Milford Mine Lake My Great Great Grandfather John Hedrickson died in this mine. His body wasn't recover till October of 1924.

On Feb. 5, 1924, boggy water from Foley Lake flooded the Milford Mine about two miles north of Crosby, killing 41 miners in Minnesota’s worst mining disaster. Only seven miners were able to climb to safety. First sunk in 1917, by 1924 the main shaft of the manganese mine was 200 feet deep. It was a prosperous mine for its owner, George H. Crosby. In 1924 alone, it shipped 70,000 tons of ore. It closed in 1932 with the decline of steel during the Depression.

"The Milford Mine's shaft was 200 feet deep with the first level at 135 feet. On that afternoon, men were working at the 165-foot to 175-foot level. Their first warning something was wrong was a sudden gust of warm wind. It was so strong it blew out the carbide gas lamps on their hats or knocked hats off altogether. The disaster fell upon them with incredible speed.

“Gusts of wind were followed by a liquid roaring sound. Men ran for their lives. Others were trapped in mud where they stood. Survivors recalled men who lost their lives when they went back to help others.

“The disaster is believed to have begun when a surface cave-in of six or eight feet at the mine's easternmost end tapped into mud with a direct connection with Foley Lake. The mine had a single vertical shaft to the surface. Seven men made it to the top with the water rising nearly as fast as they did.

“(F)amilies of the 41 men lost when the Milford Mine flooded did not have to wait for news of life or death. The mine shaft flooded to within 15 to 20 feet of the surface within minutes. Instead the wait was for the recovery of the dead. The last body was recovered nine months after the disaster.”