Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912
Encyclopedia
The Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912 was a confrontation between striking
coal miners and coal operators in Kanawha County, West Virginia
, centered around the area enclosed by two streams, Paint Creek and Cabin Creek
.
The strike lasted from April 18, 1912 through July 1913. After the confrontation, Fred Stanton, a banker, estimated that the strike and ensuing violence cost $100,000,000. The confrontation directly caused perhaps fifty violent deaths, as well as many more deaths indirectly caused by starvation
and malnutrition
among the striking miners. In the number of casualties it counts among the worst conflicts in American labor union history.
The strike was a prelude to subsequent labor-related West Virginia conflicts in the following years, the Battle of Matewan
and the Battle of Blair Mountain
.
Prior to the strike there were 96 coal mines in operation on Paint Creek and Cabin Creek, employing 7500 miners. Of these mines, the forty-one on Paint Creek were all unionized, as was all of the rest of Kanawha River
coal field except for the 55 mines on Cabin Creek. However, miners on Paint Creek received compensation of 2½¢ less per ton than other union miners in the area.
When the Paint Creek union negotiated a new contract with the operators in 1912, they demanded that operators raise the compensation rate to the same level as the surrounding area. This increase would have cost operators approximately fifteen cents per miner per day, but the operators refused. The union called a strike for April 18, 1912. Their demands were:
After little debate, the Paint Creek miners decided to join the Cabin Creek miners and declared their own strike.
pledged full support, hoping to spread the union into Southern West Virginia, a longtime goal of the union. The UMW promised full financing and any aid it could provide to support strikers.
Partly because of the influence of the UMW, the strike was conducted without violence for its first month. However, on May 10, 1912, the operators on Paint Creek and Cabin Creek hired the notorious Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency to break the strike. Baldwin–Felts responded by sending more than 300 mine guards led by Albert Felts, Lee Felts, and Tony Gaujot
Activist Mother Jones arrived in June, as mine owners began evicting workers from their rented houses, and brought in replacement workers. Beatings, sniper attacks, and sabotage were daily occurrences. Through July, Jones rallied the workers, made her way through armed guards to persuade another group of miners in Eskdale, West Virginia
to join the strike, and organized a secret march of three thousand armed miners to the steps of the state capitol in Charleston
to read a declaration of war to Governor William E. Glasscock
. On July 26, miners attacked Mucklow, present-day Gallagher
, leaving at least twelve strikers and four guards dead.
On September 1st, a force of over 5,000 miners from the north side of the Kanawha River
joined the strikers' tent city, leading Governor Glasscock to establish martial law
in the region the following day. The 1,200 state troops confiscating arms and ammunition from both sides lessened tensions to some degree, but the strikers were forbidden to congregate, and were subject to fast, unfair trials in military court. Meanwhile strikers' families began to suffer from hunger, cold, and the unsanitary conditions in their temporary tent colony at Holly Grove.
On October 15th, martial law was lifted, only to be re-imposed on November 15th and lifted on January 10th by Governor Glasscock, with less than two months left in office. On February 7th Mucklow was again attacked by miners with at least one casualty. In retaliation that evening, the Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill and a group of detectives attacked the Holly Grove miners' settlement with an armored train, called the "Bull Moose Special", attacking with machine guns and high-powered files, putting 100 machine-gun bullets through the frame house of striker Cesco Estep and killing him. Another miners' raid on Mucklow killed at least two people a few days later, and on February 10th martial law was imposed for the third and final time.
Mother Jones was arrested on February 13th in Pratt
and charged in military court for inciting riot (reportedly for attempting to read the Declaration of Independence
), and, later, conspiracy to commit murder. She refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the military court, and refused to enter a plea. Jones was sentenced to twenty years in the state penitentiary and acquired a case of pneumonia.
New governor Dr. Henry D. Hatfield
was sworn in on March 4th and immediately traveled to the area as his first priority. He released some thirty individuals held under martial law, transferred Mother Jones to Charleston for medical treatment, and in April moved to impose conditions for the strike settlement. Strikers had the choice to accept Hatfield's somewhat favorable terms, or be deported from the state. The Paint Creek miners accepted and signed the "Hatfield Contract" on May 1st. The Cabin Creek miners continued to resist, with some violence, until the end of July.
, until she smuggled out a message through a secret trapdoor in her room, a message sent to pro-labor Indiana Senator John Worth Kern. Governor Hatfield released Jones, without comment, after a total of 85 days imprisonment.
The Senate's Kern Resolution
of May 26th 1913 led to the United States Senate's Committee on Education and Labor opening an investigation into conditions in West Virginia coal mines. Congress almost immediately authorized two similar investigations the cooper mining industry in Michigan, and mining conditions in Colorado.
One theme of the Senate hearings was an attempt to identify the number of deaths related to the strike, and responsibility for them. One source estimates "perhaps fifty violent deaths" without estimating the effect of the conditions in the tent camp.
The strike came to national attention in July 1913, cartoonist Art Young
published a cartoon in The Masses
called "Poisoned at the Source" depicting the president of The Associated Press, Frank B. Noyes
, poisoning a well labeled 'The News' with lies, suppressed facts, slander, and prejudice. It was accompanied by an editorial by Max Eastman
claiming that the AP had not only suppressed the facts of the strike, but that the AP had a profound conflict of interest. Despite the AP's denials, its local AP representative, Cal Young, was also a member of the military tribunal passing judgment on the strikers. The AP responded with two suits of criminal libel
against Eastman and Young on November 1913 and January 1914. Both suits eventually were dropped. The AP's specific reasons for dropping the suits, and its general relationship to labor, are explored in Upton Sinclair
's 1919 exposé The Brass Check
.
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
coal miners and coal operators in Kanawha County, West Virginia
Kanawha County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 200,073 people, 86,226 households, and 55,960 families residing in the county. The population density was 222 people per square mile . There were 93,788 housing units at an average density of 104 per square mile...
, centered around the area enclosed by two streams, Paint Creek and Cabin Creek
Cabin Creek, West Virginia
Cabin Creek is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Cabin Creek is located on the south bank of the Kanawha River, southeast of Chesapeake. It was the site of an early African-American community in the late nineteenth century. A notable resident was Adam...
.
The strike lasted from April 18, 1912 through July 1913. After the confrontation, Fred Stanton, a banker, estimated that the strike and ensuing violence cost $100,000,000. The confrontation directly caused perhaps fifty violent deaths, as well as many more deaths indirectly caused by starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
and malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
among the striking miners. In the number of casualties it counts among the worst conflicts in American labor union history.
The strike was a prelude to subsequent labor-related West Virginia conflicts in the following years, the Battle of Matewan
Battle of Matewan
The Battle of Matewan was a shootout in the town of Matewan, West Virginia in Mingo County on May 19, 1920 between local miners and the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency....
and the Battle of Blair Mountain
Battle of Blair Mountain
The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the largest civil uprisings in United States history and the largest armed insurrection since the American Civil War...
.
The demands
The violence on Paint Creek and Cabin Creek began with a United Mine Workers of America strike in April 1912.Prior to the strike there were 96 coal mines in operation on Paint Creek and Cabin Creek, employing 7500 miners. Of these mines, the forty-one on Paint Creek were all unionized, as was all of the rest of Kanawha River
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
coal field except for the 55 mines on Cabin Creek. However, miners on Paint Creek received compensation of 2½¢ less per ton than other union miners in the area.
When the Paint Creek union negotiated a new contract with the operators in 1912, they demanded that operators raise the compensation rate to the same level as the surrounding area. This increase would have cost operators approximately fifteen cents per miner per day, but the operators refused. The union called a strike for April 18, 1912. Their demands were:
- "That the operators accept and recognize the union"
- "That the miners right to free speech and peaceable assembly be restored"
- "That black-listing discharged workers be stopped"
- "That compulsory trading at company stores be ended"
- "That cribbing be discontinued and that 2,000 pounds of mined coal constitute a ton"
- "That scales be installed at mines to weigh the tonnage of the miners"
- "That miners be allowed to employ their own check-weighmen to check against the weights found by company check-weighmen, as provided by law"
- "That the two check-weighmen determine all docking penalties"
After little debate, the Paint Creek miners decided to join the Cabin Creek miners and declared their own strike.
The strike
After the strike began, the national United Mine WorkersUnited Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...
pledged full support, hoping to spread the union into Southern West Virginia, a longtime goal of the union. The UMW promised full financing and any aid it could provide to support strikers.
Partly because of the influence of the UMW, the strike was conducted without violence for its first month. However, on May 10, 1912, the operators on Paint Creek and Cabin Creek hired the notorious Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency to break the strike. Baldwin–Felts responded by sending more than 300 mine guards led by Albert Felts, Lee Felts, and Tony Gaujot
Activist Mother Jones arrived in June, as mine owners began evicting workers from their rented houses, and brought in replacement workers. Beatings, sniper attacks, and sabotage were daily occurrences. Through July, Jones rallied the workers, made her way through armed guards to persuade another group of miners in Eskdale, West Virginia
Eskdale, West Virginia
Eskdale is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Eskdale is south of East Bank. Eskdale has a post office with ZIP code 25075....
to join the strike, and organized a secret march of three thousand armed miners to the steps of the state capitol in Charleston
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
to read a declaration of war to Governor William E. Glasscock
William E. Glasscock
William Ellsworth Glasscock was an American politician who served as the 13th Governor of West Virginia as a Republican from 1909 to 1913....
. On July 26, miners attacked Mucklow, present-day Gallagher
Gallagher, West Virginia
Gallagher is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Gallagher is south-southwest of Pratt. Gallagher has a post office with ZIP code 25083....
, leaving at least twelve strikers and four guards dead.
On September 1st, a force of over 5,000 miners from the north side of the Kanawha River
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
joined the strikers' tent city, leading Governor Glasscock to establish martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
in the region the following day. The 1,200 state troops confiscating arms and ammunition from both sides lessened tensions to some degree, but the strikers were forbidden to congregate, and were subject to fast, unfair trials in military court. Meanwhile strikers' families began to suffer from hunger, cold, and the unsanitary conditions in their temporary tent colony at Holly Grove.
On October 15th, martial law was lifted, only to be re-imposed on November 15th and lifted on January 10th by Governor Glasscock, with less than two months left in office. On February 7th Mucklow was again attacked by miners with at least one casualty. In retaliation that evening, the Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill and a group of detectives attacked the Holly Grove miners' settlement with an armored train, called the "Bull Moose Special", attacking with machine guns and high-powered files, putting 100 machine-gun bullets through the frame house of striker Cesco Estep and killing him. Another miners' raid on Mucklow killed at least two people a few days later, and on February 10th martial law was imposed for the third and final time.
Mother Jones was arrested on February 13th in Pratt
Pratt, West Virginia
Pratt is a town in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States, along the Kanawha River. The population was 551 at the 2000 census.-History:The Pratt Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-Geography:...
and charged in military court for inciting riot (reportedly for attempting to read the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
), and, later, conspiracy to commit murder. She refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the military court, and refused to enter a plea. Jones was sentenced to twenty years in the state penitentiary and acquired a case of pneumonia.
New governor Dr. Henry D. Hatfield
Henry D. Hatfield
Henry Drury Hatfield was a Republican politician from Logan County, West Virginia. He served a term as the 14th Governor of the state, in addition to one term in the United States Senate...
was sworn in on March 4th and immediately traveled to the area as his first priority. He released some thirty individuals held under martial law, transferred Mother Jones to Charleston for medical treatment, and in April moved to impose conditions for the strike settlement. Strikers had the choice to accept Hatfield's somewhat favorable terms, or be deported from the state. The Paint Creek miners accepted and signed the "Hatfield Contract" on May 1st. The Cabin Creek miners continued to resist, with some violence, until the end of July.
Aftermath
Mother Jones remained under house arrest, in Mrs. Carney's Boarding HouseMother Jones Prison
Mother Jones' Prison, also known as Mrs. Carney's Boarding House, is a former National Historic Landmark located at Pratt, Kanawha County, West Virginia. It was a large two story structure constructed by the Willis Brothers and used mostly as a boarding house...
, until she smuggled out a message through a secret trapdoor in her room, a message sent to pro-labor Indiana Senator John Worth Kern. Governor Hatfield released Jones, without comment, after a total of 85 days imprisonment.
The Senate's Kern Resolution
Kern Resolution
The Kern Resolution, sponsored by Sen. John W. Kern of Indiana and adopted on May 27th, 1913, called for an investigation into the then ongoing Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912 in West Virginia....
of May 26th 1913 led to the United States Senate's Committee on Education and Labor opening an investigation into conditions in West Virginia coal mines. Congress almost immediately authorized two similar investigations the cooper mining industry in Michigan, and mining conditions in Colorado.
One theme of the Senate hearings was an attempt to identify the number of deaths related to the strike, and responsibility for them. One source estimates "perhaps fifty violent deaths" without estimating the effect of the conditions in the tent camp.
The strike came to national attention in July 1913, cartoonist Art Young
Art Young
Arthur "Art" Young was an American cartoonist and writer. He is most famous for his socialist cartoons, especially those drawn for the left wing political magazine The Masses between 1911 and 1917.-Early Years:...
published a cartoon in The Masses
The Masses
The Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the U.S. from 1911 until 1917, when Federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was succeeded by The Liberator and then later The New Masses...
called "Poisoned at the Source" depicting the president of The Associated Press, Frank B. Noyes
Frank Brett Noyes
Frank Brett Noyes was president of the Washington Evening Star, and a founder of the Associated Press. He was a son of Crosby Stuart Noyes.-References:...
, poisoning a well labeled 'The News' with lies, suppressed facts, slander, and prejudice. It was accompanied by an editorial by Max Eastman
Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. For many years, Eastman was a supporter of socialism, a leading patron of the Harlem Renaissance and an activist for a number of liberal and radical causes...
claiming that the AP had not only suppressed the facts of the strike, but that the AP had a profound conflict of interest. Despite the AP's denials, its local AP representative, Cal Young, was also a member of the military tribunal passing judgment on the strikers. The AP responded with two suits of criminal libel
Criminal libel
Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used....
against Eastman and Young on November 1913 and January 1914. Both suits eventually were dropped. The AP's specific reasons for dropping the suits, and its general relationship to labor, are explored in Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
's 1919 exposé The Brass Check
The Brass Check
The Brass Check is a muckraking exposé of American journalism by Upton Sinclair published in 1919. It focuses mainly on newspapers and the Associated Press wire service, along with a few magazines. Other critiques of the press had appeared, but Sinclair reached a wider audience with his personal...
.