WEST MINERAL, Kan. (AP) A historic coal mining shovel that sat concealed on a Cherokee County farm for more than 70 years will soon be moved to its new home next to its famous successor, Big Brutus.
Strip mining in southeast Kansas began in the 1880s and became the most favored method by the 1930s, according to the Kansas Historical Society. The Markley shovel was built in the late 1920s.
The homemade machine is said to have been one of the first mining shovels equipped with a round dipper stick, which allowed the bucket to swivel.
