NOTE

1943

Gift of Elmer Anderson

1985.38.01

At 8 a.m., Saturday, February 27, 1943, Emil Anderson and seventy-six other coal miners entered Smith Mine #3 near the community of Bearcreek. One hour and thirty-seven minutes later, employees close to the surface of the mine felt an enormous pressure in their ears, followed by a powerful gust of air filled with soot and debris exploding past them. Only three workers escaped from the mine. Within its depths, thirty men died instantly from the forceful blast and another forty-four soon suffocated. Anderson was part of this latter group. In the short time he had remaining, he used the materials he had available to leave his family this message on the lid of a dynamite box: "It's 5 minutes pass [sic] 11 o'clock Agnes and children I'm sorry we had to go this way God bless you all Emil with lots [of] kisse[s]." This fragile letter-which conveys a deeply personal and tragic story-survives as one of the most poignant objects cared for by the Montana Historical Society.