Pueblo was founded in 1842 as a frontier outpost where the Arkansas & Fountain Rivers meet by mountain men, who like the Indians, favored its mild winter climate. Near, but not in the mountains, it’s where minerals of the Rocky Mountains were processed. CF&I’s predecessor was founded in 1872 ”to purchase lands, minerals springs, coal and iron and other mines and quarries in Colorado Territory” to establish “colonies, towns, coal mining, iron making and manufacturing works.” Owned by Rockefeller and Gould, while Guggenheim had a smelter nearby, Pueblo was a source of much of their great wealth. Many men in our family worked at this behemoth company which had the mill, railroad and mines across Colorado and the surrounding states. Workers came from all over the world sustaining over 30 foreign language newspapers. Today EVRAZ makes the world’s longest rails, while the Federal Test Track Center nearby tests high-speed trains and just south is the world’s largest manufacture of windmills.