Editing Trinidad, Colorado (section)

==Economy==
[[File:Oil Fields in the Hills Southwest of Trinidad Colorado (49806848352).jpg|thumb|right|Gas fields southwest of Trinidad]]
For many years Trinidad housed the miners who worked in the coal mines of the [[Raton Basin]] south and west of the town. Major operators included [[Colorado Fuel and Iron]] and [[Victor-American Fuel Company]]. The mines are now closed, but since the 1980s companies have been drilling new gas wells to extract [[coalbed methane]] from the remaining coal seams.

Trinidad's location at the foot of [[Raton Pass]], along the [[Santa Fe Trail]] between [[St. Joseph, Missouri]], and [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], has always made it a favored route for travelers, first by foot, then horse and ox-drawn wagon, then railroad. [[Interstate 25 in Colorado|Interstate 25]] is the most highly traveled route between Colorado and New Mexico and bisects Trinidad.

In the early 20th century, Trinidad was the closest town to what many consider the beginning of the labor movement.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} Later that century the town saw swings of boom and bust as the oil industry heated and cooled.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}