PUEBLO

city, seat (1861) of Pueblo county, south central Colorado, U.S., situated on the Arkansas River, near its confluence with Fountain Creek, at an elevation of 4,690 ft (1,430 m). James Beckwourth, a mulatto trader and onetime warchief of the Crow Indians, established a trading post on the site in 1842. A community called Fountain City developed in 1858 but was later absorbed by Pueblo City (laid out in 1860). Growth was stimulated by the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1872 and the Santa Fe line in 1876. It lies near coalfields and is an important manufacturing, retail, and trucking centre for the surrounding Arkansas Valley irrigated agricultural region. At nearby Minnequa is the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation, one of the nation's largest steel plants. The Pueblo Army Depot (1942) is just to the east. The University of Southern Colorado originated as Pueblo Junior College (1933). A flood-control system along the Arkansas River was constructed to prevent recurrence of the 1921 flood disaster, and a dam impounds a large reservoir 6 mi upstream from the city. San Isabel National Forest (to the west) is headquartered at Pueblo. Inc. 1885. Pop. (1990) city, 98,640; Pueblo MSA, 123,051.