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1921 Battle of Blair Mountain ending ?...
1921 Battle of Blair Mountain ending ?...
Item # 725003
September 06, 1921
THE BETHLEHEM TIMES, Penn., Sept. 6, 1921
* Battle of Blair Mountain ending ?
* Mingo County coal wars - Logan Co.
The top of the front page has a two column heading: "FEDERAL TROOPS IN THE WEST VA. COAL FIELDS IN COMPLETE CONTROL THERE" with subheads. (see images)
Complete with 12 pages, light toning and some wear at the margins, generally good.
NOTE: This issue comes with a acid-free folder (gratis) for protection.
background: By September 5, 1921, the smoke was finally clearing over Logan County, West Virginia, as the Battle of Blair Mountain reached its weary conclusion following the intervention of the United States Army. While the miners had spent days engaged in grueling trench warfare against the coal-company-backed forces of Sheriff Don Chafin—even enduring aerial bombardment from private planes—the arrival of federal troops on the 4th and 5th fundamentally shifted the dynamic. Refusing to fire upon the same flag many of them had fought under during World War I, the estimated 10,000 miners began to surrender their weapons or quietly melt back into the Appalachian hills, hiding their red bandanas and rifles to evade arrest. This date signaled a somber victory for the "Coal Barons," as the immediate uprising was suppressed and followed by nearly a thousand indictments for murder and treason, effectively crippling the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in the region for a generation. Despite the tactical defeat, the events of early September 1921 remain the most violent labor confrontation in American history, serving as a brutal testament to the struggle against the oppressive "company town" system.
Category: The 20th Century
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