153: West Virginia’s Mine Wars: From Trouble in Matewan to the Battle of Blair Mountain
Apr 8, 2024
Explore the largest US uprising post-Civil War with West Virginia's Mine Wars, inspired by Mother Jones. Witness bloody clashes in Mingo County and the murder of Police Chief Sid Hatfield leading to a 10,000-strong miner rebellion at Blair Mountain against Sheriff Don Chafin's forces and the US Army intervention.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
The Matewan Shootout
In Matewan, WV, Baldwin-Felts detectives evicted miners from company housing.
Police Chief Sid Hatfield intervened, leading to a shootout.
insights INSIGHT
Early National Unions
The National Labor Union (1866) pushed for an eight-hour workday but dissolved quickly.
The Knights of Labor (1869) promoted cooperatives and broad worker organization.
insights INSIGHT
West Virginia Unionization Challenges
The UMWA struggled to unionize West Virginia miners due to company town control.
Mining companies owned housing, stores, and even paid in company script.
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“I want to say make no settlement until they sign up that every bloody murderer of a guard has got to go.”
This is the story of the largest uprising in the United States since the Civil War.
As unions spread across the Progressive-Era United States, West Virginia mine owners manage to keep them out. They have some good reasons (tough margins) and some less savory ones … like their preference for an oppressive “mine guard system” in “company towns” that effectively removes civil government and private ownership, and reduces the American citizens working in their mines to serfdom. Mother Jones inspires the miners to push back.
Over the course of a decade, that pushback turns bloody – especially in Mingo County. But the worst of it comes just after the Great War, as the miner’s hero, Police Chief Sid “Two Gun” Hatfield, is murdered in cold blood at McDowell County Courthouse. Now, all bets are off. 10,000 miners grab their guns, ready to get revenge and free incarcerated miners. But they’ll have to go through Sheriff Don Chafin’s forces first. The two sides clash at Blair Mountain as the US Army arrives with regiments and aviation squadrons.
History That Doesn't Suck