Lily White Mine Disaster. Located northeast of Baker City in the Wallowa Mountains, the Lily White Gold Mine is thought to be the source of unverified stories about as many as 100 or as few as 13, Chinese miners being trapped in the mine sometime between 1886 and 1889. Either through a cave-in or the mine owner dynamiting the entrance so he would not need to pay the Chinese, the ghosts of the miners are said to be seen singing and dancing above the mine entrance on moon-lit nights.

Lily White

VERSE 1

Folks here tell stories
About the old Lily White
About how the mine’s owner
Paid in dynamite

They say he blew up the mineshaft,
So his miners were trapped,
Then he covered the entrance,
And took off with the cash.

VERSE 2

Is it a rumor,
Or is it the truth?
Is it a mystery,
Awaiting a sleuth?

Nobody knows just how many,
Nor knows ‘xactly where.
No one’s sure when it happened,
Or if you’re still there.

CHORUS 1

They say it’s blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When the tunnels are blocked,nd you’re running out of time.
I hear it’s blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When you’ve gone down that mineshaft,
For the very last time.

VERSE 3

Was it a cave in,
Or was it a crime?
Was it an accident,
Or just killin’ time?

Is there anyone down there?
Can I hear your ghosts scream?
Did you die in a nightmare,
For his American dream?

CHORUS 2

I guess it’s blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When you’re deep underground
And you’re gasping for air
I’d guess it’s blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When you’re you’re buried alive
And nobody cares.

BRIDGE

Are you ghost dancing by moonlight
Above the entrance at night?
Do you sing through the witching hour
To the first morning light?

CHORUS 3

Is it blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When you’ve seen the dear sun,
For the very last time?
Is it blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When the lantern burns out,
And your friends are all dying’?

VERSE 4

How many souls trapped,
Where there’s gold but no air?
How long have you waited,
In that deep mountain lair?

Can you still smell
That acrid dynamite?
And are you still dancing
In the silver moonlight?

CHORUS 4

Was it blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When the tunnels were all closed,
And you’d run out of time?
Was it blacker than midnight in the Lily White mine,
When you’ve gone down that mineshaft,
For the very last time.