Working in the Mines

Working in the Mines. . , Welcome to Monarch , Mr. Stotts and Mr. Edleman founded the Monarch Mine in 1903, and L.H. Brooks, William C. Ervine, and J.B. Kendrick, future Wyoming U.S. senator and governor, later consolidated it. Mining began to decline in the early 1920s and by the 1930s, a small amount of coal still aimed in the area was primarily for local use. Monarch was formally abandoned in 1953, and all that remains today are a few livestock structures, town water tower, St. Thomas Catholic Church, and the mine foreman's house. , A Dangerous Job , All aspects of a miner's jog proved dangerous. Miners dug tunnels into the coal vein and opened individual "rooms" at right angles off the main tunnel. Miners worked in pairs to dig out the coal. The first miner used his pick to undercut the wall of coal while the second loaded coal into a coal car. Then they blasted the face and removed the chunks of fallen coal. , Mining Tragedies , From 1911 - 1926, the height of mining in the Sheridan area, Approximately 659 miners died in Wyoming. Mine explosions, inhalation of toxic gases, and crushing by mine collapse and coal car caused these fatal accidents. , Two miners died in an explosion in one of the worst accidents in the region in the Dietz Mine No. 8 on June, 4 1919. Compounding the tragedy, one of the miners, Bob Gault, had traded his usual shift with another miner in order to attend his daughter's wedding the next day. , To the Boys of the Rescue Crew , From the Wyoming State Mine Inspector's 1921 Report , When the damp explodes in a distant room, , Or the roof of an entry falls, , Sealing the men in a living tomb , With thick and soundless walls, , When the women crowd at the open slope , And wail as the women do. br It's then we call for the nerve and craft , Of the Boys of the Rescue Crew. , They take the smoke , As a sort of joke; , They dare the fire damp too; , For it's all their trade, , And they're not afraid, , The Boys of the Rescue Crew. , (side-bar on left:) , Wyoming's 1886 Coal Mine Safety Act , This Act make Wyoming Territory a leader in improving mining conditions. As well as implementing safety codes, the law prohibited boys under 14 and all females for being in or around the mines. Coal mine safety continues to be a headline issue today.