| abstract | - The Lucky Buckle Mine was former mine located near Idaho Springs, Colorado. It was run by corrupt Warden Hiram Brewster and former prison guards from a facility near Canon City. The Lucky Buckle Mine, which is positioned deep into a mountainside, was originally a gold mine constructed in the early 1930s, the mine had at least five tunnels and an elevator. Most of the mine had a fairly reliable source of electricity which was generated by a Cummins V12 diesel generator positioned near the entrance to the cave. When the fall of Colorado looked inevitable, all prison personnel were evacuated to The Lucky Buckle Mine, where the convicts, who were all female, were forced to mine for gold under Warden Hiram Brewster and the correctional officers, were renamed Bosses and had to keep order over the convicts mining gold in tunnels. The Warden and his bodyguards sexually abused the women and forced them to work long hours mining gold. In May 1953, Tunnel Three's entrance collapsed but Warden Brewster left all trapped to starve to death because he did not want to waste time or energy in repairing the elevator which would have rescued them all. On September 26th, 1953 Colorado State inmate 26301, known personally as Susan Farley, escaped the mine killing Warden Brewster and his two bodyguards Pete Pardo and Tom Olsen in the process.
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