Alberta Coal Branch tales
Long before oil and natural gas were discovered, coal was essential across the Prairies for heating, lighting, and cooking. Alberta’s abundant coal reserves led to the development of mines throughout the province. While the Drumheller seam in south central Alberta was a major source, the richest area was the eastern slopes, known as the Coal Branch. Dozens of small mining communities emerged almost overnight to supply an energy hungry province with the coal it depended on. Like workers drawn by Alberta’s many oil booms, miners came to the province seeking well-paying jobs in its rich coal seams. The rise of the first miners’ unions brought a measure of security and stability, allowing families to put down roots even as miners laboured in thick coal dust, a hazard that, for many, later led to black lung disease. By 1956, as oil and natural gas increasingly replaced coal, these communities on Alberta’s frontier had become ghost towns. Mining companies quickly evicted residents from comp...