Hanna Basin Museum
  • Museum
    • 2020 Carbon Cemetery Association and Hanna Basin Historical Society ​Spring Newsletter
    • 2019: Hanna Basin Historical Society and Carbon Cemetery Association Newsletter
    • Visitors to the Museum
    • Books and Magazines to Read Online about the Hanna Basin
    • Books Available for Purchase at the Hanna Basin Museum
    • Order Form for Materials Available for Purchase at the Museum
    • Membership and Support
    • Links to Other Wyoming Museums >
      • Medicine Bow, Wyoming, Museum and Hanna Basin Neighbor
      • Rock Springs, Wyoming, Historical Museum
    • Copyright Infringement Notification
  • Carbon
    • Hanna Basin Museum - Time Line
    • CARBON CEMETERY RECORDS
    • Carbon Mine Fatality Records
    • Visitors to the Carbon Cemetery
    • Carbon - Wings of Imagination - A Letter From Old Carbon
    • Carbon - A Poem by Mrs. C. E. Ellis
    • 2003: Carbon Cemetery Restoration
    • 2011: Carbon, Carbon County, Cemetery Restoration 2011
    • 2011: Bow River FFA Community Service Project: Carbon Cemetery
    • 2014: The Carbon Cemetery
    • 2015: The Old Carbon Cemetery Privy
  • Hanna
    • HANNA HAPPENINGS
    • THE HANNA CEMETERY: From the Bottom of the Mine
    • HANNA CEMETERY RECORDS
    • Hanna Burial Plots and Lots >
      • Hanna Blocks and Lots 1 - 6
      • Hanna Plots 1 - 50
      • Hanna Plots 51 - 80
      • Hanna Plots 81 - 129
      • Hanna Plots 130 - 175
      • Hanna Plots 176 - 209
      • Hanna Plots 210 - 298
      • Hanna Plots 299 - 349
      • Hanna Plots 350 - 379
      • Hanna Plots 380 - 419
      • Hanna Plots 420 - 500
    • Hanna Early Churches >
      • Introduction to Hanna’s Early Churches
      • Episcopal Church - History, Bell and Cross
      • Methodist Church - Organ
      • Colored Baptist Church
    • Hanna Military in the Hanna Cemetery >
      • Hanna Cemetery - In The Military
      • Arthurs, Peter Killed in Action World War I
      • Love, Michael V. Killed In The Line Of Duty
      • Jones, William D. Died of Wounds Received In Action World War I
      • Lucas, Bernard R. Killed In Action World War II
      • Lucas, William C. Died of Wounds Recieved In Action World War II
      • Luoma, Arvo A. Killed in Action World War II
      • McAtee, William J. Killed in Action Vietnam
      • Saari, John Killed in Action World War II
    • Hanna Cemetery - Japanese Monuments Transcribed
    • Grave Headstones for Hanna Miner Fatalities Buried Elsewhere than Hanna
    • Hanna Where Did They Come From?
  • The People
  • Schools
  • Coal Mines
    • A History of the Hanna Coal Miner from 1868 to 2017: Bob Leathers' Notebook
    • Hanna Basin Mining Companies and Mines
    • Men Injured in the Hanna Mines
    • 1903 June 30: Explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna >
      • Hanna 1903 Explosion Explained
      • List of Miners Killed in the June 30, 1903 Explosion
      • 1904 State Mine Inspector's Report for 1903 Explosion
      • 1903 Explosion Coroner's Inquest
      • 1903 Explosion - Earle Holmes Letter to Wilson Gobble
    • Hanna 1908 Mine Explosions Explained >
      • List of Miners Killed in the March 28, 1908 Explosions
      • 1908 Explosion Coroner's Inquest Report
      • Noah Young's 1908 Hanna Explosion Report to Governor B.B. Brooks
      • 1908 State Coal Mine Inspectors Report - 1908 Hanna Mine Number 1 Explosion
      • David M. Elias - State Mine Inspector Killed in 1908 Explosion
      • 1908 Explosion - Gov. B.B. Brooks Communiations
      • April 3, 1908 Chums From Boyhood Died Side By Side
      • April 16, 1908 U.P. May Not Be Liable
      • 1908: Newspaper Articles from The Wigan Observer in England About the March 28, 1908 Explosion of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 Mine in Hanna
      • Death of Noah Young - State Mine Inspector for the 1908 Explosion of Mine No. 1
    • 1916 Labor Agreement Between the United Mine Workers of America and the Southern Wyoming Coal Operators
    • 1917 Labor Agreement Between the United Mine Workers of America and the Southern Wyoming Coal Operators
    • 1970 - 1980: Bill Becker's Hanna Strip Mine Blasting Videos
  • Gallery
    • 1889-1912: ​ Elmer Larson - The Butvier Collection from Sally Hafdell and David Eriksson in Sweden
    • Images from Early Hanna Basin and Wyoming
    • Early History of the Union Pacific Railroad
    • 1910-1920: McNulty Family Photo Collection ​Albert Film - Hanna Basin Adventurer
    • 1920 -1930: Gert Milliken's Photo Collection of Unknown Children, Women, Men, and Families in Hanna
    • 1963 October 2: A Large Cattle Drive from Palm Livestock Company at Elk Mountain ​ to Hanna's Union Pacific Railroad Stockyard
    • 2017 April 18: Un​ion Pacific Steam Engine 844 Stopped at Hanna, Wyoming
    • 2019 May 17 and May 4: Big Boy​ 4014 and Engine 844 Were Running the Rails Again
    • Images of Old Carbon Today
  • Notebook

Kotila, Charles: Killed in the No. 4 Mine

Images and notes from Union Pacific Coal Company Employes' Magazine

Picture
Charles Kotila in Hanna. (UPCCEM, May 1929)
Hanna Saddened By the Death of Charles Kotila
​ by T. H. Butler.
The community of Hanna was shocked and grieved to learn of the accident in No. 4 Mine on February 22nd which caused the death of Charles Kotila at the Hanna Hospital a few hours later. Funeral services were held at the Finnish Hall on February 27th at 2:00 p. m., where the rituals of the Finnish Society, the Loyal Order of Moose and the United Mine Workers of America were read impressively. Burial took place at the Hanna Cemetery the procession being led by the Hanna band playing a solemn funeral dirge. Charles Kotila was born at Reiskarvi, Finland, on March 24th, 1875, and came to the United States in June, 1901. He first located in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, later moving to Cambria, Wyoming. He came to Hanna in 1909 and entered the employ of the Union Pacific Coal Company. He leaves to mourn his untimely passing his widow and two daughters, Mrs. Alex Lina of Hibbing, Minnesota, and Miss Ellen Kotila of Fitchburg, Mass. His daughters came to Hanna for the funeral services and to comfort their mother, to whom the sympathy of the community goes out in her loss. (Union Pacific Coal Company Employe's Magazine, May 1929)

Hanna Cemetery Records

Kotila, Charles O., (MM) (UPCCEM); Katila, Charles, (MIR)
Monument: "Mar. 24, 1875 - Feb. 22, 1929"
Plot: 171
Age: 54
Died: 1929
Age: 54
Charles Katila, February 2, 1929. Findings of  the investigation of the accident which occurred in the No. 4 Mine, Hanna, property of the Union Pacific Coal Company, in which Charles Katila, age 54, Finlander, married, was killed. Katila was employed as a track layer and on the morning of the accident was called up to the parting of "F" Plane on the 2nd Entry to repair a spring latch which was not operating correctly. While employed at the job the motor came in and changed the trip on the parting, which caused Katila to leave the latches and step to the low side as the motor had to pass over said switch. It  also appears that a trip on the top rope of "F" Plane was at this time standing at the derail switch, which is located about 165 feet above the latches, waiting for the signal light to indicate that the parting was clear. When the motor started out with the loaded trip from the parting, the motorman pulled the signal light switch which indicated to the rope rider on the trip that was at the derail that the parting was clear. The rope rider immediately threw the derail and signaled down his trip. While entering the parting he heard a noise like the trip had derailed and signaled the engineer to stop the trip and while so doing he noticed a light below the trip and when the trip finally came to a stop he saw that Katila had been run over. Immediately getting help, Katila was carried to a suitable place and first aid applied. From observation it would appear that Katila was not aware that this trip was at the derail, as he could not see up to that point as he was working around the curve, and when the motor trip got on the clear he started back up to the latches and upon either seeing the red light on the plane trip coming or hearing it, he started to get out of the way and was struck by the trip, or in attempting to get on the clear he slipped and fell in front of the trip. It has developed since the investigation was made that Katila was trying to get away from the trip when he slipped and fell. (MIR)

Hanna Basin Museum Website – A Connection To The Past