HARTVILLE – Residents of Hartville and surrounding areas enjoyed a trip down memory lane and a dive into the region›s mining history from the perspective of a miners’ child at the May meeting of Sunrise Historic and Prehistoric Preservation Society (SHAPPS).
Cindy Sprague Woods, who grew up in Hartville because her father was a miner at the Sunrise mine, gave a presentation called “My father and the woman beside him,” detailing the life her family experienced in the small, close-knit mining community.
“I have such a potpourri of memories,” Woods told the packed town hall. “It’s tough to organize them and put them down on a piece of paper – I honestly struggled as I thought of what to talk to you about anything negative – so that’s the luxury of time, isn’t it?”
During her presentation she shared many memories and mementos from the time when her parents, Gene and Edna Webb Sprague, returned Hartville.
Her parents had left the eastern plains of Wyoming and Nebraska around the early 1940s for life in a beach town out in California; however, Edna’s parents were elderly and needed some family help, so the couple moved back to Hartville and Gene began working at the mine in 1949.
Woods joked that her father used to say, “We came for a visit and guess we are still visiting,” because the couple never left Hartville upon returning.
“This (Hartville) was and is a very strong community – a very resilient community – it’s distinct and its unique,” Woods said during her presentation. “I think because of the Sunrise mine, you know, social ties were very strong here and we had a strong sense of belonging, security and solidarity. I believe that came from the culture of the mine.”
Woods explained that her father was never a mine boss and in fact, he never wanted to be a boss.
“He didn’t want to be a boss – he really thought a lot of the friends, the coworkers he had at the mine and worried that their relationship would change if that was the case (if he had become a boss) and the balance they fed off – that he might lose their friendship,” Woods explained.
Friendship was a tightly guarded commodity in the town and among the mine workers’ families, most viewing it more precious than gold – or the copper and iron ore they were mining from the earth.
Hartville, which has the distinction of being Wyoming’s oldest incorporated town, began to roar to life during the copper boom which led to the town’s founding in 1881. Unfortunately, many decades later – and after almost 100 years of operation – the Sunrise mine closed its doors in 1980, due to the decreasing ore quality and copper prices, high freight costs and emergence of the steel industry. Over its lifetime, the Sunrise Mine produced more than 40 million tons of iron ore and copper.
The Sunrise Mine Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as a nod to America’s mining history and the industries that kept moving the country forward.
Unique cuisine
Despite the mine being shuttered by the Colorado Fuel and Iron company, Hartville and surrounding communities like Sunrise remain a vibrant small-town community surrounded by echoes of history.
“The best thing that I always tell people about growing up in Hartville was the food nestled in the hills here,” Woods said. “I really think most of the people that lived here, particularly at that time, felt the same.”
Woods explained, due to the vast cultural heritages of many residents of the area during that time, the town did not lack in a variety of food and they regularly enjoyed Italian, Greek, Mexican and Danish recipes at the various restaurants in town.
“I knew at the time how spoiled I was,” Woods said of the variety of food options available in the small mining community. “This was original food – it was delicious.”
She spoke fondly of the various festivals in town and how families would bring food showcasing their heritages and she remembered that only certain members of the community could make certain dishes she loved, such as Crostoli for Christmas by elderly town member, Louise Berletti, a beloved member of the town.
Woods spoke of one Christmas in particular when she was sick, Berletti ensured Woods still got some of the delicate dessert. “(She) struggled across the street – and she knew that it (the dessert) meant a lot to me to have my Crostoli for Christmas.”
Adding, “She made it all – and she didn’t call, she didn’t have somebody come get it or whatever – she wanted to give that to me and that really made Christmas.”

Crostoli is a traditional Italian fried dough pastry, which is usually made and served before different religious holidays. This dessert is known for its crispy, light and very delicate texture and typically dusted with powdered sugar. In nearby regions in Italy, the delightful holiday dessert is known as Chichchiere, Frappe, Budgie or Cenci; however, in Italian communities in the U.S., this dessert has become known as “Angel Wings.”
Woods said sometimes Berletti would sprinkle cinnamon in with the sugar topping. “Louise had a particular way of doing it – I think all the special cooks (in town) had their own way of doing things – but gosh, it was delicious,” Woods reminisced with the audience.
Additional fond memories from the town growing up included the infamous red dirt which surrounded the community.
“I think the other thing a little bit distinctive about the kids here is that we knew how to play in the red dirt,” Woods chuckled with the audience. “It was always red: – red water, red dirt.”
Adding, “Our shoes and our clothes usually had that pink iron ore coloring because we couldn’t stay away from that ditch (with the red dirt) even though our moms told us to,” Woods explained, “It was a great ‘Barbie’ creek.”
Woods said she spent much of her younger years playing in the red dirt creek and roads with her Barbie’s and that it was a very special memory of hers.
She also reminisced about how the miner workers never lost the red or light pink ring around their shirt collars and that it was something unique about the area and told the story of each individual in town. “It was really a special thing, and it was unique.”
Not all memories were so sweet or filled with chuckles. Woods said the consolidation of schools impacted the community.
“The consolidation of schools did change our community – it definitely changed our community,” Woods said. The Consolidation of the Sunrise and Hartville school districts occurred in 1963, which eventually lead to the district joining with the Guernsey schools and families were bussed to Guernsey.
However, prior to the consolidation of schools, Woods said she remembers a time when she and her friends would explore the tunnels between the schools in town.
“I also recall the underground tunnels used by the school,” Woods said. “They were all cement – they were painted in gray – a shiny gray paint and very well kept. You would think a little kid might pause going down the stairs and going into the tunnels.”
She said the thought never crossed anyone’s mind and no one seemed afraid of those tunnels. The creation and use of the tunnels seem to be all but forgotten in history, but some suggest they were utility tunnels or Cold War tunnels to keep school children safe. Despite not being able to recall what the tunnels were meant to be used for, Woods said she does remember community events occurring at the schools, such as when the Polio vaccination rolled out.
“The schools were often the gathering place for community healthcare,” Woods said. “I remember standing in long lines for the Polio cube – remember the sugar cubes for the whole community?”
A particularity of the time in the small mining community was the issuance of military-style dog tags to all residents, including children. Woods held up her Hartville dog tags and described what was on them, such as her blood type, name and address, but she couldn’t recall when she got them or why; therefore, she asked the community if they remembered.
A search of Wyoming Archives revealed that the dog tags were issued during the Cold War era as a precaution in the event of a national disaster or emergency. Although, the archives do state that some communities began the practice earlier or later than others and that there was pattern as to which communities did so and which ones did not.
Some Wyoming historians suggest the use of dog tags in, near or around mining communities, such as Hartville, was derived by the towns’ namesake Col. Verling Hart, who was stationed at Ft. Laramie in the late 1870s when Wyoming was still a territory. The town had been purchased from the federal government for $250 for 200 acres, and President Theodore Roosevelt signed the deed to the town in 1907. By 1911, it had become incorporated in Laramie County, which eventually became Platte County.
Hartville and the Sunrise Mine were just one of many sprawling communities nearby which were pursuing copper and other items from the earth. Eventually, nearby towns like Ironton and Chicago Mine sprouted up and a stage station at the government farm, about 14 miles north of Ft. Laramie was rediscovered in 1878. However, Hartville and the Sunrise Mine remained at the center and remained the heartbeat of the wider mining communities.
Nicknames
Another unique thing about growing up in a mining community which Woods reminded the audience about was the usage of nicknames by the miners themselves. She said there are some people which she cannot recall their actual names, but remembers the nickname given to them by the mining community.
“When somebody retired at the time – the first thing I wanted to know was, well, what name does he get?” Woods said. She said one of her favorite things was learning the miners’ nicknames and how they got those nicknames.
“The miners were really big on nicknames they gave each other,” Woods said. Her father’s mining nickname was “Mutts King”. She explained he got that nickname because he was always hot. She also recalled the nicknames of some of her father’s friends, such as “String Bean” and “Big Tiny” who she said was a big guy.
Woods said her father was a well-established member and supporter of the local mining union for many years – until, he wasn’t.
“My dad was a Guernsey Longhorn, and I remember him talking about traveling to Pueblo, (Colorado), when they first started actively forming the union,” Woods explained. “They were in groups of his coworkers. At that time, he felt it was necessary – it was a high risk occupation.
“We knew that when that siren went off, it was not good news – there had been an accident of some sort and all the families just stood at attention because we needed to find out what was going on and we didn’t know if it affected our family members,” she added.
“It was rare. We didn’t hear the siren very often, but you know – we knew – and my dad was injured at one point in time when a rock fell on his back,” Woods said as she fought back tears recalling that memory. “A dear friend of his was paralyzed in the mine.”
She also recalled another friend who lost their father during an accident at the mine.
“So we all really respected (the mine workers),” Woods said.
However, life for miners and their unions didn’t always go very well, according to Woods. “After the teams were striking and union activity became about different things other than safe working conditions and so on, he (her dad) felt differently about it (unions).”
“It was interesting to see that change,” Woods said about her father shifting from a union supporter to becoming a non-union supporter.
“I recall when the mine was on strike, once or twice, the miners would find another place to work quickly and he (Gene) worked on the Hesed Building, [I’m] probably not calling it the right name now,” Woods said. “(It) was a dime store on the corner in Torrington and they (striking mine-workers) carpooled again altogether.”
She said her father looked forward to retirement and that some of his best times were after his retirement from the mines.
A mother's role
Woods’ mother, Edna, grew up in the Hartville area and graduated from Sunrise High School. Woods passed around her mother’s mining high school class ring for the audience to see because her mother came from a farming and mining family.
She also spent a great deal of time discussing her mother’s role in the town and the roles women community-wide played in ensuring their husbands made it to the mine and home everyday.
“I think my impression of my mom’s role here is very common,” Woods said. “Most of the moms that had husbands working in the mine – they were excellent cooks, seamstresses, accountants, organizers, housekeepers; some had the most immaculate houses I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Woods also detailed how the women in the area could quickly, and on-the-spot, create alternative recipes when the area was out of certain ingredients. Because of the family history in Hartville, Woods said she made every concession available to ensure her mother lived out her days in Hartville and remarked that it was not easy, but worth it.
“I’ve never been so grateful as to all the neighbors she had here in Hartville that enabled her to stay in Hartville for as long as she did – she never wanted to leave,” Woods said.
As she wrapped up her presentation, Woods said, “It was wonderful growing up (in Hartville),” but she said what she really misses today is the strong tight-knit community spirit she was blessed to have experienced as a child.
Woods shared several photos with the community, including photos of her father down in the Sunrise mine, and photos of what the town looked like as she was growing up.
The next SHAPPS meeting will be in September. For more about Hartville and the Sunrise Mine, please see the SHAPPS Facebook page, or visit shapps.org.