Goodbye Wifes and Daughters

By Mark D. Johnston

Book Overview

One morning in 1943, close to eighty men descended into the Smith coal mine in Bearcreek, Montana. Only three came out alive. "Goodbye wifes and daughters," wrote two of the miners as they died. The story of that tragic day and its aftermath unfolds in this book through the eyes of those same wives and daughters--women who lost their husbands, fathers, and sons, livelihoods, neighbors, and homes, yet managed to fight back and persevere.
Susan Kushner Resnick has uncovered the story behind all those losses. She chronicles the missteps and questionable ethics of the mine's managers, who blamed their disregard for safety on the exigencies of World War II; the efforts of an earnest federal mine inspector and the mine union's president (later a notorious murderer), who tried in vain to make the mine safer; the heroism of the men who battled for nine days to rescue the trapped miners; and the effect the disaster had on the entire mining industry. Resnick illuminates a particular historical tragedy with all its human ramifications while also reminding us that such tragedies caused by corporate greed and indifference are still with us today.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521523230
• ISBN13: 9780521523233
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent research team and analysis

Having had the luxury of actually communicating with Dr. Beattie and his team of their work, I can attest that they carried out their project professionally and with dignity. This is in contrast to many who tried or will try to answer the fate of the 129 (this field of research is ripe with many egos fighting for turf over which theory of their demise is correct, and the "glory" of finding that "holy grail" -- either Franklin's...

"They could not have foretold such an odyssey"

The first time I heard about the Franklin expedition on Dr. Bob Brier's television documentary on mummies, I knew I had to learn more. Of course, the main cause of my fascination was the perfectly preserved bodies of the three sailors buried in 1846 on Beechy Island in the Canadian Arctic. The expedition set off in 1845 thoroughly equipped to find the elusive Northwest Passage. None of the 129 crewmen as well as Captain...

A Scientific Page Turning Thriller

This book was great and I hope you will check it out! It gave great detail to the 1984-6 expeditions headed by Owen Beattie that searched into the fatal artic expedition of 1845. In 1845, Sir John Franklin, known for his previous polar exploration, took two ships and 128 crew members into the icy north. Their goal was to find a northwest passage above Canada, but nobody ever heard from them again. Many have tried to solve...

A Well-Researched Book on the tragic Franklin Expedition.

This book provides an in-depth look into what really happened to the Franklin expedition when it left England in 1845 with 2 ships: the Erebus and the Terror. Led by Sir John Franklin, 129 men set sail in search for the Northwest Passage in the labyrinth of the Canada's arctic archipelago, the expedition boasted the most technologically advanced ship at that time with thousands of provisions that was to last for three...

An excellent, informative and touching read

I first bought this book in the UK, read it and re-read it a number of times. I originally had no interest in this subject, but now, due to the excellent presentation, I find myself thinking of the hardships those men went through. I moved to the US and left the book behind. I now find myself desperately seeking a copy. That is the impact of this book. It's images will stay with the reader for the rest of their lives.