Milan Miller

Lyrics

That morning started out like any other
In the houses of that West Nevada town
Fathers left their children clinging to their mothers
And went off to dig silver from the ground
In a line with picks and shovels- they got there on the double
Little did they know what was waiting down below

Fire filled up the shaft- falling timbers all around
A pit of poison gas eight hundred feet below the ground
When the smoke cleared on that April day in 1869
Forty-five men never got out of the Yellow Jacket Mine

By the time the miners saw what was happening
The flames were raging out of control
In every corner that they turned they were boxed in
And the air was thick and black as burning coal
Every minute took it’s toll- down in that deep, dark hole
It was hurry up and wait- on the hands of fate

Fire filled up the shaft- falling timbers all around
A pit of poison gas eight hundred feet below the ground
When the smoke cleared on that April day in 1869
Forty-five men never got out of the Yellow Jacket Mine

(Milan Miller)