Colorado History — Buried Alive: James Stevens survives mine collapse to continuing doing what he loved

For 12 days and 10 hours, James Stevens was trapped underground. The story of this Nevadaville miner’s ordeal is remarkable. In 1897, Stevens was working as a miner in the rich gold mines surrounding Nevadaville, which is literally “up the Gulch” from Central City. Like its more famous neighbor, Nevadaville was founded in June 1859 and the richness of its mines had been established over the decades.

Nevadaville was a settled community where a miner could make a good living. But miners always kept an ear open for rumors of new, possibly bigger discoveries, and when rumors arrived that a major new gold find in Arizona was paying good wages, Stevens “took off” for the Mammoth mine in the new gold town of Goldfield. The cautious miner did, however, leave his family behind in Nevadaville, knowing he could always return home and find work if the rumors were exaggerated. He wasn’t in Arizona long enough to judge the truth of the rumor.

The Central City Register Call featured Stevens’s experience in the Mammoth mine in Gold Fields, now called Goldfield, on the front-page when it happened in 1897, but some crucial details weren’t published. The story didn’t say what caused the cave-in or how much of the mine collapsed. Mine collapses were not uncommon and the local press apparently knew that no background information was necessary for Gilpin County miners to understand the situation. In most mine collapses, miners were either killed instantly or seriously injured by falling rock and debris; if they did survive the cave-in, they died for lack of fresh air. Stevens, against long odds, not only lived through the accident and his prolonged burial, but also recovered his health.

The Register Call reported that Stevens lost 70 pounds during his nearly 13 days underground, dropping from 160 pounds to 90 pounds. Miners in the 19th century took their own lunch and water into their work area underground, and Steven’s water and food only lasted until his second day underground. The last 11 days of his “solitary confinement,” he survived without either. During the final hours before the rescuers reached him, they reported hearing Stevens tapping, and when they actually dug through the debris to his “tomb,” they were surprised to see that he had enough strength to dig several feet toward them. He obviously stayed mentally alert and aided his rescuers all he could.

When Stevens was finally reached, it was 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and to avoid damage to his eyes, which had been in blackness for 13 days, he was left in the mine until dark that evening. Fellow miners took turns staying with him for companionship and giving him sips of water. Reports in the press stated his family had been “bearing up bravely.” When he was finally located in the mine, a telegram was sent to Nevadaville proclaiming – “Reached Stevens this morning. Have strong hopes of pulling him through.”

Nevadaville is the town James Stevens left to go try and collect better wages in the mines of Gold Fields. The Arizona mine collapsed and left Stevens buried alive for nearly 13 days underground.

When his family heard the welcome news, the paper joyously wrote, “Little wonder that many tears of joy were shed in that, their hour of gladness.” Naturally Stevens was very weak and dehydrated at the time of his rescue, but he was rational and calm. Somehow in the absolute darkness he had tracked the days and knew that it was a Saturday.

In the first three days after his rescue, Stevens gained a phenomenal 15 pounds, probably from fluid replacement. Within two weeks, he was strong enough to travel home, and he received a triumphant welcome back to the Little Kingdom of Gilpin. Several hundred friends met his train at Black Hawk. An impressive parade of carriages, horseback-riders and walkers trailed behind both Nevadaville bands escorting him home. From Black Hawk to Nevadaville is a steep 2-mile walk uphill with an elevation gain of 1,000 feet. Although the paper didn’t say, surely his friends saved a carriage for the weakened miner to ride.

Central City’s streets were also crowded with people eager to see the Stevens. Every whistle in Nevadaville’s numerous mines tooted a welcome as the procession neared the town and throughout the evening the bands played and Nevadaville celebrated the return of her now-famous son.

Stevens gained almost all his lost weight back within three weeks. Those who knew him asserted they never doubted his recovery because of his remarkable self-control. When he was first reached, the doctor handed him a pitcher of water and advised him to only take a few swallows, and despite not having anything to drink for 11 days, Stevens obediently drank only a couple of swallows and handed back the pitcher. The doctor later declared that he knew at the instant the pitcher was handed back, this miner would recover.

Stevens never suffered any repercussions, such as dreams or a fear of entering a mine, from his experience. He began mining again – in Colorado, never again in Arizona – as soon as he gained his strength and several descendants of his continue to live in the metro area.