On Monday May 13, 1940, a gas explosion in the 2rd level north of the Occidental coal mine claimed the life of Pete Bago, a veteran miner of Austrian heritage. The 54-year-old Bago left behind a wife and four children. He was packing timber when the force of the explosion threw him against a center post holding up the mine roof.
That same accident burned the arms, hands, face and neck of both John Mihelich of Enumclaw, and Pete Stefanovich of Palmer. Eleven other miners escaped unharmed and brought their fallen and injured colleagues to the surface. The Occidental mine was located near Bayne but west of the Cumberland-Kanaskat Road. It operated from 1928 to 1945 producing over 384,000 tons of coal.
The two injured miners, Mihelich and Stefanovich were rushed to Auburn hospital by Maddux ambulance service. King County Coroner Otto H Mittelstadt attends to Mihelich as he’s placed on the stretcher. John Spaulding is to the right in a white shirt, jacket and holding a pipe. He was bookkeeper for Palmer Coking Coal Co., which operated the mine. This photo was one of several taken by the Enumclaw Courier-Herald whose news story about the incident appeared in their May 17, 1940 issue.
Mining accidents created many hardships. The blast burned John Mihelich black. He was so near death that a hearse waited outside the hospital. Father Farrelly of Enumclaw’s Sacred Heart church was called in to administer last rites. Mihelich survived but took seven long months to recuperate. To help her family survive, his wife, Mary Mihelich washed clothes for 25-cents an hour for all the best families in Enumclaw. Mary even shot a coyote preying upon her precious chickens, according to Louise Ross Poppleton in her 1995 book, “There is Only One Enumclaw.”
John and Mary’s son, Joe Mihelich grew up in Enumclaw graduating from high school in 1933. In 1955, Joe began a 50-year golfing career as a PGA Professional and operated the Enumclaw Golf Course until 1975. The Mihelich family lived in a home next to the pro shop.
