Silver Creek Coal Mine Skunk Hollow

We’re a bit unsure about this comparison. Presenting a Schrodinger’s Then & Now, if you will, that may or may not show the same location roughly a century apart. The old photo is of the Silver Creek Coal Mine in Skunk Hollow Alberta, that much is known, but there’s contradictory location info and wonky dates.

We have confirmed a rough target location (+/- few hundred metres) thanks to official records. However, there were a couple coal mines within that area over the years, so all we can say with certainty is we’re looking at the remains of one. Not necessarily the one, but likely.

Minimally we’re within shouting distance, yet deep inside feels correct even if the evidence can’t corroborate 100%. We’ll explain.

Our Then photo comes thanks to the UofC archives and they’re so kind in allowing us use of many images in their collection. An accidental find but soon after came a click moment. We’re mining history nuts, as readers might recall, and just have to know more. Let’s go find it!

The photo only came with the following info: “Entrance to Silver Creek Coal Mine, west of Cremona, Alberta. Bituminous coal. Otto Saunders, mine worker at right (ca 1900).” Nothing odd here but the date posted is clearly only a guess. There’s nothing of note in the photo itself that could help confirm that properly anyway, so they estimated, which is accepted practice.

Records show in fact, there were two Silver Creek Coal Mines in the immediate area. One operated intermittently from 1910-1940, by various owners and the other only from 1922-1923. The name Saunders is associated with the latter, and you’ll see it comes up in the description shown above. The owner is noted as a C Saunders, suggesting that Saunders is perhaps a relative unless it’s simply a coincidence.

That said, it’s not conclusive but still compelling and suggests in the old photo we’re looking at the ’20s incarnation of the Silver Creek Mine. A mine map shows the two were in very close proximity, but with a question mark beside each indicating a location only approximated.

A passage in the local history books speaks of a Skunk Hollow mine specifically in 1922 without mentioning a name and this offers a clue. Perhaps. If interpreted right, it’s suggests Saunders (and co-owner Ross) used the original Silver Creek Mine entry, but exploited a different seam. Coal is often layered within host rock, so there may be several seams in any one coal bed, but separated by some varied distance. So maybe once underground they dug or down to a parallel seam otherwise not mined before.

It’s then possible both mines were one and the same in location and only different in that regard. This explains why there’s two Silver Creek Mine records in the files sharing the same name (usually a not allowed) but different reference numbers. Field search shows no (obvious) evidence of another entry nearby, so that’s telling.

Indeed the remains of a coal mine entry, which ever it might be, is seen in our photo and marked by piles of coal slack (waste material). The collapsed opening is hidden behind the trees and a tell-tale spring found at its base. That’s why the conifers have grown so well and it’s common for old mines to channel groundwater.

The original Silver Creek Mine held so much promise early on that a town of sorts sprung up within sight of the workings. They had ambitious plans, but enthusiasm soon fizzled. The local market of farms and ranches was too small to support anything on a grand scale.

“The site grew into a virtual village with the hifalutin name of Knowlton City. There was a storehouse, a residence for the manager, H.E. Bodine, another for the pit boss, David Murray, a large rooming house for the miners, and plans were in the air for a post office, a general store, a school, a gaol and an opera house.” Alberta’s County of Mountain View, a History.

They also envisioned a railway but like most everything else it was just a notion. The Knowlton Silver Creek Mine shut down a few years after opening in 1910. Afterwards and for the next few decades, others worked it sporadically, but mostly it lay abandoned.

In the original Silver Creek Mine they extracted some three thousand tonnes of material and most of that the first couple years. That’s a pretty small output and for larger underground mines of the era, in the province, they could dig that much in a day or two.

The seams here varied from just under a metre to about three metres. It’s ranked as High Volatile Bituminous and the material mainly for domestic use (for home heating).

The Saunders and Ross Silver Creek Mine in contrast worked a coal seam about a metre thick and only a hundred tonnes or so was extracted before they called it quits. Government records state: “Mine abandoned due to seam “pinching out”. The old picture shows a crude operation.

So if the old photo is indeed of this short lived incarnation, then it’s likely one of only a few ever captured showing it. Perhaps even the only one. It’s a rare moment in time and if we’ve done our homework right, we standing about in the same spot as the photographer of old. The thought makes us giddy.

It’s not said where the old town was located relative to the mine, but somewhere close by on the flats down by Silver Creek is assumed. The community seems more commonly referred to as Skunk Hollow and at its peak said to be home to some seventy five people. But only briefly. We found no real evidence of anything related to it in any areas search here.

Another mine operated nearby, about 1911-1919, but with minimal output. It’s mentioned that ranchers dug coal from this valley as far back at the early 1900, but not in a commercial sense.

Later (1960s?) a campground was established here and used the old mine road for access. A section washed out some years back and that ended things. Still, you can walk about and see how it was laid out for that use. An old playground from those days remains and the property kept up as part of the William Bagnall Wilderness Park. It’s day-use and walk in only with a couple hiking trails and grassy areas with picnic tables down by Silver Creek. Nice quiet setting and the stairs are a great cardio workout.

There’s apparently a big sign somewhere in the park, presumably along a section of the old campground road we didn’t visit, that goes into the history of Skunk Hollow and the mines here. There’s a coal car on display too, but somehow we missed it all. We did not know of it at the time, but later found mention online. We might have to head back to find it.

The sign was placed in 1963 by a local historical group and some of the information presented seems to conflict a little with records we searched. But not enough to note. The story of peoples and places has a way of morphing based on interpretations, over time or both. That’s how it plays out and it’s the norm. We might have to look for the old still they mentioned.

A convoy vintage 1920s era cars is spotted in nearby Water Valley on the ride home and that’s an excuse to stop. We rarely need much. Some fill up at the gas station (the only one around) and others drive past – slowly. They’re something to behold and this seems a fitting end. This piece takes us back a hundred years in a couple ways now thanks to this chance meeting.

Then (new tabs): Skunk Hollow Alberta and now William J Bagnall Wilderness Park.

They’re saying…

“Best little bit of history in Western Canada…!” Brian Holt.

Then & Now overload…
Fort MacLeod Alberta ~75 Years Apart.
Downtown Castor Alberta (Cosmopolitan Hotel).
The Highway Bridge at Wardner BC.
Then & Now: Foremost Alberta.

Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: Contact Us!

Date of Adventure: Likely 1922 or 23 and 2023.
Location(s): Skunk Hollow, AB.
Article references and thanks: Alberta Energy Regulator, the book – Alberta’s County of Mountain View, a History and University of Calgary Archives.

They mined coal in Skunk Hollow Alberta.

Along the disused campground road.

There was a mine entry right here.

The reverse view from atop the coal dump.

More coal slack from this small operation.

Spotted at the nearby Water Valley store on the drive home.