![]() |
|||
![]() ![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
|||
Home>> The Industry>> Mines>> Drumheller>> Atlas Mine |
|||
Atlas Mine | |||
The Atlas coal mine was the first project of the newly formed Atlas Coal Company Limited in 1917. There were four major shareholders of the new company: James O. E. Holden (who was the main organizer), James McCulloch, Doctor Omer H. Patrick and W. D. Gordon. James O. E. Holden was born in Ireland in 1877. His parents migrated to Canada and settled in Nova Scotia where James finished his education. After that he worked in the coal mines for a time. In 1896 he came to Alberta which wasn't a province then but part of the Territories where he worked at the Galt Mine in Lethbridge. The next few years found him roaming the country where he worked in various coal mining communities in the U.S.A. After the American experience he returned to Alberta and worked for the next ten years at Bankhead, west of Calgary. He arrived in Drumheller in 1913 and became superintendent at the New Castle Mine. James McCulloch came to the Valley in 1915 where he became the superintendent at the Stirling Mine. Later he went to the A.B.C. Mine.
All that is known of W. D. Gordon, is that he was one of the original four investors that formed the Atlas Coal Company Limited. After a time he sold his share to the other partners and turned to civic matters as he entered the mayoralty race on December 8, 2020 where he beat his main opponent, George Clarkson, 179 to 71. The other hopeful candidate, T. S. Branson only acquired 39 votes.
This article is extracted from Ernest Hlady, The Valley of the Dinosaurs : Its Families and Coal Mines (East Coulee, Alberta, East Coulee Community Association, 1988). The Heritage Community Foundation and the Year of the Coal Miner Consortium would like to thank Ernest Hlady and the East Coulee Community Association for permission to reprint this material. |
|||
![]() |