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as new mines continued to open, often with absentee owners. In 1879, C. C. Welch sold the Welch Mine to Jay Gould, president of the Union Pacific. Gould was then in the process of consoli- dating most of Colorado's northern lines under U.P. control, in- cluding the Colorado Central. Miners increasingly came to the conclusion that owners like Gould were not responsive to their demands for improved safety precautions, and wage and hour con- cessions. Organizing came to be seen as the only means to achieve these demands as the rapid development of the coal fields brought competition for scarce jobs, aggravated by the summer lay-off period. Miners tended to organize into local unions before the the effectiveness of the national U.M.W. was demonstrated in the 1890's. Besides striking for wage, hour and safety benefits, the issue of mines employing strike breakers became a major point of contention. Many immigrants were brought to the area as strike breakers without understanding the issues or the resentment of the strikers. What is most significant for a discussion of Louisville's development during this period, is the impact the strikes had on the local economic situation. What little gains the miners eventually received were more than often offset by the curtail- ment of production during the prolonged strike periods. The strike of 1910-1914, which was held in sympathy with the coal miners of the southern fields and required federal troops to finally settle, brought severe setbacks to coal production levels. The mines never really fully recovered from those devastating years. The peak years of 1907, (760,023 tons produced from Louisville's twelve mines), and 1909, (753,827 tons from thirteen mines); there- forliirectly correspond to the high water mark of Louisville's early economic development. This fact is born out by the rate of building construction and additions to the town before 1910. During and immediately after the strike years, the town seems to have struggled to consolidate the gains it had made with very little new construction taking place. The violence associated with the strike undoubtedly discouraged many from moving to or investing in the area.