June 24, 2021

Episode 38 - Explosion in the Mine - Hanna, Wyoming

Join Jennie and Dianne as they go back in time to revisit the tragic day of June 30th, 1903 when the Union Pacific Coal Company's number one mine in Hanna, Wyoming exploded killing 169 men. This explosion was devastating to the community of Hannah, Wyoming. You will find many of these men buried in the cemeteries at Hannah and in the nearby ghost town of Carbon, Wyoming. This is part one of a two-part series on the explosions that took place in this mine and how they affected the unionization of coal miners in Wyoming. Come visit these two ordinary extraordinary cemeteries with us where the lives of so many coal miners are remembered.

Show Notes

Swedish miners in Hanna with picks and lighted headlamps, 1892. Hanna Basin Museum. (https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/brief-history-hanna-wyoming)

Hanna Cemetery - Hanna, Wyoming

Memorial at the Hanna Cemetery in remembrance of coal miners killed in various accidents over the years including the June 30, 1903 explosion.

Graves if unknown miners who were killed in the June 30, 1903 mine explosion in Hanna, Wyoming.

Headstone of a miner killed in the June 30, 1903 coal mine explosion - Carbon Cemetery - Carbon, Wyoming

Cabin Cemetery in Carbon, Wyoming where many miners who were killed in the Hanna Mine #1 Explosion are laid to rest.

Resources used for this episode include:

LeathersLeathers, Bob. Bob Leathers' Notebook: Two Chapters from THE HANNA MINER: At the Bottom of the Mine. 2nd ed., Bob Leathers, 2020, pp. 1-40.

Kehoe, Kelsey. "Wyoming Coal." https://www.wsgs.wyo.gov/. www.wsgs.wyo.gov/energy/coal. Accessed 16 June 2021.

Leathers, Bob, and Gary Beaver. "1889 - 1909: Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 Town and Mine at Hanna, Wyoming ." https://www.hannabasinmuseum.com/. www.hannabasinmuseum.com/1889---1908-hanna-no-1-union-pacific-coal-companys-no-1-mine-at-hanna-wyoming.html. Accessed 16 June 2021.

Visitors Council , Carbon County. "Hanna ." https://www.wyomingcarboncounty.com/. www.wyomingcarboncounty.com/places-to-visit/hanna. Accessed 16 June 2021.

"Black Damp." https://www.merriam-webster.com/. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20damp. Accessed 16 June 2021.

" Brattice." "Black Damp." https://www.merriam-webster.com/. www.merriam-webster.com/. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brattice. Accessed 16 June 2021.