(crunching leaves) (dramatic music) - [Dave] Most of it's covered up right now, but I think we can still see it.

(dramatic music continues) - [Narrator] There is something in the woods here.

- [Dave] This is where the one pit mouth was- - [Narrator] Not many people know it's there.

- [Dave] According to the mine map that I have.

- [Narrator] Just off the Youghiogheny bike trail, on a hill above the river, is a long forgotten doorway to our past.

- [Dave] But it has been a long time, 100 years.

- [Narrator] A simple hole in the hillside.

- The timbers are gone; it's all caved out.

- [Narrator] So caved in, it's hard to believe this opening used to be 20 times bigger.

- [Ray] And you can just about see down in 'ere now.

- [Narrator] Hard to believe hundreds of men went to work here every day.

- [Man] They don't really know how many bodies was in that mine.

- [Narrator] This is what's left of the Darr Mine.

This is the story of what happened here.

(dramatic music continues) - The whole Yough Valley shook.

(shattering explosion) - People many, many miles away could feel it.

(eerie, dramatic music) - [Narrator] The Darr Mine exploded on December 19th, 1907.

- [Man] 240 men went to work that day, and 239 were killed.

- [Narrator] It remains the worst mining disaster in Pennsylvania history, yet very few people know much about it.

- [Man] Most of this history's been forgotten about.

- [Narrator] That's why a small but dedicated group of people is working to change that by reminding others of how the Darr explosion affected so many lives.

- To our family the Darr tragedy meant a lot.

- [Narrator] How it changed safety laws and how what many call a religious miracle kept the tragedy from being much worse.

- We see thousands of people alive today because their fathers and grandfathers went to church that day.

- [Narrator] With all that intrigue and a 100-year anniversary, historians are showing new interest in the Darr Mine.

And when they start their research, they start in a most unlikely place.

- These are the listings of some of the men- - [Narrator] The living room of a 78-year-old woman in Bobtown, Pennsylvania.

- [Ann] I'm from the land of Hungary, and I am Hungarian, Magyarorszag.

- [Narrator] Ann Toth is proud of her heritage.

- Oh, yeah.

I love the traditions.

Yeah.

- [Narrator] And her family heirlooms.

- [Ann] The Hungarian owner of the house, she's telling the neighbor lady to go home and mind her own business and don't come here with her gossip.

I have a picture of my father playing his violin.

- [Narrator] The picture of her dad is fading, but Ann can still hear the music.

And she still has his violin.

(calm violin music) - [Ann] I am passionate about my Hungarian music.

- [Narrator] It's her passion for the Darr Mine, though, that keeps Ann going.

She's gathered the world's largest collection of Darr images and artifacts.

She's fought hard to restore a cemetery where the miners are buried.

Like Ann's family, most of the Darr miners were Hungarian, and she has a personal connection to the disaster.

- I've got coal dust runnin' in my blood, yeah, in my veins.

Yes.

- [Narrator] But more than that, this coal miner's daughter and coal miner's granddaughter has respect for the people whose lives revolved around the Darr and the other mines of that era.

- [Ann] Both sides of the family and always living in the coal-mining patches.

- [Narrator] Ann's family settled in those patch towns of the Yough River Valley in 1903.

Her grandparents had left Budapest to make a better life.

And once here, the family grew, with most of the men finding work in these mines, 30 miles Southeast of Pittsburgh.

Religion was important.

So was family and community life.

- The men would gather sometimes underneath the old grape arbors.

They would talk and discuss what was going on in the mine.

The wives also knew what was going on in the mines if there was dangerous situations.

So when they hung the clothes out on the clotheslines, they talked to one another; everybody knew what was going on.

- [Narrator] It was roughly 1850 when miners dug the first coal out of the Darr.

The mine tunneled into the Youghiogheny River hillside in Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County.

Some of the miners and their families lived next door in the village of Van Meter.

Many more lived on the other side of the river in Jacobs Creek.

A cable car, long gone now, shuttled them across the Yough to the Darr Mine and home again after a long shift.

- Those men back then did their work.

They worked hard.

They would work 12 and 14 hours.

You only got 50 cents a day for a wagon of coal.

And that was a lot of coal in those wagons, let me tell you.

- [Narrator] To feed and clothe their families, the miners were obligated to buy from the company store.

- [Ann] That's where you got your supplies from.

That's how you were kept goin'.

- [Narrator] The Pittsburgh Coal Company owned the store and the Darr Mine.

Most of what the men earned went right back to the boss.

- They didn't care back then.

- [Narrator] The coal companies of that era were considered cavalier and ruthless, overlooking human safety, disciplining men who didn't watch out for the mines' expensive horses and mules.

- When a man got hurt, "Hey, there's another bunch of hunkies coming over through Ellis Island."

- [Narrator] Cave-ins and explosions were common.

On December 1st, 1907, just 10 miles from the Darr, the Naomi Mine exploded, killing 34 men.

The Naomi Mine closed.

Those who survived were out of a job.

So many of the Naomi miners went looking for work.

They found it and what they hoped would be a better future at the Darr Mine.

They should have never sent those men in.

(gravel crunching) - [Joe] My job is to look out and protect the miners that work in our Commonwealth.

The most important thing we can do as an industry is to make sure that every man and woman that goes to work in our mines goes home at the end of each day.

- [Narrator] That's what Joe Sbaffoni did in the summer of 2002, when nine miners were trapped in the Quecreek mine in Somerset County.

- I was responsible for all the bituminous coal mines, so when Quecreek occurred, I was one of the first ones to be notified and involved right from the beginning throughout the entire operation.

So we know somebody was there and they were alive.

We had nine minors that were able to be returned to their families.

Here at Darr, the things that were permitted back then just were not adequate and not acceptable.

- [Narrator] As director of the Bureau of Mine Safety with the Department of Environmental Protection and as a former miner- - [Joe] I start in the mine in 1970.

- [Narrator] Joe knows about good and bad conditions underground, and he knows the history of mining in this region.

- And it was commonplace in the industry at that time to have methane ignitions and explosions and large losses of life.

(melancholy violin music) - [Joe] December of '07 is known as the darkest month in mining history in the country.

- [Narrator] "The Dreaded Month" is what mining families called it.

There had never been as many mining deaths before.

There haven't been as many since December 1907.

On the first day of that month, the Naomi disaster left 34 dead in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

It made national headlines.

Coffins were shipped to the Naomi site to prepare for the burials.

Five days later, massive explosions collapsed the Monongah Mine in West Virginia, killing 362 men, the single greatest mine disaster in American history.

But it wasn't over.

An explosion killed as many as 90 in Yolande, Alabama, on December 16th.

And it was just about that time miners back in Pennsylvania were complaining about too much methane gas in the Darr Mine and not enough ventilation.

- They had some air shafts, but they didn't have all that they needed.

- So there were a lot of things that went on back then that, you know, we wouldn't even think of letting going on today.

- Papa needed help in the mine, so the kids, a lot of times, were snuck into the mine.

The kids would help Papa load the coal into the coal wagons.

And the little water boys would come around, too.

Some of them were only five, six years old.

Sometimes even the women would sneak in and help their husbands.

They'd dress up in boys' clothing, and they would go in.

- [Narrator] That's why there's no way of knowing exactly how many people were in the Darr Mine on December 19th, 1907.

The official records show it was 240.

(rumbling explosion) - The whole Youghiogheny Valley shook, trembled, When that went off.

- A mine explosion of that type magnitude, pretty, pretty violent, (melancholy music) Very improbable that anybody would survive.

(melancholy music continues) - I did not know at that time how famous my grandfather was because they did not talk about those things then.

- [Narrator] Ann Toth remembers sitting on the porch steps with her grandfather.

She remembers the stories of what he did the day the Darr exploded.

Istvan Toth was working at the nearby Whitsett Mine when everyone heard the blast.

He asked his supervisor about sending a rescue team to the Darr.

- [Ann] So my grandfather says, "Are you going to send any help up?"

- [Narrator] The answer was no.

- He said to the mine superintendent, "If you're not sending anybody up, I'm goin'."

And he did.

He went.

He ran up those tracks three miles.

- [Narrator] But the would-be rescue team would serve only as a recovery team.

After 24 hours, an exhausted Istvan Toth went home to his wife and collapsed on the floor.

- And he says to her (speaking foreign language).

What he meant was, "All in vain, all in vain.

They all died."

(melancholy violin music) They found a piece of head over here, an arm over here, maybe a leg there.

That's how those bodies came out.

It had to haunt him.

Had to haunt him.

- What actually occurred here was a methane dust explosion.

When that would occur, it would put all the dust into suspension and then the dust would continue the explosion.

It would just propagate throughout the mine.

It would be very violent.

- [Narrator] The result of an inquiry into the explosion surprised no one.

The Pittsburgh Coal Company was cleared.

At the time, miners wore hats with open flames.

It was presumed one of them sparked the blast by entering an off-limits area, a gassy tunnel that had been fenced off by a supervisor.

Critics said the miners shouldn't have been in the Darr at all.

- They didn't need to let those men go in there.

That was it.

All they had to do was hold the production up for a couple of days and get that gas out of there instead of blaming it on the men.

- [Narrator] Despite the anger and grief, there was work to be done.

The mine was deep and intricate.

Most of the victims were about a mile and a half inside, and the stench of scorched men and mules was terrible.

Wagons that normally carried coal from the mine now carried human remains to a temporary morgue set up in a tent near the company store.

- If a piece of a body came out, and you knew it happened to be your husband's pants or long underwear or part of a shirt, maybe that's how you identified a piece of a body.

- [Narrator] No single cemetery was able to handle that many bodies, so the Darr miners were buried throughout the region.

Connellsville.

McKeesport.

71 of the bodies unidentified or from poor families were buried at the Olive Branch Cemetery, a few miles from the Darr.

They're in a mass grave.

This faded photo shows the coffins lined up in the hole, with Christmas wreaths on the caskets.

- And that's probably what really is the sad story of the tragedy here at Darr, that, you know, when that occurred in December, people were gettin' ready for the holidays, and now you have this disaster.

- [Narrator] The community did respond.

This rare book catalogs the names of many people and organizations that gave to the Darr Mine relief effort.

It even makes note of one swindle, in which a man organized a charity concert for the families and then kept the money.

He was sent to jail.

Records also show that the Pittsburgh Coal Company donated $20,000 to the relief fund and spent $12 for each casket.

- There was no welfare, nothing in 'em days.

- [Narrator] As for those left without a family income, many had to move on.

- Their idea was to come to the new world, make money, but that didn't happen.

The streets were not paved with gold.

- [Narrator] Some of the women had no choice but to take their children, leave town, and hopefully find a new husband.

Other widows and parents went back to the old country, taking with them memories of lost husbands and sons.

- Barthel, Paul, age 45, wife and children in Italy.

- [Narrator] The only record of their existence in America, the Darr Mine casualty list.

- Paul Brazy.

Bolo, Steve, age, 25, wife at Jacobs Creek.

Bucher, Steve- - [Narrator] All those names of dead men, people could barely comprehend it, but just as unbelievable, the story of a man who got out, and there is someone still alive who knew him.

- [Esther] I'd like to remember.

- At the age of 96, Esther Budd still checks her mailbox every day.

She uses a walker to get around.

She's still in her own home.

- I've lived in this house since 1918, and I can remember a lotta things.

- [Narrator] Esther remembers quite well the man most people believe is the Darr Mine's only survivor.

- That was my uncle, Tom.

He was married to mother's sister.

And he was the only man that got out of the explosion alive.

- Tom Williams was a dilly rider, a term from miner who tends the wagons of coal.

A Connellsville newspaper reported how he'd just stepped away from his car.

when the mine blew.

- He was just practically at the entrance, and he thought he heard a rumblin', and he got on out.

He did get clear out.

- [Narrator] Despite the notoriety, Tom rarely talked about the Darr explosion.

- [Esther] That was a no-no subject.

- [Narrator] Esther says her uncle led a good and optimistic life.

- He was a very loving person.

And he loved me.

He did go back to being a coal miner again.

- [Narrator] And she still has some of Tom's belongings from the mine- - That was his lunchbox.

- [Narrator] along with her memories of a Darr Mine legend.

- My Uncle Tom, Tom Williams.

Thank goodness he got out alive, but, oh, what about the other people that didn't get out?

- [Pamela] Walter Sheppard was our grandfather, and he was only 24.

- [Narrator] Arlene Thompson and Pamela Simpson only know their grandfather's face through his only photograph.

- [Pamela] He looks intelligent, I think.

Typically English.

- [Arlene] Staunch, he looks.

And he's handsome.

- [Narrator] In fact, the sisters are among just a handful of people who have photos of anyone who died in the Darr disaster.

- [Arlene] This 24-year-old, probably planning for Christmas with his wife and the babies, thinking about makin' enough money to maybe buy 'em something, and he goes into this mine with all of these other men, and she's at home with the little ones, and they hear that loud earth rumble... Love of her life, 24 years old, and he's not there anymore.

And the babies have no dad.

- [Narrator] One of those babies- - [Pamela] And there's our dad.

What a sweet baby.

- [Narrator] did grow up to be a coal miner himself, John Sheppard the father of these two women.

- Daddy used to come home, and all you saw were his eyes, the whites of his eyes.

- It was important to him, and he wanted his father to be remembered.

Here's Walter's name, Walter Sheppard badge number 508, and he was 24 years old.

Oh, look at the detail!

And he had two children.

- [Narrator] In recent years, the sisters learned that they also had a step great-grandfather in the Darr, the mine foreman, William Campbell.

- [Pamela] Mr. Campbell, you can't see him very well, but he also perished in the mine too.

- [Narrator] William Campbell's body was among the first brought out by the recovery team.

There is still some question as to what happened to the remains of Walter Sheppard.

- [Pamela] Our grandfather's body was never found.

- I say it's in the mine.

I hope that he's not in an unmarked grave somewhere that someone can take flowers.

I hope that he died with his friends.

(church bell ringing) - St. Nicholas Orthodox Church is not so big, but it's just about the right size for the tiny village of Jacobs Creek, where most of the Darr miners lived.

♪ Grant eternal rest, oh Lord, to the souls ♪ ♪ Of your departed servants, ♪ ♪ Those who lost their lives in the Darr Mine ♪ ♪ And make them (singing in foreign language) ♪ - [Narrator] On this day, the people here pray for the miners' souls and reflect on another reason to remember the Darr disaster.

- I'm sure it's a miracle.

- [Narrator] They call it the miracle of Saint Nicholas because December 19th, 1907 was a religious holiday, the Feast Day of Saint Nicholas.

Christina Duranko is an Orthodox Christian and a founder of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

- Saint Nicholas would be the main saint that Carpatho-Rusyns would pray to for intercession.

And they would pray for him to watch over them, for him to protect them, for him to assist them.

- [Narrator] And many believe that is what happened.

When about 200 men did not go inside the Darr Mine that day.

- Because they went to church.

- It was the one day every year they would take off, Carpatho-Rusyns would take off to go to church on the Greek Catholic Orthodox old calendar date of December 19th.

Father Alexander Zubai traveled to Jacobs Creek to offer a divine liturgy in St. Nicholas' memory, and during that liturgy is it the time when the ground shook beneath them, the explosion occurred that killed all the men that were in the mine at the time.

- They said that, when the mine exploded, it blew fire clear across the river into Jacobs Creek from the mouth of the mine.

- And everyone ran to see what could be done to help the miners that were stuck in the mine.

- It's very emotional for me to hear this story.

- [Narrator] Emotional, because some of these parishioners wouldn't be alive today had it not been for a church service 100 years earlier.

- Mother told me her daddy and my uncle, that's her brother, was spared their life because they stayed home and went to church.

- [Narrator] Ironically, the Monongah Mine had exploded 13 days earlier on December 6th, the Feast Day of Saint Nicholas in the Roman Catholic Church.

60 miners in West Virginia had stayed home, too.

Descendants of the Monongah and Darr churchgoers still talk about it today.

- [Christina] And you wouldn't be here today with us, telling the story- - Isn't that the truth?

- [Christina] Because you wouldn't be alive.

- Isn't that wonderful?

(congregation singing) - I always remember, as I'm walking in the doors, that the building here was constructed by unemployed and retired coal miners from their bare hands.

- We do believe that Saint Nicholas saved them that day.

(congregation singing) - It's our responsibility in this generation to work to preserve the history of this miracle, as well as the sacrifices of the coal miners and steelworkers of that period.

If we don't preserve it, it will be lost for future generations.

(congregation singing) (train whistle blowing) (train rumbling) - [Narrator] This old mining town is no longer a destination for most people.

- There's something still in the air around the place.

- Watch your step.

- [Ray] The energy of the men who were here...

There's a lot of stories in these hills around here.

- [Narrator] Stories, yes, but very little else to show how coal once meant life in the Yough River Valley.

There are some ruins, like what used to be one of the Banning Mine buildings.

It's just a shell now, right next to the Youghiogheny bike trail.

At the site of the Darr explosion, you have to look hard to find a few rail tracks, concrete foundations, and what's left of the entrance.

- Then the tipper would have been right out in this area.

- [Narrator] These men all have mining in their past, and they're among those doing what they can to preserve this history.

- This is timbers... - [Narrator] Ray Washlaski started a coal mine website that includes extensive research on the Darr.

Dave Hamilton is a trail volunteer who tells his stories the old-fashioned way to bikers and hikers he meets along the trail.

- There's a lot of history along the trail here, and Darr Mine is a very important part of it.

- [Narrator] Dave is a former miner who grew up in this area.

- As a child.

If I was up that area at nighttime, I'd run down past there.

Believe me.

(laughs) And I was told by my father, "Never go in that hole."

- I think of my dad all the time.

And to look down here, to see what he collected... - Don Indof is a coal miner's son who inherited his father's impressive collection of coal mining memorabilia, from the open-flame hats the miners used to wear, to this cage with the actual remains of a canary that died of gas poisoning in a coal mine.

- [Don] But if the canary would die inside the cage, that was a sign, get out of the mine.

- [Narrator] Don's working to get a museum in Rostraver to house his dad's collection- - [Don] I think Pap needs a museum.

- [Narrator] And to formally recognize the Darr disaster and the township where it happened.

(dramatic, melancholy music) - And now our fellow worker, we pay the last sad right and tribute of respect, the last one we can pay you in this world.

- [Narrator] And of course there is Ann Toth, the coal miner's granddaughter who's been the heart and soul of the Darr Mine group.

- Now what happens when I die, I don't know, because I don't think anybody else has the passion that I have about it.

- [Narrator] She keeps the story alive and still keeps up the cemeteries where the Darr miners rest.

- But sometimes, if I'm down in the cemeteries by myself, and my dear grandfather, I feel that little brush on my shoulder.

(dramatic, melancholy music) - [Narrator] After the Darr and other disasters of the era, a public outcry led to tougher mining laws and the creation of the US Bureau of Mines.

(rumbling explosion and shouting) Testing and research into dust explosions helped prevent future tragedies.

And there never again was another dreaded month like December 1907, when more than 700 men and boys died in American coal mines.

(soothing music) - [Joe] I don't think they died in vain.

- [Narrator] Names and faces remembered by a few who left behind more than many people might know.

- I think that the people that work in the mines today owe a lot to those individuals that paid the ultimate sacrifice many, many years ago.

- So I hope that the Darr explosion saved somebody's life, down the road.

(inspiring music continues)