1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Folks. 6 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: Let's face it, we as a society do love a 7 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: heart throb. We have teen magazines, celebrity fan clubs, even 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: GQ's Sexiest Man Alive. Back in the turn of the century, though, 9 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: Americans were just as hungry for tabloid tales about ladies men. 10 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: And in Seattle, one of the last bastions of the 11 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: Old West, the toast of the town was Harry Allen. 12 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: Harry was unique. He was audacious, unpologetic, and open about 13 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: who he was. He lived life exactly on his own terms. 14 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: Not Perhaps that doesn't sound that unusual, but for a 15 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: time it was because Harry was someone who, if he 16 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 1: lived today, might call himself a trans man. The Old 17 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: West was a haven for people who didn't always fit 18 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,680 Speaker 1: in to society back East. This went across the board 19 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,559 Speaker 1: from rough and Tumble Mountain men to women who wanted 20 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: to call their own shots. The freedom of the Old 21 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: West was especially attractive to many queer people. While life 22 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: on the frontier could be difficult, it was a lot 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: easier to live the way they wanted. Survival was the 24 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: most important order of the day, not gender roles, so 25 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: the Old West was especially perfect for Harry Allen. Harry 26 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: was born in eighteen eighty two to a family of 27 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: poor ranchers working in Indiana. While initially his parents treated 28 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: him as a girl and gave him a female name, 29 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: it became pretty clear that Harry saw himself as a boy. 30 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: His mother later recounted that from an early age, Harry 31 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: didn't like to go along with the typical gender roles 32 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: of the day. He wanted to wear trousers, not dresses, 33 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: and he'd much rather ride horses and shoot guns than 34 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: learn embroidery. He had no interest in all things that 35 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: were mostly traditionally part of a woman's realm. Harry told 36 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: the newspaper many years later that I did not like 37 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: to be a girl. I did not feel like a girl, 38 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: and never did look like a girl. To Harry, he 39 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: was always a boy. Soon after his family moved to 40 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: the Seattle area. Harry formally changed his name to Harry Livingston, 41 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: and while the name fit him much better, it didn't 42 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: exactly last long. You see, Harry quickly became infamous as 43 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,239 Speaker 1: a pretty tough guy. He ran with some street gangs 44 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: and committed petty theft. So once the name Harry Livingston 45 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: had too many arrests attached to it, he changed it 46 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: once more to Harry Allen, And while he still hung 47 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: around the fringes in Seattle, Harry Allen started searching for 48 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: legitimate work. He served stints as a bartender, a boxer, 49 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: a longshoreman, a barber, even a cowboy. But he was 50 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: also a fastidious dresser who always wore a silk hat, 51 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: a tie, and carried a walking stick. And then, as 52 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,920 Speaker 1: a handsome young man, he quickly attracted a gaggle of 53 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: female companions. Harry's background was common knowledge to his friends 54 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: and his dates, but once the papers and the police 55 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,399 Speaker 1: caught win, he became a target. He was arrested frequently 56 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: for wearing quote unquote male clothes, although there was no 57 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: law against that. He was also often picked up for 58 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: vagrancy more air quotes. There a vague law that was 59 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: commonly used to harass people outside the norm, or simply 60 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,519 Speaker 1: people the police did not like. That's not to say 61 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: that he didn't sometimes come by those charges. Honestly, Harry 62 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: still liked to fight and steal and occasionally bootleg. But 63 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: in retrospect, it really feels like the cops and the 64 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: papers had an agenda with Harry. Seattle was a boomtown 65 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: at the time, with plenty of gambling, drinking, and a 66 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: bustling red light district. Public reformers were casting the city 67 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: as a den of sin. When Harry popped up, living 68 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: openly as a man, he was everything these crusaders thought 69 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: was wrong with the world, so they wanted to make 70 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: an example of him. Soon, Harry's escapades became tabloid fodder. 71 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: They reported when he drunkenly played the piano at a saloon, 72 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: or when he broke up with his many girlfriends. More 73 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: than one newspaper claimed several women ended their lives after 74 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: he broke their hearts. Whether this was real or more 75 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: tabloid sensationalism isn't clear, but the message was Harry and 76 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: everything he represented was dangerous. From nineteen hundred to his 77 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,799 Speaker 1: death in nineteen twenty two, Harry appears in the Seattle 78 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: Papers dozens of times. In most of those reports, the 79 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 1: papers refused to call him by his preferred name, even 80 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: when the article was about how he didn't want to 81 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: be referred to as a woman. In fact, most of 82 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: these stories weren't particularly newsworthy. For example, several of them 83 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: are just the writer speculating why certain women with good 84 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: parents were dating him. The true story was Harry Allen 85 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,040 Speaker 1: was a man who, although troubled the stealing and fighting 86 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: are a big hint there, he was mostly just trying 87 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: to live a normal life, which at the time was 88 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: a pretty extraordinary thing for him to do. The real 89 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: story wasn't who he might have been, but who he was. 90 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: And to the ladies of Seattle, well, they liked Harry 91 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: a heck of a lot. And that, my friends, is 92 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:26,799 Speaker 1: all the news that's fit to print. The song sixteen 93 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: Tons by country singer Merle Travis is famous for its chorus. 94 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: The singer shouts, I owe my soul to the company store. Now, 95 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: a modern audience might hear this and have no idea 96 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: what he is talking about, and that could be by design. 97 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: The song refers to a very dark and painful chapter 98 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: in American history that has never truly been accounted for 99 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: a time that some people would rather we all forget, 100 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: a time when coal miners in West Virginia, Kentucky, and 101 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,360 Speaker 1: Colorado were forced into virtual slavery and murdered by their 102 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: own employers. Naturally, I want to tell you about it. 103 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:01,799 Speaker 1: You understand it. We need to go back in time 104 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: and meet a man named Sid Sheriff. Sid Hatfield couldn't 105 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,119 Speaker 1: pinpoint when exactly it happened, but somehow, slowly, from about 106 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety to nineteen twenty, the coal companies had come 107 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: to rule West Virginia. It was his job to protect 108 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: these people, and he had failed. His community consisted mostly 109 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: of coal miners who were forced to work deep underground 110 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,600 Speaker 1: in terrible conditions. If they weren't killed by Caven's they 111 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,679 Speaker 1: died a slow death from black lung. But it wasn't 112 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: like they could just quit the coal companies. Companies like 113 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: Stone Mountain and Burnwell Coal kept them in indentured servitude. 114 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: In truth, that was the nice name for it, because 115 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: it was actually just slavery. The coal miners had to 116 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: rent their homes and their tools from the coal companies. 117 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: They were paid a meager wage, but not an American 118 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: dollars in script, a company voucher that was redeemable only 119 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: at the company's store. The coal companies made sure that 120 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,719 Speaker 1: workers had just enough vouchers to buy food, but not 121 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: enough to pay off their mounting debt from renting their 122 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: homes and their tools. The workers tried to protest these conditions, 123 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: of course, forming a union called the United Mine Workers 124 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: or UMW, But as soon as the companies got wind 125 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: of this, they hired thugs from the Baldwin Feltz Detective Agency. 126 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: Those thugs beat and killed several mine workers, driving them 127 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: from their homes, running over their tents, and firing machine 128 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: guns at them. Finally, Sheriff Hatfield had enough. The detectives 129 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: claimed that they had the legal authority to protect the 130 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: coal companies properly, but Hatfield knew that no one could 131 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: possibly have the legal authority to do what these people 132 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: were doing. So in May of nineteen twenty, Hatfield, who 133 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: yes was a relative of the Hatfields of the Hatfields 134 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: and McCoy's feud if you were wondering, gathered a posse, 135 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: including the mayor of the town of Maitland in Mingo County, 136 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: where the coal companies were located. They confronted a group 137 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: of detectives from the Baldwin Felts Detective Agency as they 138 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: prepared to leave town via the local train station. These 139 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: detectives insisted they had done nothing wrong, but Hatfield wouldn't 140 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: let them leave town. Tempers escalated, no one would yield 141 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: to the other, and suddenly a gun was drawn. Afterward, 142 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: no one could tell exactly how it all went down, 143 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: who fired first, who shot who, But when the smoke cleared, 144 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: several Baldwin Felt's agents were dead, as was the mayor 145 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: and multiple members of Hatfield's posse. Hatfield spent the next 146 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: year desperately trying to find evidence to use against the 147 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: coal companies. He wouldn't let the death of his allies 148 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: go unpunished, but neither would the coal companies let the 149 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: deaths of their agents go unanswered. In August of nineteen 150 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: twenty one, as Hatfield walked into the local courthouse, another 151 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: bullet rang out, and he became the latest victim of 152 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: the conflict. But his death galvanized the community. The members 153 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: of the UMW rose up. Just a few days later, 154 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: they marched across the county and assaulted the coal company's 155 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: stronghold atop the local landmark known as Blair Mountain. Thousands 156 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: of workers clashed with thousands of coal representatives. Both sides 157 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: had heavy firepower, machine guns and gatling guns, either smuggled 158 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: in by train or left over from their service in 159 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: World War One. The workers tried to get up the mountain, 160 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,319 Speaker 1: but the coal companies kept them back with a steady 161 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: stream of bullets. It's estimated that one million shots were 162 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: fired during what came to be known as the Battle 163 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: of Blair Mountain. Another local sheriff, though Don Chaffin, had 164 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: always been a coal company crony, he actually arranged for 165 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: small aircraft to drop makeshift bombs on the workers. He 166 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:25,079 Speaker 1: and other law enforcement eventually sent word to federal authorities, 167 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 1: and soon the army arrived, forcing everyone to lay down 168 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: their arms. It was a stinging defeat for the union. 169 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: Dozens had died, and of course the blame fell mostly 170 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: on them. Many union members were tried for murder, although 171 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: they were ultimately acquitted. However, the union was bankrupted from 172 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:47,079 Speaker 1: their legal defense fees and eventually had to disband. Sadly, workers' 173 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: rights in America wouldn't improve until President FDR created the 174 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: Works Progress Administration in nineteen thirty five. Even with that 175 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: in mind, the United States has continued to struggle to 176 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: enforce labor laws, with many workers still fighting in court 177 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: for their right to unionize. No one is selling their 178 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: soul to the company store these days, but it's a 179 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,680 Speaker 1: curious world where history often repeats itself. If workers' rights 180 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 1: aren't respected, then the next Battle of Blair Mountain could 181 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:21,199 Speaker 1: be in our own backyard. I hope you've enjoyed today's 182 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 183 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 184 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 185 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,320 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 186 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,199 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 187 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 188 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 189 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.