The Battle of Blair Mountain

In 1885, coal miners formed the National Federation of Miners which eventually evolved into the United Mine Workers. The UMW grew rapidly, but it faced a major problem in one state where the union movement lagged far behind. In West Virginia, there were enough non-union mines to allow big business to hold out. So the new union called in for backup, bringing in the big guns of the American Federation of Labor to help them rally non-union miners to the cause. But company police regularly conducted drive by shootings, they would abduct and beat organizers and often even murder them.