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Cotopaxi is a relatively small unincorporated town that lies beside the Arkansas River in Fremont County, Colorado. Today, it remains a small train stop on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. There is a small local population living in Cotopaxi, most of whom are Caucasian. Because of this low population there are no major businesses in Cotopaxi excepts for a thriving white water rafting business that attract thousands of tourist each year to ride the Arkansas River.

History
Cotopaxi was named after the highest active volcano in the world (Mount Cotopaxi) located in Ecuador. Henry Thomas was the man responsible naming Cotopaxi. Henry was an early prospector to the western territory in the mid nineteenth century. Cotopaxi is also known for its early failed colony of approximately sixty-three Jewish-Russian immigrants who first settled there in 1882. These colonists, most of whom were related, traveled to Colorado in hopes of starting a successful farming community and to reap the benefits of the Homestead Act, which would grant each head male of a family one hundred and sixty acres of land. When the colonists arrived to Cotopaxi, they discovered that only half of the houses that were promised to be built upon their arrival had actually been erected; this forced many of the families to live out of make-shift canvas houses during the first winter. In addition to the housing problems, the colonist also faced an extreme shortage of supplies that were needed to support them through the first winter and to plant their crops. Desperate to plant their crops, the colonists open large lines of credit with the local store to buy the seeds and equipment they needed to get their crops planted. The variety of crops that the colonists chose to plant mostly consisted of potatoes and corn. The immigrants soon discovered however that the climate in the mountains was only suitable for growing crops for less than four months out of the year, and the first frost of winter killed most of what was still planted in the fields. This failed season of crops forced the immigrants to look for jobs elsewhere to help pay off their growing debt to the local store. They soon found work with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad which had decided to lay down more tracks to the west over the Marshall Pass. The men were paid three dollars a day which helped the struggling colony get through its first winter. The colonist made it to spring but the second crop was also a failure and entire families soon started leaving. Only six families remained to plant a third crop which was wiped out by a blizzard and this officially ended the attempted farming colony in June of 1884.

Businesses
Today, Cotopaxi has a few small businesses the most notable of which is the Cotopaxi General Store. This general store is connected to a Sinclair gas station and a small hotel. .