Vulcan Mine Deaths

This is a list of the 85 coal miners interred at the New Castle Cemetery that were killed in mine explosions and accidents, beginning in 1894 and ending in 1918. The Vulcan Mine was by far the most deadly of the local mines accounting for 81 of the miners interred. In 1896 there were 49 miners killed at the Vulcan with 45 of the miners interred at New Castle. In 1913 a second explosion at the Vulcan claimed 37 lives and 35 of those miners were interred at New Castle. Sadly 31 of the grave sites for the miners interred in 1896 are "Unknown". This is most likely due to the fact that most of the miners killed in 1896 were men that had flooded to work the mines from distant locations and had no family living in New Castle. Based upon the many unmarked graves in the "Potters Field" portion of the cemetery it is believed that many of the miners from 1896 ended up there. The explosion occurred in February a time of year that would have caused difficulty in properly identifying the Lot and Plot sites. The fact that many of the miners were not well known to the residents would have contributed to the confusion. Lastly the sheer volume of men that had to be buried around the same time I'm sure had an impact. By contrast the miners killed at the Vulcan in 1913 only one grave site is unknown and most likely buried in the "Potters Field" area. In 1913 the miners were established residents and had families in town. Although fewer lives were claimed in the 1913 explosion it had a much larger impact on the community which was much smaller in 1913 than 1896. The deaths impacted nearly every home at the time.

Ｔｈｅ Ｖｕｌｃａｎ Ｍｉｎｅｓ
.
.
.
New Castle, Colorado

"Conditions in the mines were difficult for the miners. They worked long hours in darkness underground, in poorly ventilated mine shafts which were sometimes only three feet high. They had to buy their own tools. In October of 1893 the Vulcan Mine company had failed to give workers their paychecks for two months. The workers walked off the job for two days and the matter was quickly resolved. In the meantime, at the Consolidated, miners were ordered to cover their lamps to prevent possible explosions. Though safer, the miners would have to work in near darkness. The miners struck and demanded more pay and adjustments in working conditions. In the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, owner of the Consolidated, held firm and told strikers their pay would be cut. After three months the owners made some concessions, but only hired back a fraction of the miners and at lower pay. The long period with no pay forced the miners, lucky enough to get work, back into the mine.

On February 18, 1896, methane gas exploded in the Vulcan Mine. Forty-nine Miners were killed that day. Many of the miners are buried in Highland Cemetery."

New Castle Heritage. New Castle Co. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.newcastlecolorado.org

---