Almost Buried Alive –

 Darius Preston was the first City Attorney for Minot. When he passed away he was buried at the same site Shang Foster had been buried. On the way to the burial with Preston’s body the pall bearers stopped at Jack Doyle’s Saloon for several rounds of drinks. When they arrived at the gravesite and started lowering the coffin into the grave, one end caught on the earth wall and the other end dropped down causing the coffin to rest in a tilted position. John Powers, a rancher and one of the pall bearers, went into the grave to level the coffin as he was the tallest and the strongest. He became trapped in the grave as his feet were wedged between the coffin and the wall of the grave. Apparently his fellow pall bearers did not realize this and started filling in the grave. Unable to free himself Powers began calling for help. His cries were heard by Judge William Murray and a furniture dealer John McJannet. They rushed to the grave to find Powers buried almost to his shoulders. They helped extricate him from the grave.