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Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 2, 1908
The Overall Brigade “Abroad the Nation” from Missoula to Chicago
In the Industrial Union Bulletin of September 19th, J. H. Walsh described the journey of the Overall Brigade, riding the rails from Portland, Oregon, to the I. W. W. Convention in Chicago. He ended his account with the Brigade encamped near Missoula, Montana. The Brigade was bent on making it to Chicago by September 21st, the first day of the Convention. The story of the journey to Chicago is found completed in the latest edition of the Bulletin.
From The Industrial Union Bulletin of October 24, 1908:
ABROAD THE NATION
By J. H. WALSH.
The “Overall Brigade,” en route from Portland, Ore., to Chicago to the Fourth Annual Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World at this point, has finished another successful propaganda meeting at Missoula, Mont. This makes three successful meetings in this city. Literature sales have been the best here of any place so far on our route, while the song sales have doubled, running as high as $10 or $12 per meeting. The collections have been in the same proportion. In fact, it is the first place where the audience has thrown dollars into the crowd at the feet of the singers, as well as many smaller pieces of change that came jingling along at the same time. One collection in the hat was $14.25. This all tells one story in brief-and that is the growing sentiment toward Industrial Unionism.
It is plain to see that the lumbermen’s union, which was generally understood to be a part of the W. F. of M., will soon be a part of the I. W. W. But with all the favorable conditions and enthusiasm, and a thousand invitations for the “bunch” to return, we are off again for the railroad yards to continue our journey to the city of Butte-the noted mining camp.
Our special car is found. It goes in our direction as far as Garrison Junction. It is not a long ride, and we are now spinning along at passenger speed. The long blast of the whistle which sounds and resounds through the mountain tops and valleys on this cold morning, announces that we are approaching the junction. We are there, unloaded and off for the jungles. The cook and a delegate are on their way to the store for supplies, while the rest and the “bunch” is shivering around the camp fire.
Soon the fire is burning bright, the breakfast is cooking and the sun is making its appearance above the horizon, which adds some comfort to our condition on these cold mornings in the Rocky Mountain country. The delicious breakfast is ready and the “bunch” is congregated to partake of the passover.
The revolution and its scientific doctrines are now receiving a practical application. John D. Rockefeller, it is said, offered a million dollars one time for a working man’s appetite, but if he could get the appetite of any one of this “bunch” he would evidently give several times that amount. Further, if he really desires to get one of these appetites we can show him how it is done.
The great morning passover is to an end, and just as luck will have it, a train is starting for Butte. It runs directly past the jungles, and as it comes along nineteen passengers climb aboard. Here we find two fairly decent union breakmen, and by a small contribution we have arranged a quiet, peaceful ride in an open ore car-really a proletarian observation car. After a few hours’ ride and viewing the beautiful mountains and farm valleys, as well as a number of wage slave crews working for the Milwaukee railroad, for their board, or possibly a little more, we arrive in the great city of Butt. This, the greatest mining camp on earth, is in a lethargic stage. Times have changed. Butte is no more Butte. Thousands of idle men swarm the streets. And thousands are broke and bumming meals. As a result, our literature sales are small, our collections small, and the song sales are not what they should be. The miners’ union election is on, and it is attracting about as much attention in the city as the election of the mayor. There are some strong opponents here to the I. W. W., and at the same time there are some strong and enthusiastic supporters of the organization.
A few meetings finished our work at Butte, and we are off for Bozeman, our next stop. Our car is ready. We have but a short delay. It is a fine trip, as there is some hay in the car to sleep on. We arrive at Bozeman to find a street fair in full blast. One meeting concludes our work in this farmer town. The wrath of the powers that be was raised by the solo singer when he told he crowd that he would sing a song entitled “The Red Flag,” and which was the people’s flag-“not the one,” he continued, “like that one hanging up there” pointing to the stars and stripes, “which floated over the Colorado bull-pens.”
Our next stop was Livingston. It was only a short distance and we were soon there. At this point are some fine jungles along the Yellowstone river. Here we are for a whole day of perfect pleasure-in fact, a sample of freedom to be universal under the co-operative commonwealth. The order of the day is plenty to eat first. A bucket of “spuds” have been “bought” of the farmer. Meat has been secured. The “punk” has been cut up and with the jungle Mocha and Java steaming under your nose you are certainly glad you are alive.
Livingston is a railroad town, and our meeting was a success. A goodly amount of literature was sold, and a fairly good collection was taken, while the song cards sold extra well.
The next place on the map is Billings. Again we strike it lucky in getting “our special car” on a freight that is running second section to the North Coast Limited. We certainly are whirling along at a rapid rate. The whistle blows, and in a few seconds the train is at a stand-still in a small station, when the side door to our sleeper is shoved open and an order comes from a man at the door with a gun about two feet long, pointed into the car, to “Line up! I want to see who all is in this car.” The breakman is with him. He is puzzled, and so are we. But it proves to be some county sheriff looking for a man who shot a woman that evening in that vicinity. He is not in our bunch and the door is closed.
Soon we are all asleep again. Such fast time is made that we arrive in Billings away too early for a proletarian on this kind of a trip to arise but as “our car” does not stop we must unload. When we pile together and the air pretty chilly, and several hours between us and morning. So down in the yards we go to find an empty. It is there. One with hay in it, and soon all are in and asleep. Scarcely an hour’s rest is enjoyed until the switch engine backs in and disturbs our peaceful slumbers, and once more we are forced to look for a place to continue our sleep until morning. Luck is with us, for we find another car containing hay, and our slumbers are disturbed no more. The jungles are discovered, but they are poor and far away from the city.
In this city-Billings Mont.-we held five big meetings. The first was Saturday night, then two on Sunday, and as the Monday following was Labor(?) Day [September 7th], we held two more. All were good meetings. The literature sales were fair, and also the collections, while the songs sold extra well. At the fifth and last meeting the police notified us that we could hold no more meetings, but on a referendum vote of the “bunch” to quit, or talk and go to jail, the decision was unanimous to proceed with the program. So we continued, and with the assistance of some of the local Socialists held the streets to the extent that the chief of police said: “Let them talk.”
Of course, all this excitement created considerable attention and assisted in getting a larger crowd than ever. Even the mayor came down to listen to the truths of Industrial Unionism. This meeting completes our work here and we are ready for another move east.
Our next stop is Glendive, Mont. We are off to the yard and “our special car” is located. Soon we are on the move. It is a long trip. Part of the time we are going at a good speed and some of the time we are waiting at a small station while cattle are being loaded. This is a long, hard drill. But after a long and patient wait we hear the blast of the whistle that tells us we are near our destination. Unload and clean up is the order of the day. The bills are distributed for tonight’s meeting. Although this is a small place, the turnout was fine. A number of pamphlets were sold and a small collection taken, while the usual quota of songs were sold. With a little propaganda work carried on here a local could be started. Glendive possesses a union spirit generally prevalent in the state of Montana.
Again we are down to the yard to look for “our special car,” but this time luck is not with us, and we learn that there is no train out until 8 a. m. However, the night is fairly warm and the “bunch” is soon hid away in the tall grass and weeds near the roundhouse, with an arm for a pillow and his coat for a cover. This certainly was a night of rest, and many were the dreams of the work to be done at the Fourth Annual Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World.
It was 9 o’clock a. m. before “our train” was ready to start. This time we are off on another long trip. Our next point is Minneapolis. As the time is getting short between now and the convening of the convention, the “bunch” has decided to make the jump to Minneapolis. This is a long trip, through a farming country, but we are off.
After many hours of fast and slow riding, with troubles of a thousand different descriptions, we have arrived in the great city of Minneapolis and are on the streets holding a meeting. The program has not gone far when a guardian of the law, in beautiful blue uniform, notifies us that we are getting too large a crowd together, and that we must move down the street two blocks. We move and again proceed with our program. In a few minutes the blue coat appears again and tells the writer, who was talking, to come with him to the police station. As we start off he says: “Tell your whole bunch to come along.” So, in compliance with this invitation, the “whole bunch” soon find themselves at one of the sub-stations of the police department, but the “powers that be” at this sub-station are puzzled to know what to do, and after long consultation decide to have us all taken before the chief of police.
We arrive before his royal majesty, and a number of the “bunch” are put through a slight sweating process, but the chief of police finally decides that we can talk on the streets at certain points. The place designated is just about what we want, however. We are free people again, and the news has been heralded up and down the proletarian streets. Rain in the evening prevents a meeting. However Sunday morning, when the writer and his wife appeared on the street near a large crowd that was listening to the Starvation Army, the crowd gathered around us and the Army was left with practically no one.
On this occasion again came Mr. Policeman and notified us that if we did not move on he would lock us up. We moved across the street and the whole crowd came also. Again appeared the police and said we must go down and hold our meeting where the chief said we should. We informed the police that we were not holding any meeting; that we had simply stopped on the street to read a letter received from the west by one of the boys. By this time we had all the crowd in that part of the city and we moved down a half block and started a meeting of the Industrial Workers of the World. It was a howling success. Every person there, apparently, wanted one of those song cards, as it was over the sale of these cards, which contained “The Red Flag,” that the trouble hinged the day before.
By this time several of the true revolutionists showed up, and several big meetings were held. The literature sales were fair and the collections were good, while the song cards sold at a rapid rate. Minneapolis is a good field for future constructive work for the industrial movement.
After surveying the field at St. Paul, the “bunch” has decided to make the next jump to Chicago. Only a few days now remain until the convention, and it is not deemed advisable to take too many jail chances or we may be denied the pleasure of being at the Fourth Annual Convention. So we are off for Chicago. The “bunch” has split up on this trip, some going over one road and some over another. Little trouble was experienced on this trip, as the union card was generally good for a ride.
We arrived in Chicago a few days ahead of the convention, and held meetings here the same as en rout, but the poverty-stricken condition of the workers here results in poor sales of literature, very small collections and limited sales of song cards.
We arrived in Chicago a few days ahead of the convention, and held meetings here the same as en route, but the poverty-stricken condition of the workers here results in poor sales of literature, very small collections and limited sales of song cards.
This finishes five weeks of propaganda work, dating from the time that we left Portland until we arrived in Chicago. Very few nights were lost in travel, but on the other hand, nearly every date was made on schedule. We left Portland with twenty in the “bunch.” We lost one at the first stop. We got a new recruit at Tacoma and one at Seattle, and picked up two more at Spokane. We lost a couple between Spokane and Minneapolis. They stopped to work. Two more dropped out at Minneapolis, while the rest of the “bunch” all showed up in Chicago and were in attendance at the convention.
We were five weeks on the road. We traveled over two thousand five hundred miles. The railroad fare saved would have been about $800. We held thirty-one meetings. The receipts of the first week from literature sales and collections were $39.02. The second week, $53.66. The third week, $45.78. The fourth week, $28.10. The fifth week, $8.57. Total, $175.13. These figures do not include the song sales. The song sales were approximately $200.
[Photograph, emphasis and paragraph breaks adde.]
Songs from Industrial Union Singing Club:
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SOURCE & IMAGES
The Industrial Union Bulletin
(Chicago, Illinois)
-October 24, 1908
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iub/v2n26-oct-24-1908-iub.pdf
See also:
Tag: IWW Overall Brigade of 1908
https://weneverforget.org/tag/iww-overall-brigade-of-1908/
Tag: IWW Convention of 1908
https://weneverforget.org/tag/iww-convention-of-1908/
Re Colorado Bullpens, see:
The Cripple Strike
-by Emma F Langdon
Denver, Colorado, (1908)
(Note: editions with appendix are from 1908.)
(search: “bull pen”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=olgpAAAAYAAJ
Re phrase “Starvation Army”
-as used by Joe Hill, see:
https://progressive.org/dispatches/joe-hill-s-ghost-still-sings-pie-sky-lie/
Re IWW efforts to organize lumber workers during this period, see:
The IWW in the Lumber Industry
By James Rowan,
IWW, 1920
https://www.iww.org/history/library/Rowan/lumberindustry
Chapter 4 – The Early Struggle for Camp & Sawmill Democracy
https://www.iww.org/history/library/Rowan/lumberindustry/4
Many attempts at organization among the lumber workers have been made with varying success. In 1902 the Western Labor Union, an organization closely allied with the Western Federation of Miners, began to gain a foothold among the lumber workers of Western Montana. In 1905 this organization which had changed its name to the American Labor Union, was one of the unions which went to make up the IWW. By that time it had a considerable membership among the lumber workers of Western Montana and the union charter hung in many bunk houses.
In 1907, 1908 and 1909 there were many strikes in Western Montana, but these were only partially successful. In some camps in the neighborhood of Missoula the nine hour day was gained. Much of the output of this section was used to timber the mines of Butte. During the strike of 1908, an appeal was made to the miners of Butte to refuse to handle the timbers cut by scabs. This appeal was turned down by the corrupt clique then in control of the union and that broke the back of the strike.
In order to break up the lumber workers’ union, and also to save the faces of the miners from the reputation of using scab timbers, the lumber and copper companies made a deal with the A. F. of L., by which the latter was to invade the territory, and form a new “union” among the lumber workers. With the help of the companies the A. F. of L. lined up foremen, scabs, stools and company spotters. Many men joined this so-called union to hold their jobs. This “union” was completely controlled by the companies, and was looked upon as a joke among the workers. However it was partially successful in breaking up the then existing union which was considerably weakened by the hard struggles it had come through.
In 1907 two thousand sawmill workers struck in Portland, Oregon, tying up the lumber industry of that city. A minority were organized in the IWW and these were the leading spirits. The strike lasted about three weeks and was broken by the scabbing of the A. F. of L., which at that time was maintaining a lumber workers’ organization.
There were still many members of the IWW in the woods of the Northwest but they were scattered here and there, and were unable to make their influence felt to any great extent. However they carried on a constant agitation among their fellow workers on the job, and slowly but surely the idea of the One Big Union began to take hold in the minds of the workers in the sawmills and the camps. Lumber workers’ locals were maintained in the principal cities of the Northwest. These locals were a temporary proposition until a sufficient number of workers could be organized to form an Industrial Union.
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Workingmen Unite! – Bucky Halker