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Show Energy Guide March 2004 10 Energy office chronicles mining industry's history Castle Valley continues to play an imUtah's development and the state energy portant role office has chronicled the history of the mining industry in the Carbon-Emerregion. The timeline developed by the state engery office highlights the following key events: Coal production in in y 1874-187- 8 late 1874 or early 1875, coal was discovered near Scofield in the Wasatch Plateau field. Numerous mines opened and Pleasant Valley Coal was incorporated Pleasant Valley Railroad Company started to build a line to Springville in 1877. Rio Grand Western purchased the mine and railroad in 1882. When Winter Quarters closed in the mine had of 65 more than years operation. completed Utah Central Coal Company was started in 1876. On Jan. 1, 1884, the state's first coal fatality occurred in the mine. In 1890, Union Pacific purchased the property and sold the operation to Scofield Coal Company in 1917. The mine did not produce after 1936. In mid-194- 0, 1879-189- 9 The of Carbon County's coal production was linked to the competitive forces in transportation. A Denver & Rio Grande Western subsidiary, Utah Fuel acquired Winter Quarters in 1882, Castle Gate in 1888 and Sunnyside in 1890. Pleasant Valley acquired Castle Gate in 1882 and started producing coal in 1888. In 1890, the company erected 80 eight-foo- t coking ov124 built. an additional ovens had been 1900, ens; by Pleasant Valley acquired the Sunnyside mines in 1890. After the mines became operational in 1898, the company determined the coal was more suitable for coking than Castle Gates' resource. For five years, coal was hauled to Castle Gate for coking. But after 1903, Pleasant Valley started building coking ovens at Sunnyside. pre-eminen- 1900-192- 1 On May 1, 1900, an explosion occurred in the number 4 mine at Winter Quarters, killing 200 workers. The same year, Utah production surpassed the one million ton mark. More than 900,000 tons were produced by Utah Fuel Company. The mine closed in After discovering a coal seam north of Helper, D&RGW built a mine at Castle Gate and brought the first underground workers from Winter Quarters. On March 8, 1924, a gas explosion at Castle Gate killed 172 miners. By 1919, the Sunnyside coke plant was the largest single beehive in operation in the country. Sunnyside mine started to produce coal before 1898 and celebrated its centennial prior to closing in 1994. Pleasant Valley found coal six miles south of Scofield and production peaked the second decade of the century. The coal became too deep to mine economically by the late 1800s. In 1904, most of Utah's coal was produced by six local operations. In 1906, Independent Coal was formed and Kenilworth was built high on the hill. Sunnyside, Clear Creek, Winter Quarters, Pleasant Valof ley and Castle Gate mines produced about a million tons per year. Spring Canyon Coal Company, located west of Helper in Sowbelly Gulch, had its beginning in 1895. By 1970, the mine closed. By 1975, Spring Canyon all but disappeared. Panther Coal gave the company name to a small town settled in 191 1 northeast of Helper. The name was changed to Carbon and coal production of coal started before World mid-194- 0. one-quart- er War I. United States Fuel purchased the company and renamed the town Heiner. The town was abandoned in the 1930s. In 1912, U.S. Fuel purchased the last of the company-buil- t mining towns, including Hiawatha, Morhland and Black (Continued on page 24) Houses and buildings constructed by coal compa- nies have disappeared not only from the hillside in Canyon, but at several locations in Castle residents continue Valley. However, Carbon-Emerto pass the coal camp stories on to new genera-Sprin- g tions, including the legend of the White Lady. y Coal camp stories, myths Abandoned coal camps and ghost towns fill chapter after chapter in Castle Valley's mining history. Lifelong Carbon-Emer- y residents enjoy visiting with former neighbors from towns like Latuda, Consumers, Peer- less, Spring Canyon and Standardville. They swap stories, share memories and relive the experiences - good and bad - stemming from living in coal towns. Conversations frequently turn to one popular, particularly fascinating local myth or legend - Carbon County's White Lady. During the 1960s, droves of tees traveled up Spring Canyon to the "haunted" mine office, hoping to catch a glimpse of the shadowy spirit dressed in white. Many youth claim to have spotted the woman and take delight in re- lating the experience to friends. Even after the company's mine office was blown apart with a blasting cap, the legend of the White Lady managed to persist in the local community. Castle Valley youth still visit the coal canyon area to watch for the spirit to materialize and catch a glimpse of the ghostly figure. Numerous variations of the White Lady legend continue to circulate throughout the Castle Valley area. The most popular versions include: A lady wearing a beautiful white dress would float around the coal camp and lure the workers into the underground mining shafts. If the underground workers followed the lady inside the mine, a disaster would occur. The disasters could take the form of an underground explosion, a cave in or another type of serious accident in the mining shafts. The mysterious Lady in White would appear to entice workers to leave the underground mining shafts. The miners who followed the lady miraculously avoided falling victim to a disaster. The lady's husband was killed in the mine and the body was never recovered from the underground shafts. The White Lady wanders every night in the vicinity of the mine and inside the underground tunnels looking for the body of her husband. The White Lady's husband was killed in a mining accident, but the company failed to pay the guaranteed money to ease the woman's struggle to feed her family. After a confrontation at the mine office, the angry widow was driving too fast for the nar- row winding road. The vehicle ran off the road and the woman died in the accident. The White Lady still roams the canyon seeking revenge on mine officials. A family consisting of a man, wife and two children, one boy and one girl, lived in Spring Canyon. The husband and son were killed in a min endure ing accident, leaving the widow to fend for herself and infant daughter. Several weeks later, the woman was doing the laundry clothes in the Spring Canyon wash and someone kidnapped the baby. The infant was later thrown into the wash and drowned. woman The subsequently lost her mind and died. But the White Lady still grief-stricke- n searches along the wash banks for her baby and seeks revenge for the child's death. A couple lived in the town of Peerless, next to a store that had overalls displayed in the window. The couple had one infant child. The husband died while working in the underground shafts - not due to a mining accident, but from blood poisoning caused by an infected tooth. Since the death was not mining related, the company did not have to pay compensation or benefits to the widow. Destitute and hungry, the young widow did not want her child to suffer and starve to death. After drowning her baby in the wash, the mother lost her mind and was placed in the Provo mental treatment facility. The woman escaped from the facility, returned to Peerless to find her child and eventually died. But the White Lady still wanders the area searching for her baby. |