On the clear, brisk morning of Saturday, March 8, 1924, 171 men reported for work in the Number 2 mine of the Utah Fuel Company in Castle Gate, Utah. Shortly after they began their shift the mine was rocked by two separate, violent explosions. None of the miners survived, and one rescue worker, who apparently removed the nose clip of his gas mask, was killed by inhaling the deadly afterdamp. It took a week to recover all of the bodies.1

As the week wore on company officials went into action to provide for the families of those killed. In 1917 the Utah State Legislature had passed a workmen's compensation law and set up a state insurance fund. The Utah Fuel Company, self-insured, provided $150 in funeral expenses for each miner and $16 a week for nearly six years, totaling almost $5,000 in compensation for each claimant. In addition, Gov....

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