Loco Steve says:
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The sun has only just climbed above the tops of the mountains surrounding Helper, Utah, as Amtrak train No. 6, the California Zephyr, rounds the curve on its 51-hour journey east from Emeryville, Calif. ---------------
HELPER
The initial settlement of the Helper area commenced in the early 1880s with the arrival of Teancum Pratt and his plural wives Annie and Sarah. However, only after the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway in 1881-82 did Helper begin to develop as a population center. Pratt also mined coal, supplying the residences throughout the fledgling town.
Loco Steve says:
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By 1887 the D&RGW had erected some twenty-seven frame residences, with more built later in the year. This was done in anticipation of making Helper a freight terminal upon the changing of the line from narrow to standard gauge, which began in 1889. Here, "helper" locomotives would stand in readiness to aid trains traveling up the steep grade to Soldier Summit, thus the name Helper.
Loco Steve says:
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The track changeover was completed in 1891, prompting the Salt Lake Tribune to announce that the "new town of Helper" was started in the spring of that year. In 1892 the town became the division point for the railroad; Helper was the union station of the eastern and western divisions, the terminals being Ogden and Grand Junction, Colorado. With this distinction came a new hotel, depot, and other buildings.
Loco Steve says:
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Chinese laborers were brought in at an early date to work the Carbon County mines and railroads. By the late 1890s, Italians and Austrians (primarily Slovenians, Croatians, and Serbians) began to arrive. In 1900 Helper's population was listed at 385 people. Sixteen different nationality groups were represented. "Merchant" and "laborer" comprised most of the occupations for these early immigrants.
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While the Great Depression hit the entire county, Helper's position as a railroad center provided some stability. Helper's city hall had been built in 1927, and a civic auditorium was constructed in 1936. The D&RGW developed "bridge traffic," acquiring trade from other major roads that wanted transcontinental connections.
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The twentieth century was launched in Carbon County (which had been formed in 1894 from Emery County) in a shroud of uncertainty, largely due to the strike situation. Greek and Japanese immigrants were brought in to break the strike, and thus new ethnic groups came onto the scene. Helper, along with Price, was fast becoming the center of the Carbon County coalfields, providing service functions to the outlying camps. A 1903-04 business directory listed sixteen separate businesses in Helper; by 1912-13 the number had grown to twenty-nine, with a population of about 850. Helper townsite was regularly organized and incorporated in 1907 with a president of the town board and members of the board serving the community.
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By 1914-15 there were 71 businesses listed for Helper, with 84 in 1918-19, and 157 for the years 1924-25. Many of Helper's business enterprises were associated with specific ethnic groups, but this fact illustrated the business opportunities then available in the town, enabling immigrants to "break the ranks of labor." Italian and Chinese-owned businesses were joined in the 1910s and 1920s by Slavic, Greek, and Japanese establishments. Specialty shops, cafes, coffeehouses, saloons, theaters, general mercantiles, and various service-oriented businesses formed Helper's commercial district. Some ventures, such as the Mutual Mercantile Company, were joint operations between different ethnic groups.
Loco Steve says:
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Ethnic identities, the existence of both inter- and intra-group rivalries, new waves of immigration, and Helper's position as a neutral ground for labor influenced the town's social landscape. Helper became known as the area "hub" because it was nestled among various mining camps, and it served as a city of refuge where strikers and union organizers as well as national guardsmen could congregate during tense times. Customs and lifestyles associated with various ethnic groups continued; however, through interaction many eventually were changed and modified in the Helper environment.
Loco Steve says:
After the unsuccessful coal miners' strike of 1903-04, Italians, blacklisted from the mines at nearby Castle Gate, ventured into Helper to establish businesses and farms along the Price River. The influx of strikers into Helper accelerated its growth, with the newly established farms offering needed agricultural products.
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Coal production increased during World War II and continued strong through the 1960s. With this, the city of Helper also prospered. Upturns and downswings plagued the industry in the 1970s, with new lows reached in the 1980s and early 1990s. Helper continues to ride the tide of these fluctuations and, as any town influenced by the mining industry, seeks to survive during bad economic times.
Philip F. Notarianni
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Castle Gate
Castle Gate is located in Price Canyon, just a short distance from the central-Utah town of Helper. It was here in 1897, that Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch pulled off what many consider to be their most daring robbery ever. Careful planning led to the $8,800 heist of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company payroll. This was Butch's only Utah holdup. A museum in Helper has exhibits on the robbery.
wmrrm.org/police.html
Loco Steve says:
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Every Rio Grande fan makes a pilgrimage to Helper, Utah, sooner or later. For decades Helper was the base for helper locomotives shoving westbound trains over the Wasatch range at Soldier Summit. In the post-merger world of Union Pacific ownership, Helper's original function has dwindled in importance. UP's move to using Distributed Power in lieu of manned helpers has reduced the population of locomotives based here. However, all is not lost. Utah Railway still uses manned helpers; More...
users.sisna.com/jimbobnay/Helper.htm
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The Western Mining and Railroad Museum is located in the small town of Helper, Utah, two hours southeast of Salt Lake City, named so because of the engines required to help the trains climb the steep grades to Soldier Summit. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad established the town when the railroad came through the area and coal, that was needed to fuel the steam engines, was found. By 1891 the depot, roundhouse and a hotel were built and the town was beginning. As more coal mines were opened it became the railroad center and the "hub" for coal miners and their families from the many mining camps. The camps were full of European and Asian immigrants and some of them came into Helper to build the town. This is the story told by the Western Mining and Railroad Muesum.
wmrrm.org/
Loco Steve says:
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Big John
Ev'ry mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive
He stood six foot six and weighed two fourty five
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
And everybody knew ya didn't give no lip to Big John.
Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn't say much, kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all, you just said "Hi" to Big John.
Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Loosiana fellow to the Promised Land-Big John
Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin'
Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they'd breathed their last-'cept John
Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed a saggin' timber, gave out with a groan
And like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone-Big John
And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
Then a miner yelled out "There's a light up above!"
And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave
Now there's only one left down there to save-Big John
With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John
Now they never reopened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand
At the bottom of this mine lies a hell of man, Big John
Nothing here yet.
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