In the 1870s, the American West was hungry for steel. Tousands of miles of open spaces, combined with rapid growth, created a strong demand for rails to carry passengers and freight. Te Central Colorado Improvement Company (CCI), based in Pueblo, Colorado, was one of the first to fill that need. CCI soon merged with the Colorado Fuel Company to become the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I). Tis new company expanded beyond just rails, offering other necessities, including wire rope.
In 1876, a number of small
wire mills in Massachusetts, dating back to the War of 1812, were merged into a single company, Spencer Wire. During this time, Wickwire Brothers of Cortland NY, a competitor of Spencer Wire, decided to split in 1907. One of the brothers chose to go into the steelmaking business at Buffalo NY. During a series of lateral expansions, Spencer was absorbed into a successor company known as Clinton Wright, which operated many wire fabricating plants including a wire rope mill in Palmer MA. In 1920, Clinton Wright in turn was merged into a new firm known as Wickwire Spencer Steel. CF&I grew quickly, becoming one of the largest manufacturers of steel products west of the Mississippi. From 1901 to 1912, it was such a major player that it was one of the companies used to determine the Dow Jones Industrial Average. CF&I began operating other mills across the country and after years of prosperity, eventually merged with Wickwire Spencer Steel in 1944.
Te company’s next major milestone came in 1952, when CF&I Wickwire purchased John A. Roebling’s Sons Co. Te Roebling company was unique not simply because of its success, but because of its heritage. It was founded by John A. Roebling, a German-born civil engineer who made crucial breakthroughs in the design and manufacture of wire rope. Te purchase of this company gave
CF&I Wickwire access to Roebling Sons’ long-standing knowledge base plus the largest customer list in the nation. In addition, the Roebling bridge cable division specialized in making large, parallel-wire, main cables for suspension bridges (Te George Washington Bridge, also featured in this issue, is one example of a bridge design made possible by Roebling’s cables; other major crossings include Mackinac and the Golden Gate bridges).
TAKEOVER AND LIQUIDATION Te tide turned, however, when CF&I was bought out by Crane Co. in 1969. Tis holdings company was run by Tomas Mellon Evans,
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE MAY-JUNE 2012 25
a well-known financier with a radical approach to investment strategy. Te pioneer of the hostile corporate takeover, Evans delivered extremely high value to his shareholders by using tactics so aggressive that he was compared to a great white shark. In the mid-1970s, Evans began
shutting down CF&I’s operations, putting many employees out of a job. Te 1982 steel market crash made it more difficult for CF&I to hold on, and Evans ultimately liquidated it entirely in 1985. Te closings and liquidation came as a shock to many employees. It seemed outrageous for a large company with a long history of strong performance to simply be shut down, and Evans’s harsh methods generated plenty of controversy.
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