Continues. Next we visit the Sheridan County museum to learn about the impacts coal mining has had on the area. The history of coal mining has a place in the geological past of wyoming. At various times throughout this areas history, before it became a state, most people might not realize that looking at wyoming nowadays, but wyoming used to be subtropical to tropical regions and at one point, we were actually an ocean. All of that has factored into the deposits of fossil fuels within the state, whether they be natural gas, oil, coal, and so, that prehistory sets the stage for modernday sheridan and the story of coal here. In 1880, some of the first outcroppings of coal are discovered on private lands. The landowners at that time discovered, especially if the seams were open, that they could not only mine the coal for their personal usage, weather in outbuildings or in their homes, but they also began the business of taking that coal and they would offer it for delivery to residents of sheridan or in some cases, they offered it for a fee mine as much coal as they could carry back to town. That went on until the Burlington Northern arrived in 1892, and at that point, sheridan really experiences an economic boom, not just with coal. The coal was one of the dominating factors of that boom, and because burlington not only wanted the coal for their trains , they also wanted to be able to ship it to eastern markets. The next year, in 1893, is when we really see the first coal camp, which would eventually transition into a town, and that was a community founded by several businessmen of the sheridan community. At this time, it is important to realize that mining is one of the most dangerous jobs in the american west. Wyoming mining especially saw several catastrophes that would eventually lead to a much Larger Movement of the Mining Community on a national scale. Even with the dangers of the mines, we still had immigrants from across europe and even japan move here to participate in the mines. From this immigration, we see the formation of monarch in the 1903 in 1904, we had another come about, which would be renamed, and in 1911, acme wyoming is brought into existence. The story of mining is obviously very important to the history of Sheridan County. One of the ways that we tell it within the Museum Setting is through the two dioramas. One of them is the monarch during a time when monarch was experiencing great growth, and the other is a sliced view of the mountainside. It shows the various rooms and operations that went into the mining process, before these transitioned into stripmining that people know and recognize today. Of all of the mining communities here in sheridan, acme, wyoming, and monarch are the only that have remains of what was actually once there. Acmes powerplant still stands and monarch, the only two structures in existence are the water tower and the st. Thomas church. With the dioramas, they provide an opportunity for visitors to see that at one point in time, monarch was a thriving community. It had a tennis court, a hotel, a hospital, things that we recognize as being a necessity for community survival, and yet because these communities were companyowned, they were at the mercy of the company finances. They provide the opportunity to see monarch thriving, but we also have quite a few people continue to come into the museum and they remember growing up in monarch. Several factors went into the decline of coal in Sheridan County. One was that stripmining became a more popular, requiring less manpower. Additionally, the mines started to lose mines had started to lose finances. Monarch suffered a fire that hampered production for a significant amount of time. In 1911, there was a financial crisis on a state and National Level that affected coal prices. The community was offered a boost for a short time. At the end of the war, most of the mines closed. It was not until september 1 of 1953 that monarch as a community ceased to exist. Sheridan coal company notified residents on may 1 that they had until that september to eventually get out. Here at the museum, we do try to show the cultural aspect of these communities. They were not made to only be temporary institutions. They were supposed to last. We focus, for example, on the fact that each community had a band, and everyone played an instrument they were comfortable with. One band in particular was fairly massive. In this exhibit, we try to provide visitors with an opportunity to understand the legacy and time of coal on a much larger scale. And to have a greater understanding of the impact and story that is within coal from not only the immigration standpoint, not only the economic and industrial might that it had provided the county. Announcer our cities to her staff recently traveled to sheridan, wyoming to learn about its rich history. To watch more video from sheridan and other stops on our tour, visit cspan. Org cities to her. Youre watching American History tv, all weekend every weekend on cspan3. Tour. N. Org cities projectr the manhattan was a research and a belt and project conducted in world war ii. It was disbanded one year after the wars and. Next on American History tv, oak alge national lab veteran ekkebus talked about the World War Ii Nuclear Weapons Program known as the manhattan project, the programs aftermath and the impact on the Main Development facility in oak ridge, tennessee he focused on the years 1945 to 1950. The American Museum of science and energy and oak ridge hosted this event. Thank you very much. Please to be here in the American Museum of science and energy. The talk tonight is focusing on the first five years after the war. A great many changes have occurred. Im including what i consider some of the less frequent he mentions topics of this. There we have images of the beta cal you trond and the top, jackson square, a great high and the sppy valley 50 plant and steam
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