Thursday, March 8, 2007
Tertiary
Trinidad, Colorado was so-named because it was the third town in a series of company coal towns. Primero was a mining camp, and Segundo was the location of coke ovens, a second step in the process. Pretty fascinating history, and certainly more than a DQ stop off the interstate on the way to Santa Fe. Yes, there was a coal miner strike there in the early 1900s. You could look it up...
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3 comments:
I've been through that part of Colorado. Sometimes its very boring unless you get off the highway and really look around.
Why would we look it up when you do such a good job of keeping us informed about such things?
Drive through the side roads in the mountains in that area and you'll see coal seams in the roadcuts.
If you start in Trinidad you'll find yourself in the modern Quartenary Period. The Tertiary ended about 2 million years ago, so you'll want to head a little west for that. If you ever find yourself traveling on Hwy 160 west of Walsenburg you'll reach the Pennsylvanian Period, where you can collect 300 million year old fossils on the side of the road near the summit of La Veta Pass. How amazing is it to dig clams in Colorado at an elevation of 9400 feet?
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