| Argonaut Mine Jackson, Ca 1922 |
| 47 Down The 1922 Argonaut Mine Disaster By O. Henry Mace |
| 47 fallen miners |
| A fire discovered at midnight in the main shaft caused the death of 47 miners. The definite cause of the fire is unknown. Two causes were possible -- a short circuit in the 2,300-volt power line in the shaft and incendiarism. Another possible cause of the fire was that a cigarette or match might have been thrown in the hanging-wall sets of the shaft as the miners were being lowered. Rescue workers recovered 46 of the bodies; the forty-seventh was found a year later under fallen rock. |