I loved the people on the Range…
the blond children of the Finnish workers,
with their rosy cheeks…
the dark-eyed Italian children,
trying to be friends.
-Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Hellraisers Journal, Friday December 22, 1916
Mesabi Range – Three Strikers to Be Sent to Prison
From the Bemidji Daily Pioneer of December 16, 1916, we learn the sad news that three strikers will be sent to the state penitentiary in Stillwater as a result of plea deal reached in Duluth:
THREE SENT TO “PEN” FOR
KILLING SHERIFF*
—–[*Note: the so-called “sheriff” in the title of this article was actually a deputized company gunthug who committed an illegal and violent raid upon the Masonovich home.]
Duluth, Dec. 16.-Three of the eight persons indicted for the murder of Deputy Sheriff Thomas James C. Myron during the strike trouble at Biwabik on July 3 last appeared before Judge Cant in district court here and pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter in the first degree. They were each sentenced to terms of not more than 20 years in the state penitentiary at Stillwater.
The prisoners who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree were:
Philip Masonovich, 35; Joe Cernagorcevich, 37, and Joe Nickich, 22.
The murder charge against two others, one a woman, was dismissed and the defendants were given their freedom.
In the three remaining cases which are those pending against the Industrial Workers of the World organizers Carlo Tresca, Sam Scarlet [Scarlett], and Joe Schmidt, continuances were ordered. These three were given their freedom in the mean time.
