city, seat (1874) of Huerfano county, southern Colorado, U.S., on the Cucharas River, east of the Sangre de Cristo Range (Sangre de Cristo Mountains) and south of Pueblo, at an elevation of 6,187 feet (1,886 metres). Formed in 1873 from a small Spanish village (La Plaza de los Leones), it was named for Fred Walsen, who organized the community. Walsenburg developed as a coal-shipping point following the arrival (c. 1876) of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company). Coal production was once the economic mainstay, but the contemporary economy is based mainly upon agricultural produce, ranching, tourism, and industries, including flour milling, saw milling, meat packing, and the manufacture of transportation equipment and sporting goods. Nearby are Huajatolla (a twin-peak spur of the Sangre de Cristos, locally called the Spanish Peaks), Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Indian pictographs in Cucharas Canyon, parts of the San Isabel National Forest, and Huerfano Butte. Inc. 1873. Pop. (1990) 3,300; (2000) 4,182.