In the early morning hours of June 27, 1929, a truck with danger signs tacked all over it slowly wound its way through the city of Auburn. The truck was owned by the Bigge Drayage Company based in Oakland and was driven by Roland Case.
The prior evening, the truck was loaded at the Trojan Powder Works in San Lorenzo with black powder and dynamite. The explosives were bound for Cisco where they would be used in a construction project. At stops in Colfax and Gold Run, Case was reportedly advised to repack the load as it was obvious it had shifted during transport. He declined to do so.
At around 1 p.m., nearly two miles east of Baxter’s Camp, the black powder in the truck exploded - instantly killing Roland Case. The explosion also took out the transcontinental phone lines and started a small forest fire, which was later extinguished. The boxes of dynamite, which did not explode, were thrown as far as 100 feet from the truck.
It was a tragic, devastating day for Roland Case and his family, but it would have been even more tragic and devastating had the black powder exploded in the middle of any of the towns and communities it was transported through.
Image: June 28, 1929, article from The Sacramento Bee
|
