This day in history: Foley called for reopening of Millwood Post Office. 2 miners were trapped in Mullan

Tue., March 17, 2026

Two miners, Clarence McMurray and Dan Knuppenberg, were trapped by a cave-in on the 1800-foot level of the Morning Mine in Mullan, Idaho, but crews were in contact with them and they were said to be in good condition, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported on March 17, 1926. The newspaper also reported that Civil War veteran E.G. Faires who lived in a veterans home in Kitsap County was planning to marry his sweetheart from before the war Sarah E. Funk. The two were separated by the war and started families with different people. But they had both lost their spouses and planned to marry in Coeur d’Alene. (Spokesman-Review archives)

By Jim Kershner The Spokesman-Review

From 1976: The Millwood post office was abruptly closed by the federal government and U.S. Rep. Tom Foley was hopping mad.

“The abrupt decision to close the post office was made public only at the very last minute despite petitions signed by more than 600 residents urging that it be kept open.” said Foley.

He urged the U.S. postmaster general to reconsider the decision. Foley was joined by the state’s two senators, Scoop Jackson and Warren Magnuson in his request.

Foley called the closure a “false economy,” and said post offices in small communities such as Millwood help “preserve the identity of the community.”

A Postal Service spokesman said if they reopened the Millwood post office, they would be forced to close a post office in another area.

From 1926: Rescuers were optimistic that they would soon be able to dig their way to two miners, Clarence McMurray and Dan Knuppenberg, who were trapped by a cave-in on the 1800-foot level of the Morning Mine in Mullan, Idaho.

They were re-timbering a section of the mine shaft when “the walls collapsed” and the “ground gave way.”

They jumped back and “escaped the falling ground” but were penned in, away from the other workers.

“The rescuers are in constant communication with the entrapped miners, who are apparently not suffering,” said the Spokane Chronicle. “They have plenty of air and have the freedom of a large tunnel.”