Rifle, Colorado
Rifle is a city in Garfield County, located in the Colorado River valley in western Colorado. Situated along the Colorado River and near the White River National Forest, Rifle serves as a small regional center for the surrounding area and functions as a gateway community adjacent to major resort destinations. The city has a layered economic history rooted in agriculture, energy extraction, and tourism, and its landscape carries the physical and cultural imprint of each of those industries. From its distinction as one of the first towns in Colorado to have electric lights to its association with the uranium processing era of the twentieth century, Rifle occupies a notable place in the story of Colorado's development.
History
Rifle's early development followed patterns common to many western Colorado communities settled during the late nineteenth century. Agriculture along the Colorado River corridor provided the economic foundation for the town's early residents, who cultivated the land in a high-desert environment characterized by arid summers and cold winters.
Among the most distinctive elements of Rifle's early infrastructure was its power supply. According to the Northwest Colorado Cultural Heritage Program, Rifle was one of the first towns in Colorado to have electric lights, powered by a hydroelectric plant at Rifle Creek.[1] This early adoption of hydroelectric power was a significant achievement for a frontier community and reflected the town's proximity to reliable water sources in the mountain streams feeding the Colorado River valley.
As the twentieth century progressed, Rifle's economy diversified beyond agriculture to include energy development. The region's geology made it a focal point for uranium processing and, later, for oil and gas extraction. The uranium legacy of the area became a matter of federal concern in subsequent decades.
The Rifle Mill Site and Nuclear Legacy
among the most consequential chapters in Rifle's history involves its association with uranium processing. The Rifle Mill Site, located in Rifle, was identified in government records as a site that handled or was contaminated by uranium. The Department of Energy initially considered cleaning up the site under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), but ultimately determined that the site had been, or would be, more properly handled under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act.[2]
The site's FUSRAP status was recorded as "considered but eliminated," indicating that while federal authorities examined the location as a potential remediation candidate under the program designed to address contamination at former atomic weapons program sites, the cleanup pathway was directed through separate uranium mill tailings legislation. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) did not cover the Rifle Mill Site in its 2011 evaluation report on residual radiation at atomic weapons employer facilities and beryllium vendor facilities.[3] The legacy of uranium processing left both environmental and institutional marks on the community, and federal oversight of the old and new Rifle processing sites continued into the twenty-first century, with verification monitoring reports issued by the Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management.
Economy
Rifle's historic economy rests on three primary pillars: agriculture, energy, and tourism, with the city also functioning as a small regional center adjacent to resort communities.[4] This combination has given Rifle economic resilience while also making it vulnerable to commodity cycles that affect both the agricultural and energy sectors.
The Colorado River, which flows through the region, has shaped the economy in multiple ways — providing water for agricultural irrigation, contributing to hydroelectric power generation, and serving as an attraction for outdoor recreation and tourism. The river forms a unifying physical and economic thread through Rifle's history from its founding to the present.[5]
Energy development, including oil and gas extraction in the broader Piceance Basin region of western Colorado, has played a significant role in Rifle's modern economy. Periods of energy boom have brought population growth and economic activity, while downturns in commodity prices have tested the community's adaptability.
Notable Businesses and Points of Interest
Shooters Grill
Rifle attracted national and international media attention due to a restaurant known for a distinctive approach to the Second Amendment. Shooters Grill, a western Colorado restaurant in Rifle, became known for not merely allowing customers to openly carry firearms, but for employing waitstaff who themselves carry loaded weapons while on duty.[6] The establishment became a subject of widespread media coverage and was associated with Lauren Boebert, who later became a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Colorado's Third Congressional District.
In the context of public discourse surrounding the restaurant, a fact-check published by Reuters addressed claims circulating on social media that the restaurant had received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of a specific amount. Reuters determined that these claims were false and that the restaurant had not received the loan amount cited in those posts.[7]
Recreation and Tourism
Rifle is positioned advantageously for outdoor recreation enthusiasts visiting western Colorado. The community serves as a base for visitors exploring the surrounding landscape of the Colorado River valley and the mountains and canyons of Garfield County.[8]
Tourism activities in and around Rifle include access to Rifle Falls State Park, a distinctive natural feature in the region known for its triple waterfall, as well as camping, fishing, hiking, and climbing opportunities in the broader area. The city's location on Interstate 70 makes it readily accessible to visitors traveling between the Denver metropolitan area and destinations further west, as well as to those heading north toward the White River region.
Rifle's proximity to major Colorado ski resorts places it within the orbit of the resort economy that defines much of mountain Colorado, though Rifle itself operates more as a working western community and service hub than as a resort destination in its own right.[9]
Special events and community gatherings form part of Rifle's identity as a regional center, drawing visitors from surrounding communities in Garfield County and beyond. The city hosts various events through the year that reflect its western heritage and community character.[10]
Notable Connections
Rifle appears in the biographical records of several notable and ordinary individuals who have lived in or passed through the community, illustrating the range of lives the city has touched.
Darrell Buchanan, who grew up in Colorado, attended high school in Rifle before going on to further education. According to his obituary, Buchanan spent his childhood in Leadville, Colorado and attended high school in Rifle, after which he continued his academic career at San Juan college.[11]
The community also appears in the records of Steven Charles Bachar, who died in Rifle in March 2024 at the age of 58. Bachar, originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, spent part of his life in Rifle.[12] These individual stories, drawn from public records, speak to Rifle's character as a genuine community that has served as home to residents from varied backgrounds.
Geography and Setting
Rifle occupies a location along the Colorado River in a valley flanked by mesas and canyon terrain characteristic of western Colorado's high desert geography. The setting combines river bottomland with the rugged uplands that define the Garfield County landscape. Rifle Creek, the waterway whose hydroelectric potential powered the town's early lights, flows into the Colorado River near the community.
The city lies at an elevation typical of the lower Colorado River valley in western Colorado, considerably lower in elevation than the mountain resort communities to the east, which contributes to its milder winters relative to higher-elevation Colorado towns. This geographic profile makes Rifle accessible year-round and positions it as a practical base for exploring both the river corridor and the higher terrain of the surrounding region.
Interstate 70 runs through Rifle, connecting it to the broader Colorado transportation network and linking the community to Grand Junction to the west and Glenwood Springs and the Denver metropolitan area to the east.
Cultural Heritage
The Northwest Colorado Cultural Heritage Program recognizes Rifle as a community with a meaningful heritage record, noting its early adoption of electric power as a point of distinction in regional history.[13] Efforts to document and interpret local and regional heritage connect Rifle to broader initiatives in northwest Colorado aimed at preserving the history of communities shaped by agriculture, industry, and the natural environment.
The community's experience with the uranium processing industry, while challenging in environmental terms, is part of the historical record of the mid-twentieth century West, when federal energy programs transformed numerous rural communities across states including Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Rifle's place in that history is documented through federal remediation records and monitored through ongoing programs managed by the Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management.
See Also
- Garfield County, Colorado
- Colorado River
- White River National Forest
- Grand Junction, Colorado
- Glenwood Springs, Colorado