Big Brutus & Mining History in Southeast Kansas!
I grew up in a mining community, Pawnee, Illinois. Peabody # 10 located between Pawnee and Kincaid when it was open, was one of the largest coal mines in the world. So, it makes sense that I am interested in mining history both locally and far away. On a hosted trip by Explore Crawford County, I found some amazing mining stories, equipment and sites!
Page 618 Walking Dragline
In Southeast Kansas located in Cherokee County is a piece of mining history. The largest, and only preserved Page 618 Walking Dragline in the US is here. Only one of eighteen Page 618 Walking Draglines ever built, it is one of two Page 618s still in existence.
The dragline will be relocated. By the end of fall it will be moved to the junction of US 69 and KS-47. According to Chris Wilson, of Marketing and Communications for Explore Crawford County it will then be part of the Miners Hall Museum of Franklin, Kansas. This will be an open-air museum. The dragline will be reassembled. It will then be a truly educational exhibit. During our visit, the other bloggers and I could peek at the dragline. It is so big that you can see it from miles away!
The dragline was used by the Wilkinson Coal Company. The company was started by William Wilkinson. He was an immigrant from Pelton Fell, England. Wilkinson began work in mines at the age of 10! In 1883, he arrived in Weir, Kansas. By 1917 he started the mining company. In 1938, a Page Dragline was purchased from Alexandria, Louisiana. It was shipped by rail to Weir City. It was then used for the strip-mining operation. The Wilkerson Coal Co. mined until 1979. The dragline was later used for clay mining.
Pittsburg Mining Connections
The landscape of Cherokee and Crawford County is marked by its mining history. Lakes, hunting and wildlife areas developed from the former mining sites. One look at the Mined Land brochure and it is easy to see the changes. In the brochure they share, “A story of environmental devastation and successful habitat restoration, the Mined Land Wildlife Area (MLWA) is located in Crawford, Cherokee, and Labette counties. The book, Kansas History by Fred Howell shares early mining history. The earliest coal mining in southeast Kansas he writes was about 1850. Mining was done mostly by residents digging coal for home use, with only small commercial output. It wasn’t until the big shovels came in that mining became big business in Crawford and Cherokee County. The first steam shovel was developed in 1876 by Hodges and Armit.
Above I mentioned ingenious residents looking for coal. Well, at the Big Brutus Museum there is an amazing piece of history, a coal strike drilling well. Made by William Perry, he built the rig in 1931 out back of his home in Mulberry, Kansas. pulling his drill behind his Model A pickup with a large tank of water, he drilled for coal by himself. He also did this for other coal companies as well.
In Pittsburg there is a miner’s memorial I sadly missed, but I did visit a store with miner connections!
The men’s clothing store, Miners and Monroe in Pittsburg was named by the Tripp family in part for the areas unique mining history. While you won’t find miner duds there, you will find timeless styles and quality clothing. I found a nice shirt for my husband. I love the nod they give to the past in their name.
Big Brutus!
One of the most obvious reminders of the mining history in southeast Kansas is a stop to see Big Brutus! This eleven-million-pound electric coal shovel is located at MLWA #44. Big Brutus is the 16-story world’s largest surviving electric shovel. The shovel is located at its last dig. The shovel was used by the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company of Pittsburg, Kansas (P & M). They purchased Big Brutus, a Bucyrus Erie model 1850B from the Bucyrus Erie Company of Milwaukee in 1962. She cost 6.5 million. Brutus was used to remove the dirt and soil above the coal, called overburden. He worked until 1974. The pits that Brutus dug today have been filled with water and are fishing lakes. The P & M donated 10,000 acres of land surrounding Big Brutus to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
Today you can visit Brutus and sit up in his operator chair. The museum also has other mining history to enjoy as well! To give an idea of the size of Brutus she weighs 11 million pounds, is 160 feet tall, and her boom is 150 feet long. This piece of machinery is a tribute to the mining history of southeast Kansas and is unlike any piece of machinery I’ve ever seen.
Find your mining story in southeast Kansas, there is a lot to see and do. I didn’t make it to all the mining museums and need to go back to learn all the immigrant history. This area of southeast Kansas is filled with Route 66 history, mining stories, and much more to draw you in!
