|
Pueblo's Steel Town Trolleys by Morris Crafky and John Haney w/ MAP Soft Cover
Pueblos Steel Town Trolleys by Morris Crafky and John Haney
Soft Cover Reflections from the lights on some photos
Copyright 1999
Colorado Railroad Museum
144 pages with loose MAP
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 - "Hanging Trees" And Horses
2 - Kilowatts, Troubles, And Triumph
3 - Disaster And Recovery
4 - The Tail Wags The Dog
5 - New Franchise, War, And The End
6 - Trolley Flashes
7 - Routes
8 - Rolling Stock
9 - The Return Of The Trolley
Track Maps
Equipment Rosters
Bibliography
Index
Pueblo, Colorado, was a long time getting started. Founded as a trading post in 1842, the place is said to have been named by James P. (Jim) Beckwourth, the black frontiersman and trader. His paternity of the name has not been authenticated, however. The post was largely inhabited by frontier types, Spanish, Spanish-Indians and Anglo-Saxon. The first large number of Anglo-Saxons to dwell there, albeit temporarily, was a party of Mormons in 1846-47. Traveling toward Utah by a more southerly route than did most of the Saints, the band stayed at "El Pueblo" until the spring of 1847, then continued on their way to "Zion."
Now a fort of sorts, Pueblo continued as a rendezvous for traders, mountain men, and other assorted types until Christmas Day 1854, when Ute Indians, imprudently invited into the fort, massacred virtually all of the inhabitants, most of whom were gloriously drunk. By 1858 the few structures not burned by the Utes that terrible day were swept away by an Arkansas River flood, one of many times that unpredictable stream was to turn in fury upon the community.
In 1858 a band of prospectors looked over the site, decided that they could earn more gold supplying other prospectors, and the settlement was reborn. Soon 30 crude structures dotted the townsite at the junction of the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek. A freezing prospector who died just as he reached the town enabled the settlers to providentially start a graveyard. As the place grew, shootings and lynchings helped to provide more customers for the local marble orchard. A grist mill was the precursor of greater industry to come, as was Jack Allen's distillery which made "Taos Lightning," nuclear fission in liquid form. In 1863 John A. Thatcher arrived aboard a wagon loaded with merchandise and started the first real general store in town. He was soon joined by his brother, Mahlon A. Thatcher. With wagon freighting to Pueblo now established, the Thatchers widened their stock of merchandise and soon acquired a safe, evidently the only one in town thus far. Soon, in return for a small fee, people began keeping their valuables in the Thatcher safe. It is not too big a step from acting as a house of deposit to conducting a full-fledged banking business, and the Thatcher Brothers Bank was established in 1872, later to become the First National Bank. From this point on, the Thatcher brothers just got in deeper: finance, the cattle business, mercantile enterprises and public utilities, not the least of which was Pueblo's electric street railway system.
Narrow gauge tracks of the Denver & Rio Grande reached Pueblo in 1872, the standard gauge Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe in 1876, and other railroads later, making the young city a transportation center. Actually, there were three cities just then, the original Pueblo, a new town called South Pueblo on the high ground south of the river valley, and even a Central Pueblo. After 1881 there was, for a time, a fourth town. Bessemer grew up around the new plant of the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, subsequently Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation and, today, the CF&I plant of Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. The growing steel mill brought satellite industry and Pueblo was on its way toward becoming an industrial center. Smelters for the reduction of Colorado-mined ores also operated here for many years.
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
US Shipments: Ebay will add $1.25 each additional items, there are a few exceptions.
Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and forwarded to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. Refunds may be issued if you add multiple items to your cart and pay with one payment. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping varies by weight.
Payment options
Payment must be received within 7 days. Paypal is accepted.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us first. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.
Thanks for looking at our items.
| 
