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Oliver Mining Company
Pabst Mine "H" Shaft Rescue

Ironwood, Gogebic County, Michigan
September 24, 1926
No. Killed - 3

More Double and Triple Fatality Mining Accidents  PDF Format
Note: The MSHA Fatality Archive Database indicates 1 fatality at the Pabst shaft on the above date, attributing the death to a roof fall.  This is in contradiction to the text of the memorial's inscription.  No further information was available.
In the News
  • The Herald Press, Sept. 30, 1926
  • The Journal, June 23, 1927
Pabst Mine Shaft Rescue
Location: 46° 27.366′ N, 90° 8.201′ W.
Marker is in Ironwood, Michigan, in Gogebic County.  Marker is on Bonnie Street, ¼ mile south of E. Ayer Street.  Marker is in this post office area: Ironwood MI 49938
Photographed by Paul Fehrenbach
Source: The Historical Marker Database  External Link
See more mine disaster markers, memorials, and monuments.
Memorial Inscription:
On Friday, September 24th, 1926, a disaster occurred at the Pabst Mine, "G" Shaft, located approximately 300 yards southwest of this spot, collapsed.  3 men riding in the cage freefell 2,600 feet.  43 men were trapped on the 8th level, 727 feet below the surface.  Five days later, 7,000 people were gathered here to watch the rescue of all 43 men from the "Worst mine disaster of the century."


Successful Rescue

43 miners were rescued after nearly — 6 days — of imprisonment more than 700 feet underground in the G. Pabst iron mine near Ironwood, Michigan.   The hero of the disaster was Captain Thomas Trewartha, their 67-year-old mine boss who displayed courage and kept the men cheerful throughout their ordeal.   On June 23, 1927, Thomas Trewartha was given the Joseph A. Holmes medal for heroism at the banquet of the Lake Superior Mining section of the National Safety council.




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