Last week’s column revisited the profligate history of the Wilkeson Products mine in east Pierce County, as developed by the U.S. Defense Plant Corp (DPC). This week’s focus is Robert Peloli, one of Washington’s legendary coal miners pictured at that mine’s Skookum Slope riding a coal car being hoisted from the mine. When this photo was taken on March 18, 1944, Peloli was a 20-year-old coal miner and the son of Italian immigrants. Peloli began work in the Skookum Slope of the Wilkeson Products mine shortly before this entrance was completed on March 19, 1942, as imprinted on the concrete header. The mine closed on Nov. 22, 1944, producing but a pittance of coal.
The Skookum Slope had been shuttered since 1883 until reopened by the DPC to produce coal for industries in the Pacific Northwest. Its named honored Elijah “Skookum” Smith, famous for bringing the Northern Pacific to Tacoma shortly before the railroad company’s land grant bonus from the U.S. government was set to expire. Smith headed the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and later the Oregon Improvement Company whose construction teams built bridges, road beds, and depots. In Chinook Jargon, the trading language between Indians and Whites, “skookum” generally meant strong or powerful, a testament to Smith’s ability to get things done.
After the Skookum slope closed, Peloli served in the Pacific with the Army Corp of Engineers during World War II. He returned home to Wilkeson in 1946 and a year later wed his high school sweetheart, Laurine Williams, known as Babe. Robert worked for the Park Service for 25 years, but never lost his love of mining. In 1960, Peloli joined Tony Basselli and Andrew Locke to form the Queen Coal Company and together they mined a seam of coal near Carbonado until 1972, when mine regulations made small operations nearly impossible. In 2009, this photo image of Robert Peloli was carved into a 50-million-year-old sandstone block measuring 4-feet wide by 15-feet tall and weighing 18 tons. The stone came from the famous Wilkeson Sandstone Quarry and was chiseled by sculptor, Paul Keeslar to commemorate the 100-year centennial of the town’s founding. The monument is located near Wilkeson City Hall. Robert Peloli passed away in 2020, one of the few surviving underground coal miners in Washington State. This Richards Studio photo #D17170-24 comes courtesy of the Tacoma Public Library.
