The West Virginia Coal Mine Wars

1912-1921


Together we stand, divided we fall





Introduction

In the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, much of the land of West Virginia was taken over by coal companies. Many people sold their land or were forced to sell their land, not knowing what the consequences would be.

The coal companies set up a system that gave them total control of the town and the people. The houses, hospitals, stores and even the churches were company property. To keep the miners and their families even more dependent, the companies created their own form of money, or scrip, which could only be used in the company stores.

The traditionally independent mountaineers soon became trapped in a dead-end, impossible to leave job. Fortunately, the United Mine Workers of America was created in 1897 and unions were introduced to the area.

The Southern West Virginia counties of Mingo and Logan were kept free of unions due to the iron fist ruling of Sheriff Don Chafin. In order to prevent the penetration of unions, Baldwin-Felts Detectives (gun thugs) were hired to subdue the miners. This was often achieved by carefully watching the miners and enforcing rules such as the prohibition of gathering in large groups, going out at night or anything else that could lead to the discusssion of forming a union.

Slowly, union organizers penetrated the companies and secretly got the miners to come together. Great barriers were overcome as men of different races and nationalieties worked together to achieve something that they believed in, the right to organize.

Chronology of the Coal Mine Wars

1912 - Miners strike in Paint Creek and Cabin Creek strike and are evicted from their houses; tent colonies are set up.

February 7, 1913 - The Blue Moose Specialtrain passes through the encampment of Cabin Creek and opens fire on the unarmed inhabitants. Cesco Estep is killed in fron of his seven-month pregnant wife.

1913 - A reconciliation between the coal operators and the miners leads to the right to organize in Cabin Creek and Paint Creek.

1919 - An armed march by some 5,000 miners is organized on Lens Creek with the intention of overtaking Logan county and establishing a union. The march was abandoned some days later when the miners learned that federal troops would be sent in.

1920 - Seven Baldwin-Felts detectives, two miners and the Mayor Testerman are killed in the Matewan Massacre. Sid Hatfield, the Chief of Police of Matewan who was involved in the shooting, is charged with the deaths of the detectives.

August 1, 1921 - Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers are gunned down on the steps of the McDowell County courthouse by C.E. Lively, a Baldwin-Felts detective. Lively is never convicted of the crime.

August 20, 1921 - The second armed march of the miners takes place, with the same intent as the first; to reach Logan County, overthrow the crooked Sheriff Don Chafin and organize a union. What would become known as the Battle of Blair Mountain was composed of some 10,000 armed miners in total, marching from Lens Creek in Kanawha County, to Logan County, some sixty-five miles away.

Conclusion

The Mine Wars end at the Battle of Blair Mountain where Don Chafin and 1,500 men were waiting for the miners. There was sporadic fighting for a week with surprisingly few deaths. The miners eventually disbanded when 2,000 troops, aerial forces as well as chemical warfare troops converged at Blair Mountain.

Although the miners did not succeed in forming unions in Southern West Virginia until the New Deal of 1933 granted the right to organize, the Mine Wars were victorious in that people pulled together to work for what they believed to be a worthy cause.

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This page was created by Kathy Moore as a project for English 245--Appalachian Literature, West Virginia University.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact me at kmoore2@wvu.edu