Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Aug. 27, 2024.

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.

Mining disasters and rescues were an unfortunate part of the 1900s, on both the national and local level.

August 1963 was just such a period.

For a couple of weeks, Deseret News had accounts of a group of miners trapped in a mine in Sheppton, Pennsylvania. It was notable because it was one of the first rescues of trapped miners accomplished by raising them through holes bored through solid rock.

The coal mine had collapsed on Aug. 13 with three miners trapped 300 feet underground. The rescue work, aided in part by assistance from billionaire Howard Hughes, resulted in the successful return of two of the men.

But on the same day the men we

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