 Two large mines, the Gem mine and the Frisco mine in Burke Canyon south of Burke, operated with replacement workers during the strike.Several lost their lives in a shooting war provoked by the discovery of a company spy named Charles A. Siringo.On the morning of July 11, 1892, gunfight at the nearby Frisco Mill inadvertently ignited a box of dynamite, causing the mill to explode, killing six people.