Tragedy at Scofield

Tragedy at Scofield

BY ALLAN KENT POWELL

Have you heard of the Scofield Disaster? 'Tis a heartbreaking story to tell; I was there and partook of the sorrow and grief. I remember, remember so well. Oh, mothers and wives of the miners, Who perished so suddenly there, Did you give them a loving embrace that morn. Did you bid them "Goodbye" with a prayer?

ON MAY 1, 1900, 200 men lost their lives in what was to that time the most disastrous mine explosion in terms of men killed in the history of the United States. The explosion at the Winter Quarters mine— located a mile west of Scofield in Utah's Carbon County—affected the course of labor not only in Utah but also in other parts of the country. The aftermath of tragedy brought intense human suffering to the families and friends of the dead. The emotional shock for those who lost husbands, sons and brothers was as great as the financial problems created by the loss of the family breadwinner. In a time when industrial insurance was unheard of, victims were left to the mercy of private relief, but the manner in which Utahns rallied to the support of the dead miners' families was generous and noble. More clouded was the controversy of the explosion's cause and who should bear the guilt and the intolerance exhibited by some toward the Finnish miners. This article attempts to place the events of May 1900 in historical perspective, looking at the human drama and weighing its implications in the future of the labor movement.

Forty days before the explosion at Scofield miners were forewarned of possible disaster. At the nearby Castle Gate mine, on March 22, a terrific blast caused extensive damage. Fortunately the mine was empty at the time of the explosion. It was company policy at Castle Gate to evacuate the mine before the shots were triggered by electricity. Such safeguards were not practiced at the Winter Quarters mine.

Within a few minutes after the explosion at Scofield—which according to the stopped watch of one of the dead men occurred at 10:28 a.m.—a relief party headed by mine superintendent T. J. Parmley entered the mine. The rescuers were hampered by several problems. Afterdamp remained in the mine, and two members of the first rescue party were overcome by the lack of oxygen and carried unconscious from the mine. Physically the rescuers were nearly overwhelmed by the stench of the burnt bodies, and emotionally they were stunned by the fact that the dead were friends and relatives. Since mine officials had no record of who was in the mine at the fatal moment, the rescue team feared that many men lay buried and that recovery of their bodies would be difficult.

The first rescue effort ended at 2 A.M. May 2. The men had become too exhausted to continue. The next day miners from Clear Creek, Castle Gate, and Sunnyside arrived at Scofield. They were divided into parties and organized into shifts. By May 6 almost all of the bodies had been recovered. The first victim brought from the mine was Harry Betterson, supposed at the time to be John Kirton. Burned so seriously he was unrecognizable, he was nevertheless still conscious and crying out in agony for his comrades to end his misery. That night Betterson died.

In his report, state mine inspector Gomer Thomas said most of the men in the Number One mine—which connected to the Number Four mine where the explosion took place—could have made it to safety had they run out of the mine when the blast occurred. Most of the men who attempted to get out tried to leave through the Number Four mine because the way was shorter. Instead of escaping the afterdamp they ran right into it.

The official number of dead as determined by company and state officials was 200, a figure far short of the estimates made by newspaper reporters, miners, and others who investigated the disaster. The miners who counted the bodies at the mouth of the tunnel listed 246 dead. A week after the explosion the Finns maintained that 15 of their countrymen had not been recovered.

The account of John Wilson is one of the most extraordinary tales to come out of Scofield. James W. Dilley gives this account of Wilson's experience during the explosion:

. . . We hastened to the mouth of the mine, where one horse was found dead but his driver could not be seen until someone looking down the gulch saw the form of someone, supposed to be the driver, John Wilson. A few of the men hurried to his side and found that life was not yet extinct, although he had been blown eight hundred and twenty feet, by actual measurement. He was tenderly picked up and conveyed to his home where it was found that the back part of his skull had been crushed, besides a stick or splinter had been driven downward through his abdomen. He was in a critical condition and no one supposed he would live to be carried home, but, strange to relate, he has recovered rapidly.

One man was even more fortunate than Wilson. James Naylor had been thrown two hundred feet by the force of the explosion, but remarkably he was uninjured and was able to aid in the first rescue attempts.

About twenty of the victims were young boys who worked as couplers and trap boys inside the mine. However, many of their young comrades escaped from the earth unharmed. Thomas Pugh, a boy fifteen years old, upon hearing the explosion immediately seized his hat in his teeth and kept his nostrils covered while he ran a mile and a half to the entrance. He ran the entire distance without a light. Upon reaching the mine entrance he fainted. His father, with whom he had been working, died inside the mine.

The dead miners in the Number One mine were brought out in coal cars with as many as twelve bodies in a car. Those bodies which were mutilated and burned by the explosion were brought out in sacks. The Salt Lake Tribune described the process once the bodies were out of the mines:

When a corpse is brought out it is usually carried from the mouth of each tunnel at the respective entrances to the place of deposit. Here there is a corps of men from four to ten in number, with sponges, hot and cold water in tubs and other receptacles. The clothing is first removed, the soot, smoke and powderburns washed from their faces and the bodies prepared and laid out in long robes, where they are identified by a tag with name and address attached to them, to await identification of relatives or friends.

Most of the miners were first taken to the company boarding house at Winter Quarters. C. L. Nix, an employee of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company who had the duty of issuing coupon books to the miners, was sent by the company to take charge of the boarding house and to try to identify the dead as fast as they were carried out.

One miner, Roderick Davis, managed to escape from the mine after the explosion and joined one of the rescue parties. While inside the mine he was overcome by the gas and fell unconscious. He was believed to be dead and was thrown into one of the cars being filled with dead bodies. Taken from the mine, he was placed in a row of corpses which were waiting to be washed. When the men began to wash him he regained consciousness and walked out of the room.

Salt Lake City was able to furnish only 125 coffins, and a shipment of 75 additional coffins was made from Denver. After the bodies were washed and dressed in underclothes, white shirt and collar, necktie, and black suit, they were taken to the Scofield school. When the coffins arrived the bodies were placed inside and then taken to the dead miners' homes. The fifty-one who were to be buried other than at Scofield were taken by special trains to their destinations.

The 125 graves in the northwest corner of the cemetery were trenches with the coffins placed scarcely three feet apart. The remainder of the graves were dug in various parts of the cemetery where family members had been previously buried.

J. H. Eccles, the local sawmill operator, filled an order for 200 headboards. The inscriptions were made with a lead pencil. The Salt Lake Tribune claimed that fifty percent of the names were misspelled and that the spelling of many of the names had to be changed by friends and relatives.

On the day of the burial, Thursday, May 5, a man stood at the gate of the cemetery and checked the names of those who were to be buried. Another man matched each casket with the number on its assigned grave. A driver was then instructed where to take the casket. The weather suited the dismal occasion. It rained much of the day, and at times a heavy wind blew. The next morning the ground was covered by a thick frost, and higher in the mountains considerable snow had fallen.

Two burial services were held at Scofield. The first service—in memory of the sixty-one Finnish miners—was conducted by Reverend A. Granholm, a Finnish Lutheran minister who had come from Rock Springs, Wyoming. The second service was performed under the direction of Mormon Apostles George Teasdale, Reed Smoot, and Heber J. Grant, and Seventies President Seymour B. Young. Burial services were also held in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo, Coalville, Springville, American Fork, Eureka, Richfield, Price, and other small towns in Utah.

Because of the magnitude of the disaster and the necessary haste in taking care of the dead, some mistakes were made in the identification of the bodies. Two caskets were exhumed in the search for the body of Thomas Padfield. On the evening of May 4 a joint committee of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias identified the remains of one of their members. The next day it was discovered that the body had been shipped somewhere in Utah and that of an unknown man was in its place. The mistake could not be corrected, and at least one family buried the wrong remains.

There were stories of deep tragedy but none so touching as that of the Louma family. Seven sons and three grandsons of Abe Louma and his wife had left their home in Finland and come to America, eventually arriving at the Winter Quarters mine. They wanted their father and mother, ages seventy and sixty-five, to come live the rest of their days with them. The sons told their parents they were earning more money than they had ever made in Finland and that it would be unnecessary for the old people to work any longer. Abe Louma and his wife arrived in Scofield three months before the explosion. Six sons and three grandsons were killed in the disaster. Five of the sons and two of the grandsons were married. Only one son, Matako Louma, survived.

Newspaper reporters wrote melodramatic accounts reflecting the journalistic style of the day. Nevertheless, many of their reports serve as important historical documents of the tragedy at Scofield. The following story from the Salt Lake Tribune tells of the indifferent manner in which mourners chose their funeral attire.

An incident now common, but always pathetic, is the selecting of funeral apparel at the company's store. The men who are left working night and day in the relief shifts and at other duties, hence the matter of selecting devolves upon the heart-broken. The listless manner in which the poor women attend to this necessity is touching to the extreme. It only demonstrates again the paralized nature of their feelings, for they perform the function with a far-away cast of the eyes, accepting in almost every case what the clerks suggest.

Expressions of sympathy and offers of help came from many people and in a variety of ways. Three railroad cars were loaded with flowers by citizens and school children from Salt Lake City and other towns along the railroad to Scofield. Messages of condolence were sent by many including President William McKinley.

Bishop Lawrence Scanlan opened Saint Ann's Orphanage to all the fatherless children of Scofield. When a food shortage was reported in Scofield, Salt Lake bakeries donated three thousand loaves of bread. Other foodstuffs were sent by people throughout the state. Clothes were also given for the orphan children. Miners from Castle Gate, Clear Creek, and Sunnyside gave freely of their time in rescue efforts. Citizens of Scofield aided in preparing the bodies for burial. When Mayor A. H. Earll feared he would not have enough men to dig the graves, fifty Provo men volunteered to go to Scofield as gravediggers. Women went to Scofield to comfort the mourners and to help with the housework and care of the children.

An attempt was made to solicit financial help from the federal and state governments. In an editorial, the Logan Tri-Weekly Journal called for Governor Heber M. Wells to convene a special session of the legislature to make an appropriation for the relief of the sufferers at Scofield. 15 In Washington, D.C, Representative William H. King of Utah met with leading members of the House to discuss federal relief for the widows and orphans of the Scofield disaster. The representatives expressed sympathy for those stricken but were opposed to any federal aid because precedent was against such action. With no help coming from either the state or federal governments the burden of relief was thrown on the shoulders of the coal company and individual citizens.

The Pleasant Valley Coal Company provided each of the dead men with a casket and suit of burial clothes. One report placed the cost of the funerals at Scofield at twenty-five thousand dollars. Coffins were said to have cost ninety dollars each. The company store erased an $8,000 debt that the dead miners had accumulated during the month of April. Miners were given coupon books at anytime during the month; at the end of the month, on payday, the amount of the coupons was deducted. The families received the full amount earned by the dead miners during the month of April. Instead of the usual line at the company offices on payday, mine officials distributed the pay privately to each home. The Pleasant Valley Coal Company also donated $500 to the family of each man killed, making a total of $100,000. In the end the company responded generously, although this response was motivated more by public pressure than by humanitarian feelings.

Donations also came from private groups and individuals. A central relief committee appointed by Governor Wells coordinated relief efforts. In many Utah communities local committees collected donations. For example, Thistle gave $100; Price, $500; Beaver, $400; Park City, $1,000; and Nephi, $500. The miners at Castle Gate assessed every miner and laborer in the camp $2.50 for the aid of the Scofield widows and orphans.

Along with direct donations fund-raising activities were undertaken for the relief effort. Numerous baseball games were played throughout the state. Dances, concerts, theatrical performances, ice cream and cake sales, and even a children's "magic lantern" exhibition —which earned $1.06—were held. Of special interest was the publication by James W. Dilley of his History of the Scofield Mine Disaster.

This important contemporary document was issued as both a memorial to the dead and as a fund-raising project. A total of $216,289.81 was donated for the relief of the widows, orphans, and dependent parents by citizens and organizations throughout the United States. The generosity, especially of Utah's people, had proven to be of an allencompassing and noble nature.

Not so charitable in retrospect was the intolerance shown towards the Finnish miners at Scofield. They were first criticized for their refusal to aid in the rescue effort. Later the attacks grew more severe. Under the headlines "Finns were Heartless," "Disgusted with Finns," and "Act Like Vultures," the Salt Lake Tribune wrote:

. . . They would not so much as care for their dead, saying that the company should provide men to explore the mine, bring out the remains of those inside and do many things which was entirely out of the question under the circumstances attending the conditions here for the past three days.

The people of the camp, as well as the company and men are disgusted with their actions, and when matters are finally cleaned up it will undoubtedly be many a day before they will have the standing they did up to the time of this disaster, which has been calculated to try men's souls. . . .

That vulture nature of the Finlander, was again strikingly displayed today. While most of the people of the two towns were attending the funerals, and those left in charge of the charnel houses were cleaning them for habitation again, several of these creatures appeared at Edward's boarding house and began carrying away the blackened and coal-besmeared clothing and shoes cut from the bodies of the dead and removed from the feet of the luckless miners. They were summarily stopped before proceeding far in their ghoulish work.

T. J. Parmley, mine superintendent, believed that the Finns had secretly taken large quantities of giant powder into the mine in order to dislodge greater bodies of coal and thereby earn more money. When the giant powder was touched off it ignited the dust inside the mine.

Others, however, charged the company with failing to keep the level of coal dust at a safe minimum and to provide proper ventilation. Mine inspector Gomer Thomas allegedly charged the coal company with negligence and failure to sprinkle the mines properly. Later Thomas denied having made the accusation.

Probably the best evaluation of the miners' attitude was expressed by a Deseret Evening News reporter:

Inquiry on the part of a "News" man among the miners disclosed the fact that they entertained various opinions regarding the terrible affair, some being exceedingly bitter in their denunciation of the company and others took a more conservative view of the matter and said it was one of those things over which no man has control and for which no man or men should be held responsible.

Despite the accusations and denials which cloud the assessment of guilt, some evaluation can be made. The March 22 explosion at Castle Gate should have served as a warning to both miners and company officials. Had the system of blasting while the miners were not in the mines been used at Winter Quarters as it was at Castle Gate the tremendous loss of life could have been prevented. An information circular published by the United States Bureau of Mines, Explosions in Utah Coal Mines, noted that although the exact cause of the explosion had never been determined, it could have been prevented by the "removal of dust, use of water, proper handling of explosives." Yet, official investigations by a coroner's jury, the state coal mine inspector, and the state chemist all failed to find the company guilty in any way.

On May 28, 1900, the mines at Winter Quarters were reopened. Some miners left Scofield because of the explosion. They moved on to other mines or found new vocations. The explosions at Castle Gate and Winter Quarters were one factor which led to a larger influx of "foreigners" into the Carbon County mines.

Following the disaster a large segment of the Scofield miners became very vocal in their criticism of the mine owners. The ill-feeling lingered, and the following January the coal miners at Scofield and Winter Quarters voted to strike against the Pleasant Valley Coal Company. An attempt was made during this strike to affiliate with the United Mine Workers of America, but the effort was short-lived partly because other miners in the company failed to support the strike. Two and one-half years later a countywide strike occurred which led to prolonged confrontation between newly organized members of the UMW and the coal operators. During this strike the Utah Militia spent almost three months in the coal fields. In neighboring Colorado in 1903-4 striking coal miners drawing on their own experiences and the reminder of Scofield demanded "better preservation of the health and lives of our craftsmen."

The tragedy received national and international attention. The London Telegraph reported, "There will be deeper sympathy with America in this awful catastrophe than has been evoked by any event on the other side of the Atlantic since the loss of the Maine."

But perhaps Bishop Scanlan best summed up the lessons of the Scofield disaster in an article for the Intermountain Catholic:

It will serve to teach the owners and workers of coal mines, however careful they may have been in the past, to redouble their watchfulness in the future, and to employ every best means known to science and experience to make impossible a repetition of Tuesday's horror, at least on so large a scale. It may be, too, that this hecatomb of human lives offered at the shrine of capital amid the tears and lamentations of helpless widows and fatherless children, may touch and soften its heart, so it may, at least, realize how much it owes to labor and the great sacrifices the latter has, sometimes, to make in order to serve the former and promote its growth and interests. This thought, too, may lead not only coal, but other companies or corporations to treat more justly, considerately and kindly those fellow men who, by reason of their circumstances, are obliged to work for them, and by whose labor, sweat and even blood they are being enriched.

The explosion served to illustrate the high cost in human life and suffering that was being demanded by industry. Given the intense national and local response to the tragedy, other miners realized the sacrifice they were making to business. History is made in obscure places and in split-seconds of time. The event at Scofield on May 1, 1900, at 10:28 A.M., had a definite influence on the national labor movement at the turn of the century.

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