AGRICULTURE
W*
hile the railroad and coal industry have dominated Carbon County's history since the early years of settlement, farming and livestock also have long been important to the economy and have helped to shape the county. County residents often crossed back and forth between mining and farming. Some worked as miners during the fall and winter when the coal mines operated at their peak, then returned to run family farms during the spring and summer. Others worked in the mines for a few years in order to obtain capital to invest in a farm or a herd of sheep and, for a good number of immigrants, a return to the agricultural life they had known before coming to America. The coal camps became one of the primary consumers of the local farm produce. Local farmers sometimes became peddlers, going from coal camp to coal camp to sed their produce. A few dairy herds were established to supply milk to the camps. Some farmers developed extensive sheep herds and others operated cattle ranches. Before these complexities came to characterize agriculture in Carbon County, however, the area was first settled by subsistence farmers 46
