From the November 4, 1896 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Colorado–Among the rich mines of Leadville is one called Dead Man’s claim. It seemed a certain popular miner had died, and his friends, having decided to give him a good send off, hired a man for $20 to act as a sexton. It was in the midst of winter; there were ten feet of snow on the ground and the grave had to go six feet below that. The grave digger sallied forth into the snow, depositing the corpse for safe keeping in a drift, and for three days nothing was heard from him. A delegation sent to find  the fellow discovered him digging away with all his might, but found also the intended grave converted into an entrance of a shaft. Striking the earth it seems that he found pay rock worth $60 a ton. The delegation at once staked out claims adjoining his and the deceased was forgotten. Later in the season, the snow having melted, his body was found and given an ordinary burial in another part of the camp.”