Price author pens masterful new book about 1963 mine disaster

DISASTER AT CANE CREEK
It happened about 4:40 p.m. On a Tuesday.
It was Aug. 27, 1963 and 25 men were trapped underground.
    A gas explosion had ripped through the still-under-construction shafts of the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company’s new potash mining operation in Grand County, some 20 miles southwest of Moab.
    Workers for Harrison International, a Canadian company hired to prepare the mine for TGS, were trapped more than 2,000 feet below the surface. And the clock was ticking on their lives.
    Survivors in the immediate aftermath of the explosion were able to set up barricades within different areas of the mine, temporarily preventing smoke and gases from overwhelming them. Two separate rescue attempts proved successful in saving seven of the 25 men that day.
    Two left one barricade and were found in a shaft station by rescue crew. That was 19 hours after the explosion.
    Five men remained behind a barricade until rescue crew members made contact with them. They walked out of the mine without assistance 50 hours after the explosion.
    Eighteen men, some miners from Carbon and Emery counties, lost their lives in the accident.
    A later Bureau of Mines investigation concluded that combustible gases released when a round of shots was fired on a drift face were ignited by an electrical arc or an open flame inside an underground machine shop.
    This story, however, is more dramatic than this.
    Except for those who lost loved ones or friends in this accident, this story requires much more time and space to explain, more reflection in order to digest the depth of emotion, the nuances of the accident and details of its painful aftermath.
    After two decades of research, interviews, and fits of intense writing about those who lived through this tragedy 55 years ago, author Kymberly Mele has finally published the most comprehensive depiction of these events to date.
    Her new book, titled “Disaster at Cane Creek: A Moab, Utah Story,” became available to the public two weeks ago.
    Mele, whose late father Donald Blake Hanna survived the mining accident, lives in Price. She sat down with the Sun Advocate recently to talk about her new book, which spans more than 600 pages and is replete with anecdotes and cherished family stories from those who lost loved ones in the blast.
Mele’s research included diving deep into musty newspaper archives, piecing together bits of information that made headline news in the days leading up to the explosion as well as the days and weeks afterward.
The book even opens with an exquisitely written scene of mine workers driving along a river road, newly paved just for them, amid the backdrop of signature red rock cliffs, the main attraction for most visitors to the area around Moab today.
The men in the scene are on their way to work. Amid the din of voices, some speaking different dialects of English, the main topic of conversation is, of all things, a mine accident.
On Aug. 13, 1963, the roof of a coal mine in Sheppton, Penn., collapsed, trapping three miners 300 feet below ground. Using heavy duty boring machines, rescuers drilled day and night for two weeks straight in an attempt to rescue the men. It was the first time such machinery was used to attempt a mine rescue.
The world was captivated.
Two of the three trapped men were saved on Aug. 27, 1963. And the men of Harrison International discussed the valiant rescue as they pulled up to the entrance of the TGS potash mine, not knowing they would experience their own dreaded disaster several hours later.
“The Pennsylvania mine rescue of two coal miners occurred only hours before the explosion at the Cane Creek mine. The Cane Creek miners were talking about the dramatic Pennsylvania rescue on their way to work,” Mele said.
She said the opening chapter is only one of numerous examples of quick narrative features that put readers right in the shoes of the miners who experienced the Cane Creek disaster.
“The amount of detail cements the story in the iconic era of the early 60s and describes the location of the mine site west of Moab on the Colorado River, a magical place in the red rock country of Utah,” she said.
Asked what her favorite part of the story was, she couldn’t pick just one.
“There are so many parts that are spellbinding or even brought tears as I was writing,” she said.
Of all the family members of victims and survivors she interviewed, Irene Christensen Lemon, who died in 2015, remains someone who deeply impacted her work.
Lemon lost not just her husband, Mylan H. Christensen Sr., but also her son, Mylan H. Christensen Jr. Both men were from Carbon County.
Asked what the most difficult part of putting the book together was, Mele said organizing all the information she gathered was the hardest part.
“Organizing the massive amount of research into the dramatic story that it was and trying to capture the emotion or the action in an understandable way, especially for those not familiar with mining (was hard),” she said.
Mele admits this is her first attempt at such serious writing. She relied on more than 600 sources of information, and the book has well over 2,000 footnotes.  
“Ninety-nine percent of the dialogue in the book comes from the newspaper articles of the day and the rest from interviews,” she said.
She said she expects each reader will come away with a different perspective on the mining accident.
“Those closely connected to the story will be able to understand more of the story. Others will connect through their experiences in mining and still others will enjoy the history,” she said. “People have heard bits and pieces of the story throughout the years and now they get to read the most definitive account of this tragic event.”
Asked how people have reacted so far to the book, she said some readers have found closure within its pages.
“Since it’s a very tragic story some have commented that it has brought them closure. Many of the children who lost fathers had bits and pieces of the story depending on their age when it happened.
“Disaster at Cane Creek” is available for purchase at the Sun Advocate office for $29.99. It is also available through Amazon.com.