A ghost common to many mines was that of the miner who had met death in a particular mine. The spirit of such a hapless man exhibited neurotic tendencies to repeat his tragic end ceaselessly-getting blown up or crushed once was hardly sufficient. Perhaps this was a warning to the living, or perhaps all his energy was caught in that last moment and had yet to dissipate. A miner killed in the Morning Star Mine near Leadville returned for many years in the struggle and precise location of his agonizing death until that portion of the shaft was sealed up. He may indulge in that exercise yet.

A less repetitious pair of miners, Sebastian Zang and William Vine, appeared after their deaths to save other miners from disaster. These two men drowned in the Bates Mine at Black Hawk on 7 August 1885 after an explosion filled the shaft they were in with water. While in spirit form they saved one miner from an explosion, another from a fall, and several at once from a cave-in, where the survivors claimed they witnessed Zang and Vine holding back the wall and roof of the tunnel until the miners could escape.

Creatures as unsubstantial as ghosts normally would not be expected to hold back tons of rock and dirt. Yet there were many instances in which the weight of a ghost was remarkably more than the air he was made of. Mr. Conice, a Central City miner in 1868, was working in the Saratoga Mine when some ethereal visitors dropped in on him. The first was an ordinary mining spook minus his head. The headless gentleman greeted Conice politely and with his permission introduced a spectral companion who was exceedingly fat. If he had been flesh and blood, according to Conice, he "could have easily taken the grand prize at a hog show." Conice returned pleasantries, inviting the spooks to share his lunch. Agreeing, the three started up the ladder. Why the ghosts did not simply float up the shaft, as was their wont, it a curiosity, unless the fat one feared he could not get airborne. When Conice was on the upper part of the ladder, the fat ghost hastily stepped on the same rung, breaking it and sending the miner to the bottom. Conice was recovered by fellow miners with a few of his bones broken, vowing he would never trust a fat ghost again.

Other miners not only trusted in their private specters but followed their instructions. J.C. Dunn and William Quinn, who discovered the Highland Mary in 1873 near Silverton, said they were directed to the spot by a benign spirit. Another miner, in the Osceola Mine at Ophir, insured his safety by faithfully obeying directions from the shade of his deceased grandmother.