Barreling down Highway 25 in Colorado 5/2014

From where doth that phrase originate? I've never barreled down anything. But speed, yes oh yes, I am known for that. And we needed it this trip if we were to take in all that we had hoped to see. But putting me in the passenger seat is a dangerous thing to do, for no sooner do I spy (or I swear I can smell old brick), something that looks mill'ish. I even extend myself to factory plants when in areas of little known mill history. 

And then there one was! A sign, a chimney, and the faint hint of old industry- a burnt red brick building. "Ow, ow, ow" grunt and point works when I get so worked up I can't get words out. Patient Peter, the man on his own mission (much further south on this same highway and with a location not quite known meant we needed the time my "ow, ow" stops were eating up), safely exited the highway at what is now called Bessemer neighborhood of Pueblo, Co. 

Peter and I enjoyed another of our "remember when" shared histories of writing away for some such pamphlet that was FREE from the government and it always to Pueblo, Co you addressed your enquiry. I still collect way too many pamphlets, maybe because it is another of those words I am enamored with, or maybe because my useless ephemera may some day be something. And I just did it again:

 I can't wait to see if the address is still Pueblo, CO. But alas, all is not still free :( The map I desire is $3.00, and all of the History category cost too. The last time I ordered free Educational items from the Government the package came back with this return address: Lockheed Martin in Education. Now I know they have huge contracts with the Gov't. for all sorts of Space stuff, and maybe even STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) stuff, but I'm Special Ed, what the heck were they doing on my publication? Indeed, I shook my head in amazement. I never did find the answer to that one. Anywho, check them out:

http://publications.usa.gov/USAPubs.php?NavCode=M

This site replaces Pueblo.gov, so who knows what will come. Probably another Corporation-controlled government return address.

Okay, so speaking of Corp. and control, some background digging needed to be done on our find in Bessemer. Having just vacationed in Pittsburgh last fall, our Steel knowledge was still there. Bessemer and the Bessemer Process are synonymous with Steel. However, as always there is side-story to him and his patent for this process. Of course it was "stolen" by Sir Henry from a lesser man and patented by Bessemer, making him untold $$$, while poor Mr. Mushet's work went unnoticed. Well, in 1866 Mr. Mushet's  16 yr. old daughter went to Bessemer alone to confront the theft of her father's ideas (Mushet having done most of his work in the paranoid super-secrecy era of all these amazing technological advances that came with the Industrial Revolution). While an outright admittance wasn't quite achieved, Bessemer decided to pay Mushet an annual pension of £300, a very considerable sum, which he paid for 25 years, possibly to keep legal action at bay.  And as they say, "the rest is history." 

Well this Bessemer (yup there are others in the US) was a part of the westward expansion that was exploding all over the region, and the town was set up for Steel work and came to be known as the "Pittsburgh of the West." Interestingly enough the Corp. running the whole scene, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. (CF&I) was mainly creating steel rails for the RR's which were also expanding all over the place. But alas, they had to compete w/ the Eastern Mills, and before too long, in steps the BIG WHIGS= By 1903, it was largely owned and controlled by Rockefeller and Gould's heirs.  We know these guys. We know what they and their $ were capable of. We know of Gould's RR interests, and how despised he and Rockefeller were by many as "Robber Barons." We run into them and their legacy again later down the road. 

We didn't see any signs for CF&I however, because the co.  became Rocky Mtn. Steel Mills in 1993, then was later acquired by the Evraz Group, a Russian steel corp. for 2.3 billion in 2007. They now bill themselves as the Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel Co.,  a specialty product mini-mill. Nothing we saw looked mini to me.

It was a cool pop-off. And a huge Mill complex discovery. Here is their current info:

http://www.evrazna.com/LocationsFacilities/RockyMountainSteelMills/tabid/71/


See you further on down the road.