Elton G Cooley

Died Feb 1917 in Hailey, Blaine, Idaho, United States

Biography

IDAHO SNOWSLIDE KILLED 15 MINERS

SLEEPING VICTIMS BURIED IN RUINS OF BUNKHOUSE AT NORTH STAR MINE.

OVER 16 INJURED SERIOUSLY

Disaster at Mine 12 Miles Northeast of Hailey-Rescuers Face Peril-Danger of Another Sliwe [sic], Workers Are Recalled.

Boise, Idaho.-Fifteen men were killed and 15 injured when a giant snowslide destroyed the bunkhouse, compressor houes [sic] and warehouse of the North Star mine, 12 miles northeast of Hailey, Idaho, at 3:30 o'clock Sunday morning.

The Dead.

Bodies of these men have been taken from the debris:

JOHN FLEMING, ELTON G. COOLEY, JACK VAUGHN, JAMES PETERLINE, PHIL WELCH, JOHN PURNELL, FRANK P. MANGINGO, ROY JUDD, SAM LABARGE.

The following six men are missing and all are believed to be buried beneath the slide:

Missing.

JOHN KISTLE, JOHN HEARN, JACK MCKELVEY, EMMETT P. RUSSELL, W. R. MOTLEY, W.S. SCHMIDT.

Injured.

On the list of those injured is TOM JAY, mine superintendent; A. E. WOOD is in a precarious condition, with his back broken and hip fractured. Otherwise on the injured list are:

GEORGE LEE, JACK LINDSEY, L. O. BEESON, BERT JUDD, E. C. JONES, J. R. CARTER and PETE PETERSON.

Immediately upon receiving news of the disaster a special train conveying physicians and rescue workers was run from Hailey to Gimlet, from where the party was obliged to travel six miles to the mine in sleighs.

It is reported that three of this number are dangerously injured. The bodies of the dead were left at the mine temporarily.

The disaster is the worst in the history of Wood River mining. Of the men killed FLEMING, LABARGE and RUSSELL leave families living at Hailey. VAUGHN, KISTLE, MCKELVEY, WELCH and ECHMIDT are Hailey men. MANGINGO was timekeeper at the mine.

Slides Numerous.

A fall of two and one-half feet of snow during the previous three days, followed by rain, has resulted in numerous slides in the North Star district, many in places where they never were known to occur before.

At the time of the accident the Federal Mining and Smelting company had 60 men employed at the mine and 115 at work at the mill two miles below. The officials have announced that because of dangerous conditions prevailing they will close the mine for the remainder of the winter.

The Genesee News, Genesee, ID 2 Mar 1917

Sources