The Pittsburg-Weir Coalfield, also known as Weir-Pittsburg Coalfield and Cherokee Coalfield, is a

coalfield A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological. A coalfield often groups the seams of ...

located in

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

and Crawford counties in the southeast corner of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. The first underground

shaft mine Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

was built in the region in 1874 near Scammon. Prior to that, there was scattered small-scale

drift mining Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is abo ...

and

surface mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whic ...

of coal, but the construction of the first shaft mine ushered in an era which eventually led to as many as 290 significant mines and numerous other small ("dinky") mines in the two counties. The most active period of mining in the region was 1890-1910, and most of the coal camps were dismantled by the 1930s or 1940s. Mechanized strip mining overtook underground mining in output in 1931, and that combined with competition from eastern coal led to a demise in importance of underground mining in the region.

Santa Fe Mining Company

A major

mining disaster A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground mining (hard rock), underground coal mining, although accidents al ...

took place November 9, 1888 in shaft 2 of the Santa Fe Mining Company mine near

Frontenac, Kansas Frontenac is the second largest city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,382. History Frontenac was established as a coal mining town in 1886 in the Cherokee-Crawford Coal Field ...

when 150 miners lost their lives in an explosion.

Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company

One of the oldest continuously running coal companies in the United States was the

Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company The Pittsburg-Weir Coalfield, also known as Weir-Pittsburg Coalfield and Cherokee Coalfield, is a coalfield located in Cherokee and Crawford counties in the southeast corner of Kansas. The first underground shaft mine was built in the region in 1 ...

, founded in

Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 United S ...

in 1885. It lasted under that name even after its move to

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

when the Kansas mines closed, until September 2007, when

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

which owned the company, merged it with its

Molycorp Neo Performance Materials (formerly Molycorp Inc.) is a Canadian mining corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The corporation was formerly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, owned the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California. I ...

Inc. coal mining division to form Chevron Mining, thus ending the Pittsburg corporate name. The name Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company was purchased from Chevron in 2008 and refounded in Midway Kansas. P&M owns mines in Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky and Ohio.

References

External links

Pittsburg and Midway Coal Company, Records
{{coord missing, Kansas Coal mining regions in the United States Economic history of Kansas Mining in Kansas Geography of Cherokee County, Kansas Geography of Crawford County, Kansas