Vol. XXIX, No. 1 Bureau of Business Research, University of January, 1956

THE ARKANSAS VALLEY - A DIVERSE ECONOMY

One hundred and fifty years ago , Zebulon The first census of the Arkansas Valley Pike first sighted the now famous in 1870 listed 2,857 persons living in the from the Arkansas Valley near Las Animas in six county area. This population was located Bent County. At that time much of the Arkan­ in Dent and Pueblo Counties. Other s~all sas Valley was in the territory and settlements began to spring up in the valley the Arkansas River was the boundary line be­ so that by 1950 the census reported a total tween Mexico and the United States. Pike en­ population of 147,299 persons in the six tered the valley along the Arkansas River county area of Dent , Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, during his survey of 1806. Prowers, and Pueblo. A short time later in 1828 Colonel The Arkansas Valley is important for its William Bent moved many crops. One to the valley and crop for which the established Bent's valley has a na­ Fort, believed to COLORADO ARKANSAS VALLEY tional reputation be the first per­ is cantaloupes. manent settlement CA VI - atlY'INNI In 1954, there in the area. The CL l'AaG were 1,528 acres Fort was construc­ planted to canta­ ted for the pur­ loupes which rep­ pose of trading resented 77% of with Indians and the planted acre­ travelers and as age in :olorado. a stopping off another crop for place between the which the Arkansas River :>< Valley is known > and Santa Fe, New z nationally is dry u, Hexico. Prior to > onions. The val­ this time ho,·•ever, u, ley comprises 48% such men as Kit WALSENBURG of the planted Carson , John c. acreage in Colo­ Fremont , and Gen­ rado. Vegetables eral Sterling Ll,8 ...... OAOA occupy a total of Price had explored C09TILLA 7,455 acres which TRINIDAD LAND the Arkansas Val­ I.U .. u.u.u.J c A v ' consists of 25% ley and by the of the state tot­ time that Colorado NEW MEXICO OKLAHOMA al, Alfalfa grow­ was admitted to ing and alfalfa- the Union in 1 876, dehydrating is a the Arkansas Valley was well on its way to very important industry in the lower Arkansas being developed, Pueblo was incorporated as Valley . A total of 241,477 tons of alfalfa, a town in 1870. Construction of the or 16% of the total alfalfa crop in Colorado and Rio Grande Railroad brought the first was g rown in the valley in 1954. Other crops train into Pueblo in 1871. The construction grown in the area are sugar beets whose pro­ of the Pueblo steel works began in 1880; the duction accounted for 9% of the total state first blast furnace was in operation in 1881 , production and nursery and greenhouse prod­ and the first steel rails were rolled in 1882. ucts which comprised 5% of the total state In 1876 the Santa Fe Railroad reached Pueblo value. and a battle ensued between the Jenver and The agricultural land in the Arkansas Rio Grande and the Santa Fe for right-of-ways Valley consists of two types; the irrigated over and the Royal Gorge. Later, bottom land of the Arkansas River and the the Missouri Pacific and the Colorado and higher and drier land on the edges of the Southern built lines into Pueblo. river valley. Upon driving in a north-south I!!

Volume XXIX January, 1956 Number 1

Issued monthly by the Bureau of Business Research, School of Business, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado Kind of Business Group Delbert J. Duncan, Dean L. J. Crampon, Executive Director 1 Food Stores ••••• Ronald D. Lemon, Research Associate 2 Eating, Drinking Places •••• Betty 0 1 Halloran, Secretary 3 General Merchandise Group. Jill Carroll, Clerk 4 Apparel, Accessories Stores • 5 Furniture, Home Furnishings Entered as second-class matter, Jan. 17, Appliance Dealers ••••• 1928 at the Post Office at Boulde~ Colo. 6 Automotive Group •••••••••• under the Act of Aug. 24, 1912. Change of 7 Gasoline Service Statirms • • •••• name entered March, 1951. 8 Lumber, Building, Materials, Hardware, Farm Equipment Dealers • •••••••• 9 Drugstores, Proprietary direction through the valley a change can be Stores • • • • • • • • noted in the type of farming. The crops 10 Other Retail Stores raised on the irrigated lands include, al­ 11 Non-Store Retailers • • • ••• falfa, sugar beets, cantaloupes, melons, on­ ions, corn and various other small grains, Total flower and vegetable seeds, tomatoes, and Source: U. S. Census of Business, Retail beans. The main crops on the non-irrigated Trade, 1954. land include wheat, maize, sorghums, barley, alfalfa, plus sheep and cattle. array of colors. Of all alfalfa seed pro­ The Arkansas Valley is one of the im­ duced in Colorado, 53% is produced here and portant livestock and fowl producing areas of 49 0 2% of all the sorghum harvested for grain Colorado. The valley accounts for 10% of or seed in Colorado is produced in the valley. Colorado's total production of cattle and This specialization in seed growing has led calves; 6 0 5% of the total sheep; and 20.8% to the development of a very specialized man­ of all the turkeys raised. According to the ufacturing industry which will be discussed 1954 Census of Agriculture there were 20·9, 019 later. The area around Rocky Ford and La cattle and calves, 156,319 sheep and lambs, Junta has become internationally known to and 175,728 turkeys. 0 ;:-:::! ::.-.. ~--_. ; • .:r ... t buyeF-s. Ee.eh yea An innovation to cattle feeding that is representatives from every state and many not new, but which fits very well into the foreign countries make a trip to the Arkansas feeding program of livestock in the valley, Valley for the purpose of buying seeds or new is the trench silo. There is a trend toward seed handling equipment. feeding more cattle in the valley to the fin­ A few minerals have been produced in ished stage and shipping them directly to the commercial quantity in the Arkansas Valley. slaughter houses instead of to feed lots. Areong these are brick and refractory clays, This method should enable the farmer to get a gypsum, limestone, marble, silica sand, dimen­ better return on his livestock production. sion stone and vermiculite. Uhile the Arkan­ An important aspect of the agricultural sas Valley itself is not rich in mineral re­ economy in the Arkansas Valley is seed pro­ sources the area directly to the west and duction. The area around Rocky Ford and La north i; one of the richest mineral producing Junta is advertised as the seed capital of areas in the country. The upper Arkansas the world. The seeds produced include al­ Valley from Pueblo to Salida and Leadville falfa, sorghum, zenias, cantaloupe and vege­ has commercially produced quantities of all table seeds. Anyone traveling through the types of metallic and non-metallic mi~erals. valley in late summer will see large colorful Alabaster is one mineral found in Otero fields of zenias. They present an imposing County near LaJunta that may be used for.mak­ ing decorative ornaments. Alab~ster is _a WHAT IS C A V I? compact variety of gypsum and is found in only one other place in Colorado. . . . The bentonite clays are used in drilling CAVI in the Arkansas Valley means Colo­ muds for oil wells, as a sealing agent for rado Arkansas Valley, Inc. It is an or­ reservoirs, and for bleaching oils. ganization of hundreds of citizens and There is no coal within the six county business firms from the -Colorado area but directly adjacent in the Ualsenburg­ state line to Pueblo, in the six counties Trinidad and Canon City coal fields are found of Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, Pueblo coals of all types, including coking coal. and Prowers, on highways 50 and 96. It The coal reserves of these areas amounts to was organized to publicize and aid in over 22,000,000,000 tons. . development of the Arkansas Valley. No petroleum or natural gas is produced in the Arkansas Valley. However, the Colorado To aid in this work CAVI has turned to Interstate natural gas pipeline and the Phil­ the Bureau of Business Research. An lips-Shamrock Products pipeline cross the analysis of the economy of the Arkansas Arkansas Valley and can adequately supply the Valley will soon be available from the needs of the area for petroleum and natural members of CAVI. gas from Texas and Oklahoma field~. ~aJu~ta is one of the major pumping and d1str1but1on RETAIL SALES IN THE ARKANSAS VALLEY FOR 1954 ( 000 Omitted)

Counties Major Cities of 2 1 500 or More Las La Rocky Bent Crowl el Kiowa Otero Prowers Pueblo Animas Junta Ford Lamar Pueblo

1 $1281 $ 525 $ 948 $ 6521 $ 2960 $25590 D $ 2625 $ 2612 $ 2309 $24354 2 298 85 203 1628 1200 7255 $ 231 718 515 926 6729 3 274 172 227 2136 1097 9243 D 1422 479 987 9113 4 D D 39 1235 595 6282 D 733 D D 1) 5 199 1311 D 6144 199 967 D 352 D

6 1541 1184 D 3957 3471 19920 1541 2363 1325 D D 7 453 D 760 1735 2271 5526 383 618 551 1667 5204 8 611 538 514 2667 2495 6995 D 770 1546 1558 D

9 D D 101 804 625 2840 D 444 D 418 D

10 205 209 D 878 795 6451 205 499 234 728 6175 11 ---342 D 1360 ---112 ---D 13'60 $5103 $2890 $3221 $23214 $i.5971 $97606 $4824 $11271 $8361 $12395 $94615

D - To Avoid Disclosure

stations in the Phillips-Shamrock pipeline. tons in the Arkansas Valley and a sugar con­ To the east of Prowers County is the huge tent of approximately 14%, the amount of beet Hugoton natural gas field. This field has sugar produced by these three companies in a reserve estimated to last at least 25 years 1954 amounts to roughly 43,692,000 pounds of the maximum life that can be predicted fo; sugar. any gas field . The sugar beet campaign lasts between There are no timbering operations in the 25 and 45 days. The typical campaign starts Arkansas Valley, but directly to the west are out near the middle of October and extends the San Isabe l, San Juan, and Rio Grande throu gh November. The sugar companies employ ,---~ ~ n~a~t.,.;::i~o~n~al forests.• In 1955, 35% of the total about 20 percent of their peak employment on Colorado timber cut came from these three a year round basis . The campaign employment for e·st s. for American Crystal, for example, is approx­ The most important manufacturing opera­ imately 500 persons. tion in the Arkansas Valley is that of the Agricultural employment related to the steel mills in Pueblo. The steel ingot ca­ sugar industry in the valley has changed ma­ pacity of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corp­ terially in recent years. Today, veri few for 1954 was 1,485,000 net tons. This is the seasonal employees are used in the beet har­ 4th largest production capacity west of the vest. Approximately 90% of the sugar beet . Only Texas, California, and industry is mechanized. Utah exceed this amount. Colorado places 13th Alfalfa dehydrating assumes major pro­ among the steel producing states . The em­ portions in the agricultural econo~y in the ployment in the steel industry alone is over lower end of the valley. Seven companies 8,000 persons. This places the number of operate alfalfa dehydrating mills of which persons employed in manufacturing in the val­ the largest is the National Alfalfa De hydrat­ ley in excess of those employed in agricul­ ing Company, which operates 12 dehydrating ture. mills plus one blending plant. As mentioned earlier under agriculture, The operation of the dehydrating mills the Rocky Ford - LaJunta area is the manu­ starts with the first cutting of alfalfa, facturing center of seed and grain cleaning generally in late May or early June depending machinery for the world. Manufacturers of upon the weather and moisture conditions. In seed cleaning machinery in Rocky Ford are the the LaJunta area a third cutting i s normally Clute Manufacturing Company and the Oliver made in September. In the Lamar area, depend­ Jianufacturing Company. The Oliver llanufac­ ing upon a late frost, a fourth cutting can turing Company moved to Rocky Ford from St. Louis to be in the center of the seed produc­ ing area. Buyers of seed and grain cleaning POPULATION DISTRIBUTION equipment visi~ Rocky Ford at least once a year. Some of the seed equipment manufactur­ ing companies in the Rocky Ford area have 0 turned to the production of coffee bean hand­ ·-· ling equipment also to be sold in the inter­ national market. The manufacture of sugar ~ (.:0\ from sugar beets is an important industry in \:,:,,t the Arkansas Valley. The companies in the v area include National Sugar Company at Sugar ·- - City, American Sugar Company at Rocky Ford, and Holly Sugar Company at Swink. Based upon the 1954 sugar beet production of 1952,23 be made which will continue the dehydrating operation through October 20th. Alfalfa de­ hydrating is the only significant industry This Review on the Colorado Arkansas other than agriculture in the east end of the Valley marks the end of a series of art­ valley and employs about 400 persons. icles featuring various sections of Artificial drying of alfalfa prevents Colorado. Areas of Colorado that have been featured in the Review are: loss of vitamin A which is vital to good cattle production. There is a~proximately a Colorado Springs 70% weight loss from the green hay in the Brush Grand Junction drying process. It is estimated that about Akron Durango 40% of the dehydrated alfalfa is sold to lo­ Englewood Salida cal ranchers. The rest is sold to feed man­ Yampa Valley Cripple Creek ufacturers. The econoruy of the valley includes 14 We feel we have covered most sections of food processing plants for meat products, Colorado that are characteristic of the canned fruits, vegetables, chili and tamales, different types of economy in Colorado. exclusive of the sugar beet factories and al­ In the future we are going to concentrate falfa dehydrating mills. on articles that are pertinent to the The canning season lasts from late Sep­ overall economy of Colorado. Such re­ tember to October or roughly preceeds the views published in the past have been: campaign of the sugar factories. Another large employer in the valley out­ Oil Shale - A Potential Colorado side of the Pueblo area is the Santa Fe Rail­ Industry road. LaJunta is a division point for the Colorado Retail Sales line between Las Vegas, New Hexico to the More Tourists and More Competition southwest and Dodge City, Kansas to the east. Forests of Colorado In 1945, the total employment in this dis­ The Petroleum and Natural Gas trict of the railroad was 1,175. Employment Industry in Colorado in the same area for 1955 was 650. The de­ Agriculture - Colorado's Number cline has been steady over this period of One Ind us try time. The major portion of the decline is the State Parks Across the Nation result of dieselization. The maintenance and servicing of diesel equipment is much less The February issue of the Review will than on steam equipment. feature the School of Business; its The second largest industry in the Ar­ faculty, services, and cooperation with kansas Valley is t h e Pueblo Ordinance Depot bus inessmen of the state. The role of operated by the U. S. Ar my . The employment the Bureau of B~sines s Re searc h as a at the Depot is approximately 4,150 with an __parj of the Schoo 1 of .D usitle s s xi1l. ca.ls o annual payroll of ~18,000,000. One major be outlined. advantag e of the Arkansas Valley location is the dry climate p e rmitting outdoor storage. The third largest payroll in the valley is the Colorado State Ho s pital. Here, approxi­ mately 1,662 employees have an annual payroll of over $5,ooo,ooo. COLORADO BUSINESS REVIEW Second-Class A stablizing influence on the economy University of Colorado Matter in the area of Ft. Lyons is the Veteran's Boulder, Colorado Hospital which employs 450 persons. One other gov~rnmental project construc­ ted by the Corps of Army Engineers is the John Hartin Reservoir project, located at Hasty. The purpose of the dam is for flood control and conservation of water for irriga­ tion use. The reservoir has a maximum capac­ ity of 683,260 acre feet of water. If the proposed frying Pan Arkansas Valley diversion project goes through it will mean increased yields to many areas in the valley. The table of retail sales on pages 2 and 3 shows the retail sales for each county and Jerry Full city over 2500 population in the valle!• Gra~~ Junction Sentinel This gives a good indication of how people in the valley are spending their income. Grand Ju~ction, Colo. This story of the Colorado Arkansas Valley has been written to give a g neral overall economic picture of the area 7incor­ porated as CAVI land. Sue~ items as.climate, living conditions, recreation,.taxation, laws and regulations have been omitted here in favor of the general discussion of the valley. These items will be treated in full in the final report.