USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 26
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Memorials were addressed to Congress asking for the improvement of the Columbia and Snake rivers; for the adoption of a constitutional amendment providing for the election of United States senators by the direct vote of the people; and for the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold at the ratio of sixteen to one. The president was asked to issue an executive order throwing part of the Priest River forest reserve open to settlement, and the Idaho
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senators and representative in Congress were instructed to vote for the free homestead act then pending.
LABOR TROUBLES IN IDAHO
The labor troubles in the Coeur d'Alenes commenced shortly after the ad- journment of the fifth session of the State Legislature, and before considering this important subject, it will be proper to review former labor troubles in Idaho.
The men who came into Idaho in the early days to seek their fortunes in the mining regions were a mixed class so far as their prior occupations were concerned. Men in all stations of life, who had been engaged in all kinds of business were equally attracted by the glowing accounts of fortunes easily made in the new mining section and made themselves a part of the thousands who were seeking fortunes there. Outside of the few business men in the towns, the saloon keepers and the gamblers, who comprised a considerable portion of the permanent residents, and the few who were engaged in running saw- mills and an occasional professional man, the rest were practically all engaged in mining. Hard work was expected of all who would achieve success and it was not unusual to find the hardy frontiersmen, who had spent his life in the far West, the laboring man who had come to seek his fortune, and the pro- fessional man who for the time being had abandoned his own vocation to give his time to the present employment of mining, all engaged in the same work. There were men who could recall a quotation from Euripides from the original Greek and men who could solve a problem in higher mathematics without reference to a text book, who actively engaged in the most laborious pursuits.
While the majority of the men in the early days were claim owners and worked on their own account, others who had not been so fortunate tempora- rily found employment with those who had been more successful. There was no need of binding themselves together for mutual protection so far as such men were concerned and labor unions of any kind were unknown.
As the country became settled up and conditions more closely adapted to those prevailing in other sections and many men sought employment in the mines as wage earners, naturally in the great mining sections such men felt the need of protection by associating themselves together, and soon after Butte, in Montana attained prominence as a mining center, a miners' union was formed for mutual protection and assistance. This union was a mere local affair, but when the mines in the Wood River section came into prominence many men from the Butte section came into that part of Idaho seeking employment, and naturally remembering the old society, unions were soon formed in several parts of the Wood River section. While these unions were not connected with the parent organization, and were not bound together for common action. still there was a bond of sympathy between them and they generally acted unitedly.
FIRST MINERS' UNION DIFFICULTIES
A dispute about wages arose in 1884 between mine owners and the miners in the little mining camp of Broadford across the Wood River from Bellevue, where several mines were being worked upon a large scale. The free relations
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between the mine owners and the miners soon became severed on account of this dispute, neither side being willing to make concessions. The other miners' unions, especially the one in Bullion, which was then the great mining center of that section, took up the Broadford fight as a matter of sentiment and this culminated in the members of the several unions concertedly acting and marching to Broadford in May of that year with the avowed intention of taking possession of the mining properties, whose owners had refused to employ their men at the demanded wage rate. These men came into the little town of Broadford early in the morning and in conjunction with the miners' union of that place took possession of the town and its affairs, closed all the saloons and met to- gether in the miners' union hall and were soon armed with what were then modern rifles, that had been stored in the miners' union hall in that place, and forming themselves into a line, several hundred of them with one of their stoutest members in the lead carrying the American flag, prepared to take possession of the Queen of the Hills Mines, whose work tunnel was directly above the town.
The mining companies had prepared for such an emergency and had engaged about forty determined men under the leadership of the old pioneer and Indian fighter, Ralph Bledsoe, who was then a citizen of the Wood River country, and had erected a rude fortification upon the dump of the Queen of the Hills mine and were prepared to meet the onslaught of the union men. Charles H. Fury was then sheriff of Alturas County, which then included the Wood River country, and M. Ruick of the firm of Hawley & Ruick was prosecuting attorney. Mr. Ruick was then in the East and Mr. Hawley, acting as his deputy, proceeded with the sheriff as soon as they learned of the contemplated movement and reached Broadford, as the miners were forming into line in front of the miners' union hall. A table had been set up there from which addresses were being made by prominent union men while the miners formed in line. Sheriff Fury was not permitted by the crowd to go farther than its outskirts, but Mr. Hawley forced his way in and took possession of the table and regardless of threats made began to address the crowd before him. A diversion was created through this, which finally resulted in a conference between the mine owners and the miners, at which a conclusion was reached and so ended the first labor trouble in Idaho.
COEUR D'ALENE LABOR TROUBLES IN 1892
Upon the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River shortly after the discovery of gold upon the North Fork, discoveries were made showing a rich silver and lead section, and soon important mining camps were established at various places in that section, Burke, Gem, Mullan, Wallace and Wardner all became thriving towns, each being the center of a mining section. Not far from the Montana line, it followed as a matter of course, that many of those who had labored in the mines of Butte found their way into this section and it was equally natural that miners' unions would be formed patterned upon the model of the Butte union. Although that union had no jurisdiction in the matter, it extended help to the infant unions in the Coeur d'Alenes.
In 1892 troubles arose in the mining town of Gem, a few miles above Wallace, where several mines employing a great many men were located. A disagreement
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arose over wages and culminated in the mines being shut down and harsh feelings were entertained by the two warring classes. Naturally the other mining camps were affected to a great extent by reason of this trouble. The mining companies brought in a large number of men to act as guards for their mines and mills, and this was very distasteful to the miners. The troubles continued for several weeks and finally culminated early in July, 1892 in a pitched battle between miners who were posted at various places in the surround- ing hills, part being in the town of Gem, and the guards at the Gem and Frisco mills, in which six men were killed and a number of others badly wounded. The guards were defeated and surrendered and the trouble in Gem ended in a victory for the miners.
The mill of Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company was situated near the town of Kellogg and harsh feelings having been developed between that company and a part of the miners of that vicinity, a portion of the miners, who were armed, finally took possession of the mill and retained it for a number of days. In the meantime the state authorities became informed of the trouble and appeals were also made to the United States authorities for assistance and martial law was declared in that district; both the state militia and United States troops were sent there. A large number of miners and their friends were arrested and a Bull Pen for their confinement was instituted near Wallace and legal proceedings at once began.
In May 1892 an injunction had been issued in a suit commenced in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Idaho by the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Company against the Miners' Union of Wardner forbidding such union and its members from interfering in any way with said mining company or its employes in its work upon its mining claims and at its mills. After the mill of the company had been taken possession of, warrants were issued from the United States Court charging twenty of the leading miners' union men of the Coeur d'Alenes with contempt of court and these men were arrested and brought to Boise City and a hearing was had before Judge Beatty, who found them guilty and gave them all jail sentences.
A special term of court was called by Judge Beatty to be held at Coeur d'Alene City, commencing early in September, 1892 for the purpose of inquiring into the United States offenses charged to have been committed during the progress of the troubles in the Coeur d'Alene mining section and a grand jury was ordered to be drawn to conduct the investigation and bring indictments against those whom they found guilty. The term of court was commenced at the appointed time and a grand jury was impaneled, witnesses were examined and in a few days indictments were brought against some twenty of the prominent members of the miners' unions in the Coeur d'Alene mining section charging these persons jointly with the crime of conspiracy to intimidate the officers and agents of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining Company and endeavoring by force and threats to cause said officers and agents of said company to dismiss from its employ all persons working in the mines of the company, who were not members of the miners' union.
The parties indicted had been arrested before the term of court began and a trial was immediately agreed upon. United States Attorney Wood conducted the prosecution, and W. B. Heyburn, afterward United States senator and
FRISCO MILL, WALLACE, AFTER THE EXPLOSION, JULY 11, 1892
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Albert Haga, long a prominent lawyer of the coast, were both employed by parties interested to assist in the prosecution of the case. Patrick Reddy of San Francisco, who for a long time had been one of the noted criminal lawyers of the Pacific Coast and James H. Hawley of Boise were employed by the unions to conduct the defense. These gentlemen had already appeared at the trial of the charges of conspiracy before Judge Beatty in Boise City. The trial that followed consumed several weeks of time and attracted a great deal of attention and finally resulted in the conviction of four of the parties charged ; one of these, George A. Pettibone, being one of the parties charged in 1906 with being an accessory before the fact to the murder of Ex-Governor Steunen- berg. A writ of error was immediately taken to the Supreme Court of the United States based upon the insufficiency of the indictment against those convicted to sustain a conviction. The cause was heard in that tribunal upon February 1, 1893 and decided early in March, in favor of the appellant, and the defendants, each of whom had been sentenced to the penitentiary and were doing time, were discharged from custody by reason of this decision, which seriously affected the legality of the conviction of the parties referred to upon charges of con- tempt of court. Judge Beatty immediately ordered such parties who were still in custody to be discharged. So far as the United States Courts were concerned, this ended all proceedings in connection with these troubles.
In the meantime a term of court for the first District of the State of Idaho was held at Murray, then the county seat of Shoshone County and an investiga- tion was had of the troubles at Gem and Wardner and about one hundred and forty indictments were found against members of the union, charging each of them with murder growing out of the killing of certain guards, who were in the fight at Gem. Of the six killed during that fight, three were guards and three belonged to the union. A large number of those indicted were already in custody and most of the others were soon arrested. Messrs. Reddy and Hawley were retained in the state courts as they had been to defend the unions before the United States Court, and a change of venue was secured to Kootenai County, which was then also a part of the First Judicial District.
The prosecution selected Webb Leasure, a well known citizen of Mullan, who had been at Gem during the trouble, as the first man to be tried upon the charge of murder and the cause was set for trial to begin early in November, 1892. Both sides began to actively prepare for the trial, it being tacitly under- stood that this was a test case, upon which the fate of the cases against the others would to a great extent depend. Charles O'Neill, district attorney for Shoshone County was assisted at the trial by future Senator Heyburn and Messers. Reddy and Hawley acted for the defendants. The trial attracted wide attention and was a cause celebre for many years and resulted in a verdict in favor of the defendants. At a subsequent term held at Murray, the county seat of Shoshone County, during the succeeding Winter all of the indictments found in connection with the troubles were dismissed and thus ended the first great labor trouble in the famous Coeur d'Alene mining section.
FORMATION OF THE WESTERN FEDERATION OF MINERS
As before stated the first miners' union organized was in Butte. The next to be organized were the several miners' unions in the Coeur d'Alene mining
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section in Shoshone County. Organizations of a similar kind were made in several other mining camps but there was no concerted action between these isolated unions and nothing but their common interest in mining matters that in any wise bound them together. It soon became apparent to those interested in the matter, that in order to make these miners' unions effective there should be a parent organization that would exercise control in many matters over the subordinate bodies.
The vast majority of the miners, who had joined the unions prior to 1892 in the Coeur d'Alenes were men of good reputation and worthy citizens of that section; Men who would maintain their rights at any risk, but who desired to respect the rights of others. It was believed by these men that the organiza- tion of a Supreme Council would not only assist its members, who would undoubt- edly comprise a large majority of the men in the mining section actually engaged in mining, but would equally be a protection to the mining industry and give an opportunity for settlement of mooted questions, relating to labor and other matters of joint interest between mine owners and their employes. Delegates from the various unions met together and the Western Federation of Miners was formed and given supreme authority over all of the miners' unions already in existence and those who would afterwards be chartered by the federation. In every lode mining section of the United States the union soon obtained great strength and the majority of the miners everywhere became members. For a time it seemed that the Western Federation of Miners would attain the objects sought by its founders, but the control of it to a certain extent soon passed into different hands from those originally in authority and the subordinate unions in many places became tyrannical in the exercise of authority and lost the respect and confidence of most of the citizens outside of those composing their own membership. In the Coeur d'Alene section during the last few years of the Nineteenth Century, many crimes were committed by members of the unions and were in some cases apparently backed up by a majority of their membership and by the authority of their officers. Instead of being an agency through which good will would be maintained and disputes with the owners of the mines amicably arranged, these associations became involved in continuous and un- necessary trouble with many of the large mining companies operating in the district. Undoubtedly both sides were to blame to a certain extent; equally certain was it that neither side seemingly desired to settle the troubles that had been brewing since 1892 and were liable to culminate in an outbreak at any time.
The majority of the unions were composed of men with families, who were reputable citizens, and who being engaged in a prosperous employment were building the foundation for a future competence. Unfortunately it was not men of this class, who had control of some of these organizations, but hot headed, irresponsible agitators had been selected for positions of authority and in many of the local unions they carried their authority with a high hand and worked innumerable hardships upon all mining companies against whom they had a grievance, and upon the members of their own organization, who would not assent to their ideas. This condition of affairs continued to grow worse until the Western Association itself passed under the control, in the main, of this class and not only did the worst elements in the miners' unions control those
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organizations, but having actively engaged in politics during the election of the year before, a large number of the county officers of Shoshone County were elected from among their sympathizers.
LABOR TROUBLES OF 1899
The Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining Company, whose mines are situated near Wardner, and whose mill was at Kellogg in Shoshone County, had for years been the greatest mineral producer in that section and employed the largest number of men. Trouble between the miners' unions and this company had orig- inated in 1892 and continued in various forms during the intervening years. The relations between the company and the men actually working for them had been mutually agreeable. The company, however, refused to recognize the unions and employed both union and non-union men.
On April 24, 1899, all of the union men in that vicinity marched in a body to the offices of the company and demanded of the officers in charge that all men working underground be paid $3.50 per day and that none but union men be employed. Mr. Birch, the superintendent of the company, responded that the old scale of wages, varying from $3.00 to $3.50 per day would be paid, but that under no circumstances would the company recognize the union and added that any of the company's employes, belonging to the union, who were not satisfied with his decision would find their money ready for them at the office and were welcome to seek employment elsewhere.
The next day similar demands were made upon the Empire State Company and the Idaho Mining & Development Company, both of which were extensively engaged in mining operations in that vicinity. These companies replied to the demand by closing down their works for an indefinite time. This threw a large number of men out of employment and great excitement prevailed throughout the entire Coeur d'Alene mining section. The leaders of the unions concluded that the time had come for a trial of strength with the mining companies and they resolved that the union demands should be recognized or trouble would result. In accordance with this idea, meetings of the various unions were called for the latter part of April and it was decided that action would be taken against the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining Company and an example made of that ob- noxious corporation which would strike terror into the other companies operating in the Coeur d'Alene section, causing the demands of the unions to be complied with.
On April 29, 1899, after a largely attended meeting of the miners' union of Burke, nearly a thousand of the miners belonging to the union comprising practically the entire working force of the mines in that vicinity, captured a Northern Pacific train running on the road connecting Burke with the other mining camps below, took possession of the train and running it down the canyon toward Wallace, stopped at a powder house conveniently near and loaded one of the cars with a large quantity of dynamite. The train then proceeded down the canyon to Wallace, where a large number of men belonging to the Mullan miners' union, who had marched down the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene from that place, were taken on, and many belonging to the Gem union, between Burke and Wallace, also joined the crowd.
From Wallace the train proceeded, with the leaders of the unions in charge,
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the train men being forcibly compelled to comply with their wishes, and Kellogg was reached, where the train was stopped. Pickets were sent ahead and the miners formed in line and marched almost with military precision to the mill. U'pon reaching it, the procession halted and a number of men skilled in the use of giant powder or dynamite were told off to carry the explosive to the mill and put it in place, under the direction of the leading spirits who had assumed control. They soon had the dynamite in such position that the mill could be blown out of existence.
Among those engaged in this work of placing the dynamite was Harry Orchard, the man who afterward confessed to having placed the dynamite bomb at the gateway to the Steunenberg home which caused the death of the ex-governor.
The union forces were moved back far enough to be uninjured and the dyna- mite was exploded. entirely destroying the mill. Then the procession reformed and marched back to Kellogg.
While upon the march to the mill, one of the rioters by the name of Schmidt had been accidentally killed.
The mob returned to the captured train and ran it back to Burke, the various persons constituting the crowd leaving it at points convenient for return to their homes. A majority of those who participated in this proceeding wore masks during the entire time, and for that reason only a few of them could be readily recognized.
MARTIAL LAW DECLARED
Before the train had been captured and the Bunker Hill & Sullivan mill destroyed, those engaged in the riot had cut the telegraph wires in order to prevent communication with the outside world, but the news was soon conveyed to Governor Steunenberg and an appeal was made to him to preserve order. The governor immediately telegraphed President Mckinley requesting him to send United States troops into the Coeur d'Alene district. On May 1, 1899, Captain Batchellor of Company M, First United States Infantry, arrived at Wardner with seventy-five soldiers. The governor as soon as the news reached him sent on Bartley Sinclair, state auditor, as his personal representative, to investigate conditions in that section. More than one hundred citizens of Coeur d'Alene, devoted to law and order, were sworn in as special officers to assist Captain Batchellor in maintaining order. On the way James Cheyne and two other employes of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Company were met and captured by the pickets of the miners, and soon after their capture were released and ordered to run; this they did and were followed by a fusillade of bullets that killed Cheyne and wounded one of the others.
On May 3, 1899, Governor Steunenberg having satisfied himself that such course was necessary, issued a proclamation declaring martial law in the entire Coeur d'Alene district and giving as one of his reasons for so doing, the fact that the destruction of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan mill was only one of a series of lawless acts that had been committed in the district during the preceding six years and none of the perpetrators of which had been punished by the civil authorities.
By this time Federal troops to the number of 600, under command of General
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Merriam, had been brought into the district and within a week more than a thousand arrests were made of those who were charged with being participants in the riots. Among those arrested were the sheriff of Shoshone County and two of its county commissioners, all three of these officials being charged with having had previous knowledge of the intended outbreak and having refused to take action to prevent it, the sheriff being expressly charged with remissness of duty in that he made no effort whatever to make arrests or to stop the riot, although he had every opportunity so to do.
The prisoners were kept under guard for a few days until a stockade, com- monly called the "bull pen," was erected below Wardner, where the arrested men were for a long time detained.
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