Trinidad, Colorado is the county seat of Las Animas County. Located between exits 11 and 15 on the I-25 at the foot of Fisher's Peak (elevation: 9,665 ft.), Trinidad is alive with history.

Stephen Watts Kearney led his Army of the West through what would become Trinidad in 1846 on his way to take Nuevo Mexico from the Mexicans in the Mexican War. This is when Lt. Waldemar Fischer climbed the peak that now bears his name, he was trying to discover where he was and if he could see further ahead. The Mormon Battalion came through Trinidad then, too, on their way to Santa Fe, La Mesilla and then across southern Arizona to the Southern California coast before being released from the Army and then making their way back to Utah. In Civil War times, Lt. John Scoville and other members of his group left their names and initials carved in a sandstone boulder on a ridge just below Fisher's Peak. They were on their way to engage with the Confederates at Glorieta Pass.

The First National Bank

In 1862, Felipe and Dolores Baca came to Trinidad from Mora, New Mexico with 12 families who settled all up and down the Purgatoire River. The Baca's first settled in the area just northwest of the river, a few blocks north of what was to become Main Street so they could take advantage of business opportunities along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail, which ran right down what was to become Main Street and then turned up the hill just before the Purgatoire River and headed south along Gallinas Creek and up over Raton Pass. A few years later Felipe gave Dolores a new gift: he traded $7,000 dollars worth of wool for the home we now know as the Baca House. For some folks, Trinidad was very prosperous in those days. When Frank Bloom came to town, he was the manager of his father-in-law's new mercantile in Trinidad. When he left town, he was a land and cattle baron with interests in banking and mining, essentially a millionaire. His rivalry with Felipe Baca is what has left us with the Bloom Mansion on the same block as the Baca House, across the street from the Chappelle Mansion.

In 1872, coal was discovered and a cry went out to Europe for skilled mining labor. The folks who responded formed the basis for the present cultural mix of Hispanic, Italian, Greek, Polish, Irish, Lebanese, Slavic, and other Northern European families. In the early 1900's, the owners of the coal mines were sending agents to Europe to recruit miners right out of the European mines. While promised excellent wages and working conditions in Europe, the miners arrived in southern Colorado to find low wages, horrific working conditions and living situations completely under the thumbs of the mine owners and their agents.

Trinidad was incorporated in 1876, the same year Colorado became a state. The Barlow and Sanderson Stage Coach ran through town regularly for years, until the railroad arrived in 1878. It was a rough and tumble town through these turbulent times but Bat Masterson and other lawmen slowly brought civilization and relative peace to Trinidad. By the early 1900's, the red light district, the gamblers and most of the saloons were relegated to the area of West Main Street where the Fox Theater, the Safeway, the Sonic and the Trinidad Motor Inn are now.

Because of the coal mines, Trinidad was a booming town in those days. It is said that on holiday weekends, the hotels were so filled up that people were sleeping in the hallways. There was a trolley system that ran across Trinidad and out to Cokedale. The first airfield was north of Trinidad, east of the I-25, just north of Exit 23. During World War II, a new airport was built southeast of Hoehne. TWA was flying a regular schedule out of Trinidad until 1956, when most of the remaining active coal mines closed. The last coal mine closed in 1996.

In 1970 the Army Corps of Engineers began construction of Trinidad Lake Dam. As part of the program, they had to move several miles of train tracks, seven miles of State Highway 12 and five small towns along the way that were going to be flooded by the lake.

The railroad, cattle and agriculture still make up a good portion of Trinidad's industrial base, although coalbed methane has become a major business in the western part of the county and the county's biggest collective employer and taxpayer. Trinidad is also a regional center for education and the arts and a great starting place for fishing, hiking, hunting, and skiing adventures.

The entire downtown of Trinidad, with its' wealth of Victorian architecture, has been declared a National Historic District. In addition to the oldest state college in Colorado, Trinidad State Junior College, the city has five museums, a full service hospital and a state nursing home. There are 11 tennis courts, a municipal swimming pool and a nine hole municipal golf course. In 2003, the city completed construction of a world-class skateboarding park next to the Community Center.

West of town on Highway 12, the Scenic Highway of Legends, is Trinidad Lake State Park, a prime place for fishing, hiking, boating, and camping.

Nearby is the San Isabel National Forest, Sugarite State Park, Vermejo Park Ranch, and the National Rifle Association's Whittington Center.

Cuchara, Angel Fire, Red River, Taos, Sipapu, Wolf Creek, Monarch, Santa Fe, and Rio Costilla ski areas are all within two to three hours drive. Trinidad also gets daily train service from AmTrak (the Chicago to Los Angeles run).