Can you dig it?

SUTTON — Much of the Mat-Su Valley’s rich mining history is covered in coal dust.

While the search for gold in the untamed Alaska wilderness was the romantic ideal that drew many to the Last Frontier, it was the exhausting, dirty and backbreaking work of coal miners that helped lay an industrial foundation for the area’s first residents.

Honoring that contribution is what drives the Coal Miner’s Ball, an annual celebration sponsored by the Alpine Historical Society, said Rebecca Hobbs, an event supporter. This year’s ball, the society’s 23rd, kicks off Saturday with an induction of new members of the Coal Miner’s Hall of Fame.

Larry Vasanoja, an original Colonist and member of the Palmer Historical Society, spent some time working one of the Sutton area’s strip coal mines in 1954. Vasanoja is one of those who will be permanently placed into the hall of fame. He said local coal lived and died with the U.S. government and the railroad.

“Coal was one of the principal industries here in the Valley,” he said. “The coal mines up here were a big item until a few years ago when the big gas companies came in.”

Coal mining took off in the 1920s when the railroad completed a line between Sutton and Anchorage, which allowed the Evan Jones Coal Mine to deliver to military bases, Vasanoja said.

“The Alaska Railroad was the key,” he said. “A train ran almost daily from the coal mines along the old railroad line along the Matanuska River to Fort Richardson and Elmendorf. … Coal mining really began, though, when the Navy needed coal for its ships on the Pacific Ocean. It was World War I that started it. All the Navy ships were on coal prior to switching to oil.”

Today, the only remnants of coal mining left in the Sutton area is in its history and those left who worked in the industry, Vasanoja said.

Besides keeping the history of coal mining alive, Saturday’s Coal Miner’s Ball is a fun time, Hobbs said, because “Nobody parties like a coal miner.”

Frontiersman: What are some interesting facts about the area’s coal mining history people may not know?

Vasanoja: Well, right now, it’s pretty dead. There’s no coal mining going on, but there are a lot of homes that burn coal for heat. When the government quit using coal for their power plants, the railroad quit hauling it. You can probably still find a lot of old coal furnaces around the Valley and Anchorage — like maybe out behind the barn.

F: Why celebrate coal now?

V: It’s not celebrating coal, it’s celebrating the coal miners who worked the mines. It’s for the Coal Miner’s Hall of Fame.

F: In a historical context, most people don’t think “coal” when they consider mining. Why is that?

V: Well, not anymore (locally), but there is a lot of coal being mined still. You can find gold here in the Valley just about anywhere if you dig deep enough.

F: Like the military’s influence on the state, how much does Sutton coal owe to the government?

V: All of it, really. The settlers didn’t worry about coal so much because they had wood. The coal mines started, and it was a government thing that started the coal mining and supported it.

F: At its peak, how many mines were in the Sutton area?

V: One really. Evan Jones was the main company around here. They started that, oh, in the early ’20s or something like that. But they had contracts that they couldn’t supply it all without help, so there were some strip mines independent of Evan Jones above ground. Evan Jones was underground of Wishbone Hill.

F: How many people were employed by the coal industry?

V: I would say 100 people, maybe more.

F: Coal mining is not a glamorous profession. You did it for a time. What was it like?

V: It’s dirty, but was necessary. … They finally shut down (Evan Jones) in the ’60s. That’s when gas from Kenai came into the military establishments and Anchorage. Coal couldn’t compete with natural gas.

F: Why the Coal Miner’s Ball and the Coal Miner’s Hall of Fame?

V: It identifies people who worked in the coal mines. It helps (educate newcomers), because it would be foreign to them, because for so many of the newcomers to the Valley, unless they’re history buffs, this is all new history for them.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

IF YOU GO

What: 23rd annual Coal Miner’s Ball

When: Saturday; doors open at 4 p.m.

Where: Alpine Inn, Sutton (Mile 61 Glenn Highway)

Entertainment: Two bands, Arctic Thunder and Bruce Finlay’s Black ‘n’ Tan Band

Tickets: $12.50 in advance, $15 at the door. Available most anywhere in Sutton. Includes dinner an door prizes. Ask about a senior discount.

Proceeds: Will help provide local activities for youth and families in the Sutton-Chickaloon area.