Arcadia Publishing The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company History Book

With roots dating to 1872, the Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) Company at Pueblo served as the principal heavy industry leader in the Rocky Mountain region, producing steel rails, spikes and track accessories for the burgeoning railroad industry. Over the next 121 years, the company grew to manufacture dozens of other products used in the agriculture, mining, commercial and residential industries, driving Pueblo to become the “Pittsburgh of the West.” As the region's largest private employer, CF&I also played a significant role in the history of American labor relations. A vertically integrated company maintaining its own mining, transportation, land and water resources and medical, recreational and steelmaking facilities, CF&I also played a critical role in the history and development of the products that connected the Centennial State and, ultimately, the West.