Dad, my two uncles, and my grandfather were all miners in the strip mines of Southern Indiana In the early 1930’s My grandfather mined coal with a pick and shovel at the old Sunlight mine just north of Boonville, Indiana. Ninety-nine percent of the mining in Southern Indiana was open pit mining. Strip mining in Indiana yielded positive results in the environment. After the coal was mined and the big shovels with withdrawn, the forty to fifty foot deep pits filled up with cold spring water. I camped and fished on the same mine property my grandfather dug coal. My dad, uncles boasted of learning how to swim in the cold mine pits.
In the early 1970’s my dad realized his dream of becoming a coal miner. My dad was illiterate. He dropped of school in middle school. He was the most determined man I have ever known. He learned things only college educated men accomplished. Dad found the superintendent’s of the coal mine’s residence and stopped by regularly to ask for a job. The superintendent’s name was Herb. Finally, Herb became weary of dad knocking on his door. One day I saw a white Cadillac pull up in our driveway. It was herb, superintendent of the AMAX coal company. My dad surprisingly said, “Well hello Herb. What can I do for you.” Herb said, “Russell are you ready to go to work?” Dad replied, “Yes Herb, just tell me when you want me to start.” We were so excited that evening. My dad had been working a job he hated for seventeen years. While we were rejoicing, dad disappeared. I found dad sitting on the front porch step bent over with hands over his face weeping tears of relief and joy. He realized his dream and he would be making a better living for his family.
Dad started at the bottom of the ladder. He became a third shift pumper at AMAX mine. In the open pit mining a haulage road was dug which gradually descended to the bed of coal. When the coal was reached (about forty or fifty feet down) they invariably hit spring water. Two deep trenches were dug on each side of the road to route the water out of the pit. The pumper set up two large pumps on each side of the road. The pumper’s job was to make sure the pumps were primed and in place. They had to be moved often and manually pulled to another position. It was a muddy, strenuous job. In winter proved especially difficult. Dad came home many times with icicles in his hair and eyebrows. He never complained. He knew if he was a good worker he could bid on another job when it was posted.
It wasn’t long and dad bid on a job to drive huge Uke trucks. The tires on a Uke were as high as a house. The Uke trucks hauled the coal out of the pits to an overpass over railroad tracks. There was a huge chute the truck straddled where the coal was dumped into the railroad cars. I rode with dad on several occasions. Dad pulled over the train cars and open the panels on the bottom of the Uke to dump the coal. Sometimes he let me pull the lever.
AMAX gave written permission to all employees for access to coal mine property for hunting and recreational activities. I have sweet memories of dad, mom, my brother and all my uncles and aunts camped on a haulage road beside a deep clear pit. We fished, and swam in the pit. In the evening we gathered around a camp fire and I listened to coal mining stories.
Dad soon climbed the ladder to Master Electrician. Since he could not read, he relied on his experience and memory. Mom read the licensing book to him and he memorized the information. He was allowed to take an oral test and he passed. One of his duties was working on forty thousand volt cables. There is not much room for an accident or mistake when one works with that much power. Dad knew a miner that was electrocuted by forty thousands volts. He didn’t know what hit him. It was like a lightening bolt went through him. There was a gaping hole where the electricity exited. Obviously, the miner did not survive.
Dad worked with AMAX until the late 1980s when the mine ceased operation. Dad died in the 1992 of liver cancer. Recently I found my dad’s billfold among my box of keep sakes. I pulled out his electrician license, a picture of his grand kids, a hunting license, and a picture of him with his coal mining buddies. I covered my face with my hands and cried. I am proud to be a son of a coal miner!