By Thomas G. Friggens

The complete article appeared in the May/June 1988 issue of Michigan History.

At twenty minutes past seven, in the chill gray dawn of Wednesday, 3 November 1926, the day shift reports to work at the Barnes-Hecker iron mine in Michigan's northcentral Upper Peninsula. They arrive from neighboring communities--Diorite, Ishpeming, North Lake, South Greenwood, Barnes-Hecker Location. They are immigrants and sons of immigrants; fathers, sons, brothers and friends. Their faces reflect the weariness of their labors and the pride of their heritage. They are strong and alive, laughing and sullen, as they prepare to toil underground. For them it is a routine beginning to a day like all others. Overhead the skies are unsettled; there is a prediction of snow. It has been an unusually wet autumn and there is talk among the miners of an early winter.

These miners lend their labor to the chief business of Michigan's central Upper Peninsula, the production of iron ore. The field is growing steadily, despite a few economic downturns and industry slowdowns since ore was discovered in upper Michigan in the mid-nineteenth century. The Barnes-Hecker Mine, property of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, is a relative latecomer to the mining landscape; first explored in 1907, it was developed in a swampy area starting in 1917. A concrete shaft lining and underground dams are in place at Barnes-Hecker as safety precautions, but the draining of nearby North Lake and the overlying swamp in the early 1920s have made the biggest difference in keeping the mine a mostly dry working environment.

The laborers here today are representative of the industry's immigrant labor force-mainly from Canada, the British Isles and Scandinavia. The fifty or so men who go underground this morning come both from the town of Ishpeming and from company-operated villages, where housing and social services are provided for employees. The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, like most major U.P. companies, does not appear to take advantage of its workers. Cleveland-Cliffs sponsors classes in learning English, citizenship and naturalization for recently immigrated employees and has operated a welfare department since 1905. Financial assistance is available for families dealing with extended illness, medical treatment and death. The Barnes-Hecker Mine has only seen one fatality since it began production in 1922, but mining is a dangerous occupation no matter who is involved, so CCI maintains a diligent safety effort that includes monthly and weekly inspections.

Inside the mine today, workers are occupied on the first, second and third levels and on some sublevels as well. Some men operate locomotives to pull cars of ore to the shaft for removal, another repairs pipe and still others use their carbide lamps to light their work areas far from the main shaft. The mine captain, Walter Tippett, and county mine inspector William Hill are inspecting the mine this morning.

At about twenty past eleven, a cage of miners leaves the mine—it is almost time to break for dinner. On the surface, they suddenly hear a roaring underground and, when attempts to ring the men in the underground pumphouses fail because electricity is out, two of them descend the shaft to investigate.

Mud, rock, water and debris are pouring through the mine from above, and water rises through the main shaft as one man climbing the ladder to the surface meets the two coming down to investigate. A flashlight beamed into the shaft shows only darkness, and a terrifying crash sounds far below them. The three reach the surface at 11:30 A.M.

By that evening, pumps have been brought to empty the mine of water, but because of still-high water levels and debris, only seven bodies—including the mine captain and the county mine inspector-can be retrieved. Forty-two women are widowed tonight, and 132 minor children lose their fathers. Cleveland Cliffs sends a medical team to assist victims' families and promises to pay the maximum allowed workmen's-compensation pension. More than two months later, reclamation efforts at Barnes-Hecker have resulted in another dam breaking and a re-flooding of the mine. The cave-in site, a quarter-mile from the main shaft, is no longer a dry pit but a deep lake. Cleveland Cliffs abandons the mine and seals the shaft with concrete, then pays each dependent family twice the amount originally announced. Mining engineers and other observers never determine the cause of the cave-in, and no further investigation is ever done.

Tom Friggens is Upper Peninsula Sites Coordinator for the Michigan Historical Museum system, Department of History, Arts and Libraries.

For the full story, check out the book No Tears in Heaven.

back