1 Mine was established by West Canadian Collieries Limited in 1903 and led to the founding of the village of Bellevue.

[5] The mine mainly employed immigrants, with large numbers of workers coming from Poland, Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, and the British Isles.

[6] In documents later revealed to the Alberta Legislature, a routine inspection report filed on 4 March 1910, by District Mines Inspector Elijah Heathcote at the Bellevue No.

[7] Two days later, Stirling received a telegram from James Burke, secretary of the miners' union, saying that the colliery was poorly ventilated and full of gas.

Upon inspecting the Fire Boss's report books, Heathcote discovered that on 30 October, the ventilation fan had been stopped for 9 hours for repairs, allowing gas to accumulate throughout the mine, causing it to ignite when a cave-in happened on the 31st.

[9] At 6:30 PM MST,[1] during the night shift with 42 workers present, an explosion occurred in the mine trapping all of the men underground, and releasing toxic afterdamp into the air.

The mine sent out a distress call, which was received by the closest rescue team in Hosmer, British Columbia who began the roughly six hour train ride to Bellevue.

[1] Flags in Bellevue were lowered to half mast, and there was a long procession featuring two marching bands.

They recommended that Draeger breathing apparatuses be station in the Crowsnest Pass, and also suggested putting telephones in the underground mines.

[12] Despite the jury stating "we consider that negligence is in evidence on the part of operators and miners", no charges were ever brought on anyone for the disaster.

[13] A year later in 1912, MLA Charles M. O'Brien of the Socialist Party of Canada for Rocky Mountain introduced a motion into legislature to censure the government for its failure to prosecute in the inquest.

[4] Initially, the disaster seemed to have a profound effect on the village of Bellevue, with it leaving 20 widows and 44 orphaned children.