1954: The Union Pacific Coal Company Mines Close in Hanna

1954: The Union Pacific Coal Company Mines Close in Hanna and the Federal Commodity Program Helped Feed the Miners and Their Families After the Mines were Closed

Page by Bob Leathers

UNION PACIFIC COAL COMPANY MINE OFFICE IN 1953, JUST BEFORE IT SHUT DOWN. (HANNA MINER)

The Union Pacific Coal Company Mines Close in Hanna

from THE HANNA MINER: At the Bottom of the Mine by Bob Leathers

February 26, 1954: The Hanna No. 4A mine shut down permanently when about three hundred miners were fired. The firing of the miners created difficult times for the miners and their families. Many became destitute with no job or income. The Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 4A mine in Hanna was developed in 1941 and opened production of coal in 1942. It closed production in 1954 when all of the Union Pacific Coal Company mines closed in Hanna. It was the last mine opened by the Union Pacific Coal Company in Hanna. The mine produced coal for a total of 13 years. Over that time, it produced 9,133,659 tons of coal with an average yearly work force of 320 workers. In the years 1943, 1944 and 1945, the mine produced over one million tons each year. The Hanna Basin mines (Hanna, Elmo, Sampo, Carbon, Dana, and Wagon mines) experienced a total of 371 miner deaths. The No. 4A mine in Hanna was responsible for 7 of the 371 deaths.

February 28, 1954: The Union Pacific Coal Company closed all mining operations in Hanna.

March 1954: With a large number of miners suddenly unemployed, the lack of income to buy food became a critical issue. According to Hanna Democratic Women's Club documents, the club in early March 1954, in cooperation with Lester C. Hunt, Wyoming's United States Senator, was successful in bringing the Federal Commodity Program to Hanna. The program assisted the needy unemployed Hanna miners and their families with food items until other employment could be found. In the beginning, the program consisted of beans and potatoes, but later expanded to canned meats, flour, rice and other federal surplus food items as they became available.

When the Union Pacific Railroad shifted to diesel from coal to power the train engines in the early 1950's, the need for coal to run the train engines disappeared. When the demand for coal disappeared, so did the coal mining jobs.

Rawlins, Wyoming, Friday, February 26, 1954

The Union Pacific Coal Company's Hanna mine, one of the largest operations west of the Mississippi, will be shut down completely Saturday, it was reported here tonight. Union Pacific officials would not confirm the report tonight, but it was understood an announcement would be made tomorrow. The shutdown would put 182 more miners in the Hanna area out of work. In January 1953, about 100 Hanna miners were transferred to other UP operations and late last year about 65 of the miners were idled. The shutdown would throw all remaining UP employees in the area out of work and would end mining operations in the Hanna district, with the exception of the Nugget Coal Co. and Monolith Cement Co., which have a total of only about 25 employees. The miners already unemployed in Hanna receive a shipment of surplus food commodities last weekend as part of the state's relief program to aid needy families. Today the governor's office announced more supplies probably would be available in the area next week. (The Rawlins Daily Times, Feb. 26, 1954)

January 14, 1953 marked the beginning of the end for the Union Pacific Coal Company mining operations in Hanna when about 100 miners were fired. February 26, 1954 was the end when the Hanna 4-A mine shut down permanently and about three hundred miners were fired. The firing of the miners brought on difficult times for the miners and their families. Many became destitute with no job or income.

Hanna Closing to Be Last. I. N. Bayless, president of the Union Pacific Coal company, advises that due to the reduced consumption of coal by the railroad and the lack of other markets, it is necessary that we close the Hanna 4-A mine indefinitely, effective March 1, 1954. (Unknown Newspaper, Hanna, 1954).

Immediately, people in Hanna started looking for other employment, but jobs were hard to find. Many people just had deep roots and didn't want to leave, while others didn't have the skills to do anything else.

The exodus began, first with the transients and the "newcomers" who had moved to Hanna during World War II. The young families with children who needed the income to raise their children were next. The company store closed, then the filling station. The hospital was turned over to the town for a dollar a year, but without a doctor. By December, the population had dropped from 1200 to 800. However, many opted to stick it out. (Hanna Field by Harv Wilbur) What Will Happen To Our Town? Our work, our homes, our whole lives. Yet, now, we're in a period when our homes have been literally pulled out from under us. With the closing of the Hanna 4-A mine, more people are found without jobs. As most of the people have lived here almost all of their lives, they feel bad that the Hanna Mine has closed for good. For Hanna, though small, and with many disadvantages, is their home. And for the people they seem to have liked living in Hanna, too; for the people were friendly on their arrival and have stayed that way all the while they were living here. Hanna will probably never become a ghost town. There are some of the older people who will live here for the rest of their lives. But if it does, it will always be "our old home town" to us. For a small town, we have lots of advantages that similar or small towns don't have. We have a theater, a nice store, a competent hospital, a post office, library, and a very wonderful school. For these things we should be thankful, and proud that we had them in Hanna. Remember - other towns have closed down and those people have found a new home, just as we can do. (Newspaper Unknown, Hanna, 1954)

A few of the employment ideas that floated around by Hanna citizens and elected officials after the mines closed were building a steam plant to produce electricity, building a federal storage depot, moving a military installation into the area, mining uranium north of town and expansion of the lumber industry. Only the expansion of the lumber industry had any effect on employment in Hanna.

Each Corner Will Surely Be Richer... this is a very critical time for Hanna, for it could possibly be on the brink of becoming a ghost town. You can see the strain in the men's faces as they gather on the streets and in the public places. The worry shows in the women's faces as they care for their children and do their daily tasks. Yet no one is panicky. They seem to possess an inner faith and calm that is indeed wonderful. For these people have known hardship before. They have seen half of their male population killed by a single explosion. They have lived through a dark depression. They live with a constant fear of hearing the screech of the mine ambulance that signals there has been another mine accident. In spite of all this, they have tremendous courage and have great faith in God and American principles. These people, almost without exception, believe their future is in their children. They make many sacrifices themselves to give their youngsters all the advantages. It shows in their schools and in the amount of young people that go off to college from there. If there comes a day that Hanna is no more, as the people scatter through the country, each little corner where they settle will surely become richer by the presence of such people. (Newspaper Unknown, Mar. 1954)

In his book Hanna Field, published in 1995, Harv Wilbur summed it up pretty well.

As so often happens, the future did not turn out as planned. The bank closed. The uranium strike did not turn out as planned. Neither did the coal mine's future in synthetics. And no one developed a pipeline for transporting coal across the nation. Many of the miner's cottages disappeared. Some were hauled off to Laramie. Lionel Love's movie house, meeting hall and coffee shop became a restaurant and then was abandoned. The Company Store became a pub. The satellite town of Elmo shriveled to a shadow of its self. The hospital was torn down to make room for a viaduct across the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The entrance to Mine No. 4, three miles north of town, was sealed and entirely replaced by strip mining with its gigantic scoops and draglines. (Hanna Fieldby Harv Wilbur)

Since the closing of the mines, the locations and entrances to the Union Pacific Coal Company mines in Hanna and Carbon have been misrepresented or lost. The Google map below marks the locations and the entrances. On close examination there is still ample evidence to locate the mines.

LOCATIONS OF THE UNION PACIFIC COAL COMPANY MINES IN HANNA. (GOOGLE MAP LABELED BY BOB LEATHERS)

Federal Commodity Program

Hanna Closing to Be Last. I.N. Bayless, president of the Union Pacific Coal company, advises that due to the reduced consumption of coal by the railroad and the lack of other markets, it is necessary that we close the Hanna 4-A mine indefinitely effective March 1, 1954. (Newspaper Name Unknown, Hanna, 1954).

With a large number of miners suddenly unemployed, the lack of income to buy food became a critical issue. According to the Hanna Democratic Women's Club documents printed below, the Club in early March,1954, in cooperation with Lester C. Hunt, Wyoming's United States Senator, was successful in bringing the Federal Commodity Program to Hanna. The program assisted the needy unemployed Hanna miners and their families with food items until other employment could be found. In the beginning the program consisted of beans and potatoes, but later expanded to canned meats, flour, rice and other federal surplus food items as they became available. The program proved to be extremely beneficial and lasted for several years.

Rawlins Daily Times, More Food Scheduled For Hanna Families, Rawlins, Wyoming, Thursday, Mar. 4, 1954

(HANNA BASIN MUSEUM FROM BOBBIE GASKELL)