By 1889 unions had reached Idaho and there was an effort to organize the miners in the region. For years the wage earners that worked for the mine owners had faced dangerous conditions and low pay. There was a need for change and the unions brought hope and promises of improvement. May Arkwright Hutton a figure in Wallace, Idaho society was growing in importance and she contributed in the debates and organizing efforts.
Through her early years in Idaho she was acquainted with the growing inequity for the workers. She agreed with the concerns that were raised and saw the corporate owners reaping the benefits with the workers getting little in return. Organization was moving forward and there were some subtle benefits that were achieved early on but by 1892 the mine owners fought back and laid off workers that were members of a union. The union responded with help for the unemployed by bringing in food and supplies.
By April 1892 the mines instituted a lower wage scale but the unions refused to accept the new conditions. Replacement workers or “scabs” as they were called were brought in by the owners to work the mines while the unions led a strike to protest. The workers that were brought in only served to inflame the situation. Miners responded with violence.
Workers from the Burke and Mullan gathered and approached the Frisco and Gem mines that were up the canyon from Wallace. Two groups formed, the first was to distract those at the Friso mine and they marched right up to it. The other group climbed a hill by the mine and proceeded to fill an ore car with explosive materials and send it down into the mine. There was no blast so some of the miners entered the mine, set explosives, and the resulting explosion destroyed the mine killing three.
The Governor had already called in militia to deal with the increasing tensions but now those sent had to deal with the sabotage and murder at the Frisco mines. The replacement workers that had been brought in were sent out, all two hundred and eighty of them, to try and calm the situation. The next day when the troops arrived they detained all the union men and sympathizers and threw them into bullpens that were hastily built to hold them. Of the some five hundred that were charged with the events of the “Rocky Mountain Revolution” no one was convicted.
The region cooled off for a time after this but the underlying tensions remained and the precedent for violent actions as protest was set. May Hutton would continue her support and encouragement of the unions activities; the owners would continue to undermine the power of the organizing forces.
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).
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).
