Unmarked Graves and the Hanna Cemetery

Chapter 7
from the notebook: THE HANNA MINER: At the Bottom of the Mine
by Bob Leathers

SILVER CROSSES FOR THE UNMARKED GRAVES IN THE HANNA CEMETERY AT MARY FORD'S HANNA HOTEL (HANNA BASIN MUSEUM)

Cheyenne Sunday Magazine

Most of the victims of the early mine disasters were buried in the Hanna Cemetery in unmarked graves. Mrs. Ford (her father was killed in the 1908 explosion) initiated the idea of marking the graves with crosses made from rebar. Pete Henningson, master mechanic of the Union Pacific Coal Company at Hanna, Tony Scarpelli and Jack Crawshaw constructed the crosses. An old photograph shows the assembled crosses on the back lawn of the old Hanna Hotel where they were painted before being placed on the graves of the mine explosion victims. (Cheyenne Sunday Magazine, Mar. 18, 1984)

Charles Stebner - Mary's Son

Years ago, Mary Ford [Charles' mother] worked with a few friends in Hanna to make and paint white metal crosses to mark the unknown graves of the victims of the two explosions in the Hanna cemetery. (Charles Stebner, 1989)

METAL CROSSES THAT MARKED THE GRAVES OF DECEASED MINERS IN THE HANNA CEMETERY (WHILE FAMILY COLLECTION FROM BOB LEATHERS)

Mary Ford and her friends were able to find and mark the graves because the graves were located in more or less straight rows as pictured below. The white lines indicate rows of unmarked graves. When closely examined, the rows and the graves can be detected even today. ​

UNMARKED GRAVES IN THE HANNA CEMETERY (GOOGLE MAP LABELED BY BOB LEATHERS)

In 2000, the Hanna cemetery board voted to remove Mary Ford’s crosses and replace them with “Unknown Miner” markers. The new markers were flat, so the cemetery caretakers could better maintain the cemetery.
 
Today, we may not know which miner is buried in which grave, but we do know the names of the miners buried in those graves. ​

• 134 of the​ 328 Miners Killed in the Hanna, Wyoming Mines Were Buried in Unmarked Graves in the Hanna Cemetery. In the year 2000, Markers like the one pictured below, were used to mark their graves, they replaced the silver crosses made by Mary Ford in the 1940's. 

UNKNOWN MINER PLAQUES THAT TODAY MARK THE GRAVES OF THOSE BURIED IN UNMARKED GRAVES IN THE HANNA CEMETERY (Image by Bob Leathers for the Hanna Basin Museum Website)

The June 30, 1903 and March 28, 1908 Explosions and the 1903 Rasmusson Lawsuit

But why? Why were so many miners buried in unmarked graves?

The 1903 explosion killed 169 men; 1 man, John Cox, was not recovered and is at the bottom of the mine, 20 of the 169 were buried in other towns, 38 of the 169 men were buried in marked graves in the Hanna cemetery and 110 men were buried in unmarked graves in the Hanna cemetery. One of the possible answers for so many unmarked graves may be found in Henry Rasmusson’s itemized bill from the 1903 explosion. Mr. Rasmusson claims in the bill to have prepared for burial and then buried 168 of the 169 miners at $150.00 each for a total of $25,200.00. He also claims to have paid for 35 name plates at $1.50 each for a total of $52.50. If Rasmusson buried 168 men, how come he billed the Union Pacific Coal Company for only 35 name plates? Did 35 graves get marked and the rest did not? It appears so. Most of the unmarked graves were non-English speaking foreigners. The unmarked graves consisted of 81 from Finland, 11 African Americans, 10 from Italy, 3 from Sweden, 1 from Belgium, 1 from Germany, 1 from Ireland and 2 from the United Kingdom. The English-speaking miners, for the most part, seem to have been marked because they have permanent markers today. In addition, it appears that the Union Pacific Coal Company felt little or no responsibility to the miner who was killed in their mine, or to the miner’s family to mark or in any way take care of the dead man’s grave. The company was forced to find, identify, then bury the miner, but the company was not forced to mark or take care of the grave, so it didn’t. Unfortunately, the same thing would happen to the men who would die in the same mine five years later in the March 28, 1908 explosion. More dead miners would be buried in unmarked graves in the Hanna cemetery. For decades the unmarked graves in the Hanna cemetery were left unattended. It wasn’t until Mary Ford, the longtime owner of the Hanna Hotel, initiated a project in the 1940s to mark the graves with welded rebar crosses, painted silver.

Many of the unmarked graves in the Hanna cemetery are from miners killed in the June 30,1903 and March 28, 1908 explosions of the Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. When a coal miner working for the The Union Pacific Coal Company was killed in one of its underground mines, it appears the Company took responsibility for finding the miner in the mine, identifying him and then burying him, but the Company did not seem, to take responsibility for properly marking the grave site. The marking in most cases, but not all, was left to the family. In many cases there was no family available or the family was without means to provide a proper marker or headstone. Consequently, many graves in the Hanna cemetery went unmarked. 

Immediately after the June 30, 1903 explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company’s No. 1 mine in Hanna. Henry Rasmusson, a mortician from Rawlins, was hired by company officials as the head undertaker and given the responsibility of removing the miner’s bodies from the No. 1 mine, identifying the men, preparing the bodies for burial and burying them. On December 6, 1903, Henry Rasmusson was called to Hanna. The remains of Axel Matson, one of the last remaining men in the mine, was found and Rasmusson needed to take care of the body. Rasmusson recovered the body from the mine, officially identified Axel, prepared him for burial, then buried him in an unmarked grave in the Hanna cemetery. After his return from taking care of Axel Matson in Hanna, Henry fell ill and was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. It wasn’t until March of 1904 that he was reported as improved and able to get around. His assistants completed his commitments in Hanna while he was ill. When his work was considered finished at the No. 1 mine, a bill for his services was given to the Union Pacific Coal Company. The company refused to pay the bill because it considered the charges submitted were too high. On December 17, 1904, Henry Rasmusson filed a lawsuit against the Union Pacific Coal Company seeking payment of the money he thought was owed him.

One of the largest, if not in fact the largest, civil suit ever in the district court of this county, was filed late Saturday in the clerk’s office. The case involves $26,036.00, H. Rasmusson of this city, being the plaintiff and the Union Pacific Coal Company, the defendant. The suit grows out of the disaster at the Hanna mine, June 30, 1903, when 169 men lost their lives. Undertaker Rasmusson was engaged as undertaker at that time to attend to the removal and identification of the bodies in the mine, and upon presenting his claim to the coal company for payment, it was considered larger than the conditions warranted and it has been taken into the court for adjustment. Undertaker Rasmusson sets forth his claims in the following itemized statement: To services rendered by order of D. O. Clark, general superintendent of the Union Pacific Coal Company, in connection with the removal from the Hanna mine No. 1, the identification of, preparation for burial and burial of 168 bodies of men killed in the explosion in the mine June 30, 1903, $25,200, or $150 for each body. To eleven days trimming coffins by order of J. H. Abbott, manager of the Union Pacific Coal Company’s store at Hanna, $5.00 per day, $55.00. To eight mules and horses taken out of the mine, $10.00 per head, $80.00. To thirty-five name plates at $1.50 per plate, $52.50. To 168 zere cloths for wrapping bodies, prepared and furnished, $3.50 per cloth, $588.00. To railroad fare H. Larson, account coffin trimming, Hanna to Rawlins, $2.00. To one copper lining for Alf Hapgood, by order E. S. Brooks, $25.00. To cash to J. W. Stryker, undertaker at Laramie for Hapgood burial expenses, by order E. S. Brooks, $33.50. An answer to this petition has not yet been filed. (The Rawlins Republican, Jan. 17, 1904)

​Mr. Rasmusson was employed by the Union Pacific Coal Company as the head undertaker. He was put in charge of removing the bodies of the victims and preparing them for burial. It was no small task, as there were nearly 170 [169] killed in the explosion and it took several months before the last body was removed. Mr. Rasmusson claims the work was very hazardous, not only because of the bad conditions in the mine, but because of the advanced state of decomposition of the bodies that were found. No arrangements were entered into as to payment and Mr. Rasmusson paid the salaries of several assistants during the time he was employed. When he presented his bill, the company refused to pay it on the ground that the charges were too high and not in keeping with the work performed. The matter has been hanging ever since, as Mr. Rasmusson was dangerously ill for several weeks after having returned from Hanna. He has been preparing his case against the company for some time and now intends to enforce payment. The suit will be watched with considerable interest. (Cheyenne Daily Leader, Jan. 20, 1904)

Henry Rasmusson’s lawsuit was filed in District Court in Rawlins, Wyoming. The Union Pacific Coal Company responded by objecting to the jurisdiction of the court. The company ultimately won the argument and the trial was moved from Rawlins to Salt Lake City, Utah. The Union Pacific Coal Company was able to delay the lawsuit until November 28, 1905 when it finally went to trial in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 
November 28, 1905

Big Suit On – Funeral Bill For $26,400 of H. Rasmusson Being Contested by Union Pacific – Case Now Being Tried in Court at Salt Lake – Arose Out of Terrible Mine Disaster at Hanna, When One Hundred Sixty-Nine Miners Lost Their Lives. Special to the Tribune: Salt Lake, Nov. 28, 1905 – Today the suit of H. Rasmusson against the Union Pacific for $26,000 alleged to be due for the burial of the one hundred sixty-nine bodies of the victims of the Hanna mine holocaust on June 30, 1903, was commenced in the courts in the city. Rasmusson is the Rawlins undertaker and was given the contract to bury the mine victims. Rasmusson submitted the bill, which was rejected by the company, and the suit was brought. The plaintiff claims that many of the bodies were not recovered for weeks after the disaster, that they were in a horrible, putrid and decomposed state, that many had to be brought from long distances underground and frequently through water, and that as a result his health was permanently impaired. (Wyoming Semi-Weekly Tribune, Dec. 1, 1905)

June 9, 1906
 
After two-and-a half-years of legal wrangling, Henry Rasmusson received a settlement of $11,000 from the Union Pacific Railroad. It was an amount less than half of the original bill.

Rawlins Undertaker Awarded $11,000.00
H. Rasmusson, the Rawlins undertaker, who brought suit for $26,400 against the Union Pacific Coal company through the Utah courts at Salt Lake City, has been awarded $11,000 for services rendered at the time of the Hanna coal mine disaster. (Centennial Post, June 30, 1906)

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