I worked at the Sunshine Mine for 5 years and then I decided that I had enough. The seam was just too low. From there I moved to the Brilliant Mine that was on the road out to Midland and I liked that one a lot better.

It is a different world when you work under the earth. You crawl around like gophers on your knees because you can't stand up and you are always worried about the gas. Sometimes the gas is there and you don't know it, but he could let you know pretty fast! I just always hoped that wherever the gas was, I was not. I would hear creaks and groans underground and I would worry that the roof might come down, but after awhile, I learned what to listen for. When I heard an explosion, I would stop work for a second and make sure that it was one that the Fireboss had made and not one caused by too much gas.

What I did like were the pit ponies. The ponies lived underground in a stable on the top seam and we would use them to pull the coal cars out. The ponies were like little safety alarms - they always seemed to know what was going on way before anyone else did. They would refuse to go in a room if they thought the roof was unsafe. If a pony was going wild everyone's hair would stand up on their neck because they knew something was going to happen, but they were never sure just what it was. It was like the ponies could hear something that the rest of us could not. I think all animals are kind of like that.

One day, in 1948, the snow melted too fast. All of Drumheller was flooded and so was the Brilliant Mine. Somehow the water had broken through the top seam of the mine. That is where the ponies were kept and so I told the Pit Boss that I would go in and get the ponies out. When I got there, the ponies were up to their bellies in water and they were scared. I was scared too. I couldn't see where I was walking because the water was too deep and I wasn't sure what was under my feet. I just thought that it must have been so confusing for those ponies as they watched the water rising up around them throughout the night and nowhere for them to go.

There were 16 ponies and so I thought the best thing to do would be to tie the tail of one to the bridle of the other and then lead them out in a line. I started to move them through the tunnel and I felt something was not quite right. I couldn't figure out what it was until I realized that none of those ponies were making a sound. Not one! Ponies were always making noise, but these ones were totally silent. I looked back and shone my cap lamp on their faces and you could see them gently stepping through the water trying to feel for the railroad ties beneath the water. And that's what they did all the way out, moving silently through the water. I knew for sure that they were afraid. I wished that I could have explained it all to them, but even still, they trusted me enough to follow me out.

When I got close to the entrance of the mine, the ponies could see the light and they started to kick up a fuss. They saw the way out and they wanted out right away (I felt the same way). And now, even after 39 years working underground, I will never forget those little ponies. They saved us so many times, I'm glad I could do the same for them - even if it was just that one time.

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