The Smith Mine was the site of the
worst coal mine disaster in Montana's history when 74 miners were killed by a methane gas explosion and poison gas created by the explosion. The explosion occurred on the morning of February 27, 1943, killing many miners instantly, the remainder over the next several hours, succumbing to methane and carbon monoxide gas which filled the mine. In all 74 miners died, as well as one rescuer who, suffering from the effects of his efforts, died April 9. This brought the total mortality number to 75.
The disaster spelled the end for the Smith Creek Mine, which never reopened, and essentially the end for Bearcreek. Even before the explosion the town had been mostly dismantled and many of its buildings hauled to Bridger, Belfry and Red Lodge. The fortunes of coal mining in Montana had, since the end of World War I been on the downswing, except for those of larger strip mines in eastern Montana. If the 1943 explosion had not occurred, the days of the mine, then the last of four large mines in the Bearcreek area, were probably limited in any event. Most of those who still resided in Bearcreek by 1943 left for greener pastures, leaving just a handful of people and buildings. The village today, though far from thriving, refuses to die.
In total, as of 2011, there were 473 burials in the cemetery, 22 of which were Smith Mine Disaster victims. Most of the remainder of the 75 disaster victims are buried in Red Lodge, Belfry, Washoe and possibly other small nearby communities. In the cemetery is a red granite cenotaph which honors the victims of the Smith Mine Disaster. Erected in 1947 by the United Mine Workers of America, it was dedicated on 30 May 1947.
The low, wide cenotaph stands on a low, stepped concrete base and is etched with
SMITH MINE DISASTER and the date of the disaster,
February 27, 1943, above three panels which contain the names of the 75 who lost their lives that day.
BEARCREEK CEMETERY
A large red granite monument commemorates the 75 miners who died in the 1943 explosion at the Smith Mine. The United Mine Workers of America installed this memorial in 1947 to memorialize Montana’s worst coal mining disaster.
Twenty-two of the Smith Mine’s victims are buried here in family plots. The death date—February 27, 1943—carved onto their grave markers recalls the tragedy. Other headstones express other, individual losses.
Of the 473 people buried here, 107 are children, including the first person interred in the cemetery in 1909, six-year-old Helen Markovich. Marble tombstones decorated with carved lambs and other tokens of innocence mark many of the children’s graves. They communicate parents’ great grief, while also suggesting the toll poverty, infant mortality, and childhood diseases historically took on families.
Grouped in the cemetery’s southeastern corner are headstones marked with Cyrillic lettering, many displaying photographs, burned into porcelain to produce a permanent image of the deceased. These markers reflect the Eastern European roots of many Bearcreek miners and their families. At the community’s height, in 1920, a third of its residents were immigrants while another third were the children of immigrants. Headstones marked with Croatian, Montenegrin, Slavic, Italian, Scottish, German, Finnish, French, and English surnames attest to Bearcreek’s ethnic diversity.
After the Smith Mine disaster, Bearcreek became a near ghost town as many residents departed, fleeing bad memories. They left behind this simple rural cemetery, whose sandstone, granite, and marble headstones provide mute testimony to Bearcreek’s coal mining heritage and to the people buried here.
From the NRHP plaque at the cemetery