1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: Bappy Saturday, we are coming up on the one anniversary 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: of the Battle of Blair Mountain, which started on auguste 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: So for today's Saturday Classic, we are returning to our 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: episode on that battle, which came out on July. Toward 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: the end of this episode, we talk about a lengthy 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: back and forth involved with trying to get the site 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: of the battle listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: That back and forth continued after this episode came out, 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: including a case in the U. S. District Court for 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: the District of Columbia. After all that, on June, Joy Beasley, 11 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, issued a 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: memorandum calling the two thousand nine decision to remove the 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: site from the register erroneous and confirming that it is 14 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: listed on the National Register of Historic Places. So enjoy. 15 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 16 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm fry. Coal mining is 18 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: practically synonymous with West Virginia. There are lots of other 19 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: industries in West Virginia, lots of people in West Virginia 20 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: who have nothing to do with the coal mining industry. 21 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: But of the twenty five U S States that produce coal, 22 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: West Virginia's production is the second largest, behind Wyoming coal production. 23 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: And all of the accidents and the labor disputes that 24 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: have come along with cold with coal production have all 25 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: just played a really central role in West Virginia's history, 26 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: and today's story played a huge part not only in 27 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: West Virginia's history, but also in the greater context of 28 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: labor rights in the rest of the United States. In 29 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: one coal miners who were completely fed up with unfair 30 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: labor practices and exploitation and attempts to prevent them from unionizing, 31 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: took up arms against their employers, and the resulting Battle 32 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: of Blair Mountain went on for five days and has 33 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: been called the biggest armed uprising on US soil since 34 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: the Civil War. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, 35 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: the coal industry in America was built on company towns 36 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: and exploit of labor practices. And this wasn't just the 37 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: practice of one mine or one mining company. Mines with 38 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: different owners operating in different states all basically followed the 39 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: same system with similar labor practices, And if you are 40 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: not familiar with the company town phenomenon. To start off, 41 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: they did not pay an actual money. They paid company script, 42 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: and company script was accepted only at the company store, 43 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: which was also run by the coal company. So since 44 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: miners weren't being paid real money that was legal tender 45 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: anywhere else, they had no option to shop any where 46 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: other than the company store, which was owned by their bosses. 47 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: And it is probably no surprise that goods at these 48 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: company stores were expensive thanks to a hefty markup, so 49 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: if the MIND gave its workers a raise, it also 50 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: raised prices at the store, so the increase in wages 51 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: didn't cut into the mind's profits. In addition to the 52 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: company's store was company housing provided by the mines, which 53 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: deducted the rent from the workers pay, and often this 54 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: housing was little better than a shock. And miners also 55 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: frequently had to lease the equipment that they needed just 56 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: to do their jobs, and they leased that equipment, of 57 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: course from the coal company. Instead of being paid an 58 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: hourly rate or some kind of salary, miners were paid 59 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: by the pound of coal that they mind. And to 60 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: further game the system, coal companies used all kinds of 61 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: tricks to alter the apparent weight of the coal that 62 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: the miners were bringing up. So for example, a cart 63 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: that was supposed to hold two thousand pounds of coal 64 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: might really hold pounds of coal, meaning that the miners 65 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: were mining five hundred extra pounds of coal that they 66 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: weren't being paid for. And miners also had their paid 67 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: docked for anything that was in their cart but was 68 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: not coal, So if there were pieces of rocks in 69 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: the mix, that was also a doctor from their pay, 70 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: and the person who made that judgment with someone hired 71 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: by the coal company who was trained to air in 72 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: the coal company's favor. It was not uncommon for the 73 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: bosses to deliberately overestimate how much rock was in the coal, 74 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: and this is a practice that was known as cribbing. 75 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: All of this really meant that often coal miners were 76 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: not even breaking even. They were effectively losing money by 77 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: having a job working in a coal company or working 78 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: in a coal mine. And on top of that, coal 79 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: mining is dangerous work. It was particularly dangerous in West 80 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: Virginia at this point because the mines in West Virginia 81 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: weren't regulated as well, or they were no mine was 82 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: really being regular add extremely well, But the mines in 83 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: West Virginia had less regulation than in other parts of 84 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 1: the United States. Between eighteen ninety and nineteen twelve, more 85 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: miners died on the job in West Virginia than in 86 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: any other state with similarly exploitative and dangerous conditions. All 87 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: over the country, miners tried to unionize so that they 88 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: could collectively negotiate for actual pay with money instead of script, 89 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 1: and safer working conditions. Immediately, mines had employees signed what 90 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: was known as yellow dog contracts, and these were contracts 91 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: that basically said they would not join a union. In 92 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: spite of all this opposition, the United Mine Workers of 93 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: America got it started Ohio in eighteen nine. The UMW 94 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: organized miners in several states over the next decade, and 95 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: its first recognition in West Virginia was in nineteen o two. 96 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: As is often the case, the process of unionizing workers 97 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: and becoming recognized as a bargaining organization was a long, 98 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: content us and sometimes violent process. This was true all 99 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: over and in many industries, not just in West Virginia 100 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: or in coal mining. Coal companies would evict striking workers 101 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: from company owned housing, so this caused tense cities to 102 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: spring up around mining towns, and the companies would also 103 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: hire detective agencies to investigate and harass any miners who 104 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: were talking about unionizing. One of the agencies that frequently 105 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: worked on behalf of the mining industry was called the 106 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: Baldwin Felts Agency, which employed all kinds of spy work 107 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: and intimidation techniques on behalf of the mine operators. Yeah, 108 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: the word detective agency in this context is kind of generous. 109 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: A lot of this work was not detective work. It 110 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: was threatening, bullying, harassment, sometimes murdering work. So over the years, 111 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: as miners tried to organize, mine operators and miners alike 112 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: took up arms against one another, and sometimes on the 113 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: minor sides, these weapons were actually provided to them by 114 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: the union. Unionizers and mining companies were at odds with 115 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: one another in West Virginia all the way through the 116 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds. In the nineteen teens, at one point in 117 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve, Governor William E. Glassick declared martial law and 118 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: dispatched the militia in response to labor disputes and strikes 119 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,679 Speaker 1: that had turned violent. It was during that particular period 120 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: that Mary Harris Jones, also known as Mother Jones, started 121 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: advocating for for labor rights in West Virginia. Through the 122 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: mid to late nineteen teens, relations between the miners and 123 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: the coal companies were a little bit calmer thanks to 124 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: a changeover in umw A leadership and the United States 125 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: entry into World War One. Because of the war, there 126 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: was a huge demand for coal, which meant that there 127 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: was more work and there was also better pay. But 128 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: even though there wasn't quite so much outright conflict between 129 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: the unions and the coal companies, at that particular point, 130 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: the unions really hadn't been able to make much headway 131 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: in southern and southwestern West Virginia. The mining companies there 132 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: were taking great pains to make sure unions could not 133 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: get a foothold, and in Logan County in particular, mine 134 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: operators were working directly with Sheriff Don Chaffin to keep 135 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: union organizers out of the area. So by West Virginia's 136 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: Logan and Mingo Counties were the largest coal producing region 137 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: that had no union. Before we talk a little bit 138 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,559 Speaker 1: more about specifically what was going on in southern West Virginia, 139 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: let's take a brief moment for a word from sponsor. 140 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: A few things happened to turn this situation into a 141 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: real powder keg in southern West Virginia. Word reached the 142 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: capital of Charleston, West Virginia that Sheriff Chaffin and his 143 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: deputies were harassing and beating up labor organizers. This led 144 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: to an armed protest march, and the governor, who at 145 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: that point was John J. Cornwell, promised that he would investigate, 146 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,479 Speaker 1: but the commission that was appointed to do the investigation 147 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: wound up finding in favor of the Mind companies. A 148 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: few months later, union mine workers got a raise granted 149 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,439 Speaker 1: by the US Coal Commission. This didn't affect Southern West 150 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: Virginia's non union workers, who organized a strike in response. 151 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: The UMW saw this as an opportunity to get Southern 152 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: Mind workers to join the union. This wasn't a hundred 153 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: percent because they wanted to combat the unfair labor practices 154 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: that were going on in southern West Virginia. Although that 155 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: was a factor, A big part of it was also 156 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: that having so many minds operating with non union labor, 157 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: and having those minds be particularly productive, had the potential 158 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: to really undermine the union and the union's work elsewhere 159 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: in the state. In response to the UMW activities uh 160 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: the coal company operators called in detectives again, detectives with 161 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: the air quotes from the Baldwin Felts Detective Agency to 162 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: try to break the union. They also fired everyone who 163 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: joined the union and they evicted them from their company housing. 164 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: On May nine, twenty, things took a violent turn in 165 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: the town of mate Wan. Sid Hatfield also known as 166 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: two Gun Sid. Yes, one of those hat Fields if 167 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: you are familiar with the story of the hat Fields 168 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: of the McCoy's, although that was long in the past. 169 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,839 Speaker 1: At this point, said Hatfield was the police chief of 170 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,959 Speaker 1: mait Wan, and he encouraged residents to arm themselves in 171 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: response to all this trouble that was going on, and 172 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: they did. When detectives Albert and Lee Felts tried to 173 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: arrest Hatfield, gunfire broke out and an eleven people were killed, 174 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,839 Speaker 1: seven of them were detectives and four of them were 175 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: residents of the town. Among the towns dead was the mayor, 176 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: and among the detectives killed were the Felts brothers, who 177 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: were brothers of Tom Felts, the agency's chief. Because Hatfield 178 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 1: later married the mayor's widow, people speculated that he had 179 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 1: pulled the trigger himself. He faced charges for it and 180 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 1: he became something of a folk hero, but he was 181 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: ultimately acquitted. This was really kind of a tipping point, 182 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: and following the Mate One massacre, union membership grew really quickly, 183 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: with nine percent of Mingo Counties miners being part of 184 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: the UMW by July of that year. With such an 185 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: upswelling of support, the UMW called for a strike to 186 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: demand better pay and better working conditions. The mine operators, 187 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: on the other hand, brought in strike breakers and armed 188 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: guards and they carried on with business as usual mining 189 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: coal and in Mingo County, people were jailed without bail 190 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: for everything from carrying union literature to carrying a gun. 191 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 1: When the Mingo County jail was full, they started sending 192 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: inmates to jails in neighboring counties. At this point, the 193 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: unions and the mines were effectively at war with each other. 194 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: Gunfire was exchanged on a regular basis. The pro union 195 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: forces would attack non union man lines and miners who 196 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: weren't in the union. They also destroyed railroad tracks that 197 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: were allowing the minds to get their coal out to 198 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: the buyers who needed to receive it. Detectives, guards, deputies 199 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: and others on the anti union side attacked the tent 200 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: colonies where fired workers had been living, and they also investigated, threatened, 201 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: and harassed the striking workers. And this conflict went on 202 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: for more than a year. On August first, Sid Hatfield 203 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: and another man named Ed Chambers, we're going to stand 204 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: trial on charges of conspiracy stemming to their unionizing work. 205 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: And this conspiracy trial was going to take place in 206 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: McDowell County, where there was really strong anti union sentiment. 207 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: While the two men were on their way into the 208 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: courthouse for their trial, detectives from the Baldwin Felt Agency 209 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: shot and killed them both. Naturally, there was outrage. A 210 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,319 Speaker 1: week later, a crowd of hundreds marched on the capitol 211 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: in Charleston in protest, and they presented a list of 212 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: demand for better conditions to the governor. The governor who 213 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: denied all of them. Ten days later, the miners started 214 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: planning a second march. They were going to gather in 215 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: a town outside of Charleston, and from there they were 216 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: going to march to Mingo County to free all of 217 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: the union organizers and others who were being jailed there. 218 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: And basically they were going to try to force the 219 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: companies that were running the mines to back down. But 220 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: to do this they were going to have to go 221 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: through Logan County, and this was a stronghold of the 222 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: mining companies and of Sheriff Chaffin, who had a long 223 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: history of using strong arm tactics against unions. Sheriff Chase 224 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: Chaffin also had the financial backing of the Logan County 225 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: Coal Operators Association, so they funded his efforts to basically 226 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: raise a small army to fend off these miners. As 227 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,679 Speaker 1: all this was going on, Frank Keeney and Bill Blizzard 228 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,719 Speaker 1: of the UMW tried to rally more support among all 229 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: the union members. They were trying to get as much 230 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: backing as as possible for their effort. On the other hand, 231 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: mo Or Jones was pretty sure this was not going 232 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: to go in the miners favor, and she was trying 233 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: to dissuade them from taking further action at this point. 234 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: The march to Mingo County started on August twenty four, 235 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: with the miners, who had armed themselves with all manner 236 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: of weapons, wearing red bandanas so they could easily identify 237 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: one another. A lot of these men were veterans of 238 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: World War One. They were trained in combat, and they 239 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: had among them men with experience and strategy and tax 240 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: it tactics. They developed codes so that they could communicate 241 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: with each other, They cut telephone and telegraph lines so 242 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: that the mine operators would not be able to get information, 243 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: and they generally mounted a pretty organized resistance. UH women 244 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: played a part in all of this as well. They 245 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: donned nurses camps with the umw insignia and prepared for 246 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: the inevitable injuries that they knew were going to need attention, 247 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: because they knew there was a lot of danger and 248 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: people were going to get hurt. In addition to using 249 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: the money that the Mine Operators Association had given him 250 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: to build hold up his force, Sheriff Chaffin also rallied 251 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: the strike breakers to fight on the anti union side 252 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: of the battle. That kind of fleshed out the ranks 253 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: of detectives, mine guards, and state police who were all 254 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: set to defend the mine operators. The mine workers vastly 255 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: outnumbered Chaffin's force, but Chaffin's people had far better weapons, 256 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: including machine guns and an artillery piece. The governor, who 257 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 1: could see that things were really escalating, asked Washington, d C. 258 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: For help, and at first the federal response was to 259 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: send him Brigadier General Harry Bandholtz to try to keep 260 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: the peace. The miners, knowing that the federal government had 261 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: been called in, actually thought that the federal support was 262 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: going to be on their side. But atmosphere at this 263 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: point was extremely anti unionization in the United States. A 264 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: lot of states had anti union laws on the books, 265 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: and a lot of business leaders were certain that unions 266 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: would just put a damper on post war growth. Wanting 267 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: to end things without further blood shed, band Holds quite 268 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: candidly told U m W leaders Frank Kenney and Fred 269 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: Mooney that if they could just get the miners to 270 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: go home, it would all be over. The two of 271 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: them did try to get the miners to go home, 272 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: and some of the miners did start on their way back, 273 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: but before long, one of the state police captains, who 274 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: was on the side of the mine operators, started a 275 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: fight with some armed miners, and at least one person 276 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: was killed in the resulting fray. Many of the miners 277 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: who had agreed to go home turned around and went 278 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: back to the march, really ready for a fight. On 279 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: August twenty nine, Keeney and Mooney fled. At this point, 280 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: both of them were facing murder charges due to earlier events, 281 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: and they knew that they'd have no sympathy now that 282 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: they'd failed to keep the peace bill. Blizzard took their 283 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: place as the top um w leader. The miners forces 284 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: met up with Hey with Chaffin's hastily built army on 285 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: Blair Mountain, and the mountain basically lay in the miner's 286 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: path to Mingo County. They had really no choice other 287 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: than they could go over it or they could go 288 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: around it. While the miners had much better numbers, in 289 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: addition to their better firepower, Chaffin's men also had the 290 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:22,159 Speaker 1: high ground as the miners tried to break through the 291 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: defenders lines chief and dropped tear gas and bombs on 292 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: them from chartered biplanes. When it became extremely clear that 293 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: their efforts to end things peacefully had failed, Brigadier General 294 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: ban Holtz sent in the troops from Fort Thomas, Kentucky. 295 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: The first of these troops arrived on September one and 296 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: mostly did reconnaissance work. Infantry started arriving in Logan and 297 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:49,640 Speaker 1: Mingo Counties on September three, and the miners, who were 298 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,399 Speaker 1: not really keen on the idea of fighting against the 299 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: actual army, started to surrender, although some of them continued 300 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: fighting into the fourth of September. And even though the 301 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: miners ultimately surrendered, many really look at this as a 302 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: moral victory. Uh it was the federal troops and not 303 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 1: the mine companies that they had surrendered. For about a 304 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,719 Speaker 1: thousand miners out of the estimated ten thousand who fought 305 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: officially surrendered. They were supposed to turn in their weapons, 306 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: but the miners only turned in about four hundred guns. 307 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,479 Speaker 1: The rest of the weapons were dropped or hidden, or 308 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: smuggled back to the miners homes. The death toll of 309 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: the Battle of Blair Mountain was somewhere between thirty and fifty, 310 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: which is surprising considering how many men fought and what 311 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 1: kinds of weapons had been employed. This seems to have 312 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,199 Speaker 1: been because a lot of the fighting happened through brush 313 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: without a clear line of sight on either party's part. 314 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: The miners who surrendered were allowed to go home, and 315 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: some of them were transported there by train. The idea 316 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: was that the leaders of this resistance were the ones 317 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: who were going to be held responsible. All in all, 318 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: there were one thousand, two hundred seventeen indictments that came 319 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: down from a grand jury as a result of the battle. 320 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: Three twenty five of these indictments were for murder and 321 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:11,120 Speaker 1: twenty four were for treason. Most of these eventually led 322 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: to acquittals, or they were thrown out, or they just 323 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: never came to trial. But because of the battle and 324 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: the surrender, the Union itself, especially its presence in southern 325 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: West Virginia, was almost destroyed. Membership in southern West Virginia 326 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 1: dropped just precipitously, and it took almost a decade for 327 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,959 Speaker 1: the UMW to regroup and start advocating for better working 328 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: conditions again. In two thousand eight, the site of the 329 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: battle was nominated to be placed on the National Register 330 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: of Historic Places. Before a property can be listed on 331 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: the Register, owners of the property have the chance to 332 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 1: object to its being listed. The back and forth that 333 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: went on about whether the Blair Mountains site should be 334 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: listed was pretty long. Originally, there were sixty six owners 335 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: who were identified as owning land that was part of 336 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: the site, but that number rose as high as sixty 337 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: eight and dropped as low as fifty seven. Over the 338 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,679 Speaker 1: back and forth, the number of objections to the site 339 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: being listed on the Register also changed a lot based 340 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: on who was doing the counting, environmental groups or coal companies. Consequently, 341 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 1: the battlefield was briefly placed on the National Register of 342 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: Historical Places, and then it was removed from the register 343 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:31,159 Speaker 1: after only a few months. Several conservation groups, including the 344 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 1: Sierra Club, sued the U S Department of the Interior 345 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 1: over the battlefields delisting. The U S District Court for 346 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: the District of Columbia upheld the decision in so the 347 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: battlefield is not currently on the register. Yeah, environmental groups 348 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,919 Speaker 1: were really hoping that having it listed on the Register 349 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: of Historic Places. While that would not give it complete 350 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: protection from an environmental standpoint, it would offer some protection. 351 00:20:57,560 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: One of the reasons that people are so interested in 352 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,640 Speaker 1: the US is because of mountaintop removal mining. There's an 353 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,679 Speaker 1: ongoing struggle between people who really want to preserve the 354 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: mountain and people who want to mine it. And in 355 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 1: June of eleven, environmentalists and historians recreated the March to 356 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 1: Blair Mountain as part of a big protest and rally 357 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: for preservation efforts. On the other hand, people who supported 358 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: the coal industry basically lined the root of the march 359 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: with their own counter protest. The battle and the miners 360 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: who originally fought it have been brought up as a 361 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: symbol of the fight to preserve the mountain or to 362 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: stop mountaintop removal mining entirely. Opponents point out that this 363 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: is really an appropriation. They weren't fighting for the mountain 364 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: at all. They were fighting for safer jobs with fair 365 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: pay and non exploited business practices, as well as the 366 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,920 Speaker 1: right to unionize. Coal continues to be a major industry 367 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,640 Speaker 1: in West Virginia, but new mining techniques and new methods 368 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: mean that there are fewer jobs within the industry. So 369 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: while overall the coal industry pays pretty well now, um 370 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: there are far fewer jobs available. So the people mining 371 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: coal are making a much better living today than they 372 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: were in ninety one, but unemployment is a huge issue 373 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: in the regions of West Virginia where the main industry 374 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: has always been coal mining, And sort of as a 375 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: coda note on the word redneck, about six of the 376 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: people who requested this episode, because we've had quite a 377 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: number of requests, have mentioned in their request that the 378 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 1: battle of Blair Mountain was where the word redneck originated 379 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 1: to mean a white rural person that you believe to 380 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: be poorer and more ignorant than you are. Uh. First 381 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: of all, redneck is actually considered a slur. It is 382 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 1: no more acceptable than any derogatory word for people from 383 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: other regions that people might use. Second of all, the 384 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: word redneck actually appeared in print for the first time 385 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,439 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and 386 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,439 Speaker 1: Newport Royal reported it as quote a name bestowed on 387 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,880 Speaker 1: Presbyterians in Fayetteville. She was writing about Fayettville, North Carolina. 388 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 1: It's not totally clear how the word redneck morphed from 389 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: that use into today's sort of hill billiesque flavor, but 390 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: it was used as a synonym for hayseed by and 391 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: was also used to mean an uncouth countryman by, So 392 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: it was definitely established in the vernacular with the meaning 393 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,439 Speaker 1: pretty much like it means today before the events in 394 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: one at Blair Mountain. So while the miners were wearing 395 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: red bandanas, and they probably were called rednecks because they 396 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: had read red bandanas on that use is not where 397 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 1: the word redneck came from. The more you know, the 398 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: more you know. Yeah, it drives me kind of crazy 399 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: when people use that word, uh, because it's it's a 400 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: very derogatory term. I know that there are many people 401 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: who use the word with pride, as there are many 402 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: people who use many slurs to talk about themselves with pride, 403 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 1: But I cannot think of any time that I have 404 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: used one. I've heard one person say that word about 405 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: another person without casting huge disparaging judgment on them. Yeah, 406 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: it usually does come with a healthy dose of superiority. 407 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: Heay so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since 408 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: this episode is out of the archive, if you heard 409 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,119 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 410 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,800 Speaker 1: something similar over the course of the show, that could 411 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: be obsolete now. Our current email address is History Podcast 412 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: at I heart radio dot com. Our old health stuff 413 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: works email address no longer works, and you can find 414 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: us all over social media at missed in History and 415 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts, 416 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, and wherever else you listen 417 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Ye Stuff You missed in History Class is 418 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 419 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,400 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 420 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H