Editing Moffat County, Colorado (section)

==History==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}

=== Displacement of the Native people ===
The first recorded humans in northwestern Colorado were the Ute tribes. The Spanish expedition of [[Domínguez–Escalante expedition|Dominguez–Escalante]] of 1776 reached just south of what would be Moffat County and noted the area and inhabitants, but did not offer detailed information. In the early 1820s, [[William Henry Ashley|William H. Ashley]] organized a major expedition of trappers into the Green River area of the county beginning the first use of the area's resources by Europeans.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |title=Supplemental Information 3: An excerpt from Data Downloads page, where users can download original datasets. |doi=10.7717/peerj.9467/supp-3 |doi-access=free }}</ref> John C. Freemont would lead the first organized exploration of Moffat County on his return from California during his second expedition. His party crossed into the future Moffat County on June 6, 1844.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baugh |first=Alexander |date=September 3, 2022 |title=John C. Frémont's 1843–44 Western Expedition and Its Influence on Mormon Settlement in Utah |url=https://rsc.byu.edu/far-away-west/john-c-fremonts-1843-44-western-expedition-its-influence-mormon-settlement-utah}}</ref>
[[File:Freemont 2nd Expedition.jpg|thumb|Freemont's 2nd Expedition return route across eastern Utah into northwestern Colorado]]
Despite the encroachment by trappers, miners, and explorers, the Ute Treaty of 1868 (a.k.a. The Kit Carson Treaty) and the Brunot Treaty of 1873 identified northwestern Colorado as part of the Ute nation and 'agencies' were established to act as representatives of the U.S. government within the Ute Nation. In 1879, a new agent, [[Nathan Meeker]], was appointed to serve at the White River Agency in northwestern Colorado. Meeker had founded a Christian-based European [[Union Colony of Colorado|agricultural colony]] in 1870 in eastern Colorado and had strong ideas of how a community should be structured. As the "Indian Agent" he felt compelled to change the nomadic lifestyle of the Ute Indians and attempted to "civilize" them by converting them into farmers. His efforts to impose an agricultural lifestyle on the native people created a conflict that ultimately led to the [[Meeker Massacre|murder of Meeker]] and all of the staff at the Agency.<ref>{{Cite web |last=yongli |date=January 15, 2020 |title=Ute Treaty of 1868 |url=https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ute-treaty-1868 |access-date=September 4, 2022 |website=coloradoencyclopedia.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The U.S. government's reaction to the massacre resulted in the relocation of most of the Ute tribes to Utah by force. After the removal of the Ute tribes, the U.S. government opened up northwestern Colorado for mining, commercial cattle ranching, and homesteading.

=== Northwestern Colorado County reorganizations of territory/state ===
In 1861, the [[Colorado Territory]] was organized and northwestern Colorado became Summit County. In 1874, Grand County was created out of the northern half of Summit County, and in 1877, Grand County was further subdivided, creating Routt County. It would be another 34 years before Moffat County would be carved out of the western portion of [[Routt County, Colorado|Routt County]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History and Facts of Colorado Counties |url=https://mycounties.com/colorado/ |access-date=September 4, 2022 |website=My Counties |date=February 16, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> The county was named for [[David Moffat|David H. Moffat]], a Colorado tycoon who died in 1911.

=== Development and growth ===
David Moffat had been the primary force driving the establishment of a railroad from Denver to Salt Lake City. He established the [[Denver and Salt Lake Railway|Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway]], and attempted to build a route from [[Denver]] to [[Salt Lake City]]. Construction on the 'Moffat Road' track began in the early 1900s but it faced constant delays and challenges. It finally reached Moffat County in 1913, ending in the town of Craig.<ref>{{Cite web |last=yongli |date=May 25, 2016 |title=Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway Hill Route (Moffat Road) |url=https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-northwestern-pacific-railway-hill-route-moffat-road |access-date=September 4, 2022 |website=coloradoencyclopedia.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The railroad was important for cattle ranchers in Moffat County's early years; however, the track was never extended into Utah. In 1934, another more direct route was established to Salt Lake City, and Moffat County remained a branch line and never part of the main commerce rail artery between Denver and Salt Lake City.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In the 1920s, [[U.S. Route 40|U.S. 40]], a major cross-country highway, began construction. The route selected put Moffat County, and the County Seat of Craig on the 'Victory Highway' and almost exactly halfway between Denver and Salt Lake City. In 1938, the final section over the Rocky Mountains was completed<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historic Timeline |url=https://www.codot.gov/about/CDOTHistory/centennial/timeline |access-date=September 5, 2022 |website=Colorado Department of Transportation |language=en-us}}</ref> and paved, with the exception of Rabbit Ears Pass in Routt County, which was paved by 1950.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colorado US 40 |url=https://www.mesalek.com/colo/us40.html |access-date=September 5, 2022 |website=www.mesalek.com}}</ref> This expanded Craig's economy by adding lodging and tourism. Moffat County was excluded from the initial [[Interstate Highway System]] plans as [[Interstate 80|I-80]] was routed through southern Wyoming and [[Interstate 70|I-70]] was planned to end in Denver and not cross the Rocky Mountains. Then Colorado Governor and former Moffat County resident, [[Edwin C. Johnson]] lobbied for I-70 to continue through Denver and connect to Salt Lake City. Eventually, the federal highway agency approved I-70 to continue through Colorado but routed it through Grand Junction, Colorado, leaving Moffat County as a secondary highway isolated between the two main east/west Interstate arteries.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The population in Moffat County stabilized at just over 5,000 people by the first census in 1920; however, it remained stagnant until the 1970s when construction of three coal-fired electrical power plants began. Those three plants are now scheduled to be closed in 2025, 2028, and 2030, respectively, creating a severe impact on the county's economy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 19, 2022 |title=Colorado coal town grapples with future as plant shuts down |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2022/01/19/colorado-coal-town-craig-plant-shuts-down/ |access-date=September 4, 2022 |website=The Denver Post |language=en-US}}</ref>  Beyond the energy industries, Moffat County's ranching, agricultural, and tourism industries round out its primary economy. The 2020 census data showed the population at 13,292 people, which is almost the same as the county's post-power plant boom in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=U.S. Census Bureau |date=September 3, 2022 |title=Quick Facts - Moffat County, Colorado |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/moffatcountycolorado}}</ref>