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Travel Mining History is a collaborative web effort developed by the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site in Drumheller, Alberta and Community Futures Big Country. Here you will find historical photos of coal miners, stories about a coal miner's life, mining strikes, and the tragic accounts of mining disasters and illnesses like the black lung.
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KEPT IN THE DARK - Life as a Coal Miner
It doesn’t get any darker than a coal mine. In a mine, you can hold your hand directly in front of your face, and not see it. Providing enough light for miners to work was a major obstacle to the earliest coalmines in Great Britain. Any source of light available (a candle, for example) was potentially deadly due to the explosive gases that commonly collected in coalmines. Desperate miners were very resourceful in their pursuit of explosion proof illumination. Some dragged in phosphorescent fish into the mine and worked by the soft green glow. READ MORE...
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ACCIDENTS UNDERGROUND - The Dangers of Coal Mining
How dangerous is underground coal mining? It depends on where you work. Some mining regions have pitching seams, high levels of methane gas, or constant danger of flooding. Drumheller mines had flat seams, low methane, and dry conditions. The Drumheller coal field was one of the safest places to work as a miner in Canada. Still, standards varied from one mine to the next, and accidents were not uncommon. One danger of working in any mine is being killed by rock fall. READ MORE...
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DANGEROUS WORK - Pulling Pillars was the Riskiest of All
Underground mining is a dangerous job. Many Drumheller coal miners will say that safety depended on the sense of the miners. One job, however, was known to be risky, and was willingly chosen by the individuals who did it. That job was pulling pillars. A pillar is a column of coal left standing to help support the roof. Many mines in Drumheller were designed as “room and pillar,” laid out like long thin city blocks. Coal was removed from the “rooms,” and left in the “pillars”. READ MORE...
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Click the titles below to see the full articles for even more coal mining history:
Making Do - Building homes out of box car doors
Broken Bones and Blessings - A motorman's near-tragic mining accident
Prostitutes and the Pit - A working relationship
Frozen Underwear - Tales from the memoirs of miner John Bidinoff
Disaster in the mine - The deadly explosion of 1941
A family of miners - from the memoirs of Douglas Powell
Pit Ponies - A coal miner's best friend
Red Scare! Communism in the early coal mines
Saving the Pit Ponies - from the memoirs of Joe Guidolin
A Story of Survival - from the memoirs of Victor Avramenko
Jakey's Wild Ride - from the memoirs of Eric Houghton
This free site is a collaborative effort between the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site and the non-profit Community Futures of Drumheller. It is designed to promote our region's rich coal mining heritage, as well as raise awareness of the many amazing travel destinations and cultural attractions available in the Drumheller Valley. If you have a question regarding this site or its content, please email: webmaster@travelmininghistory.com. And don't forget to visit our other travel websites for more highlights of Drumheller, Alberta, Canada - Heart of the Canadian Badlands.
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