———-
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday June 29, 1899
Edward H. Hamilton Reports from the Coeur d’Alene Country, Part II of IV
From the San Francisco Examiner of June 27, 1899:
Note: Sadly, it was thought necessary by The Examiner to specify that the soldiers committing acts of terror against the miners in the bullpen are “Blacks” or “Negro troopers,” but whenever white soldiers and/or deputized company gunthugs commit acts of terror against strikers, the race of those perpetrators of despotism is never mentioned.
—–
—–
——
[Hamilton on Military Despotism over Political Freedom.]
Wallace, (Ida.),-June 26. The struggle over the attempt to oust from office the three County Commissioners began to-day. These Commissioners are what we would call Supervisors in California, and what the army of the United States has to do with a political contest over their positions it is hard for an impartial man to see. Yet two of those three Commissioners were arrested by the soldiers, thrown Into the bull-pen and kept there with the arrested miners. They are constructively in custody to this day, though not now in the military prison.
There is not even a pretense that these two men were engaged in the rioting and murders of April 29th. They were not present. The charges against them are entirely technical. Most of these charges are ridiculously so. The Commissioners are accused of not holding meetings on a certain day; of allowing certain small bills which they should have rejected, especially bills for work which two of them performed themselves, and, finally, with not preventing the rioting of April 29th. Yet on these charges two of three have been kept in jail, while the third, equally guilty, if there has been any guilt, has not been arrested or hampered in any way…..
[Hamilton on Military Despotism over Freedom of the Press.]
Muzzling the Press.
But when we leave the matter of complaints about the rigors of imprisonment and take up the suppression of the Mullan “Mirror,” and the assault upon that free press guaranteed by the Constitution, we come upon an outrage that has no reason able excuse.
Wilbur H. Stewart, editor of the “Mirror,” was arrested for publishing a seditious newspaper. His snappy wife [Maggie Stewart], a hand some young woman, managed to get the paper out regularly, notwithstanding she had three little children to support. She set the type herself and worked three days and nights without sleep. Finding that the ar rest of Stewart did not stop the publication of the paper, Auditor Bartlett Sinclair, Governor Steunenberg’s representative, sent a deputy and a company of cavalry, surrounded Mrs. Stewart’s house and took away nearly all the type from the printing office, awkwardly but not intentionally “pieing” much that they left behind.
The Offense of the “Mirror.”
Now, the “Mirror” was abusive. It said many harsh things about the State officials and the mine owners who now rule the roost. Its adjectives were not chosen with sense of delicacy. There were charges which, if untrue, would have warranted a suit for criminal libel. But as for “sedition,” or the probability of the newspaper’s utterances leading to further violence-bah! I venture to say that the charge in that matter was not honestly made. The Mullan “Mirror” might have gone on publishing such articles till the crack o’ doom and no one would have been harmed and no man would have been impelled to resist martial law. If the attempt to suppress the paper had not been aimed at one of the elementary liberties of Americans, it would have been ludicrous and assinine.
The Editor’ Plucky Wife.
But to make the matter still more ridiculous, the paper was not suppressed. The plucky wife and mother was not to be put-down by a deputy and a company of cavalry. She says she was followed and shadowed. But the Mullan “Mirror” came out on time and right along, and that woman’s fight against a contemptible oppression deserves the plaudits of every man who believes in the loyalty of a wife and the right to resist tyranny. The “taste” of the Mullan “Mirror” is open to serious question. The miserable effort to strike at a free press is not.
Editor Stewart was kept in the bullpen until Saturday. He is a pale, delicate little man, and I am told they forced him to promise that he would cease his attacks on the authorities. Then they let him out. If that Is not bald tyranny, what is it?…..
[Emphasis added.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCES & IMAGES
Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege, Ab Chp III
https://www.iww.org/history/library/MotherJones/autobiography/3
The Examiner
(San Francisco, California)
-June 27, 1899
https://www.newspapers.com/image/458101570/
Bull Pen at Wardner Idaho, Part II of
Series by Edward H Hamilton for San Francisco Examiner
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33327390/bull_pen_at_wardner_idaho_part_ii_of/
Note: this is an exceptional series by a reporter who traveled to the scene and gathered the facts of the situation. Altho not written from the miners’ point of view, it appears that Hamilton made a real attempt to interview all sides before forming an opinion. This series of articles makes subscribing to newspapersdotcom worth the price. (I am not paid to recommend, but certainly do.)
Note: Sadly, it was thought necessary in reports of the day to specify that the soldiers committing acts of terror against the miners in the bullpen were “Negro soldiers” or “colored troops,” but whenever white soldiers and/or deputized company gunthugs committed acts of terror against strikers, their race was not mentioned, take, for example, the butchers of Ludlow, Calumet, Raleigh County WV, etc etc etc etc….
The Butchers of Ludlow
Citizens of Ludlow Tent Colony Massacred by Whites
White Native-Born Troopers Placed Over Colonists of Many Nationalities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Karl_linderfelt.jpg
See also:
Hellraisers Journal: Four Part Series from San Francisco Examiner: Edward H. Hamilton on Tyranny in Idaho
Part I
Re Shoshone County Commissioners
Idaho’s Bunker Hill
The Rise and Fall of a Great Mining Company, 1885-1981
-by Katherine G. Aiken
University of Oklahoma Press, 2005
(search separately: “shoshone county commissioners”; boyle stimson simmons)
https://books.google.com/books?id=U2_J35MwL0IC
Tag: Maggie Stewart
https://weneverforget.org/tag/maggie-stewart/
Tag: Wardner ID Bullpen of 1899
https://weneverforget.org/tag/wardner-id-bullpen-of-1899/
“Printer’s Pie (Pi)” by Blogger Carole
http://letterpressdaughter.blogspot.com/2010/05/printers-pie-pi.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dedicated to Maggie Stewart, Rebel Girl of Mullan ID, 1899
Rebel Girl – Alyeah Hansen
Lyrics by Joe Hill