SCLT Explore History Features Black Diamond Trail

The Sheridan Community Land Trust held the Explore History program for January on Tuesday, January 9 at the Hub on Smith and again on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at the TRVCC in Dayton. The subject of the talk was “A Virtual Drive Down the Black Diamond Trail.”

Kevin Knapp, History Program manager, introduced the slide show, and talked about some upcoming events of SCLT, including the “Iron Riders” Program and audio tour.

He added that he posted the talk he gave in November at Dayton on the Rosebud Battle on u-tube

The Jan. 16 program took the viewers through the physical remnants of the once vibrant mining communities of Dietz, Acme, Carneyville (later called Kleenburn), Monarch, and Kooi, and more evidence of the past coal mining booms of Sheridan County. Illustrated with old photos, and with audio clips from those who remembered the towns, the audio tour took viewers to the old towns.

The tour was narrated by Senator Dave Kinskey and started in Sheridan with a history of coal in the area, and how ranchers and private individuals first dug coal out of the banks in the area. The first actual coal town on the tour was the site Dietz, which is located outside of Sheridan on the Decker highway.

The tour starts in Sheridan with a history of coal mining in the area, and then follows the route from town to town, stopping along the way to give the listener a brief history of each town, with the tour ending near Ranchester.

The trains used coal in the steam engines, and many times the train companies also owned many of the coal towns. The mines outside of Sheridan were mainly underground mines, until the 1950, when Big Horn Coal opened up a strip mining in the area for a time.

Explore History is free to attend and open to all. For more information and to find out more about the driving tour, visit https://sheridanclt.org/events.