Photo  from Washington, West of the Cascades

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

In the midst of one of the worst economic depressions of the 19th century, thousands of unemployed workers were called upon nationwide to march in protest at Washington D.C. in 1894. They gained the nickname “Coxey’s Army” after their Ohio-based leader, Jacob Coxey. The Coxeyites in the Pacific Northwest were among the most radical followers, and dubbed themselves the Northwest Industrial Army. If you consider they used guerilla tactics and got into several skirmishes involving firearms, they really were an army.

In the spring of 1894 the Seattle and Tacoma units of the Northwestern Industrial Army met in Puyallup, using that town as their springboard for the cross-country journey. They numbered over 1000. In other states some of the government officials were sympathetic to the movement, but Washington Gov. McGraw was no friend to the Army.

Train hijacking in small groups became the main mode of transportation for the industrial soldiers. The following article in the May 11, 1894 issue of the Bellingham Bay Reveille, published out of New Whatcom, not only gives us a case study in the conflict, but also demonstrates a statewide interest in this struggle:

THE BATTLE AT SPRAGUE

The Coxeyites Attempt to Steal a Train and are Driven off by Marshals Who Pour a Volley Into Them — A Mob Starving at the Columbia and Row Probable.

ARE GETTING DISCOURAGED

“SPOKANE, Wash., May 8.–Telegrams from Sprague bring information that a collision occurred at that place between the industrials and United States marshals, arising out of an attempt on the part of the industrials to capture a cattle train. Circumstances of the affray as near as can be learned were as follows:”

“A cattle train passed through Sprague at the rate of 30 miles an hour, backing to Patterson. An industrial who was secreted on the train succeeded in manipulating the brakes and the train came to a standstill at a point about four miles out of Sprague, where some thirty industrials were lying in the grass. A posse of marshals was close at hand, watching the industrials. As the train slowed down and stopped, the industri[als] made a rush for it, when the marshals arose and fired a volley into their ranks. Some twenty shots were fired. It is not known whether any were injured. Before the train started again ten of the industrials succeeded in getting aboard and made their way to Spokane.”

“Excitement over the affair is intense in Spokane and at Sprague United States deputy marshals are holding a large body of industrials in check at the bridge across the Columbia river and will permit no man known to belong to the army to cross. Industrials are in a serious plight, for there is no town for seventy miles on that side of the river at which they can get anything to eat. Starvation is staring them in the face and they are becoming desperate. If they are not permitted to cross the river, there will likely be serious trouble, as the men will be like hungry wolves at bay.”

“At this point a deputy marshal found a man, presumably an industrial, stealing a ride on a brake under a car. He pointed a pistol at the man and ordered him out. A gang of industrials seized the deputy and beat him severely, nearly killing him. There are 300 of the industrial army who have succeeded in reaching Spokane; 200 are still at Sprague, and nearly all the others who left Seattle and Tacoma are scattered at different points along the line of the Northern Pacific in Eastern Washington.”

In Yakima and Montana some battles resulted in death or serious injury. A few soldiers in this tattered Army did reach Washington, D.C. and participated in the protest. Northwest historian Carlos A. Schwantes in his Coxey’s Army : An American Odyssey (1985) includes a nice chapter on the Northwestern Industrial Army and their vainglorious leader Frank “Jumbo” Cantwell, a boxer and bouncer who wore a special gaudy uniform while leading his troops. Cantwell had a long history of conflicts with the law before, during, and after 1894.

Much of the discontent of 1894 served as a prelude to the Populist sweep of 1896.

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library:

Here’s an account from the May 23, 1891 issue of the Buckley Banner about the morning the wine flowed liked, well, wine:

 COLLISION OF FREIGHT TRAINS

 Iron Horses Bump Together at White River Bridge.

 A Gala Day For Buckley.

 Free Wine and a Free Fight.

 Fourth of July Nowhere in Comparison.

 “Early Thursday morning as freight train No. 56 pulled out of town and swung round the curve in the cut this side of White River bridge, her engineer caught sight of another freight train clattering across the bridge. The air brakes were quickly turned on and the fireman and engineer jumped for their lives, the men on the other engine doing likewise, and the two engines slammed together and locked horns, as it were, about a hundred feet from the end of the trestle. Had the east bound train been a few seconds ahead the collision would have occurred on the bridge or trestle, which are nearly half a mile long and nearly a hundred feet high at most points, and the train men would have gone to sure destruction. As it was no one was hurt, and as both engines and most of the cars remained on the track, the wrecking train which arrived on the scene shortly before noon made quick work of clearing up the debris, and the passenger trains got through at about 2 o’clock.”

“A car-load of ice and one of grain were thrown clear off the track, and another car containing a lot of hogs was pitched to one side and badly smashed.”

“A car containing forty-five barrels of wine of different kinds was almost completely telescoped by the tender of the east bound train, and the wine flowed in streams in every direction. A few barrels were thrown out of the car by the concussion and saved intact.”

“The news of the occurrence reached Buckley at an early hour, and before 7 o’clock many had started to view the wreck, and number increased till the railroad track was lined with men, women and children hastening eagerly forward to the scene of the catastrophe. Children forgot to go to school, women deserted their breakfast dishes and men abandoned their positions in the mills which whistled repeatedly to recall them but in vain. Ye Banner man gulped down a hasty breakfast and joined the throng. Once on the track the peculiar aroma of good California wine became noticeable, and ye reporter needed not the frequent admonition of parties returning to make haste to the front. An immense crowd had gathered about the wreck. Many of the ladies and men took positions on the bluff overlooking the scene, but the debris was surrounded by a vast army of men and boys, most of whom were bunched immediately in front of the car which contained the liquor. A continual stream of mixed drinks trickled down along the whole length of the side of the car, and tin pans, old cans and every kind of vessel that could be brought into requisition were rapidly filled and drained off, while many began to arrive with buckets and milk pans to obtain a supply to take to their homes. The scene was amusing and yet in many respects extremely disgusting. Boys and men, unable to obtain a dirty old tin can, would occasionally hold their mouths under the drip and guzzle like hogs catching drips under a watering trough. People continued to arrive from both sides of the river and buckets continued to increase. Section men and members of the steel gang instead of protecting the company’s property joined the hobos and made the most of their opportunity to get full. A number of church members, noted for their piety took an active part in the exercises, and an effort was made by a photographer present to include them in a photograph of the scene but not with much success, as they retreated until he changed his position.”

“After awhile the liquor began to tell upon a goodly number of bibulous citizens, and not unexpectedly a fight was started and a whole mob of staggering heroes engaged in a regular old-fashioned Irish set-to. Sticks, stones and profanity prevailed vigorously and was kept up until Constables Mock and Albro interfered. The contrast at this stage of proceedings between the quietly grunting hogs in one of the wrecked cars and the assembly of American intelligence rioting around about the spilled liquor was decidedly in favor of the hogs. Some sober railroad men arrived on the premises finally and took charge of things, and as soon as the supply of liquor was shut off and the hot sun began to be felt, the large number who were the worse for liquor lay down on the scene of the battle to rest, while the crowd of sight seers gradually found their way back to town. Only one arrest was made in the morning, but several hobos landed in the cooler during the afternoon. Take it altogether it was a great day for Buckley. The scene about the wreck and the exhibition of human nature will long be remembered by its observers.”

Sometimes it is best for me to get out of the way of the original reporter and let the story be told as pure as possible. This is one of those times.

Map image from County of Pierce, Washington / by Fred G. Plummer, published by W,D,C, Spike & Co., in 1890.