The following names and family histories have been drawn
from Toni Ross' Oh The Coal Branch: A Chronicle of
the Alberta Coal Branch (Calgary: D. Friesen and
Sons Ltd., 1974). Mrs. Ross' husband, James C. Ross, was
a CNR fireman on the Coal Branch line.
Victor Alleggretto-He was one of five miners killed
when a torrent of water broke through panel pillars from
an old mine working in Cadomin on August 5th,
1942.
Baruzzini Family-John Baruzzini came from Italy
to work in the Crow's Nest Pass and other mines. He settled in Mountain Park in 1921. In 1922
he returned to
Italy to marry and a daughter, Mary, was born in Italy.
Other children were born in Mountain Park and they include Zita,
Silvino, Dora, Isidor, Loretta, Caroline and Secondo.
In 1944 John lost his eyesight and in 1950 moved to Luscar
were two of his sons worked in the strip mines.
After those mines closed, the family moved to Edmonton
where Mr. Baruzzini senior died in 1957. A son,
Secondo, was killed in Canmore four months earlier while
working for Mannix Construction and both are buried in
Edmonton. Silvino worked in Nordegg and in construction
after the closing of the mine and, finally, worked for the
Alberta Liquor Control Board in Edmonton. Silvino and sons
John and Robert return to the Coal Bank to fish, hike and
shoot.
P. Baruzzini-This individual was a member of the Executive of
the 1917 Cross Club of Mountain Park (supporters of the
Hon. O.C.W. Cross).
Melio Bello-Melio was the assistant ranger at
Mountain park, and played for the Luscar Indians Intermediate
Hockey Team in 1940. [Additional information from
Anne Belliveau, historian, who writes: Lolli
Bello lived in Nordegg for awhile. I taught his
twins, Dwayne and Darren, in Nordegg _ Grade 5, before the
town closed. I never could tell them apart and
always was calling them by the wrong names. One day
I looked up from my desk to find they had hung signs
around their necks saying " I'm Dwayne"
"I'm Darren".]
A. Bennedetti-He was one of three miners who escaped
death on August 7th, 1942 when a torrent of water broke
through panel pillars from an old mine working in Cadomin,
filling five miners.
J. Bulo-This individual was a member of the Executive of the
1917 Cross Club of Mountain Park (supporters of the Hon.
O.C.W. Cross); uncertain whether this is an Italian name.
Enrico Carretti-Enrico was suffocated at the Cadomin
mine on June 11th, 1931.
Pietro (Peter) Chiesa-Pietro came to Canada from Italy
in 1908, and he worked at Coppercliffe, Ontario, and
Michelle, Crow's Nest Pass. In 1912 he walked to
Mountain Park. He went to Italy to find his bride Julia
and left her pregnant with his son, Nino Vitalino Chiesa,
who was born in 1922 in Udine. In 1923 mother and
son went to Mountain Park in 1923. Other children
were Regina, Alvio and Pete. Six weeks after Pete's
birth in 1929, Julia died on complications after
childbirth. The children were sent to a convent in
St. Albert until he remarried in 1932, a woman from Italy
called Maria. He was the oldest miner in Mountain Park on
June 20th, 1950 when the mine closed and in July did his
final round as the watchman. His son, Nino, served
in the Canadian Army seeing service in England, North
Africa and Italy. In Italy he was captured and sent
to a German prisoner-of-war camp. After the War, he
returned to work at Mountain park. In 1949,
with partner Jack Roome, he ran the local store
until the town shut down. The family moved to Edson
where Nino and his family ran the By-Rite Food Store.
Ciciarelli Family-Teresa (nee Ciciarelli)
Girardi was born in the Crow's Nest Pass and the family
left Blairmore in 1917-18, when she was nine, and went to
Mountain Park. Her Father Joseph worked as a foreman
and round table builder for the railroad engines at
Mountain Park. According to Toni Ross, he participated in
a political rally in Mountain Park in April, 1917
when the Hon. O.C.W. Cross spoke; he did the
translation into Italian. His wife was a member of
the Ladies Cross Club. The couple, besides Teresa, had
three other daughters and a son. The family stayed
in Mountain Park for only two years (the climate did not
agree with their Mother) and he went to work in Edson with
the CN as a boilermaker's helper. Teresa met her
husband in Edson and they were married in 1927 and lived
in Luscar, where he was employed as a miner. The
subsequently returned to Luscar until the mine closed down
and they moved to Creston, BC.
Paul Ciputa-Paul was killed in a cave in, at the
Mountain Park Collieries with one other miner in 1940.
Mrs. Cutti-She was a member of the the 1917 Ladies
Cross Club of Mountain Park (supporters of the Hon. O.C.W.
Cross); uncertain whether this is an Italian name.
J. Dominchelli-He was a pipefitter in the Luscar
Collieries when an explosion occurred on May 12th, 1945. Bert
Dominchelli-was a member of the Luscar Girls hockey
team; a brother (?) played for the Luscar Indians
Intermediate Hockey Team in 1940.
Augustino (Gus)
Dotto-His parents came to
Canada in 1914 and he was born in Edmonton in 1915. They lived in Edmonton until he was six
months old, then moved to the Coal Branch to Pocahontas, then moved to
Brule and stayed there until 1928. After that his dad
took the family down to Edson for nine months while he
worked in the mines at Cadomin. After nine months in
Edson, the family moved up to Cadomin until the mines
closed. In 1948, he competed in the Mine Rescue and
First Aid Contest for the Coal Branch Championship.
Cadomin came in third after Mercoal and Luscar. Mrs. Assunta Dotto was born in 1922, in a small place near
Valvazone. She went to school there with her five sisters, and
her father was already in Canada farming. In 1939,
Assunta, her mother, and three of her sisters
made the move to Canada. Gus and Assunta got engaged (1942-43) while he was in
the army. They married in 1945. See
oral history
interview in the Italians Settle in Edmonton Oral History
Project.
Attili Esquenni-Attili was a pallbearer for the
funeral of Dan Spinazzi and the two other miners killed in
the methane gas explosion on the last working day in 1939.
Ross says that he came from Spinazzi's home town in
northern Italy to accompany his coffin.
J. Francescutti-This individual was a member of the Executive
of the 1917 Cross Club of Mountain Park (supporters of the
Hon. O.C.W. Cross).
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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