Is
there enough coal to keep the coal-mining job going for many years?
Unfortunately, there
were serious problems in the
Blue
Canyon coal mine.
There
was a lot of coal, but it was locked inside folded layers of rock.
These layers of rock were constantly slipping and swelling. This made it dangerous and difficult to mine
the coal. The miners needed to dig new
tunnels often, because of this problem. It was very expensive to continually
dig new tunnels.
J.J.
Donovan and the other owners were finding that the coal mine was too
expensive to operate. They
abandoned the mine and invested in the timber industry, instead. Other owners tried to make a success of
the mine, but they failed. In 1920,
the Blue Canyon Coal Mine was finally closed and the property was abandoned for
good.
Image Credit: Microsoft
ClipArt Gallery
Photo of Blue Canyon Coal Mine is courtesy of
the Galen Biery Collection, Whatcom
Museum of History and Art