Missouri, Kansas & Texas Coal Company No. 19 Mine Explosion
Degnan, Latimer County, Oklahoma
August 21, 1920
No. Killed - 10
Rescuers Work Hard in Wilburton Mine to Save Trapped Miners, Ten Killed
Muskogee Times Democrat, Oklahoma
August 23, 1920
Wilburton, Okla., Aug. 23. -- The last of the ten men who were killed in an explosion in the Degnan-McConnel Mine No. 19 at Degnan, three miles west of here Saturday afternoon, was removed late yesterday afternoon. The explosion is believed to have occurred when fans in Mine Shaft 4-E ceased to work. Volunteer rescuers worked throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning in an attempt to reach the entombed men, hoping to bring the victims out alive.
A complete list of the dead:
Clarence Williams
A. Sullivan
Sam Pagleri
Bill Lenore
John Fifer
Lasson Robinson
Ralph Dissolvo
Robert Dissolvo
Jim Lenore
Paul Chakat
The explosion is said to be the largest in the history of the district, and in one of the oldest mines of the field. The explosion tore a great avalanche of dirt and rock from the roof and walls of the shaft, blocking it completely and making rescue work much slower. From the location of the body of Lasson Robinson, a driver in the shaft, it appeared that he had gotten but half way down the shaft to warn the men of the idle fans, when the explosion came.
