Tough Men in Hard Places, livre ebook

The mines in southwestern Colorado were in trouble and needed cheap, reliable electric power to keep running. This is the story of innovative solutions to solve the problem using alternating current electricity and the incredible effort, tenacity, and toughness of the men who overcame formidable obstacles to bring electrification to the mines, ranches, homes, and businesses in the remote and rugged areas of southwestern Colorado. Here is their story in 150 intriguing historic photos from the Center of Southwest Studies. Tough men peer from the pages with attitude to spare next to gargantuan equipment in unforgiving terrain. Many of the photographs were taken by Philip “P. C.” Schools, power plant superintendent with the Western Colorado Power Co., whose turn-of-the-century photographs documented the coming of electricity to Southwest Colorado and from which his legacy glows.
After that “brilliant arc of electricity shot six feet into the air,” power companies sprang up like wild mushrooms after a summer rain. The companies were eager to capitalize on this new opportunity, which they suspected would be more lucrative than all the gold and silver booms of the past. At one point there were about thirty separate power companies operating in Colorado to bring electricity, power, and conveniences to rural homesteads. One by one, however, they went out of business or merged. In March 1913, the remaining companies were consolidated into the Western Colorado Power Company (WCPC).
From interviews recorded thirty or more years after they retired, what follows are firsthand descriptions of those early days, in the real voices of farmers, ranchers, and former employees of the power company as they remembered electricity coming to their homes and businesses.
P. W. Wood, former WCPC employee:
“I was the manager of the Hotchkiss Packing & Power Co. around 1909. Electric service in those days was very poor, the voltage was low and people in town were put to much inconvenience. Many people claimed the furnace was fired with dry apple peelings, which didn’t give enough heat to keep up a full head of steam. When the lights would dim customers would call up the plant and say ‘Throw on another shovel-full of apple peelings!’
“In the fall of 1928 the company started twenty-four-hour service. Previous, service had been only until midnight and only began again at 10 A.M. on Mondays and noon on Tuesdays so housewives could do their laundry. Rate of service was fifteen cents per kilowatt.” —Interview, October 1939
J. A. Bullock, former supervisor at WCPC:
“The Telluride offices were well equipped with rugs, desks, chairs, etc. and there were three bedrooms and a bath for use by employees not having a home of their own. There were usually three to five engineers there, most of whom were young engineering school graduates. We had a stable with good saddle horses. We billed customers on a strictly demand basis with rates varying from $4.50 per h.p. [horsepower] to $10 per h.p.” —Letter dated October 1939