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Show SUN ADVOCATE & HELPER JOURNAL Thursday, January 2, 1975 PAGE 3 Winter Quarters explosion kills 200 by J.W. Dilley. ... . . - which consolidated in 1915 with Hiawatha is shown above. The tipple, BLACK HAWK with an extended tramway, is pictured near the center of the photo. Two Wasatch field coal mines operate (Continued from Preceeding Page) Wattis mining operations began in 1916 when William Wattis (for whom the town was named), his brother and Mr. Browning bought 160 acres from the United States. Coal was first shipped in the fall of 1917 when the railroad was completed. concerned. It contained the largest number of thick beds and was favorably situated for mining and shipping. It was relatively undistrubed by faults and structural conditions were considered desireable for mining. Today this area is living up to the experts' expectations. According to Claude P. Heiner & Co., In., a Salt Lake coal consulting firm, The Wattis mine produced 9,207,000 tons of coal from 1917 through 1964 and 1967 to the present time. The U.S. Fuel Co. at Hiawatha has mined 42,378,000 tons of coal from 1909 to the present. The population has diminshed until only Hiawatha is the only town in the area. Miners now live in the valleys and commute to the mines. The close knit life of the mining camps is gone. The miners no longer work and live in the same town, but the economic impact of the mines is greater now than it was in the past. New developments at both U.S. Fuel and Plateau Mining indicate growth for the coal production in this area. Recurrent rumors about the reopening of mines in the Mohrland area promise that in the near future all three mining areas of the southeastern section of the Wastach Plateau coal field will be in full production of coal. Wattis The Lion Coal Company purchased Wattis in 1919. Lion Coal Company operated the mine until 1964. In 1967 the mine was purchased by Plateau Mining which presently operates the mine. Wattis was always a small camp. It is presently a "ghost" town with only company office and mine buildings remaining. Homes, boarding house, apartments and other buildings have been moved or demolished. The mine is at an altitude of 8,560 feet. It is a drift mine. The miners live in other areas and commute to and from work. In 1931 the area was considered by mining experts to have the most attractive set of conditions of any area in the Wasatch Plateau coal field as far as the commercial value of the coal was Hiawatha-Wattis-Mohrlan- d aE3n ,r 7 enter the inferno that raged within. Attempts were made many times before the actual rescue work began. Hope had been entertained that some of the men, especially in No. 1, would be found alive but the farther the rescuers went, the more apparent became the magnitude of the disaster. Men were piled in heaps, burned beyond recognition. After a time the dead men were brought to the mouth of No. 1 by car load, sometimes as many as twelve bodies being loaded upon "one mine car. Then it was that the horror of the situation began to dawn upon the people on the outside of the mine. Then it was that the people realized that it was impossible to expect anything but the burned or mangled bodies of the loved ones that had entered the mine so that morning. i :u coal fields was a principle 1.U. BENTON BOYD, President, U.S. Fuel Co. 1916 d The boarding house, the meeting house, the school building, and the barn all were all cleared out and used as receiving rooms and washing rooms. A total of 199 men were killed and seven injured seriously. One hundred three escaped from No. 1 uninjured and only one excaped uninjured from No. 4, most of the men in No. 4 being killed by force and heat while MOHRLAND, now abandoned, located in the Wasatch Plateau mining camp during the early 1900's. ' -- day. But soon women were seen hurrying toward the mine and by their blanched faces one could read that there was something amiss at the mine. Reports came from them that Number 4 had exploded, but this was not believed as this mine in particular was considered to be the safest mine of all the Company's mines. But disaster dire and dreadful had overtaken Number 4. The miners were confined with no chance of escape, caught like rats in a trap. No hope to recover anyone alive, no hope to ever look upon the living faces of those entombed. A relief committee soon formed and headed by T.J. Parmley, Superintendent of the mine, started for the levels of Number 4 through Number 1, there being inside connections. They were driven back by the terrible afterdamp that had by this time reached the levels of No. 1. This endeavor having been found impracticable on account of the after-damthe committee hurried to the mouth of No. 4 where the attempt was again made to light-hearte- J" more than 100 men in No. 1 were suffocated by after damp which swept down from No. 4. An inquest was held upon the body of John Hunter. The jury found the verdict as follows: That death was caused through an explosion in No. 4 mine while in the employ of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company. The explosion was caused by a heavy shot igniting the dust. Gomer Thomas, State Mine Inspector, said, "I inspected the mines here on March 8, 1900, and found them in fair condition. The ventilation was good and the mine was free from gas. In my estimation the disaster was caused by a heavy shot of giant powder or loose powder exploding. The giant powder went off being the result of a dust explosion. I went to a place where it was claimed they had powder stored away, and the place showed that the explosion had started there. It showed further that the body found there was burned more than any of the other bodies which we found. In March, at the time of the examination of the mine to check the ventilation, I found the Pleasant Valley Coal Company had complied with the law." One hundred and fifty bodies were buried in Scofield, the others being sent to all parts of the state and eight outside of the state. There are about 125 graves on a tract a little over an acre in size. The other twenty five are in various parts of the cemetery being in the midst of those of the same families who had gone before. All the caskets in Salt Lake City were not enough to bury the dead and a carload was ordered from Denver. There were left 107 widows and 168 orphans. Sons were killed leaving aged fathers and mothers. Brothers lost their lives leaving unmarried sisters and younger brothers to live as best they could. The Scofield Mine Disaster was truly the most dreadful calamity that ever occured in the Western country. (Early author on explosion) May Day, or Dewey Day as it was called then in honor of Admiral Dewey, dawned bright and clear May 1, 1900 with no hint of the impending disaster in No. 4 mine at Winter Quarters. About 200 miners left Scofield for the mines in the miner's coach that ran back and forth at the change of shifts to the mines of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company at Winter Quarters. Every one of the men who were soon to meet death was feeling in the best of spirits as evidenced by the pleasant joke that was bandied back and forth through the coach. What had they to fear? Were they not working in one of the safest coal mines situated in the coal region? Each one was looking forward to the evening when there was to be a dance in the new Odd Fellow's Hall, and their children were to have a celebration in honor of the Hero of the Battle of Manilla. Nearly every man was at his post of duty in the mine when from some cause or other, a most terrific explosion took place and all was changed in the twinkling of an eye. At about fifteen minutes past ten a.m. the surrounding country was startled by an explosion, but as it was "Dewey Day" nearly everyone supposed that the noise was caused by someone setting off a blast in honor of the WINTER QUARTERS townsite (above) was located adjacent to the railroad line miners were killed and river. in the nearby Winter Quarters Mine May 1, 1900. (Photo courtesy of F.W. Vol!) Two-hundr- MAX ROBB, General Manager 1 HIAWATHA, UTAH 975 Largest producer of Commercial Coal in Utah 49 million tons used in Utah homes and industry since 1916. A is di is s w The first large mines on the east front of the Wasatch Plateau were opened in the three years of 1909 to 1911 in Miller and Cedar Creek Canyons. Years later these operations were consolidated into one mining operation called King Mine which is the source of the presently well known King Coal. The Consolidated Fuel Company, organized in 1907, was the first to mine coal in this area. It built the old Southern Utah Railroad from Price to Hiawatha and opened the mine which became known as West Hiawatha. A year later the railroad was extended up Cedar Creek Canyon to the Mohrland Mine which was owned and operated by the Castle Valley Coal Company which was also organized in 1907. In 1911 the Black Hawk Coal Company opened the Black Hawk Mine on the mountain side a thousand feet above the camp which has since grown into the beautiful town of Hiawatha. 1 i-- I fv.oRaai . A II I mi n I J i II I United States Fuel Company Organized 1 In 1912 the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company made a large investment in a number of coal properties in Utah and in 1915 a subsidiary, the United States Fuel Co., was organized to take over these properties. Operations started in 1916 and the Company soon became, and remains, one of the major coal producers of the State. It now produces approximately 3A of a million tons of coal annually. The U.S. Fuel Co. owns large reserves of good coal and is in a position to expand operations with the industrial growth now taking place in the West. Traveling through the Western States, one is struck by numerous advertising signs portraying the picture of jovial Old King Cole of nursery rhyme fame. His" rotund figure and beaming countenance are the symbols of Utah King Coal, the product of the King mine of U.S. Fuel Co. King of quality coal throughout all the Western states. Coal is a King Mine tramway looking up to portal t ... 9 5f'" I VBim IV'i-i..-- ---- lima T " i. by-wo- w 7i rrrr jr X mm ffis&fci i ,; csM i;v Tramway looking down to Preparation Plant U.S. Fuel Co. Preparation Plant A Division of UV Industries, New York City |