Regulating DangerFrom the 1880s to the 1980s more than eight thousand workers died in the coal mines of the Rocky Mountain states. Sometimes they died by the dozens in fiery explosions, but more often they died alone, crushed by collapsing roofs or runaway mine cars. Many old timers in coal mining communities and even some historians have blamed the high fatality rate on ruthless coal barons exploiting miners in the single minded pursuit of profit. The coal industry