John Featherstone was one of the crew blasting in the mine in mid-July 1902. It only took a second for the misstep to take the lives of the five men and a boy in the Utah mine that day. The concussion killed the men instantly. The poor powder boy basically ceased to exist as his body was torn to shreds.
John Featherstone’s body was shipped home to Salt Lake City for burial. John McAnliffe to his father in Fargo, South Dakota. John Burgy and William Simms to their families in Heber City, Utah. Peter Horan’s body had the farthest to travel to Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The scene was was repeated over and over during the centuries as men died in the extremely dangerous occupation of mining. The family history of almost all families who lived in mining country have at least one entry of an early death in a mining accident.
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