Arkansas River Valley

Arkansas River Valley. . Florence Oil Field , Alexander Cassidy dug a twenty-three-foot-deep oil well near here in 1862, making this Colorado's first oil-producing region. Cassidy and others spent nearly two decades plumbing the hollows and seeps, sure that a major source lurked somewhere nearby. It did , more than 1,000 feet down. Drillers reached it in 1881, and within a decade nearly 400 producing wells dotted the hills around this area. Output peaked in 1892 at over 824,000 barrels, making the field an important part of Colorado's economy. Though production has declined over the years, the wells maintain a slow but steady flow. Well 42, tapped in 1882, still brings forth a trickle , the nation's longest continuously producing oil well., Natural resources , The Arkansas Valley boasted one of Colorado's finest orchards, planted near here in 1859. The future, however, lay in manufacturing plants, not fruit-bearing ones. Coal, iron, calcite, silica, limestone, gypsum, gold, and other treasures streaking the surrounding hills, and all came by freight to Cañon City and Florence, whose downstream locations and good rail access made them natural refining and distribution hubs. Though gold production declined in 1912, the cities' smelters and mills stayed busy cranking out steel rails from the 1890s through World War II. Today, rivaling these industries is yet another resource , the Arkansas River itself. Since the Great Depression the Arkansas has enticed recreationists in such numbers that into the twenty-first century it may rightly claim to be the world's busiest whitewater rafting locale.