The explosions of 1892 had abated and the unions resumed their actions in the Silver Valley of Idaho. While some pushed forward the plight of the workers in Idaho the nation was gripped by a massive economic depression. Unemployment rose dramatically and wages were cut to save money. The crisis led to a decrease in demand for silver nationally and the miners saw their jobs evaporate. The unions were even more determined to protect the workers and increased their efforts to organize.
The Western Federation of Miners was an increasingly active union and helped to move the issue along. Leadership was strong and concessions were won, but in 1899 events led to another violent eruption. The Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines closed their doors then reopened without union workers. All the advancements made between the owners and the miners were lost and unemployed workers looked for a way to strike back. May Hutton who had an increasing involvement in the union cause in Idaho held and attended meetings. She bolstered the cause casting even more aspersions toward the corporate mine owners who she felt were taking advantage of the workers.
May had a long history of rooting for the underdog and she was incensed by what she viewed as the rabid greed of mine owners. Something had to be done but she could not have foreseen the events of Saturday April 29, 1899. The night before the officers of the Coeur d’Alene Executive Miners Union had met and voted to blow up the concentrator of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine. A meeting was held Saturday morning at the Union Hall in Burke where other union votes were cast. By a narrow victory of those present they voted to blow up the concentrator.
Al Hutton, May’s husband, and a railroad engineer went to work that morning heading up toward the mines that were now the target of the worker’s wrath. He left for Burke canyon to bring back down ore cars that were ready for Wallace and then return with empty ones for the mine. Men who had been at the meeting had gone to arm themselves and began to assemble at the railroad station. Al was held by gunpoint and ordered to the powder house at the Frisco mine. Later his possible complicity was called to attention with some claiming he was a willing participant in the following actions.
Box cars were filled with over three hundred pounds of powder and as Al progressed down the tracks he was ordered to stop along the route to pick up more men. Some eight hundred to one thousand rode what was termed the “Dynamite Express.” When they reached the concentrator the guards and the few mine employees there fled the growing mob. Participants got busy placing the explosives under the support pilings and lit the fuses. Three massive blasts destroyed the structure and miners rejoiced in their success. As they made their way back to Wallace some of the men reflected on their actions and wondered what the repercussions would be; they knew that the actions of the day would not go unanswered.
Sources:
Arksey, Laura. “Hutton, May Arkwright (1860-1915).” History Link: The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, http://historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7547 (accessed March 8, 2009).
“Fatal Idaho Labor Riots.” The New York Times, April 30, 1899.
Horner, Patricia Voeller. “May Arkwright Hutton: Suffragist and politician.” in Women in Pacific Northwest History: An Anthology, ed. Karen J. Blair, 25-42. Seattle: University of Wasington Press, 1990.
Leinberger, Lisa. “Gravesite monument memorializes Huttons.” Spokesman Review, April 17, 2008.
Montgomery, James. Liberated Woman. Fairfield: Ye Galleon Press, 1985.
Schwantes, Carlos Arnaldo. The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
Washington State Historical Society: Digital Collection. “May Arkwright Hutton Collection”. http://digitum.washingtonhistory.org/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/hutton (accessed March 8, 2009).
