Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. San Miguel County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is named for the San Miguel River. The county population was 6,594 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Telluride. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,288 square miles (3,337 km²), of which, 1,286 square miles (3,332 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.15%) is water. San Miguel County was given the Spanish language name for "Saint Michael" due to the nearby San Miguel River. On 27 February 1883 Ouray County was split to form San Miguel County. Originally the San Miguel County portion was to retain the name Ouray County with the new portion called Uncompahgre County. Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area of Colorado formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a directresult of a Western Federation of Miners proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for the eight hour day, which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters.