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 IMAGES
OF THE AMERICAN WEST
Dawson, New Mexico
Photographs |
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Dawson,
New Mexico
Mine
Explosion, February 8, 1923
Photo courtesy Carol and Dwight Myers Collection, NMSU
Photo courtesy Carol and Dwight Myers Collection, NMSU
The last major mining tragedy to take
place in the coal mining camp of Dawson, New Mexico occurred on February 8, 1923 at about 2:20 PM in Stag Canyon Mine No.
1. The event occurred when a mine train jumped its track, hit the
supporting timbers of the tunnel mouth, and ignited coal dust in the mine.
Tearing away the heavy concrete work at the mouth of the mine entry, the
blast entombed 123 miners working inside. Those miners not working in the
mine immediately began to clear the debris from the mouth of the mine and
led by W. D. Brennan, the general manager, rescue crews entered in search
of the trapped men.
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Dawson residents, having experienced these
types of disasters before, flocked to the mouth of the property, waiting
anxiously for their husbands and sons to appear out of the smoke. However,
with the exception of just two families, the rest of them would wait in
vain. Early the next morning two miners, who had been in an isolated
section of the mine, walked safely out the shaft, while rescue crews
continued to brave the dangers of falling debris, fire, and gas to reach
the 121 other men who had been working about 5,000 feet from the portal of
the mine. No one else would survive. For more than a week, the rescue
crews brought out body after body until the last one was recovered.
The Dawson Cemetery was extended once
again to accommodate more white crosses.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, updated May, 2016.
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