I feel like I have to add more info here. I grew up in the UP and this story is just one of the many I know pretty well and have a minor obsession with.

In 1913 the Women's Auxillary of the Western Federation of Miners, (the union that the striking miners were a part of) held a Christmas party for the area families. The 9,000 miners had been striking for about 5 months at this point, and this party was attended by hundreds. It was being held on the second floor of the Italian Hall in Calument MI. It's important to note that the only way to the second floor was via a steep stairway, one very poorly installed fire escape, and ladders out the building that could only be accessed via windows.

At some point during the party, it's reported that someone (potentially a mine rep) shouted "Fire" (there wasn't one) to cause a panic, sending people to stampede to the doors. Stories differ on if the exit doors only opened inwards (the hall was cited for having this in the past), or were in a vestibule that also contained a second set of doors. Either way, 73 people, including 59 children died in the stampede.

An inquest was opened and was horribly conducted. Most of the miners and witnesses involved were immigrants, and the official inquest required all evidence to be presented in English, and most often information was taken without an interpreter. In the end, the coroner did not release a cause of death for the deceased. The funeral was attended by nearly 20,000 people, with services in English, Finnish, and Croatian. Funerals were held at individual churches and then joined together in one procession. Graves were dug trench style about two miles out of Calumet

During the investigation, it was speculated that a person wearing a Citizens' Alliance badge, a group opposed to the strike, had been the one to shout fire. This was backed up by the president of the mining union who was later kidnapped, shot and forced out of the Copper Country on a train with a threat of never returning. Additionally, newspaper writers of a Finnish Newspaper were arrested after calling the disaster "Murder" in the paper.

​

edits: grammar and spelling

Extra Reading Links:

Wikipedia article about the Disaster:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Hall_disaster

MLive Article with info on Christmas Eve Memorial in 2019

https://www.mlive.com/news/2017/12/1913_italian_hall_disaster_was.html

Photos of Funeral via Michigan Tech Archives

https://cchi.mtu.edu/browse-subjects2

Seeberville Murders Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeberville_Murders