CROSBY — None of the seven survivors of the worst mining disaster in Minnesota’s history are alive today to tell the tale. But the scope of the 1924 tragedy in Crosby makes it hard to forget.
“He was working underground but something broke up above,” said Gloria Sabyan Perpich, whose father survived the Milford Mine collapse. “And he was a mechanic so he got called up to fix whatever broke, and he was upset because it was 20 below out.”
Perpich talked about the disaster at the 90th-anniversary remembrance event held in 2014. She explained how her dad lived while so many others perished underground.
“He wasn’t up an hour and the water came up,” Perpich said of the 200-foot Milford Mine, which had multiple levels but only one shaft leading to the surface.
About 15 minutes before the miners’ shift ended, water and mud flooded into the mine at such a rapid rate that all the levels, including the 200-foot deep shaft, were filled to within 15 feet of the surface in less than 20 minutes.
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“The first warning something was wrong was when the miners felt a sudden gust of warm wind. The gust of air was so strong it blew out the gas lamps on their hats or knocked their hats off altogether,” according to Crow Wing County officials.
Milford Mine Memorial Park honors the 48 miners working in the mine on Feb. 5, 1924 — most of whom died. The county park is located about 4 miles north of Crosby along Highway 6.
“On that fateful day, around 3:30 in the afternoon, a mine shaft collapsed allowing a flood of water and mud to fill an underground network of tunnels claiming the lives of 41 men,” according to a county description of the park.
Crosby Mayor Diane Cash said on Friday, Jan. 27, her family moved to the area in 1992.
“My children and I took tours at the Milford Mine in the’ 90s before it closed down,” Cash said.
The Minnesota Historical Society listed the Milford Mine Memorial Park in 2011 as a site on the National Register of Historic Places.
“I've talked with some original settler families’ members, and they talk about it a lot,” Crosby said of the Milford Mine tragedy. “But our population here, now, is aging enough where a lot of them that have family that was there is no longer around.”
Some of the descendants of the miners were present at the 2017 grand opening of the Milford Mine Memorial Park located at 26351 Milford Lake Drive.
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“Transforming this natural and man-made habitat into a recreation area to be enjoyed by area residents and visitors is a humble attempt to preserve the memory of those who gave their lives to pursue the American dream and provide for their families,” according to county officials.
The county board approved the memorial park concept in 2007. Phase 1 of the project was completed in 2010 and included an access road, a parking area and a walking path construction.
A sign was erected at the park entrance, a picnic shelter with three picnic tables and two cooking grills, a small lakeside picnic area, benches and a bike rack were built in 2012.
Construction work continued in 2016 at the memorial park located at 26351 Milford Lake Drive and included a boardwalk, trails, kiosk construction and interpretive displays.
Other plaques in the park include detailed information about the miners, such as their age, residency, whether they were married and more.
“More than 30 of the 41 miners who died were married, leaving 88 children fatherless,” according to county officials.
Final work in 2017 included a permanent outhouse, a covered shelter and a canoe landing.
FRANK LEE may be reached at 218-855-5863 or at frank.lee@brainerddispatch.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchFL .
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