Lost Coal District book released

Author Lea Cavalli Schoenewald’s newest book “Lost Coal District of Gebo, Crosby and Kirby” will be available at a book signing event to meet the author at Storyteller on Saturday, March 23 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 524 Broadway. 

The book is described as, “Forging America’s fuel, Henry Cottle registered the first mining claim in what would become northern Hot Springs County in the late 1880s. Henry Monro and Frank Porter’s Cedar Mountain Cowboy Mine followed in 1898. In 1906, Burlington Railroad built its southbound line from Billings, Montana, to Frannie and Worland, Wyoming. The route was, in no small part, because of the quality and quantity of coal near Kirby. With a rail contract for a twenty-mile extension, Mormon pioneer Jesse W. Crosby, Jr. filed his mining claim in 1910. Naturally, more entrepreneurs followed, including Samuel Gebo. The coal camps of Gebo and Crosby were born, forming a significant coal district that nurtured a true melting pot of nationalities. The author recounts the area’s heyday and the lives that powered its development.”

Schoenewald explains the reason she wrote the book, “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I was lucky enough to spend time in Gebo as a child with my grandparents, with Dad’s parents. They were from Italy, and they were poor farmers. My great uncle Pasquale Cavalli came over from Italy just looking for a better life. And like so many men from the old country, he decided he wanted to be a coal miner and ended up in Gebo, Wyoming.”

Even though Schoenewald has strong family ties to the area, she added the book and the stories in it are about the entire community. She added, “It’s even more so just to honor those people, including my grandparents, who were brave enough and strong enough and resilient enough to leave everything and come over.”

Schoenewald hopes that readers of her book take away “how much we owe them and owe them for their bravery and their willingness to do what needed to be done. They had to be tolerant of other nationalities, many of which their home countries were enemies. And when those men went down in the mines, that all had to stop. Obviously, any kind of animosity because they depended on each other, their lives depended on everybody else.” 

Schoenewald added more context to the book. She said that in 1938, when the big mines closed, many of the miners left. However, her grandfather Bartolo decided to stay in Gebo and the area. Bartolo joined Henry Trusheim and Leo Roncco Senior and started a truck mine, which they built themselves, and additional family members ran it until 1975. She was the eldest grandchild and had many fond memories of riding the passenger train service and traveling to Kirby by herself around eight or nine years to see her grandfather.

In writing her book, Schoenewald said she had a lot of help from a variety of sources. Some of them included Iris Guynn’s daughter, Amy Ready, who was willing to share photos and stories. Guynn received her master’s degree from Black Hills State and, for her paper, she wrote about the interaction of the nationalities that were in Gebo, Crosby and Kirby. Together they are the coal district. Guynn interviewed many of the people in Gebo for decades.

Another source for her book was Bill Deromedi, who grew up in Gebo. His family lived next door to the Cavalli’s. Deromedi told Schoenewald stories and had all kinds of wonderful mementos they photographed too.

Also, Dr. Donald (Duke) Bolisch, who grew up in Gebo, wrote an autobiography, and he let Schoenewald use many of his stories. Other sources include the Hot Springs County Historical Museum and the Independent Record. Ray Shaffer read Schoenewald’s chapters and reviewed them for historical accuracy. Dorothy Milek’s family and her research provided additional information and photos. Schoenewald added, “There were numerous other sources as well.”

Schoenewald’s book covers the history from the 1880s until today. The coal was mined in Gebo and Crosby and then it was taken by train down to Kirby and then shipped out there.

According to Schoenewald, “If Kirby hadn’t been chosen for the Burlington Northern route, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation. Samuel Gebo was the man who determined that the coal that was in that location was of such high quality that it could be mined on a large basis. And if he hadn’t had that knowledge and that foresight, we wouldn’t be here today. And I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet his granddaughter…It’s like I’ve come full circle getting to know her, because, of course, I still do have these wonderful memories of Gebo.”

Regarding the author, Lea Cavalli Schoenewald has taught a variety of subjects in four Wyoming school districts for thirty-five years. She authored Polished Corners of the Temple Wall , garnering awards from Wyoming Writers Inc. and the Albany County Historical Society. She also co-authored an updated history of Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis with her husband, Thomas.