Nestled in the middle of Alberta's Badlands, through the
winding Rosebud creek and across 11 one-way bridges, lay the
hamlet of Wayne. A once boisterous community that supported up
to 1,500 people, today Wayne invites tourists to visit what has
become a ghost town and discover the area's history.
Like many communities in the Drumheller Valley, Wayne was
founded when the first mines were developed. The Red Deer Coal
Company arrived to open the Rose Deer Mine in 1912, but did not
manage to become operational until 1914. Unfortunately, the
First World War broke out soon after, and the capital necessary
to develop the mine never materialized. Despite the unfortunate
timing, the company persisted, bringing in supplies and
equipment via handcarts instead of trains.
The mine companies were not the alone in experiencing
difficulty, all citizens sustaining tough times of their own.
During the period 1915-1923, when Alberta's prohibition laws
were in effect, moonshiners ran successful businesses. The
illegal trade occurred in the hills surrounding Wayne, where
access was limited. Until the early 1920s, when a narrow wagon
road was built, the only practical entry route was via the
railway. To curtail any illegal liquor sales, the Albert
Provincial Police stationed one of its officers in the town.
A good deal of miners took liberties with the law, but
perhaps they had reason to. Arriving in the Drumheller Valley,
miners were met with a significant social and economic gap
between their kin and the upper class. In Wayne, up to six men
would live in a 14-square-foot shack, referred to as a chicken
coop. Many shacks would share a single outhouse, and disease
was rampant. Life was hard on the miners, and many out of
desperation, coped the best they could.
Within the pages of her Explore Southern Alberta with Joanne
Elves, Elves suggests a range of illegal activities that miners
were involved in. Apparently Wayne's 15-bed hospital had a
reputation for giving the best amputations in the province. It
has been speculated that some miners may have intentionally
mangled their own fingers in order to collect sick pay in the
summer when the mines shut down.
The 1930s were a particularly difficult period for Wayne and
its miners. The Depression strained the community and its
businesses, the coal companies were no exception. With the
opening of the mine, Wayne's population had grown to 1,500
people, but when mining operations were shut down, people left
as quickly as they had come, in pursuit of further work. The
Rose Deer Mine did not re-open until 1934, and operations were
intermittent until 1957. By that time, Wayne's population stood
around 255 people, and was further reduced to 93, 10 years
later.
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