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Shakespeare Placer Gold Mine Cave-in

Dome Creek, Alaska
September 28, 1911
No. Killed - 0



Successful Rescue

The fourteen miners entombed in the Shakespeare Placer gold mine cave-in at Dome Creek, Alaska were freed after 84 hours.  The Keystone drill hole was enlarged by thawing until it was large enough to permit the body of a man to pass.  Then the imprisoned miners were pulled up one after another 174 feet to the surface.

Those rescued included Edward Carlson, John Smith, Oscar Burg, Peter Peterson, Frank Albani, Robert Forasino, George Sakoff, Taze Gabeso, Antone Mareno, Kabof Sakkoboff, Nik Moreff, Zip Moreff, Michael Morzof, and George Zakaloff.


From the Google News Archives:  External Link
(news links open in a separate window) NIOSH Article: How OMSHR Corrected a Century-old Error  External Link


Editor's Note:  According to news articles above, these miners were pulled up from the mine, one after another, through a drilled borehole, 173 feet deep.  This contradicts claims made on page 3 in this Historical Summary of MEO PDF Format which states the following about the Sheppton Mine Rescue of August 28, 1963:
... At this point, a very significant event in the development of surface mine rescue techniques will be discussed.  The date is August 13, 1963, and the place is Oneida No. 2 Slope Coal Mine, Fellin Mining Company, Oneida, Pennsylvania.  At about 8:50 a.m. on Tuesday, the supporting pillar on the east side of the slope collapsed without warning.  Loose coal, rock, and timbers tumbled down and blocked the slope area entombing three workmen.

The following is a sequential outline of events effectively leading to the rescue of two of the three trapped miners.  Historically, this procedure is the first recorded event of a miner being located and rescued through a borehole in the United States.




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