On Friday, November 9, 1888, 164 men and boys went to work at Frontenac Mine No. 2 of the Cherokee and Pittsburg Coal and Mining Company. All the men were probably looking forward to a peaceful week-end, away from the toils of their work.
At that time it was the custom for the miners to fire their own explosives. It was close to quitting time when seventeen-year-old James Wilson drilled and placed …