Markley Shovel dedicated at Big Brutus site

Big Brutus, the retired 16 story electric coal shovel near West Mineral Kansas has a new attraction. The Markley Shovel was designed and built in the early 1900s by local resident Perry Markley and his family, using junk parts.

The boom or “stick” was so efficient it was used as a prototype.

“Bucyrus Erie came down to draw this all up with their engineers,” says Jimmy Lovell, a retired miner and board member at Big Brutus.

“This is why Big Brutus has the stick on it that it has today – because of that little shovel.”

Bucyrus Erie, founded in the early 1880s, was an early producer of steam shovels, including those that helped dig the Panama Canal. It continues to exist today as Bucyrus International, Inc., a division of the Caterpillar corporation.

Lovell explains that the Markley shovel essentially was left in its original site for decades for being rescued and brought to the site in West Mineral for display.

The Markley Shovel was featured in Mechanics Illustrated in 1930.

It was dedicated Saturday and now is on display at the Big Brutus museum site.