Miners Memorial ceremony for Huntington monument

By PHIL FAUVER staff writer

A Miners Memorial Dedication was held Aug. 6, at the Miner’s Memorial Park on the edge of the Huntington Cemetery. The Miner’s Memorial Committee, The Emery County Historical Society and Huntington City unveiled a monument dedicated to all coal miners, their families and everyone involved with the coal mining industry of Emery County, Utah.
Lori Ann Larsen Chairman of the Miners Memorial Committee welcomed everyone and invited the Miners Memorial Committee and the Huntington City Council to stand beside the Miners Memorial Monument while the monument was being unveiled and thanked them for making this memorial possible.
Huntington City Councilman Lamar Guymon gave the dedicatory prayer for this Miners Memorial Monument.
The following musical numbers were preformed by Sheri Tuttle, Violin, Shane Clifford, Tuba and Katie Merrill, flute. They played Amazing Grace, America The Beautiful and The Star Spangled Banner.
Danna Gray Chairman of the Boy Scout Buckhorn District Advancement from Huntington Stake organized the Huntington Boy Scouts for the Miners Memorial Dedication flag ceremony.
Following the flag ceremony Guest speaker Kevin Tuttle of Orangeville who had spent most of his life working in Emery County coal mines spoke to the assembled group of coal mine history, the importance of coal mines in our community and memories of the various coal mines he had worked in or knew about.
He mentioned the first settlers that came to Emery County were farmers. Things changed in 1882 when the Denver and Rio Grande railroad was built. The coal mines started to operate in 1895. Farming was still a way of life but to supplement their income they worked in the mines.
Tuttle told of how his grandfather would work the farm in the summer and then uproot his family and move to the Kenilworth Mine area for the winter and coal mine work. When summer came again the family would move back to Emery County to operate the farm.
The early coal mines were operated on a small scale. They used a pick a shovel and dynamite to extract the coal and then haul the coal out of the mine. Most of the coal was lump coal for heating homes and buildings in the winter. In the summer there wasn’t much demand for coal. Slag coal was a by-product until they found a way to use the slag coal in furnaces.
When Kevin was a youth his father would listen to the radio for the mine report. The mine report told if your mine was going to work that day. If the mine was working my father had a job that day if the mine was not working he did not have a job.
His father told him of making $3 for a load of coal. The coal was loaded by hand into a hand cart and pushed out of the mine. Coal mining has changed dramatically since then with the mechanization of mining. “I am proud of my coal mining heritage. I am proud of those who spent their lives producing sources of coal mine income for their families in Emery and Carbon counties,” said Tuttle.
Tuttle went on to remember older mines like the Wilberg Mine, The Robertson Mine, he said, I remember of hearing of an explosion at the Robertson mine. That explosion killed Robertson and three young men. The Deseret Mine or Old Church Mine it is also known as the DesBeeDove Mine. A lot of us had our start in the Deseret Mine. The McKinnon Mine, the Deer Creek Mine is off to side of the McKinnon Mine. The Bell Mine, The Oliphant Mine in Straight Canyon was operated by my grandfather. I am pleased that we have this monument to remember these mines and their history. These mines are where many of your ancestors worked.
In the 1970s Emery County started to grow from about 5,000 people to around 13,000 when the power plants came. That made the coal industry as you know it now. Coal fuels the economy of our country.
“I am proud to be a member of the coal community. I am grateful for my father who worked in the coal mine to support his family. I hope we never forget the sacrifice made by those who lost their lives in these coal mines,” said Tuttle.
This Memorial Monument has the names of the 85 coal mines that operated at one time in Emery County and those mines that suffered fatalities.
“When coal mining started in the Bookcliffs and Wasatch Plateau back in the late 1800s, many miners from different ethnic groups from America and countries from around the world came to Emery County to mine the coal to provide for their families, heating of the homes, the making of steel, the production of electricity and other products.
These miners were exposed to cold, wet, harsh conditions, bad top and ribs, explosive and toxic gas, confined conditions with mining machinery and coal dust. This memorial is dedicated to all miners and their families past, present and future.” (Copied from the monument.) On the back of the Miners Memorial Monument is the following statement: As I make my way into the darkness, I think of my family and what I leave topside. I am a miner. A member of an elite group of men that make their living thousands of feet underground. If she starts to creak and groan, if all hell suddenly cuts loose remember this, kiss the kids, I love you and I’ll see you on the other side. I am the light at the end of my tunnel, I am a Miner.
This Monument is dedicated to honor and remember all of the coal miners, their families and everyone involved with the coal mining industry of Emery County Utah.” (copied from the back side of the monument)
Larsen thanked Kevin Tuttle and all who participated in this dedication. She mentioned the Mine Memorial Committee has a book that lists all of those who lost their lives in the coal mines. The book includes a map of where the mines were located. She then invited everyone to enjoy the root beer floats served in the nearby pavilion.