After the turn of the century, settlers began arriving in this area to start the serious business of farming in this great new land. Imagine their delight to find seams of coal on the surface of the ground and gopher mounds of pure coal on the hillsides. Such was the case on section 22-4-16 about four miles west of Maxim. This land, some now owned by Pat Doud and the rest owned by Sidney Lindskog, was soon the scene of much activity in the coal business. The first miners here were the Kaisers who homesteaded a quarter there. Bill Dee applied for coal mining lease on the north half of legal subdivision in 22-4-1 on April 20, l9l0. In l910 W. J. Ewing had a mining lease on the east half of legal subdivision 8 in 22-4-16. From 1923-l925 Joseph Doud had a lease on Sl/2 of L S 4 in 22-4-16. From 1925 to 1930 Andrew Luplac had a lease. Edward Schad, Fred Markowski, Mackay and Wright, Frederick and Insko were also known to mine there.

The last commercial miners on this section were Fred Markowski and Eddy Ror on the east side of the coulee and Bill Frederick and Shorty Insko on the west side. They quit in 1936. The last one to mine was John Raknerud. He dug a strip with a spade about a foot deep right in the coulee bottom just for his own use.

These mine operators had many hired men over the years. To mention them all would be a hopeless task. Some of them still living around here are Eddy Ror, Mike Doud, William Frederick, Wally Hall, and Charlie Frederick.

Inspectors representing the department of the Interior, Mining Lands and Yukon Branch visited the mine regularly. They had offices in Estevan and Moose Jaw. Their reports listed the type of coal as lignite. The coal seams in these reports varied from six to seven feet with quantity of slack from 25 to 40%. There were also bands of dirt. In one report a band 3" and another 6".

Coal was disposed of in local trade. Price was $2.50 per ton. The lease cost $20.00 a year. There was often trouble paying this amount.

Inspectors were never pleased with safety precautions. They always requested that more timbers be put up. They also found the mine going in directions not applied for in the lease; sometimes they had to issue a lease for a different subdivision. Miners were requested to fill in old mine holes. Tunnels extended as far as 700 feet. Some tunnels went 150 feet before reaching good coal. A royalty of 5¢ a ton was paid.

Coal was dug by hand and hauled out on a horse drawn stone boat. The horse would often sense a cave in and step ahead so the dirt would fall on the stone boat.

One of the mine operators had big ideas on mining. He brought in narrow gauge rails and coal cars, etc., but it didn't seem to work out anyhow. Most of the coal was hauled out with a horse and kind of a stone boat affair. This outfit was about eight feet long by two feet wide by two feet high with two wheels towards the back end. It held about one half ton of coal. Four loads would fill an ordinary sleigh box.

The big risks in mining were the cave-ins. As far as is known there was only one man who lost his life in these mines. He was Mr. Wilson who had a homestead to the east and south of Radville, just west of the Laurier gravel pit. He is buried along the road allowance on his homestead there. Some were hurt. George Baycroft got caught in a cave-in and walked bent over for many months. Bill Dee was also injured in a cave-in; his hip was injured for life.

Mike Doud and Jim Doud found a dinosaur bone in Schad's mine in the 30's. They put it on the ground and in two days it had disintegrated to powder. The bone was probably two feet long, nine or ten inches across at the ends, shaped like a chicken bone.

It was too big for a buffalo. They were digging an entry into a new mine. Before the railways came through and small towns appeared on the scene, people came to the mines from as far away as twenty-five miles. This would be a long, cold, two-day trip for some. It's a wonder many of them didn't freeze to death. Coal was only mined in the winter because it would turn to slack in a short time.

An interesting sideline to mining for some was the making of home-brew. This went on for years at the mines. Not all did this but some of them certainly were. Surely there are still many gallons of brew hidden back in the mine holes.

After the early l940's the mines were not operated any more but they still claim people's attention at times. It was only a few years ago that Gordon Raknerud had his tractor drop into a hole. Also Sidney Lindskog had a mine cave under his tractor. These farmers can trace some tunnels by the depression on the land. The mines are done but certainly they are not forgotten.