Steve Hanon - The Devils Breath: The Story of the Hillcrest Mine Disaster of 1914

COPYRIGHT Stephen Hanon 2013

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Hanon, Stephen, 1949

The devils breath : the story of the Hillcrest Mine Disaster of 1914 / Stephen Hanon.

Includes bibliographical references. Issued also in electronic format.

ISBN 978-1-927063-29-3

1. Hillcrest Mine Disaster, Hillcrest, Alta., 1914.

2. Coal mine accidents Alberta Hillcrest History 20th century.

3. Hillcrest (Alta.) History 20th century.

I. Title.

TN806.C22A5 2013 971.234 C2012-906592-7

Editor for the Board: Don Kerr

Cover and interior design: Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design

Author photo: R.L. Bolander

Copyeditor: Michael Hingston

Cover photo is public domain courtesy U.S. Government

NeWest Press acknowledges the financial support of the Alberta Multimedia Development Fund and the Edmonton Arts Council for our publishing program. We further acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $24.3 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.

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No bison were harmed in the making of this book.

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Dedicated to the memory of Ricardo (Rick) Petrone of the Crowsnest Pass

You have seen some of the hands of the miners where they have little blue colourings all through very fine, I understand that is caused by a constant picking and the hard pieces of coal flying and injuring them and leaving a certain colour under the skin?

a question addressed to Dr. Ross of Hillcrest by the legal

counsel for the United Mine Workers of America, District 18,

at the coroners inquest into the Bellevue disaster, 1910

The details of this book came for the most part from original documents in archives, including the Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton, which holds the transcripts of both the Bellevue and Hillcrest coroners inquests as well as the transcript of the Hillcrest commission of inquiry; and the Glenbow Archives in Calgary, which maintains a wealth of information on coal mines and mining in Alberta in numerous fonds. In the course of my research I travelled to the Crowsnest Archives in Coleman, Alberta; the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre; the Sir Alexander Galt Archives in Lethbridge; the Fernie and District Historical Society; the B.C. Provincial Archives in Victoria; the University of British Columbias Special Collections in Vancouver; the Alberta Legal Archives in Calgary; the Calgary Public Library; the University of Calgary libraries; the City of Victoria Archives; and the Victoria Public Library. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the staff of these facilities, who generously assisted and shared their knowledge. Other facts were gleaned from the National Archives of Canada, both online and by telephone.

Often I have made reference to literature on the subject written by historians to whom I am deeply indebted. Among them I must count first and foremost the Crowsnest Pass historian Ann Spatuk and her team of dedicated workers with the Crowsnest Historical Society, who gathered, wrote, and edited the three volumes of Crowsnest Pass local history, Crowsnest and Its People, on which I have leaned heavily. For Crowsnest Pass history largely concerned with the British Columbia side of the provincial border, I recommend The Forgotten Side of the Border, edited by Wayne Norton and Naomi Miller. It offers a rich compendium of information about early mining in the Pass. Albertas Coal Industry, 1919, edited by David Jay Bercuson, gives fascinating details of the mines and miners in Alberta. To understand mining in the Pass from a union point of view, I drew upon the worthwhile history of the United Mine Workers of America in Western Canada, Bruce Ramseys The Noble Cause. For information about George Frolick, his experience during and after the disaster, and Ukrainian life in the early days of Hillcrest, the memoirs of his son Stanley, Between Two Worlds, edited by Lubomyr Y. Luciuk and Marco Carynnyk, proved invaluable. For CPR history in general, and as it relates to the Crowsnest Pass, I went to The Canadian Pacific Railway and the Development of Western Canada, 18961914 by John A. Eagle. For insight into radical unionism, I reached into the well of information in F.H. Sherman of Fernie and the UMW of A, 19021909: A Study in Western Canadian Labour Radicalism by Allen C. Seager, which resides in UBCs Special Collections. For coal mining as the miners themselves remember it, and for comparison with Alberta mines, I went to, and greatly enjoyed, Lynne Bowens award-winning book Boss Whistle, which paints striking images of coal miners lives on Vancouver Island.

Many individuals provided me with priceless help and cooperation, or allowed me the use of valued family photographs. They include Barbara Allan, Patricia Blakely, Hugo Civitarese, Vernon Frolick, Peter Heusdens, Frank Hosek, Jim Hutchison, Mrs. Alice Jamieson, June Kanderka, Belle Kovach, Rick Petrone, Cathy Pisony of the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, Jean Shafer, Louise Wells, and Dave Welsh. I must also express gratitude to my editor, Don Kerr, and to the people at NeWest for their confidence in this project. During the writing of this book, my friend Rick Petrone of Bellevue passed away. I will always remember how eagerly he shared his knowledge and memories of Hillcrest and Hillcrest Collieries, and the many kindnesses he offered. He is sincerely missed and remembered with fondness.

Although I have gone to many sources for the information required to assemble this history in an effort to compare accounts and eliminate errors, some readers will find mistakes that have eluded me. These are my responsibility, and not those of the historians or others whose work or memories I consulted.

My sincere hope is that this book will give readers a richer understanding of this important aspect of Alberta and Canadian history, and even, perhaps, a small insight into the human heart.

Steve Hanon

Bowen Island, British Columbia

February 2007

I have attempted to provide the first and last names of every figure who appears in this narrative. However, this was not always possible. In newspapers and official documents of the first half of the twentieth century, individuals were often referred to only as Mr. Smith, or sometimes Mr. A. Smith. Women in that era often took on their husbands name Mrs. John Smith or Mrs. J. Smith, with their given names left out of documents. In personal practice, first names were used. The result is that the first names mostly of women but sometimes also of men have been lost to time, known only to relatives, or hidden in birth and death records.