Colorado , hundreds of coking ovens converted coal into coke . The Mcnally, Cameron, Robinson and Walsen Mines located in the area of Walsenburg, Colorado , were just a few of the mines owned by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. The Colorado Supply company store was also owned and operated by CF&I. They also came to control many furnaces throughout

4544-535: The union side were Greek immigrants who were experienced veterans of the Balkan Wars . On October 26, 1913, Elias M. Ammons , the democratic governor of Colorado, responded to the widespread violence by ordering out the Colorado National Guard . Striking miners were forced to abandon their homes in company towns and lived in tent cities erected by the union such as the tent city at Ludlow,

4615-605: The years following up to and during the General Colorado coal strike of 1927, which remains one of the few historically persevered record of company spying on labor organizing, given the secretive nature and risk of bad publicity it brings. On November 7, 1990 CF&I filed for protection under Chapter 11 . In 1997, the steelworkers union in Pueblo voted to strike over alleged unfair labor practices . The old CF&I facility, under new ownership, hired permanent replacement workers , leading to further tension between

4686-418: Was becoming a popular program to eliminate the need for unions and improve the company image. In theory, contented workers are more productive and don't strike. The system provided for and controlled all the workers' needs. To address healthcare needs, CF&I built a modern hospital in Pueblo for use by their employees throughout the state. Osgood established Redstone, Colorado in the late 19th century as

4757-486: Was destitution in the coal fields. With the help of funds from the Rockefeller Foundation relief programs were organized by the Colorado Committee on Unemployment and Relief, a state agency created by Governor Carlson, offering work to unemployed miners building roads and doing other useful projects. The casualties suffered at Ludlow were successfully labeled a massacre and mobilized public opinion against

4828-557: Was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Osgood died at Cleveholm in 1926 and his ashes were scattered throughout the Crystal River valley. Lucille tried to transform the estate into a resort, but the worldwide depression of 1929 doomed that plan. Cleveholm Manor and the gamekeeper's cottage are both independently listed on the National Register as Osgood Castle and Osgood Gamekeeper's Lodge , respectively. As of 2004,

4899-623: Was the largest producer of coal in the Rocky Mountain west with 23 mines in Las Animas , Huerfano , Fremont , Gunnison , Garfield , and Pitkin County, Colorado producing 53% of the coal mined in Colorado and its 9 coking plants producing 89% of its coke . Steam coal for use in boilers and locomotives was produced in the Huerfano district, coal for home heating in the Canon district, and anthracite at Crested Butte. Demand for coke by

4970-647: Was to manufacture rails for the railway. Local resources included water from the Arkansas River, coal from Trinidad , limestone from a few miles south of Pueblo, and iron ore from the San Luis Valley with rail transportation provided by the D&;RG. Manufacturing using blast furnaces and the Bessemer process began April 12, 1881. Products included rails, pig iron, iron and steel bars and plates, and cut nails and spikes. The original steel works were one of

5041-495: Was trying to embarrass Rockefeller into selling his ownership of CF&I back to Osgood. The mine operators steadfastly refused to negotiate with the union or agree to government arbitration. Over the course of a year, frustration and anger on both sides grew and led to the Ludlow Massacre in 1914. The Hastings Mine disaster occurred in 1917, killing 121. Osgood married three times, but fathered no children. He and Lucille, his third wife, returned to Redstone in 1925 when he

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