Tag: Emma F Langdon

Hellraisers Journal: Telluride Strike Settled, Western Federation of Miners Claims Victory; Brother Guy Miller Reports

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Emma F Langdon, Miners Are My Brothers, EFL p244, 1904

Hellraisers Journal – Friday December 2, 1904
Telluride, Colorado – W. F. of M. Claims Victory as Strike Is Settled

The long and bravely fought Telluride Strike has been settled, and the Western Federation of Miners is claiming the victory. The strikers have endured military despotism, bullpens, vigilante attacks, deportations, and more during the past year. Nevertheless, they have endured to the end of the strike and that end comes with all of their demands being met in full.

WFM Colorado Strike 1903-1904, Telluride deportations

From the Wichita Daily Eagle of December 1, 1904:

STRIKE IS SETTLED
———-

Both Sides Are Rejoicing Over the Results

Charles Moyer Prz WFM, EFL p82, 1904

Telluride, Col., Nov. 30-Both mine owners and union miners are rejoicing over the action of the district miners’ association in session at Ouray ending the strike in this district which was called September 1, 1903. President Charles H. Moyer of the Western Federation of Miners, who was imprisoned here for several months last summer during military occupation of the camp, has made the following statement concerning the action of the miners’ association which was taken in accordance with is advice:

We have called the strike off because we take the position that the issues involved have been conceded by the mine owners and operators in the Telluride district, in that they recently posted notices to the effect that after December 1 they would grant an eight hour work day both for their mills and smelters and a minimum wage scale of $3. These demands were made over a year ago. We have had no conference with either the mine owners or mine operators and have no knowledge of what position they are going to take regarding the union. But the fact that they have granted our demands indicates that they will ask no questions and neither will we ask any questions, and I believe that within sixty days every mill at Telluride and Ophir will be running to their full capacity with the best workmen in the west employed.

During the past ten days the Telluride Citizens’ Alliance has deported six or eight of our men, but I do not believe the mine owners of Telluride had anything to do with this deportation. I believe the mine owners are inclined to treat us fairly and to meet us half way and I believe that public sentiment will demand that the Citizens’ Alliance keep out of the question entirely.

“What do you think will be the result of this action on the Cripple Creek situation?” Mr. Moyer was asked.

I believe a change will occur within sixty days that will be for the betterment of the Cripple Creek situation. The strike may not be settled entirely in that time, but I am sure a larger number of men will be at work than at present. During the past few days many union members, including some of the men deported by the military and business men last summer, have returned expecting the strike to be called off. Since the inauguration of the strike the mines and mills of the district have never been operated to their full capacity. 

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Telluride Strike Settled, Western Federation of Miners Claims Victory; Brother Guy Miller Reports” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mrs. Langdon Reports on the Torture and Deportation of A. G. Leduc of the Western Federation of Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III————————-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 1, 1904
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – The Torture and Deportation of A. G. Leduc

DRWG Siberia CO Citizens Alliance, AtR p1, June 25, 1904

Terror still reigns against union miners and union sympathizers in the Cripple Creek Strike Zone of Colorado. Mrs. Emma Langdon, of Victor, Colorado, reports from the Cripple Creek Strike zone:

The Inter-state Mercantile Company is seeking relief through the federal courts from mob terror. This company operates the stores which assist the striking miners and their families, and, being run by an out-of-state company, they are able to take their case into the federal courts.

State wide pressure placed upon Governor Peabody forced the executive of the state to offer state troops to the Sheriff of Teller County in order to quell the violence of the white-cappers [Citizens Alliance]. This offer was rejected by Sheriff Bell, the sheriff chosen by the white-cappers to replace Sheriff Robertson who was deemed too sympathetic to the W. F. of M. and was forced to resign or be hanged.

Sheriff Bell has now arrested a member of the clergy, Rev. Leland, who is considered too friendly to the union cause.

And finally Mrs. Langdon reports on the case of A. G. Leduc, member of the Western Federation of Miners. Leduc was kidnapped by the white-cappers, beaten, terrorized and driven from the his home and family. He was able to make his way to Denver, but his condition is serious.

MRS. EMMA F. LANGDON REPORTS
FROM THE CRIPPLE CREEK STRIKE ZONE
—————

Interstate Mercantile Company Appeals to Federal Court

On August 23, H. N. Heinerdinger, manager of the Inter-state Mercantile Company, which had some time previously, taken the control of the union stores of the district, applied to Judge Riner and Judge Hallett of the Federal court, first for an injunction restraining any one in the Cripple Creek district from interfering with the operations of the store; second, for damages against Teller county and certain individuals for the wrecking of the store, and third, individual suits for personal damage brought by Mr. Heinerdinger and F. J. Hall, citizens of Montana, who purchased and owned the store in Cripple Creek.

The Mercantile Company applied for the aid of the Federal court because it was a corporation organized under the laws of Montana, which made it a citizen of another state than Colorado. It was the diversity of citizenship between the company and the defendants which gave the Federal court jurisdiction to act. Most of the other deported men being citizens of Colorado as well as the deporters, the Federal court could not act for them.

Governor Offers Troops

[With citizens of the state becoming more disturbed over the outrages perpetrated on citizens in Cripple Creek], the governor, in order to make it appear that he would make an effort to maintain law, sent the following communication to Sheriff Bell, of Teller county:

State of Colorado, Executive Chamber,
Denver, Colo., Aug. 27, 1904.
Hon. Edward Bell, Sheriff of Teller County, Cripple Creek, Colorado:

Sir—Upon Saturday, the 21st inst., there was assembled in Teller county a disorderly mob of men. This mob destroyed private property and maltreated and drove from the county a number of citizens and other persons.

Teller county has been a source of much anxiety to my administration. Order has been restored there at great expense to the state, and the militia, after a protracted service, rendered with the single purpose of making life and property secure, had only recently been withdrawn.

Your county had been freed, as I hoped, from criminal disturbers of the peace; the civil offices of your county are now filled, as I am informed, by incumbents who desire to extend to all citizens the full protection of the law. I recalled the troops because I believed and was informed that your community was once more safe in the hands of such officers. If I am right in so believing, there should be no occasion for lawless outbursts such as that of Saturday last.

I am recently informed that a similar mob of men have in contemplation another and still further outrage. I am convinced that you, as sheriff, having the full sympathy and support of the civil authorities, can and should maintain peace and lawful order. I therefore desire to say that should you not be able, with the means at your disposal, to successfully cope with the situation and maintain law and order in Teller county, I am ready to again place at your disposal the militia of this state.

Our paramount duty at this and at all times is to uphold the law and its safeguards, without distinction of interests or of individuals.

I will thank you for an early reply, and am, respectfully yours,
JAMES H. PEABODY. Governor.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mrs. Langdon Reports on the Torture and Deportation of A. G. Leduc of the Western Federation of Miners” →

Hellraisers Journal: More Striking Miners Deported from Cripple Creek; White-Cappers Chant “You Can’t Come Back”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday August 24, 1904
Cripple Creek, Colorado – Mob Warns Deported Miners: “You Can’t Come Back”

From The Rocky Mountain News of  August 21, 1904:

HdLn re Cripple Creek Deportations of Aug 20, RMN p1, Aug 21, 1904DRWG Cripple Creek Deportations of Aug 20, RMN p6, Aug 21, 1904

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: More Striking Miners Deported from Cripple Creek; White-Cappers Chant “You Can’t Come Back”” →

Hellraisers Journal: Western Federation of Miners Honors Michael O’Connell: “The soul of honor, a brave and generous man”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III————————–

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday August 20, 1904
The Western Federation of Miners Remembers Michael O’Connell

Cripple Creek District Striking Miners Deported to KS State Line, Rastall p88, 1908

Brother O’Connell died in Denver on the evening of August 6th after a fall from a fourth story window of the Markham hotel. The deposed Marshal of Victor had only recently been released on bond from the bullpen, and was then driven from his home and family, and forced to seek refuge in Denver with other deported Miners. The Miners’ Magazine, official voice of the Western Federation of Miners, remembered him as a “good, brave and generous man” who was “the soul of honor,” and “a prince among men.”
From the Miners’ Magazine of August 18, 1904:

Michael O’Connell, the deposed marshal of the city of Victor, is now numbered with the silent majority, who are wrapped in the somnus of death. The good, brave and generous man who came to Colorado with the blush of boyhood on his cheek, is now numbered with the thousands who sleep in Evergreen cemetery, in the City of the Clouds. For sixty days he suffered all the humiliation which a Mine Owners’ Association and a Citizens’ Alliance could heap upon him in a bull pen, and when his friends secured the bonds which liberated him from persecution and imprisonment, he was forced to leave his home and family under threats from a hired, blood thirsty mob. He was even denied the right of an American citizen, to remain at his home. We are told that a man’s home is his castle, and that no man or party of men, has the right to invade or trespass upon the sacred precincts of the home. But the Mine Owners’ Association and a Citizens’ Alliance have no reverence for the sanctuary of a home, no sympathy for the breaking heart-strings of a woman’s holy love for her husband and no pang of pity for the flowers of childhood that bloomed in the once happy home of Michael O’Connell.

We have known the dead man for fifteen long years. We are proud of the honor of having been numbered among his friends. The Great Ruler of human destiny and Creator of human life only ushers into existence in a generation a few men like the departed Michael O’Connell.

He was the soul of honor, a prince among men—one of those grand characters, whose every act in life soared in an atmosphere of moral grandeur where dishonor could not live. In his death, another sacrifice of human life lies indirectly at the door of the governor of this state. There was no protection for the brave and heroic marshal of Victor. He had sinned against the governor, because his heart beat in sympathy with the cause of the striking miners. He was a law-breaker and an insurrectionist, because his honor and his manhood scorned to bow in submission to the Mafia, that has been backed and supported by the armed power of the state. In the years that are to come, if a conscience returns to the chief executive of Colorado, the memory of Michael O’Connell’s death will rise up like a ghost, to haunt him in his midnight dreams.

In the Cloud City the brave man has been laid to rest. All over the jurisdiction of the Western Federation of Miners the untimely death of Michael O’Connell will be mourned, and the keenest sympathy and sorrow will be felt for his bereaved wife and fatherless children.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Western Federation of Miners Honors Michael O’Connell: “The soul of honor, a brave and generous man”” →

Hellraisers Journal: General Bell Blames Socialist and WFM for Troubles in Colorado as Terror Continues Against Strikers and the Victor Daily Record Is Destroyed

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday June 18, 1904
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – Terror Continues Against Union Miners

From The Indianapolis News of June 13, 1904:

BELL SAYS SOCIALISTS ARE
CAUSE OF TROUBLES
———

SAYS HE WILL DRIVE FEDERATION
FROM GOLD CAMP.
———
THE ONLY HOPE FOR PEACE
———

General Sherman Bell, Huntington IN Dly Ns Dem p2, June 11, 1904

CRIPPLE CREEK, June 13.-Gen. Sherman Bell has given out a statement concerning his action in deporting strikers and the causes leading up to the same. He attributes the recent troubles growing out of the miners’ strike, and the strike itself to the Socialist element in the Western Federation of Miners, which, he says, captured the organization two years ago. He declares that the federation has made unionism a secondary consideration, and the organization, root and branch, is being made a vehicle for the promotion of socialism. The leaders, he asserts, have not hesitated to cause “weak and willing members to commit any crime to strike terror to property owners or working men who refuse to abide their dictates.” The murder of non-union men by blowing up the Independence station, he charges, was “perpetrated with the aid and advice of federation leaders and by men in their employ.” The only hope for peace and security of life and property was “to exterminate the federation from the camp.”

General Bell and staff attended church yesterday and transacted no business, except what was absolutely necessary. Another party of 100 deported miners left Victor to-day, their destination being either New Mexico or Utah. The saloons of the district were opened to-day for the first time in a week.

Practically all the large mines in this district which closed down last Monday, after the explosion at Independence, were working to-day. The Portland mine has not yet been reopened and the company has not announced its plans.

———

An Appeal to Gompers.

KANSAS CITY. June 13.-The Industrial Council of this city, which claims to represent 25,000 union members, adopted resolutions [yesterday] asking President Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor, to call a meeting of the executive board of that  organization for the purpose of devising means to settle the Colorado labor troubles. Telegrams were sent to President Roosevelt asking him to investigate and to Governor Peabody, condemning his actions by the orders of the Industrial Council. Mother Jones addressed the meeting.

———-

Miners Remain at Holly.

HOLLY, Colo., June 13.-Ten of the deported miners from Cripple Creek left here at midnight Saturday for La Junta, Pueblo and Denver. The remainder are staying in town. They have paid cash for their meals and lodging and made purchases at stores. It is probable that a considerable number of the exiles will go into the country to seek work on the ranches

————————-

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: General Bell Blames Socialist and WFM for Troubles in Colorado as Terror Continues Against Strikers and the Victor Daily Record Is Destroyed” →

Hellraisers Journal: Union Miners Deported from Cripple Creek District, Dumped at Alkali Sand Dunes Without Food or Water

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday June 17, 1904
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – Union Miners Deported to Kansas State Line

Cripple Creek District Striking Miners Deported to KS State Line, Rastall p88, 1908

From the Huntington, Indiana, Daily News-Democrat of June 11, 1904:

UNION MINERS ARE BANISHED
———-

WORK OF DEPORTATION FROM
CRIPPLE CREEK BEGINS.
———
TRAIN LOAD IS TAKEN AWAY
———-
Men will Probably be Taken to Kansas State Line
-Will Not Be Permitted to Land In Colorado Cities.
———-

Colorado Springs, Col., June 11-Acting under the orders of Adjt. Gen. Sherman Bell, of the state national guard, a special train was made up shortly after noon Friday [June 10th] in the Short Line yards at Victor for the deportation of 76 union miners. The train was composed of a combination baggage car and two day coaches. Almost immediately the work of loading the men began. They were marched to the train between heavy lines of military and deputies. A crowd of fully 1,000 people had collected to see the men placed on board. Among the spectators were wives and sisters, fathers and mothers of the deported men, and the scenes were very affecting.

Mayor Harris of this city, had been apprised of the decision to deport the men, and immediately took steps to see that none of them landed in Colorado Springs. Under his instructions a large force of officers and deputy sheriffs met the special train at 6:10 p. m. for that purpose. No attempt was made, however, to unload the men here, arrangements having previously been made to send them to Kansas state line, over the Santa Fe, because of protests made against taking them to Pueblo or Denver and leaving them there.

Kansans Indignant.

Syracuse, Kan., June 11.-Sheriff Brady of this county received a telegram from Sheriff Barr, of La Junta, Col., stating that a special train, carrying 140 deported miners from Colorado, would reach Coolidge and unload the miners in Kansas. Citizens of this county are indignant at this proceeding of the Colorado authorities, and an appeal has been made to Gov. Bailey to prevent Colorado from dumping her alleged undesirable citizens into Kansas.

Will Soon Be Rid of Agitators.

Cripple Creek, Col., June 11.-The woman’s auxiliary of the miners’ union has been forbidden by the military authorities to hold meetings.

“Within 48 hours this district will be rid of all agitators and other objectionable men.” said Gen. Bell, Friday. “One deportation after another will be made until none of the men who have terrorized the district so long will be left here”

[Emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Union Miners Deported from Cripple Creek District, Dumped at Alkali Sand Dunes Without Food or Water” →

Hellraisers Journal: W. F. M. Blamed for Horrific Explosion at Independence Depot; Vigilante Terror Against Striking Miners of the Cripple Creek District Follows

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday June 16, 1904
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – W. F. M. Blamed for Independence Depot Explosion

Tuesday June 7, 1904 – Independence, Colorado
-Bomb Explodes at Railroad Depot; W. F. of M. Accused and Attacked

Independence Depot af Explosion, June 6, 1904, EFL p309, 1905

Mrs. Emma Langdon Reports from Victor, Colorado:

At about 3 o’clock on the morning of June 6, a mine of dynamite was exploded by means of an infernal machine, place underneath the station platform at Independence and thirteen men were instantly blown to fragments and many other mutilated…

[Emphasis added.]

Mrs. Langdon reports that the Citizens’ Alliance placed the blame, without any proof whatsoever, upon the Western Federation of Miners. The militia, apparently, agrees. Union halls have been raided, and union men killed. 

From The San Francisco Call of June 7, 1904:

ANARCHY RUNS RIOT IN COLORADO;
DAY’S VICTIMS NUMBER TWENTY-TWO
——————–

Anarchy ran riot in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado yesterday. At Findley dynamite under the railroad station platform was touched off by means of a revolver so placed with a wire connection that it could be fired from a distance. The platform was crowded with non-union miners at the time. Thirteen of these men were killed and others were shockingly mangled. Then followed a succession of street riots in Victor, resulting in numerous casualties, and a charge of soldiers upon the headquarters of the miners union. Volleys were fired into the building and at least seven men were killed. At an early hour this morning the rioting had not been checked, and shooting affrays were occurring constantly.

Cripple Creek CO Explosion at Findlay RR Station, SF Call p1, June 7, 1904
Scene of Cripple Creek’s Labor Disturbances, Colorado Executive
Who Sent Troops to Enforce the Law and Head of the
Municipal Governing Body of Victor, Where Clashes
Between the State’s Soldiers and Rioters Are Continuous.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: W. F. M. Blamed for Horrific Explosion at Independence Depot; Vigilante Terror Against Striking Miners of the Cripple Creek District Follows” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Rescued from “Quarantine” in Utah; Charles Moyer and Big Bill Haywood Persecuted Under Military Despotism in Colorado

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday April 30, 1904
Mother Jones Held in Utah; Moyer and Haywood Up Against Militia in Colorado

From The Rocky Mountain New of April 27, 1904:

Mother Jones has been in Utah since her deportation from Trinidad, Colorado. There she has been working among the miners of that state, and, for her efforts, was confined under “quarantine” near Helper, Utah. This was too much for the miners of that area and a raid was made upon the pest house which freed from Mother from that place. She has since been recaptured, and, according to the following report, is now held in the Carbon County jail at Price, Utah.

Mother Jones Escapes Quarantine to County Jail, Price UT, RMN p4, Apr 27, 1904

From the American Labor Union Journal of Apr 28, 1904
-Moyer brought to Denver, but returned to bullpen at Telluride;
Haywood brutally assaulted by soldiers:

BBH Moyer v Colorado Military Despotism, ALUJ p1, Apr 28, 1904

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Rescued from “Quarantine” in Utah; Charles Moyer and Big Bill Haywood Persecuted Under Military Despotism in Colorado” →

Hellraisers Journal: Colorado Miners Continue to Suffer Under Gen. Bell’s Despotism; Moyer Will Not Be Released

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday April 9, 1904
Colorado Miners Continue to Suffer Under Military Despotism

From The San Bernardino County Sun of April 2, 1904
-Military Despotism Continues in Colorado:

COLORADO MINERS STILL SUFFERING
———-

MILITARY’S DRASTIC ACTION
———
-Moyer Will not be Allowed Freedom.
Orders are That Habeas Corpus Shall not be Accepted
-Conditions in the Trinidad Coal Fields Continue Deplorable
-Families Being Evicted.
———

by Associated Press to THE SUN.

CO Militia on Mission to Arrest BBH, DP p3, Apr 4, 1904
The Denver Post
April 4, 1904

DENVER. April 1-General Bell commanding the State troops at Telluride, this morning telephoned Chief of Police Armstrong to detail detectives to watch every movement of Secretary and Treasurer Heywood [Haywood] of the Western Federation of Miners, who is under arrest on a warrant issued by a local court, charging him with desecration of the American flag.

Bell insisted that Heywood be returned to Telluride, no matter how many local warrants were issued and when the time came, a sufficient number of soldiers will be sent from the camp to arrest him, or the Denver troops will be called out to take him.

President Moyer of the Federation last night was removed from the bull pen to the new city jail. He was then locked in a cell and denied all privileges. He is being fed only two meals daily. The Governor has ordered Bell to refuse to accept service of habeas corpus for the release of Moyer. He must stay in custody until the case is taken to the Supreme Court.

EVICTING COAL STRIKERS.

TRINIDAD, April 1.-Fully a dozen influential men among the strikers in Las Animas county have been deported in the last three days by order of Major Hill. The wholesale eviction of strikers in Gray Creek has begun. The military is refusing to allow the people evicted to settle in other parts of the country.

Almost penniless men and their families are compelled to walk long distances to reach points where assistance can be obtained. Many evictions are reported in other camps of the county and much suffering has ensued.

[Newsclip and emphasis added.]

IS COLORADO IN AMERICA?

Mrs Emma F. Langdon Reports from Colorado:

Moyer was arrested on the 26th day of March, 1904, at Ouray, and taken to Telluride, charged with desecration of the flag. He was released under $500 bond only to be immediately re-arrested by the military authorities. A warrant was also sworn out charging Secretary-Treasurer Haywood with the same offense, but before it was served a similar one had been sworn out in Denver and Haywood remained in custody of the Denver officers. Governor Peabody, when interviewed concerning the re-arrest of Moyer, disclaimed any knowledge of the facts, but stated that it was the intention to rearrest Moyer every time he secured his release on bonds.

Mrs Langdon repeats the question raised by the “Desecrated” Flag Poster:

Is Colorado in America? If you consult the map you will find it there. If you read the facts in this recent industrial struggle in the light of American history and traditions, you will find nothing to recall memories of our country’s youth or the hopes that led strange people across the sea to stretch wider the boundaries of a land where none were so strong as to be above the laws and none so weak as to be beneath their protection. There is nothing in recent history, save by the way of contrast, to recall the fact that ours is the Centennial state marking more than one hundred years of progress under the idea that ”all men are created free and equal with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

It is an unpleasant awakening from thoughts like these to a realization of such facts as were inscribed upon a symbol of the flag and burned into the hearts of thousands of Colorado’s citizens.

Desecration of the flag? Was it not the deeds done under it and not the truths inscribed upon it that constituted the desecration?

WFM Flag Poster CO America, BBH Moyer, Flag 1, Wiki

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Colorado Miners Continue to Suffer Under Gen. Bell’s Despotism; Moyer Will Not Be Released” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones to Governor Peabody: “You don’t own this state-I am right here in the capital-what in Hell are you going to do about it?

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday March 30, 1904
Denver, Colorado – Mother Jones to Governor Peabody: “You Don’t Own This State”

Mother Jones Deported, DP P10, Mar 28, 1904Mother Jones was deported by the military on orders of Governor Peabody on Saturday March 26th. With other organizers of the United Mine Workers of America, she was put aboard a Santa Fe train bound for La Junta, Colorado, some 65 miles north and east of Trinidad. They were all given deportation papers which warned them never to return. Mother sat all night in the station at La Junta, and the next morning, with the assistance of a sympathetic railroad conductor, she was able to board a train to Denver. From her hotel room, near the Governors office, she wrote the following letter:

Mr. Governor,
You notified your dogs of war to put me out of the state. They complied with your instructions. I hold in my hand a letter that was handed to me by one of them, which says “under no circumstances return to this state.” I wish to notify you, governor, that you don’t own the state. When it was admitted to the sisterhood of states, my fathers gave me a share of stock in it; and that is all they gave you. The civil courts are open. If I break a law of state or nation it is the duty of the civil courts to deal with me. That is why my forefathers established those courts to keep dictators and tyrants such as you from interfering with civilians. I am right here in the capital, after being out nine or ten hours, four or five blocks from your office. I want to ask you, governor, what in Hell are you going to do about it?

Mother Jones

[Emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones to Governor Peabody: “You don’t own this state-I am right here in the capital-what in Hell are you going to do about it?” →