1929 — Dec 17, Old Town Coal Mine gas and dust explosion (match), McAlester, OK —   61

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-6-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/-

–61  Kalisch. “Ordeal of the Oklahoma Coal Miners,” p. 338 in Chronicles of Oklahoma, 1970. 

–61  NIOSH, CDC. Mine Disasters.

–61  United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. Old Town.

Narrative Information

Bureau of Mines, U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Excerpt from Old Time Mine report:

“The main slope was driven down the pitch, and the manway slope some 600 feet distant served as the return aircourse. Sixty-six men were in the mine at about 10:30 a.m., when an explosion in the west slope aircourse near the lower end at 9th west killed all the men below the 5th east and west entries instantly by violence and burns.

 

“In the 5th west all men were overcome by afterdamp while attempting to escape, as were those in 5th east, with the exception of three who turned back on encountering the smoke and retreated behind a curtain into No. 9 room. Two remained near the curtain and were found unconscious by rescuers at 5 o’clock in the afternoon; the other went up to the face of the room and suffered no ill effects. He joined the rescue crew after release; the other two were revived and taken outside.

 

“Three men working on haulage at the inside rope hoist went into the smoke on the main slope and got into an empty trip and signaled to hoist. When the trip reached the surface, one was missing. His body was found along the track; apparently he had raised up and struck against a timber, breaking his neck and knocking him out of the car.

 

“The explosion was only moderately violent; flame and force were confined to the lower workings. Help was called, and the bodies were recovered, and the three men rescued without use of breathing apparatus or gas masks. The main exhaust fan was not in use, as it was usual to rely on a booster fan, blowing off the main slope. This fan had stopped before the explosion as the belt was off the pulley.

 

“The face of the aircourse was far ahead of air ; and a small blower fan recirculated and mixed air and gas in the 9th west aircourse, where the explosion originated from striking a match to light a cigarette or from arcing of the fan motor. Dust was ignited, and a slow, low-pressure explosion extended to the faces of all the lower entries (fig. 79 [we omit]). No rock dust was used, and occasional sprinkling of the entries did not change the dry and dusty conditions.”

 

Kalisch: “In December, 1929 sixty-one of sixty-six men in the Old Town mine were burned to death, blown to bits, or overcome by gas. As the rescue crews slowly penetrated into the mine, ‘a greater gloom than night’ descended over the crowd near the mouth of the mine ‘with the realization born of mining experience that death probably had claimed all those who still remained in the workings’.[1]…. There were 48 of the 61 men killed who left families and there were 250 dependents who would not have the benefit of workmen’s compensation.” (Kalisch  “Ordeal of the Oklahoma Coal Miners,” p. 338 in Chronicles of Oklahoma, 1970.) 

 

Newspaper

 

Associated Press. “List of Dead.” Ada Evening News, OK, 12-18, 1929 (in US MRA):

“McAlester, Dec. 18. — (AP) — The list of identified bodies taken from the Old Town Coal Company’s mine is as follows:

 

  • Frank Parker
  • Manuel Huerta
  • Ray Welch
  • Pete Tilford
  • Green Brown
  • Robert Cross
  • M. J. Stewart
  • Ervin Groves
  • W. Cunningham
  • George Walker
  • Raphael Salazar
  • Leonard Davis
  • Harry Kidd
  • Tony Costino
  • Nick Chinneous
  • Henrique Banda
  • Ira Bross
  • Tony Torres
  • Pete Minnerious
  • Ray Barnes
  • O. M. Mackey
  • John Arch
  • C. Gallardo
  • E. Merdina
  • Glenn Duvall, son of the mine foreman
  • Frank Medina
  • A. Chavis
  • Juan Villareal
  • Amos Kemp
  • Lincoln McKanney
  • Frank Moreno
  • John Charvez
  • Y. Castillo
  • H. C. Davidson
  • Claude Dotson
  • N. Parez
  • Rustilo Hayela
  • Walter Murdock
  • Henry Skaggs
  • Manuel Luna
  • S. L. Mata
  • G. Chauvis
  • S. Perez
  • Samuel Phillips
  • Joe Bass
  • Willis James
  • Tino Cinnerois

Sources

 

Kalisch, Philip A. “Ordeal of the Oklahoma Coal Miners,” pp. 331-340 in Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. XVLIII, No. 3. 1970.  Digitized by Google. Accessed at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=1TMUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA338&dq=Bureau+of+Mines+Bulletin+586&ei=OL1eSdaRFYPmzATs-ZS_BA#PPA263,M1

 

NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), Mining Safety and Health Research..  Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2-26-2013 update. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/disall.htm

and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/allminingdisasters.html

Re-accessed 2-7-2025 at: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NIOSH-Mining/MMWC/MineDisasters/Table

 

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Old Town Mining Company, Old Town Mine Explosion, McAlester, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, December 17, 1929, No. Killed – 61.” Accessed 2-7-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/old_town_news_only.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Cites Dallas Morning News, December 18, 1929.