KEMMERER — A crowd gathered at the Kemmerer Cemetery on Monday, Aug. 14, to remember those who died in the Frontier coal mine explosion 100 years ago. Local veterans performed a gun salute before a prayer was said amongst bowed heads. The names of the 99 miners who died on Aug. 14, 1923, were read, and pieces of evergreen were placed on graves by the United Mine Workers of America. 

Janet Lott of Rock Springs led participants to the grave sites of the miners while offering short bios on each of the victims. Lott does genealogy and family history research. She has done research on the mine explosion for more than two decades. 

Once Lott realized she had a relative who died in the Frontier Mine disaster, she started researching it. She said, “I started the research in 2000 before there was much information on the internet but I went to the Lincoln County library and courthouse and began looking at newspapers on microfilm.”

She also got information about the miners’ backgrounds from census records, draft cards and looked at court records, along with visiting the museum in Kemmerer. She said going to Cheyenne to copy death certificates helped her identify the victims’ names and find their graves.

Lott has placed yellow flowers on the miners’ graves every year for the last three years.

“It was a powerful visual of how many people died in the accident,” Lott said.

Lott said she worked with cemetery staff and the South Lincoln Historical Society to locate the graves of miners.

“The cemetery has been very helpful,” she said.

She wrote a paper about the effects on the community from the mine explosion.

“When I did the research paper, I got the state inspector’s report for the coal mine accident,” she said. “I feel bad these men were not properly remembered and there was not much written about them.”

She now has a blog with lots of information about the mine accident at fronterminedisaster.blogspot.com.

Lott is not alone in her passion to remember these miners. Local historian Norris Tratnik presented to the town the history of the mine explosion after the memorial service at the Eagles Hall. He remembers his father talking about the event. His grandfather died in a mining accident and Tratnik still gets emotional talking about it.

Tratnik gave a detailed account of the mine explosion and explained that the combination of methane gas and fire makes coal mines potentially dangerous places. The coroner’s report said the fire boss opened his lamp to relight it, which initiated the explosion. The brother of the fire boss said his brother would never have done that, according to newspaper reports at the time.

Lott said, “We will never know really what happened because they are all gone. But it was typical for mines to blame the miners.” 

Tratnik said the Frontier Mine was more than 6,000 feet long and 100 feet deep, making it the deepest mine in the state at the time. He said the mine explosion had an impact on the community and many individuals lost family members, friends and neighbors.

Women became widows and children who were fatherless after the explosion often went to work in the mines themselves.

“The large dollar amount paid by the state compensation fund almost depleted the newly-created fund,” Lott said. “The impact of this accident even reached into other Wyoming towns and into other countries. The loss of 99 miners in the small community had a definite impact.”

Of the 99 miners that died, 81 are identified in the Kemmerer cemetery and eight were veterans.