Markley Shovel, a predecessor to Big Brutus, is dedicated

A century-old coal-mining shovel that served as a much-smaller predecessor of the Big Brutus shovel was dedicated Saturday at the Big Brutus Visitors Center in West Mineral, Kansas.

According to an Associated Press article, Perry Markley designed and built by hand the smaller shovel in the early 1900s using junkyard parts.

The machine was one of the first mining shovels with a swiveling bucket. The Markley Shovel served as a prototype for other mining shovels, including Big Brutus.

KOAM-TV reported that Markley died in 1964. His descendants were there during the dedication ceremony Saturday.

A Joplin Globe story stated the Markley Shovel sat in an overgrown wooded area for about 70 years just a few miles from Big Brutus, and the Markley family donated it to the visitors center.

Tilton and Sons House Moving in Carthage was the specialty carrier that transported the machine a few miles down the road to Big Brutus.

“We had to fight the weather since we had a lot of rain,” Boccia said. “The movers had to use steel plates to get the machine out from where it was because the ground was so mushy. The movers took delicate care of it, and there was no damage. We’re real happy with their work.”

The miners spruced up the shovel by removing a thick layer of dirt that accumulated over the past 72 years.

“Of course, it’s still rusty, but there’s nothing we can do about that,” Boccia said. “Eventually, we’ll try to reserve it in the condition that it’s in, maybe with a clear coat on the rusty iron.”

Here’s a good video about the recent discovery of the original Markley Shovel last year:

And here’s a video about the shovel’s move out of the woods to the Big Brutus site:

Big Brutus, named to the National Register of Historic Places last year, is a Bucyrus Erie model 1850B that’s the largest surviving electric shovel in the world. It stands nearly 16 stories tall and can be seen for miles. It weighs 11 million pounds. The boom measures 150 feet long. Its dipper capacity was 150 tons, equivalent to three railroad cars.

Big Brutus cost $6.2 million ($52.6 million in 2019 dollars) when purchased in 1962, and it required 150 rail cars to be shipped in pieces for assembly in Kansas. The shovel was retired when coal mining in that region became uneconomical. The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. donated Big Brutus in 1984 to the mining museum.

Big Brutus sits a little less than 30 miles from Route 66 in southeastern Kansas. Its monstrous size and uniqueness have made it a side trip for Mother Road travelers.

(Image of the Markley Shovel next to Big Brutus by the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau via Facebook)

2 thoughts on “Markley Shovel, a predecessor to Big Brutus, is dedicated

  1. A great pleasure to see pieces of industrial plant being given the recognition they deserve. Not glamorous, not artistic, but engineering that helped make the world what it is today. A lot more productive than an Andy Warhol painting of a can of soup.

  2. My adopted grandmother started taking me to Big Brutus when I was a small child. I used to be in awe of the “toes” alone on Big Brutus – taller than anyone I knew. I can’t wait to get out there and see this new addition. Big Brutus is not on 66, but this is a side trip that is well worth the effort to go see. Truly a one-of-a-kind experience. I’m very glad they have been able to add to it, thanks to the Markley family generosity.

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