Stains of Toil (Ely Miners Memorial)

They came from Ljubljana, sailed from Trieste
From Finland and Cornwall, then they came west.
They heard of the place they all looked for
Where under the forest hid rich iron one.

They went to the captain and in their own way
They hired on quickly -- started that day.
They crowded in cages and went underground
And built a future for family and town.

CHORUS
Those were the miners who left behind
The stains of toil from the ore they mined
Their work, their aches, chills and pain
Built our city and the lives we gained.

They drilled and then blasted raises and drifts
And nights merged with days on rotating shifts
They worked on contract and earned their pay
Respecting the bosses but having their say.

They built our houses and drank in saloons
And boisterously sang their old country tunes
And loved their families and gave us more
Than eighty-eight years of hematite ore.

CHORUS

The underground mines they hummed with pride
Deeper they dug and ever more wide
They built our schools -- won a war
Scraping and tugging the blue iron ore.

The mines are still -- yet ore remains.
We must remember our fortune and gains.
Miners who came here and sweated and died
Built our foundation and gave us our pride.

A toast to the miners who left behind
The stains of toil from the ore they mined.

Performed by The Forty Miners: George Faber, Tim Snow, and Doug Luthanen

Copyright Doug Luthanen 2013

Visit the Ely Miners Memorial

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