Crecent Collieries of Bienfait Ltd.

** WARNING **
Old Abandoned Underground Coal Mines can be Very Dangerous,
Due to Collapse, and Mine Gases (Noxious and Flammable).
Extreme Care should be taken around them, due to Falls, Sudden Ground Collapse, and Bad Air,
and in NO Circumstances should People enter into ANY Mine Openings, or Associated Caves.

The Material Contained on my Sites, is NOT to Encourage Personal Investigation of these Mines,
But only as a Historical Record of these Long Abandoned Mines.
Please View these Mines from a Far, Safe and Legal Distance.
Always Observe Private Property Rights, and Obey ALL Warning Signs.
************************************************

Opened by a friend of Ken Johns, but name unknown to me.
was this Mr. William Lemond Hamilton? If you know, let me know.
the Bank went broke that his friend had the mine operating loan with,
which shut the mine down.
All I know is Mr John knew this man in Fort McLeod
where he worked after WWI.
this man left Fort McLeod to go to Bienfait and open this mine.
Ken Johns followed him travelling in a cattle car.
He worked in the mine when he arrived,
looking after the screen in the tipple.
he says he stayed until April,
when all the mines were closed for the season,
and then he went back to Fort McLeod.
Through the Spring/Summer the Bank must have went broke.
Alex Wilson took over after the fellow was shut down, ca 1919.

Oct 1924 map shows location of first mine
Lines joining towns show railroad, not the highway.

Mine Manager 1919-1926
Alexander Craig McMiken Wilson
aka: Alex Wilson, Alec Wilson, Happy Wilson,
A. C. Wilson, Alex C. Wilson

Per Alec's story, he had a water well dug at this mine in 1920,
the first well in the Bienfait district.
It had a good flow of soft water, good for drinking and house use.
It contained a little soda.

Started in 1918 just to the east of Bienfait,
moved to the new location shown above
in 1926 after running out of coal

One source says the mine flooded with water too bad to work.
then I found the real story.
April 28, 1922 the mine was flooded with an estimated 10 million gallons of water,
from a slough that broke through into the underground mine.
It was estimated it would take 3 months to pump out the mine.
at 3pm without warning the mine filled with water.
Men and cars underground, were tossed around,
and some men had to be rescued by fellow workers.
It was a very close call by all reports.
Some made their escape on horses, some via the air shaft.
the coal was worked within 50ft of the high water mark of the slough.
High water in the slough made it approach within 25 feet of the workings.

Alec's history records the mine workings
were sloping at about a 1% grade to the North
and this gave the men time to escape as all the water,
ran to the north end of the mine.
At this time Alec Wilson was doing his own surveying and engineering.
He had to dig a shaft a 1/2 mile away,
taking a measurement from the mine map.
With his measurements they sank a 6ft shaft,
that came within one foot of the main haulage entry in the mine.
No GPS then!
They put up a temporary head frame,
and hoisted the 10 million gallons of water out of the mine.
They had the mine operating again in 30 days.

In the year 1926 they ran out of coal at this location
and they moved the houses, buildings, and equipment
to the New Crescent Mine, 3 miles west.

Deep Seam Shaft type Mine, started around 1926.
Owned by John Robert Brodie,
William Lemond (Billy)(Will) Hamilton,
and Alexander Craig McMiken Wilson
(aka Alec or Happy ) Wilson was Manager
I know a Frank Newsome
was mine manager at one point.
He was born Aug 1878, in England
died July 5, 1945, in Moose Jaw Hospital,
buried in Estevan City Cemetery
He also managed a mine at Bienfait,
and Eastern Collieries.
1 mile east of Estevan in one book,
but this is wrong,
unless they meant 1 mile East of Bienfait,
where the first Crescent Collieries
would have been in that area in 1918-1926.
This is where the miners formed their parade,
before the Sept 29, 1931 riot in Estevan.
It closed in 1937.
Part of the Big Six in the area at that time.
4th largest in 1931
Located on the CNR line
between Estevan and Bienfait
approx 2 1/2 miles East of Bienfait,
north of Hwy 39 per 1927 map.
Sask Archives Web site & photo of the loading area

After William Lemond (Billy)(Will) Hamilton, died,
his daughter Jessie Morrow Hamilton
became the mine manager at Crescent Mine.
At that time, this was the Only Mine in Canada
Managed by a Woman.

Oct 13, 1936
The first time in the history of the Province
the Saskatchewan Government had a Permanent Injunction served
on Crescent Collieries Ltd. and Jessie M. Hamilton,
after a Temporary one was issued in September,
for operating since Aug 31, 1936, without a license,
under the provision of the Coal Mining Industry Act.
George S. Calvert was the Government Field Officer
who signed the statement of claim.
28 workers were at the mine at the time.
Over one third of the miners reported their wages were in arrears
since Aug 15th., 7-9 weeks in arrears.

Company house occupied by Joseph Morrison burnt to the ground
at the first Crescent mine, in early Mar 1922.

Apr 18, 1937
Albert Grant of Regina was being sued by Jessie Hamilton
for damages of $25,000.00
She claimed he was given an option to purchase the mine, Oct 1936, and accepted it.
He was then assigned 2,300 shares of the company
in exchange for assuming liabilities of $45,790.00
She claimed He defaulted paying these liabilities
as well as he didn't pay Coal Royalties
to the government for the sum of $15,000.00
Besides this she claimed he left the mine
to become flooded and machinery to deteriorate.
Jessie was also to receive 5,000 shares in Coals and Chemicals Ltd.
a Regina company.
she was asking for coal rights returned to her and the damages.
wonder if she won?