Editing Pueblo, Colorado (section)

==History==
===El Pueblo===
{{Main|Early history of the Arkansas Valley in Colorado}}
[[James Beckwourth]], George Simpson, and other trappers such as [[Mathew Kinkead]] and [[John Brown (Mountain Man)|John Brown]], claimed to have helped construct the plaza that became known as [[El Pueblo (Pueblo, Colorado)|El Pueblo]] around 1842.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Broadhead
 | title = Fort Pueblo
 | year = 1995
 | page = 1
 | no-pp = true
}}</ref> According to accounts of residents who traded at the plaza (including that of George Simpson), the [[Fort Pueblo Massacre]] happened sometime between December 23 and 25, 1854, by a war party of [[Ute Tribe|Utes]] and [[Jicarilla Apache]]s under the leadership of Tierra Blanca, a Ute chief.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Broadhead
 | title = Fort Pueblo
 | year = 1942
 | page = 23
 | no-pp = true
}}</ref> They allegedly killed between fifteen and nineteen men, as well as captured two children and one woman.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lecompte|first=Janet|title=Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn: The Upper Arkansas, 1832-1856|year=1978|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman, Oklahoma|isbn=0-8061-1462-2|pages=35–53, 54–62, 63–85, 246–253|quote=Sometime during the winter of 1841-42 George Simpson and Robert Fisher met with other men and planned the Pueblo.}}</ref> The trading post was abandoned after the raid, but it became important again between 1858 and 1859 during the [[Colorado Gold Rush of 1859]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last =Dodds
 | title=Pueblo
 | year = 1982
 | pages=16, 23
 | no-pp =true
}}</ref>

=== Early development: railroads, steel, expansion, and orphanages ===
[[File:Colorado - Pueblo - NARA - 23936131 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Railroad yards in Pueblo, 1943]]
The current city of Pueblo represents the consolidation of four towns: Pueblo (incorporated 1870), [[South Pueblo, Colorado|South Pueblo]] (incorporated 1873), [[Central Pueblo, Colorado|Central Pueblo]] (incorporated 1882), and [[Bessemer, Colorado|Bessemer]] (incorporated 1886). Pueblo, South Pueblo, and Central Pueblo legally consolidated as the City of Pueblo between March 9 and April 6, 1886. Bessemer joined Pueblo in 1894.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last =Aschermann
 | title=Winds in the Cornfields
 | year = 1994
 | page = 51
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 | last =Dodds
 | title=They All Came To Pueblo
 | year = 1994
 | page = 168
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 | last =Dodds
 | title=Pueblo
 | year = 1982
 | pages = 54, 63
 | no-pp =true
}}</ref>

The consolidated city became a major economic and social center of Colorado, and was home to important early Colorado families such as the Thatchers, the [[James Bradley Orman|Ormans]], and the Adams. By the early 1870s the city was being hailed as a beacon of development, with newspapers like the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' boasting of how the region's lawless reputation was giving way to orderly agriculture with triumphalist rhetoric. One author crowed of Pueblo that "the necessity exists no longer for Sharp's rifles and revolvers. These have been [supplanted] by the plow and the mowing-machine."<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Pueblo: a Glimpse of Life in Southern Colorado|date = April 16, 1873|journal = Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

Pueblo's development stretched beyond agriculture. Steel emerged as a key industry very early, and in 1909 the city was considered the only steel town west of the Mississippi River.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Pueblo has Been Developed into Great Steel City by Vast Industry of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co.|date = September 17, 1909|journal = Christian Science Monitor}}</ref>

Until a series of major floods culminated in the Great Flood of 1921,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025514/1921-06-11/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=06%2F01%2F1921&index=6&date2=07%2F31%2F1921&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=flood+Flood+FLOOD+flooded+Flooded+flooding+floods&proxdistance=5&state=Colorado&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=Flooding&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1| title = The Colorado statesman. &#91;volume&#93;, June 11, 1921, Image 2 estimated that 500 out of 575 flood fatalities came from Pueblo Chronicling America accessed OCtober 6.2020| date =June 11, 1921}}</ref> Pueblo was considered the 'Saddle-Making capital of the World'. Roughly one-third of Pueblo's downtown businesses were lost in this flood, along with a substantial number of buildings. Pueblo struggled with this significant loss, but has had a resurgence in growth.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Historically, many people were influenced by the orphanages of Pueblo, and the homes are now all historical sites. The three orphanages in Pueblo were known as Sacred Heart, Lincoln, and McClelland. Lincoln was the first historically black orphanage in Colorado, and one of only seven in the country. Sacred Heart was run by the Catholic Welfare Bureau, while McClelland was run by the Lutheran Church. Several children from Cuba were placed at Sacred Heart as part of "[[Operation Pedro Pan]]". Though the orphanages in Pueblo are no longer in service, the buildings still exist and have transformed with the times. According to the ''[[Rocky Mountain News]]'', in 1988 the Sacred Heart Orphanage was bought by the Pueblo Housing Authority and turned into 40 small-family housing units.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Sacred Heart Orphanage bought by the Pueblo Housing Authority |date = May 29, 1988|journal = Rocky Mountain News}}</ref>

[[File:Pueblo Colorado Business District Flood 1921.JPG|thumb|left|From ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' magazine (1921)]]

===Steel mill===
{{Main|Colorado Fuel and Iron}}
The main industry in Pueblo for most of its history was the [[Colorado Fuel and Iron]] (CF&I) Steel Mill on the south side of town. For nearly a century the CF&I was the largest employer in the state of Colorado. The steel-market crash of 1982 led to the decline of the company. After several bankruptcies, the company was acquired by [[Oregon Steel Mills, Inc.|Oregon Steel Mills]] and changed its name to Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. The buyout, as well as the end of the union contract in 1997 led to a union strike over pension liabilities, as well as working conditions, wherein the union argued the new owners still needed to pay the pension liabilities provided by the previous owners. With the conclusion of the strike on December 30, 1997, CF&I had replaced several hundred union workers with local employees.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berry |first=Brian |date=March 2000 |year=2000 |title=The Heroes of Pueblo |url=https://wooster.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?bookMark=eNpNzD1rwzAUhWENKTRJs3UtuHMxSJYs644h9CMQaAfvRpauP4qxU13p_9cQKF3O8j6cHTvYFAec4-hsRL9hW8ErlQsN_J7tiL4554UwsGWP9YDZgGFBypYu-0rYTssDu-vsRHhgmxgS7ln99lqfPvLL5_v5dLzkvVEyN8Jr6bkHX4lCGWjRAddWKQeI0koHYDVoV8quLEzRopDGtl65ShquK5B79ny7vYblJyHFJuB1CZGaQkjBNYBczdPN9HbCZpy7JQbrGi20rEowa3_519tE44y0Do39EKm3iag5_ulf2ZZPyA |url-access=limited |access-date=January 26, 2023 |website=EBSCOHOST |series=Volume 16, Issue 3 |publisher=[[New Steel]]}}</ref>

In September 2004, both [[United Steelworkers]] locals 2102 and 3267 won the strike and the unfair labor practice charges. All of the striking steel workers returned to their jobs, and the company paid them the back pay owed for the seven years they were on strike. In 2007, shortly after Oregon Steel made amends with the union and its workers, [[Evraz Group]], one of Russia's biggest steel producers, agreed to buy the company for $2.3 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chieftain.com/metro/russian-steel-giant-to-buy-oregon-steel/article_d51a1587-a249-5f23-8aca-89028033acbd.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723232110/http://www.chieftain.com/metro/russian-steel-giant-to-buy-oregon-steel/article_d51a1587-a249-5f23-8aca-89028033acbd.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |title=Russian steel giant to buy Oregon Steel - Pueblo Chieftain: Metro |publisher=Chieftain.com |date=November 21, 2006 |access-date=May 26, 2012 }}</ref>

Of the many production and fabrication mills that once existed on the site, only the steel production (electric furnaces, used for scrap recycling), rail, rod, bar, and seamless tube mills are still in operation. The wire mill was sold in the late 1990s to Davis Wire, which still produces products such as fence and nails under the CF&I brand name. The facility operated blast furnaces until 1982, when the steel market collapsed. The main blast furnace structures were torn down in 1989, but due to asbestos content, many of the adjacent stoves still remain. The stoves and foundations for some of the furnaces can be seen from Interstate 25, which runs parallel to the plant's west boundary.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Several of the administration buildings, including the main office building, dispensary, and tunnel gatehouse were purchased in 2003 by the [[Bessemer Historical Society]]. In 2006, they underwent renovation. In addition to housing the historic CF&I Archives, they also house the [[Steelworks Museum of Industry and Culture]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Museum|url=https://www.steelworks.us/the-museum/|access-date=September 23, 2020|website=Steelworks Center of the West}}</ref>

==="Melting Pot of the West"===
Due to the growth of the [[CF&I]] steel mill and the employment that it offered, Pueblo in the early twentieth century attracted a large number of immigrant laborers. The groups represented led to Pueblo becoming the most ethnically and culturally diverse city in Colorado and the West. At one point, more than 40 languages were spoken in the steel mill and more than two-dozen foreign language newspapers were published in the city.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.denverpost.com/2015/12/05/slow-to-rebound-pueblo-is-redefining-its-economic-image/|title=Slow to rebound, Pueblo is redefining its economic image|newspaper=The Denver Post|date=December 5, 2015|access-date=February 1, 2018}}</ref> [[Irish-American|Irish]], [[Italian-American|Italian]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chieftain.com/entertainmentlife/20200313/la-museum-spotlights-pueblos-st-joseph-tables|title=LA museum spotlights Pueblo's St. Joseph Tables|work=The Pueblo Chieftain|language=en|access-date=March 14, 2020}}</ref> [[German-American|German]], [[Slovene American|Slovenian]], [[Greek-American|Greek]], [[Jewish-American|Jewish]], [[Lithuanian-American|Lithuanian]], [[Russian-American|Russian]], [[Hungarian-American|Hungarian]], [[Japanese-American|Japanese]], and [[African-American]] groups arrived in the area at the turn of the century and remain to the present time. The convergence of cultures led to a cosmopolitan character to the city that resulted in a number of ethnically rooted neighborhoods that are typically not seen west of the Mississippi. Respective cultural groups maintain cultural festivals to the present, with the city being home to locations of the [[Order Sons of Italy in America|Order Sons of Italy]], [[American Slovenian Catholic Union]], and [[Independent Order of Odd Fellows|I.O.O.F.]], among others.

===Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo===
Another major employer in Pueblo is Colorado State Hospital. The hospital is the preeminent mental health facility in the Rocky Mountain region. Established in 1879 as the Colorado State Insane Asylum, it was renamed as the Colorado State Hospital in 1917. In 1991, the name was changed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP). The Robert L. Hawkins High Security Forensic Institute opened in June 2009 and is a 200-bed, high-security facility.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDHS-BehavioralHealth/CBON/1251580690622 |title=About Us |publisher=State of Colorado |year=2015 |access-date=March 31, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009074137/http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDHS-BehavioralHealth/CBON/1251580690622 |archive-date=October 9, 2014 }}</ref>

===Home of Heroes===
Pueblo is the hometown of four [[Medal of Honor]] recipients (tied only with [[Holland, Michigan]], also with four,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://hollandmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Medal-of-Honor-Brochure.pdf |title=HOLLAND'S CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS |publisher=Holland Museum  |access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref> each having more than any other municipality in the United States): [[William J. Crawford]], [[Carl L. Sitter]], [[Raymond G. Murphy]], and [[Drew D. Dix]]. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], upon presenting Raymond G. "Jerry" Murphy with his medal in 1953, commented, "What is it... something in the water out there in Pueblo? All you guys turn out to be heroes!"

In 1993, Pueblo City Council adopted the tagline "Home of Heroes" for the city due to the fact that Pueblo can claim more recipients of the Medal per capita than any other city in the United States. On July 1, 1993, the ''Congressional Record'' recognized Pueblo as the "Home of Heroes."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.pueblo.org/homeofheroes/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626224921/http://www.pueblo.org/homeofheroes/ |title=Pueblo, Colorado - The Home of Heroes |publisher=The Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce and The Pueblo Chieftain Newspaper |year=1999 |archive-date=June 26, 2006 |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref> A memorial to the recipients of the medal is at the Pueblo Convention Center.

From 1846 to 1847 three detachments of the [[Mormon Battalion]] wintered in Pueblo during the [[Mexican–American War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mormon Battalion Detachments {{!}} Church History Biographical Database |url=https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/organization/pioneer-company/mormon-battalion-sick-detachments-1847?lang=eng |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=history.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>