On this episode of Epoch Americana, I was privileged to interview Chantz Potter and hear his experiences as an underground miner in Wyoming. Chantz is one of those rare individuals whose work experience, talents, and skill allow him to do just about any work he wants.

Mining is a unique profession. I found Chantz’s discussion enlightening and informative. I included Chantz’s description of how he got involved in mining in the text below. Please watch the YouTube video for the full interview.

So, when I finished high school, I went to school in Casper, Wyoming. At about the time I finished, I met my wife and we got married, and the school bought a farm and needed somebody to run it. So, I stuck around and ran the farm for a while – for almost three years. It included kind of everything I grew up doing, putting up hay and taking care of animals, and then some mechanic work and welding and stuff.

And then I had an opportunity to move closer to home and come play cowboy for a couple of years. And so, we took that opportunity and man, it was a dream. It was all I ever wanted to do, but there’s just not a lot of money in it. And eventually it kind of got to the point where the bills and the bank are like, “Okay, it’s time to grow up Peter Pan! You got to get a real job you know?”

Right. And so, I was fortunate that here in the community, the local telecom business, Union Telephone, was hiring. So, I went to work for them for a couple of years running a shovel and a dozer and climb cell towers from time to time. And then we just kind of wanted to stay in the area.

And as I looked around at the jobs in the area, all the money was either in the oil field or at the mines. And dad’s been in and out of the oilfield most of his career, at least since I’ve been out of the house, you know, and he kind of told us that it’s a good job, but it’s unpredictable.

And the mines – what we mine out here is Trona. And so it’s not like coal or even silver or some of the minerals that fluctuates in price a lot. There’s a pretty steady demand for our product. They’re pretty good jobs. And so, I applied; I had a good friend and neighbor that was working out there that put in a referral for me, and I ended up getting a job. At first, I was upstairs in what they call “site utility.” Basically, you’re just pushing a broom and cleaning up after everybody.

It was a good gig, but it wasn’t really what I wanted. And after two years of that, I had an opportunity to go underground into the mine and bid into a maintenance job. And kind of the premise of it was they were looking for guys with training or schooling, but there’s just a test, and if you can pass the test, then they work with you.

I was able to pass the maintenance test, and I’ve been doing that for almost three years now. And so, I’m underground in the maintenance department, and it’s a pretty good gig. I tease people at work all the time when they get whining that “None of us have ever been paid so much to do so little.”