Jim Larrigan, former rope rider

Jim Larrigan, former rope rider, holds a plaque showing hoist signals used at the Northwestern Improvement Company No. 9 Mine in Roslyn, Washington. Rope riders worked in the coal mines at Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ronald, Washington. They did the most dangerous work in the mines, balancing precariously on the hitches between coal cars as they wound through darkened tunnels. When the cars were full, the rope rider would signal that it was time to return to the surface. All the while he would balance himself between the two cars, each carrying a ton and a half of coal when full.https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/suncadia_photographs/1196/thumbnail.jp