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100 YEARS OF MINING - DRUMHELLER

Flowing river works its way to valley floor
Over rocks and under bridges waters pour
Swaying reeds, lush trees line the banks
Playful birds along the way sing their thanks.
 
Land with promise first brought settlers to this place
Fresh water, clean air, abundant space
The land was claimed for its richness and was sold
Some built farms, worked the fields and some found coal.
 
Miners came to the valley from all around
Lived in shacks by the pit heads, built a town.
It was a time when the valley drum did boom
And lasted till the song lost its tune,
 
Ash ribbons pulled gently across the hills
Black and beige where once stood the mills
Old tipples turned grey, now lean
Rusted iron just left where mines had been.
 
But the beauty of the valley and its past
Brings new people with fresh visions to be cast.
And the valley still proud in all its glory
Tells of mines and the miners and their stories. 

Poem by: Chuck Spencer

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Welcome to the Drumheller Valley Mining Centennial Website!

It's 1911. A wheelbarrow laden with coal emerges from a dark hole. In the blink of an eye and the toss of a coin, Drumheller is born. Dozens of coal mines open, thousands of men pour in, and communities spring up around every pithead. Every language in Europe is spoken on the streets of the bustling downtown.

For the next 50 years, coal defined Drumheller. In all, 139 mines were registered, from Nacmine to Wayne to East Coulee. As natural gas replaced coal for home heating, mines closed and the industry declined. The Atlas was the last mine to operate, and produced coal until 1979. By then, oil and gas, agriculture, and tourism ruled the Drumheller economy, and Coal was no longer King.

It's 2011. The entire community celebrates the Drumheller Valley Mining Centennial. Special events are planned all across the valley, and new tales will bubble up from the bedrock itself.

 

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