| OCR Text |
Show Meeker In Middle Of Rich Valley Located apMEEKER, Colo. h proximately in the center of Rio Blanco county, in the White River Valley of northwestern Colorado, Meeker is the hub of the entire areas livestock, timber, mining and oil industries. Rangely, also in Ric Blanco county, is of course the oil capital of the district. But Meeker, too, plays its own individual part in the oil boom. Twelve miles northwest of Meeker and atop the Danforth mountain range is the Wilson Creek oil field, the highest producing oil field in the world. Well No. 37, brought into production in 1953, stands at an altitude of 9,000 feet. The field dates back to 1920 when the Freeman No. 1 well was drilled with a steam plant and cable tools but was It lay dormant until 1937, when an electric rig was moved in and Wilson Creek No. 1 well was brought in as a producer. This well is still flowing under its own pressure. Cattle raising remains the principal industry in this area, however, and agriculture naturally plays an important part. Climatic and soil conditions in this section combine to make it perfect for altalfa and gram production. It is the home of the famous registered Meeker Baltic Alfalfa, the only certified alfalfa seed produced in Colorado and seeds from this strain have been shipped all over this country and to some foreign countries. oil-rie- IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY youll see an elk In about the center of the picture above, standing in snows in the White River National Forest near Meeker. Over 1,800 elk were bagged here during the last hunting season. Art Lammers of Meeker bagged this one with his camera. ehest-dee- p Meeker Proud of Ifs Outstanding Schools Meeker is proud of MEEKER its modern school system, with a faculty of 33 teachers and a well balanced, soundly planned educational program offered to 496 stu- dents. The three Rs are stressed, but In addition, art, music, physical education and special training courses are offered students. A new high school building, placed in construction in 1954, may be ready for occupancy in September of this year. The project will cost about $900,000 when completed. DELCO LIGHT SALES & SERVICE Commercial Wiring Delco Pumps Electric Motors Ph. U Box 902 Meeker, Colo. YOUR ' John Deere Dealer TRACTORS IMPLEMENTS SERVICE The John Deeie Way L. E. IDOL and Company Phone 99 Meeker Colorado GAMBLES AUTHORIZED DEALER The Friendly Store FURNITURE HARDWARE SPORTING GOODS Meeker, Colorado We Specialize In FINE STEAKS EL RANCHO Cafe and Bar On Hiway 13 on , Hank Fehlman Owner MEEKER, COLORADO Meeker Outstanding Example Of Western Community Culture MEEKER, Colo. Meeker is known to everyone, through studies of recorded history, as scene of the the Meeker Massacre, the final big Indian uprising in the west. Many easterners visualize this far west country as wild, woolly, and dangerous. There are still cowboys in this country, the men who ride the range .lands looking after cattle. Sheep Raising Is One Of Rio Blanco's Major Livesfock Industries MEEKER Production of lambs and wool is an important industry in Rio Blanco county. The climate is excellent for production of a prime wool, with very light shrinkage and a long lustrous fiber. Average lambs raised in the county are shipped at an age of four to five months and bring top prices. 90,000 sheep Approximately graze each year on the rich forage of Rio Blanco county. Their summer pastures are high on the flat tops of the White River National Forest and in the winter the sheep graze in the lower country, west of Rangely. Range Call Attracts Thousands to Meeker But they tote guns only to protect their charges from mountain lions and other predatory animals of the high country. Too, there is much land in this beautiful section of - Colorado which has not been completely settled only because it is not considered to be productive and therefore is not worth the effort required to make it able to produce crops. Meeker lies at an altitude of 6,240 feet above sea level, and boasts a fine climate, cool and inviting in the summer and just the right temperature for multiple winter sports activities. Its streets are hard surfaced, its houses modern, its businesses thriving and modern in goods and store design. This is no longer frontier country, but representative of the many hundreds of communities of similar size all over the nation. Meeker is a city of homes, but one where the visitor finds genuine western hospitality and western culture. Here the visitor finds churches of most of the representative denominations which meet the requirements of spiritual life, so necessary in any thriving community. Too, there is a beautiful hospital, just recently constructed and one of the finest equipped in the state, to serve the surrounding area. Meeker fire equipment and ambulance service is housed in the new City Hall building and is manned by the top volunteer fire department in the west. all-ye- ar each year, on Range Call is held at Meeker the original rodeo show of the west. This celebration, started nearly seventy years ago, is noted for its clean, exciting and colorful entertainment. It is unique as most of the contestants are real cowboys who ride the MEEKER, Colo. While it was range and can hold their own known for more than 50 years that of best the professionals against in the Coal western carnotite ore ofexisted other nationally this district, it was Creek section shows. not until 1954 that the prospecting To accommodate the big crowds to the general public. fever which annually attend Range Duringspread last year, one town official Call Rodeo, a huge covered grandstand has been erected at the ro- estimated, more than half the popudeo grounds that will seat several lation of Meeker sought uranium ore in one way or another. thousand spectators. During World War II some vanadium was taken from the district to the Rifle mill and the ore i contained some uranium as a oduct. During last summer it was By for a Sunday and holiday practice The Cavitron, according to Meeker residents to go out and the of a Nickelsworth, magazine stake claims. Some good ore was International Nickel Co., uses taken from the White River area sounds you cannot hear to cut and there are thousands of claims shapes and holes in the hardest staked in all parts of Rio Blanco materials known, yet the cutting county. die can be a piece of softer metal. Several drilling crews have opUltrasonic vibrations start inside erated in the east end of the counnickel the transducer head, where ty, mainly in the Uranium Peak plates shrink 1,620,000 times a min- section during summer months. electroof influence the ute under Flying over the area reveals nearmagnetism. Vibrations pass down ly as many prospect holes as seen to a Monel Toolholder a through in the Clear Creek basin when cutting implement brazed on the the mining boom struck Colorado end. Then they enter a stream of water which carries microscopic many years ago. that It is expected during 1955 it particles of abrasive. Vibrations many of drive the abrasive against the piece will be learned whether which is to be cut, so that you the uranium claims filed will be or have the effect of millions of micro- on successful producing mines, alwhether they are duds. But scopic chisels. Still in the experimental stage, though no one expects to get rich Cavitron is already being used quick from uranium activity in in making parts for aircraft, the district, it is expected that sufelectronic, and jewelry industries. ficient uranium will be produced It can pierce holes with, a toler- to put some of the prospectors into ance of 0.0003 in. in the hardest a much higher income bracket than now. materials. MEEKER July 4 and Once 5, Sunday Prospectors Search tor Uranium well-know- n New Tool Cuts Using Sound by-p- Deeded Land Pasture MEEKER, Colo. There are acres in Rio Blanco county, of which are deeded, and 92 per cent of the deed land is used for pasture, four per cent for hay and two per cent for small grains. Irrigated valleys and dry farmed mesas produce excellent crops. Water is plentiful for irrigation in Rio Blanco county and the average rainfall at Meeker is about 17 SALES and SERVICE KENNEDY Chevrolet Co. one-thir- d Phone 31 Highway Meeker, Colorado 13 |
