Evan Jones Coal Mine Disaster 1937

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Sutton, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska
Surnames/tags: Mining_Disasters Alaska Disasters

Disasters | Mining Disasters | United States Mining Disasters | Evan Jones Coal Mine Disaster 1937

Contents 1 History and Circumstances 1.1 Area History 1.2 Mine History 1.3 Mine Disaster Circumstances 2 Results and Findings 3 In Memoriam 3.1 Miner Victims 3.2 Miner Survivors 3.3 Rescue Effort & Rescuers 4 Resources 4.1 Museums & Memorials 4.2 Genealogy Resources 4.3 Further Reading 5 Sources

History and Circumstances

Area History

Sutton, about 15 miles northeast of Palmer on the Glenn Highway, owes its existence to coal mining. Geologist G.C. Martin explored the area for the U.S.G.S in 1905 and reported an estimated 61 square miles of coal deposits, much of it high-grade bituminous coal. Unfortunately, the coal seams were faulted and folded, with intrusive rocks. This made coal mining difficult and lowered the coal’s value unless intrusives and other contaminants were removed.

Shortly after miners began developing claims, the federal government withdrew all federal coal lands from entry in 1906. The nascent coal mining industry along the Matanuska River died.

It took the U.S. Navy, and construction of the Alaska Railroad to bring coal mining back to the Matanuska Valley. The route of the railroad was chosen in part to provide access to the Matanuska Valley coal deposits.

in 1913 the U.S. Navy, searching for high-quality coal to fuel its Pacific fleet, investigated an abandoned coal mine at “Watson’s Camp” near Chickaloon. The Navy was impressed with the quality of the coal, and contracted with Jack Dalton (most famous for opening the Dalton Trail from Chilkat Inlet to the Klondike) to provide 800 tons of coal from the Chickaloon site for testing. He delivered that coal to tidewater at Knik via horse-drawn sledges during the winter of 1913-1914.

In 1916, the federal government released Matanuska Valley land for coal leasing, while retaining the Chickaloon coal deposits for government usage. Mining quickly resumed.

Railroad tracks reached Chickaloon in 1917. Spurs were also built to access coal mines that developed along Moose and Eska creeks. The Alaska Engineering Commission (AEC), which was building the railroad, purchased the Eska mine for its own needs.

In 1919, the station at the junction of Chickaloon branch and Eska spur was named Sutton in honor of a local homesteader, birthing the town of Sutton.

The Eska mine, located just a few miles northwest of present-day Sutton, was mined extensively by the AEC. It was one of the largest coal producers in the Territory from 1917 to 1920, producing 150 tons per day. Eska operated until 1920, when its superintendent, Evan Jones, left to start his own mine nearby. The AEC closed Eska when Jones opened his Jonesville coal mine.

The AEC and later the Navy worked on developing a mine at Chickaloon. In support of the Chickaloon and other area mines, the federal government constructed a four-story, 86-foot by 132-foot washing facility at Sutton to remove intrusives from the coal. The washerie, completed in 1922, operated less than a year. It closed after the Navy shut down its Chickaloon mine, having determined that faulting and folding in coal veins and intrusive rocks made the Chickaloon coal too expensive to mine. Only a portion of the washerie foundation remains.

About 17 coal mines operated in the Matanuska Valley, some for only a few years. As mines closed, many miners relocated to Sutton, where the Jonesville mined continued to operate until 1968.^[1]

Mine History

Evan Jones was born in 1880 in Wales. Both of his parents had died by the time he was ten years old and he was on his own. He came to North America and worked in mines in Canada and the US. To early Alaskans, he was the "Father of Alaska Coal Mining" and respected as a man as well as a miner. His first experience in the coal mines was as a trapper boy, opening and closing fire doors, at age 12 in his native Wales. Although he had other early jobs, Evan Jones was a coal miner for more than fifty years. ^[2]

In 1920, Evan Jones, with Anchorage pioneers Z.C. Loussac and Oscar Anderson, a hotel man by the name of Collins, Dr. Blyth, a dentist, and Dr. Boyle, an M.D., leased 2240 acres on the south slope of Wishbone Hill and opened the Jonesville mine of the Evan Jones Coal Company, with Evan Jones as general manager. As a privately owned mine, Jonesville could supply coal in Anchorage. ^[3]

Mine Disaster Circumstances

There were 19 men in the mine at the time of the explosion. Four of the men were able to escape uninjured. However, a fifth man Vic Raide, foreman was brought out by rescuers. He was seriously burned and one leg was injured. ^[4]

Evan Jones Coal Mine

Results and Findings

In Memoriam

Miner Victims

14 Lives Lost in the Evan Jones 1937 Coal Mine Explosion

Miner Deaths Name Sourced Bio Connected Category Asikainen, Abel Cernik, Joe Ferrine, Pete Hutilla, Axel Lampson, Leslie Lucas, Joe Mattson, John Matznik, Frank Mikkola, Otto Nakki, Robert Olson, Pete Saarela, Jack Williams, Paul Yerbich, Augustine

---

Miner Survivors

From an improvised hospital cot, Victor Raide, mine foreman, directed rescue efforts, giving the exact location of every man in the mine. His directions led rescue crews to the victims while doctors dressed his burns and administered to his broken leg and crushed ribs.^[5]

Rescue Effort & Rescuers

Drs. A.S. Walkowski and Howard C. Romig sped to the scene from Anchorage in a special speeder provided by the Alaska railroad.

Resources

Note: This mining disaster is in need of help creating profiles in honor of these miners. Are you interested in adopting this location? If so you can contact the Worldwide Disasters Project.

Museums & Memorials

The Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation was founded in 1997 to honor outstanding individuals who played important roles in the development of Alaska's mineral industry. In 2013, the organization opened a museum in downtown Fairbanks.

The Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation Museum

Genealogy Resources

• Tombstone transcription project on USGWTombstones.org.
• A list of cemeteries in the Matanuska Susitna Borough on FindAGrave.com
• Finding Your Gold Rush Relatives
• Alaska, State Archives (Juneau), Naturalization Records, 1900-1972 on FamilySearch.org

Further Reading

• The Mining Industry in the Territory of Alaska During the Calendar Year 1916 by Sumner Stewart Smith.
• Nome and Seward Peninsula by E. S. Harrison.
• Good Company: A Mining Family in Fairbanks, Alaska. (I haven't found a free/online version of this one but it is a nice story of a mining family in Alaska.)

Sources

1. ↑ www.newsminer.com/features/sundays/sketches_of_alaska/sutton-has-a-lengthy-coal-mining-history/article_95cc8274-7fa7-11e7-a795-abd1a8d34c4e.html
2. ↑ alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/jones.php
3. ↑ alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/jones.php
4. ↑ Fear 14 Died In Mine Explosion. Ironwood Daily Globe(Ironwood, Michigan)27 Oct 1937, Wed. Page 1
5. ↑ Stories of Bravery Told by Survivors of Mine Blast; 12 Dead. Las Vegas Daily Optic (East Las Vegas, New Mexico) 28 Oct 1957, Thu. Page 6.