Long Description:Barnes Hecker Mine Tragedy Nov 3 1926 - Negaunee MI
This memorial is located on the grounds of the Michigan Iron
Industry Museum. No fee is required to enter.
By Thomas G. Friggens
The complete article appeared in the May/June 1988 issue of
Michigan History.
At twenty minutes past seven, in the chill gray dawn of
Wednesday, 3 November 1926, the day shift reports to work at the
Barnes-Hecker iron mine in Michigan's northcentral Upper Peninsula.
They arrive from neighboring communities--Diorite, Ishpeming, North
Lake, South Greenwood, Barnes-Hecker Location. They are immigrants
and sons of immigrants; fathers, sons, brothers and friends. Their
faces reflect the weariness of their labors and the pride of their
heritage. They are strong and alive, laughing and sullen, as they
prepare to toil underground. For them it is a routine beginning to
a day like all others. Overhead the skies are unsettled; there is a
prediction of snow. It has been an unusually wet autumn and there
is talk among the miners of an early winter.
These miners lend their labor to the chief business of
Michigan's central Upper Peninsula, the production of iron ore. The
field is growing steadily, despite a few economic downturns and
industry slowdowns since ore was discovered in upper Michigan in
the mid-nineteenth century. The Barnes-Hecker Mine, property of the
Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, is a relative latecomer to the
mining landscape; first explored in 1907, it was developed in a
swampy area starting in 1917. A concrete shaft lining and
underground dams are in place at Barnes-Hecker as safety
precautions, but the draining of nearby North Lake and the
overlying swamp in the early 1920s have made the biggest difference
in keeping the mine a mostly dry working environment.
The laborers here today are representative of the industry's
immigrant labor force-mainly from Canada, the British Isles and
Scandinavia. The fifty or so men who go underground this morning
come both from the town of Ishpeming and from company-operated
villages, where housing and social services are provided for
employees. The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, like most major U.P.
companies, does not appear to take advantage of its workers.
Cleveland-Cliffs sponsors classes in learning English, citizenship
and naturalization for recently immigrated employees and has
operated a welfare department since 1905. Financial assistance is
available for families dealing with extended illness, medical
treatment and death. The Barnes-Hecker Mine has only seen one
fatality since it began production in 1922, but mining is a
dangerous occupation no matter who is involved, so CCI maintains a
diligent safety effort that includes monthly and weekly
inspections.
Inside the mine today, workers are occupied on the first, second
and third levels and on some sublevels as well. Some men operate
locomotives to pull cars of ore to the shaft for removal, another
repairs pipe and still others use their carbide lamps to light
their work areas far from the main shaft. The mine captain, Walter
Tippett, and county mine inspector William Hill are inspecting the
mine this morning.
At about twenty past eleven, a cage of miners leaves the mine—it
is almost time to break for dinner. On the surface, they suddenly
hear a roaring underground and, when attempts to ring the men in
the underground pumphouses fail because electricity is out, two of
them descend the shaft to investigate.
Mud, rock, water and debris are pouring through the mine from
above, and water rises through the main shaft as one man climbing
the ladder to the surface meets the two coming down to investigate.
A flashlight beamed into the shaft shows only darkness, and a
terrifying crash sounds far below them. The three reach the surface
at 11:30 A.M.
By that evening, pumps have been brought to empty the mine of
water, but because of still-high water levels and debris, only
seven bodies—including the mine captain and the county mine
inspector-can be retrieved. Forty-two women are widowed tonight,
and 132 minor children lose their fathers. Cleveland Cliffs sends a
medical team to assist victims' families and promises to pay the
maximum allowed workmen's-compensation pension. More than two
months later, reclamation efforts at Barnes-Hecker have resulted in
another dam breaking and a re-flooding of the mine. The cave-in
site, a quarter-mile from the main shaft, is no longer a dry pit
but a deep lake. Cleveland Cliffs abandons the mine and seals the
shaft with concrete, then pays each dependent family twice the
amount originally announced. Mining engineers and other observers
never determine the cause of the cave-in, and no further
investigation is ever done.
Tom Friggens is Upper Peninsula Sites Coordinator for the
Michigan Historical Museum system, Department of History, Arts and
Libraries.
For the full story, check out the book No Tears in Heaven.
("http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/books.html#tears"
target="_blank">visit link)
source
("http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/features/discmich/negaunee.html"
target="_blank">visit link)