Can You Blame The Poor Miner?

"In the summer of 2002, I visited the Bellevue Mine in the Crow's Nest Pass. Emerging from the cold, black tunnel into a beautiful summer day in the mountains was a powerful experience, indeed. The nearby remains of the Frank Slide of 1903 must have testified daily to miners of the dangers in the area, particularly in the early 1900s. In 1914, the Hillcrest Mine explosion left 189 men dead and buried in a graveyard across the valley from Bellevue. Those thoughts, along with the knowledge of a thriving illegal liquor trade during Alberta's prohibition years (1916-1922), sparked this song."
(Maria Dunn)