On Highway 133, near Redstone, Colorado, a memorial plaque reads:

This monument stands in tribute to the miners of Coal Basin, who confronted adversity and proved themselves resourceful, innovative and intrepid. We honor their achievements and their sacrifices, remembering in particular those brave, good men whose lives were lost in the mines … Placed with gratitude and respect by the Mid-Continent Companies.

The plaque describes Coal Basin, four miles west of the monument, as a 27-square-mile basin with outcropping coal seams beneath the Huntsman Ridge escarpment. Mine entries were constructed in 1900 by Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, which extracted a million tons of coal until 1909, then by Mid-Continent Resources in 1956, which mined 28 million tons of coal until 1991.

Explosions are a tragic fact of coal mining. The decomposing plants that create coal also release various gases, of which methane is the most explosive. The Dutch Creek Mine in Coal Basin was known as the gassiest mine in Colorado, and the second gassiest in the US, making it one of the most dangerous mines in the country. That danger was realized one terrible night in 1965.

Aspen Illustrated News, Jan. 1, 1966:

At dawn on Wednesday morning, Dec. 29, [1965] word reached the tiny town of Redstone, South of Carbondale, that there had been an accident at the Dutch Creek coal mine. The accident that killed nine experienced miners occurred … as a result of a methane gas explosion … The victims, who had been working overtime in order to have New Year’s Eve off, all died of burns and concussions.

The men were between the ages of 22 and 48, and hailed from Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Silt. The Dec. 30,, 1965 issue of Rocky Mountain News listed the names:

Magnus (Gus) Abelin, James Amiday, George Dunlap, Easton Snow, Robert Storey, Glen Anderson, Albert J. Oberster, Ed Smith and Marvin Cattoor.

An investigation determined human error was the cause of the explosion. A pile of coal dust had accumulated near the entrance of the shaft, cutting off ventilation and allowing methane gas to build up. The workers decided to clear the coal, but the loading machine snagged a cable, causing a spark that ignited the gas. That incident resulted in new safety regulations and equipment.

The Rocky Mountain News, March 2, 1966:

Mid-Continent Coal Company … has now inaugurated … installation of methane monitoring devices on two machines. These are designed to keep a constant check on gas concentrations, and to stop the mining machine when buildups are too great.

But just over a decade later tragedy struck again, as described by Jim Nelson in his book, “Marble and Redstone, A Quick History”:

On April 15, 1981, 22 men were working in the Dutch Creek #1 mine. About 4:15 in the afternoon, there was a massive explosion some 7,200 feet from the surface. The blast knocked out both the ventilation system and communication system, making rescue efforts even more hazardous. A short time after the explosion, three men emerged from the mine entrance uninjured. Then, a rescue team brought out four more men, all alive but with varying degrees of burns or other injuries.

The families of the 15 men still missing set up a vigil around campfires … Finally, a day and a half after the blast … nine of the miners were found. It appeared that they had died instantly. As one miner put it, “Being near a methane explosion in a mine shaft would be like being in an exploding gun barrel.” About three hours later another five were found, and the fifteenth body was discovered another three hours later. The vigil of the families was at last over.

Again, human error was found to be the cause. The methane detector, required after the 1965 incident, failed to shut off equipment headlights during a buildup of methane, due to faulty wiring. When the lights were manually switched off by one of the miners, a spark caused the methane to ignite.

In his book, “The Mines of Coal Basin, 1956 to 1991,” former President of Mid-Continent Resources, John A. Reeves explained:

All of this was on account of a machine with improper wiring being approved by an MSHA [Mine Safety and Health Administration] electrical inspector. What a terrible loss of human life for a stupid mistake! But isn’t that often the case?

The tragedy caused a shockwave throughout the community. Everyone knew someone who died in the mine. The week after the disaster, The Roaring Fork Valley Journal featured a front-page photo of a candlelight vigil in Carbondale. Following were four pages of reporting, obituaries and tributes, including a letter to the editor with this heartbreaking passage:

The dawning of this day will bring about change to many lives. Their women will mourn the passing of these men who were their companions and soul-mates, finding the void in their lives seemingly irreparable. Their parents will be numb, feeling that a part of them has been lost. We will hope that their youngest children will remember the little something of the man who is their father, while the older children will know the loss, no longer having the wisdom and guidance of these men.

They were Ronald W. Patch, Thomas Vetter, Glen William Sharp, Terry E. Lucero, John Ayala, Loren H. Mead, Kyle Cook, Kelly B. Greene, Richard D. Lincoln, William E. Gutherie, Daniel Litwiller, Brett Tucker, John D. Rhodes, Robert H. Ragle and Hugh W. Pierce Jr.

Their legacies live on through their descendants, and in the memories of the Carbondale community.