Winter Quarters Mine Explosion

A disaster in the Winter Quarters mine left hundreds of miners dead and others severely injured. It remains the fourth deadliest mining disaster in U.S. history.

According to the stopped watch on a dead Finnish miner, 10:28 A.M. on May 1, 1900 marked the time of the horrific explosion that ripped through tunnel Number 4 at the Pleasant Valley Coal Company's Winter Quarters Mine. Many miners died instantly in the explosion and others were severely injured. The blast blew one miner standing in the entrance of tunnel No. 4 800 feet across the canyon, crushing his skull -- but he survived. Other miners died from falling debris inside No. 4. More died in mine No. 4 and the adjoining mine No. 1 as a result of asphyxiation on toxic gas, or afterdamp, which resulted from the explosion. Many miners in mine No. 1 ran directly into the afterdamp as they attempted to escape the mine.

Miners on the scene immediately started a rescue effort. The next day, miners from the nearby mines of Caste Gate, Sunnyside, and Clear Creek arrived to help with the rescue and recovery of Winter Quarters' victims, placing the dead in a nearby schoolhouse. Most of the victims were interred in the nearby Scofield Cemetery on May fifth.

Initially, the blame for the explosion was laid on Finnish miners for using gunpowder to expedite their mining effort. The Finnish miners were vindicated of this charge through investigation -- though the direct cause of the explosion, the initial spark, remains unknown. An investigation revealed that better circulation within the mine may have prevented the build-up of coal dust and eliminated the chance for explosion.

The Pleasant Valley Coal Company and the state mine inspector each reported two hundred deaths as a result of the explosion, while newspapers and miners placed the number of dead somewhere between two hundred and three hundred. About twenty children employed by the mine died in the explosion. The Winter Quarters Mine Disaster remains the fourth deadliest mining disaster in U.S. History.