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The Seldom Taught History of the Coal Wars
A labor struggle that pitted miners against each other, the US Army, and private security forces
Coal was a dirty business, in terms of the physical aspects of the mining itself as well as the way it was handled following the American Civil War. In the face of a growing economic revolution that was continuing to transform the United States from a rural society into a modern industrial nation, companies saw an opportunity to exploit immobile workers and poor communities for personal gain. The result was terrible working and living conditions for vast swaths of people living in the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains which eventually degraded into violent clashes and civil unrest that left dozens of people dead.
The so-called Coal Wars raged from the 1890s through the 1930s and were concentrated around exploited mining communities mainly in West Virginia and Colorado. This chapter of US history is rarely studied despite being an important part of the history of organized labor and a glimpse into an era run by out of control monopolies.
This story involves private police forces, overzealous detectives, suspicion and mistrust, a thirst for violence, full-scale battles, and a willingness to put everything on the line for better pay, reasonable hours, and a chance at…
