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The death toll could have been much higher, however, if it had occurred during the day shift instead of the night shift: there would have been over 200 men in the mine instead of 42. The mine was also forced to shut down for several months for repairs and then a 7 month strike came along which closed the mine until November 1911. It was not until 1912 that operations were back to normal.

The next two decades at the mine were ones of high production and good profits. There were several major strikes during this period as the miners became more organized and their unions became stronger.

The dominant issue in these strikes was wages, with the miners demanding increases, but there were other disputes such as those over mining methods and over union affiliation that led to work stoppages.

There were major strikes in 1919, 1920, 1922, and 1924. Of these, the six month strike in 1924 was the most important. It reduced the miner's wages to a level that remained virtually unchanged until about 1939.

The late 1940's and 1950's were very difficult times for the mine. The C.P.R.'s continuing conversion from coal to diesel was, by the late 1950's, all but complete and thus the Bellevue mine's largest customer no longer required coal.

Attempts were made to find new markets for its coal overseas and for steam power plants, but these were unsuccessful. All efforts to persuade the government to give financial assistance failed and due to a lack of orders, the mine was forced to shut down in January 1961.

Bellevue Underground Mine Tours Crowsnest Pass 21814 - 28th Avenue, Bellevue, AB Canada T0K 0E0 403-564-4700 / 403-564-4711 email: cpets@shaw.ca