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Grabow riot
The Grabow riot or Grabow massacre was a violent confrontation that took place between private police hired by management and labor factions in the timber industry near Grabow (Graybow), Louisiana, on July 7, 1912. The clash left three union workers and a company security employee dead, including union leader Asbury Decatur ("Kate") Hall, and an estimated fifty wounded. It was a crucial event in attempts to organize locals and unionize sawmill workers in Louisiana and east Texas in a series of events known as the Louisiana-Texas Lumber War of 1911-1912.
There had been unrest for years in western Louisiana and eastern Texas as workers tried to organize to gain better conditions in the industry. At Grabow the main factions involved were the Galloway Lumber Company and a party of striking unionized mill workers and their supporters. The union workers were known as the Brotherhood of Timber Workers (BTW), a branch of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union (LWIU), which was affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Brotherhood tried to recruit mill workers by giving speeches and conducting meetings at various mills. Although they had limited success in Louisiana, the LWIU became very successful from 1917 to 1924.
In October 1940, Congress passed the Wages and Hours Act (later the Fair Labor Standards Act); this was upheld by the United States Supreme Court on February 3, 1941.
Wanting better working conditions and pay, workers at the little sawmill town of Grabow, Louisiana, had organized and joined the Brotherhood of Timber Workers. This was part of what is considered the 1911–1912 timber war fought between timber companies and workers in the Piney Woods of west Louisiana and east Texas. The companies had organized to cooperate in setting conditions such as wages, and most employed private police or militias to suppress union activities and labor unrest.
Given the state of arms and control, violent confrontations were frequent over labor issues in Beauregard Parish during this period. The BTW had announced its intention to strike against the major mills in DeRidder, Louisiana, and the surrounding area, and the mill owners and operators were determined to shut down the mills, and lock out and blacklist union workers before acceding to their demands. But the Hudson River Lumber Company, the Long-Bell Lumber Company's subsidiary in DeRidder, was not part of the Southern Lumber Operators Association. It honored the Brotherhood of Timber Workers (BTW) and paid cash rather than scrip to workers.
On July 7, 1912, the union workers held a series of rallies at several different company towns including Bon Ami and Carson, Louisiana. The day started out with over 800 workers, women, and children at DeRidder. Covington Hall and Arthur L. Emerson, two of the leaders of the strike, gave speeches. The group, with twelve wagons, marched the six miles to Carson for more speeches and to attempt to sway the non-union workers to join the BTW. The rally had no trouble in Carson before deciding to head back to Bon Ami. On their way, the group was warned by their scouts that gunmen were waiting to attack the march on the road back. Some choose to continue on the road and they saw no trouble. Another group decided to take a longer way through Grabow. At Grabow, the remaining group, which number around 200, decided to break for lunch. Grabow had a number of non-union workers and it was quickly decided to hold a rally with speeches. This instantaneous decision soon led to a violent confrontation. Emerson spoke on top of a wagon to roughly 25 non-union men plus the additional union men who had come with him.
Shots were fired, resulting in 4 deaths and 50 wounded in a shoot-out of around 15 minutes and an estimated 300 shots. There is considerable debate on who fired first. While there were some unorganized single shots, the first organized firing came from the mill office, where four men, including the owner John Galloway, had been waiting for the march. This group had spent the day drinking. Some of the union men did have weapons and returned fire. One of the participates who was with the union was notorious gunman Charles ("Leather Britches") Smith. He boasted of killing over six men, but it's clear that this story was a work-of-fiction. His boosts caused much resentment amongst the lumber company men. He was killed a few months later on September 25, 1912, from a shootout with a deputy and three local men.
The Louisiana National Guard was called out and arrived the next day but there were no further acts of violence and they withdrew shortly after. The local sheriff arrested non-union and union men soon after the shooting. The owner of the mine, Galloway, was one of those arrested and was accused of murder by a coroner's jury in DeRidder; however, no formal charges were presented and he was released, along with six of the arrested company men. Over thirty of the union men, including Emerson, who were at Grabow were arrested in the next few days. Judge Winston Overton started a grand jury investigation. Overton was considered hostile to the union. Subsequently, 65 of the timber workers' group were brought up on charges ranging from inciting a riot to murder.
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Grabow riot
The Grabow riot or Grabow massacre was a violent confrontation that took place between private police hired by management and labor factions in the timber industry near Grabow (Graybow), Louisiana, on July 7, 1912. The clash left three union workers and a company security employee dead, including union leader Asbury Decatur ("Kate") Hall, and an estimated fifty wounded. It was a crucial event in attempts to organize locals and unionize sawmill workers in Louisiana and east Texas in a series of events known as the Louisiana-Texas Lumber War of 1911-1912.
There had been unrest for years in western Louisiana and eastern Texas as workers tried to organize to gain better conditions in the industry. At Grabow the main factions involved were the Galloway Lumber Company and a party of striking unionized mill workers and their supporters. The union workers were known as the Brotherhood of Timber Workers (BTW), a branch of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union (LWIU), which was affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Brotherhood tried to recruit mill workers by giving speeches and conducting meetings at various mills. Although they had limited success in Louisiana, the LWIU became very successful from 1917 to 1924.
In October 1940, Congress passed the Wages and Hours Act (later the Fair Labor Standards Act); this was upheld by the United States Supreme Court on February 3, 1941.
Wanting better working conditions and pay, workers at the little sawmill town of Grabow, Louisiana, had organized and joined the Brotherhood of Timber Workers. This was part of what is considered the 1911–1912 timber war fought between timber companies and workers in the Piney Woods of west Louisiana and east Texas. The companies had organized to cooperate in setting conditions such as wages, and most employed private police or militias to suppress union activities and labor unrest.
Given the state of arms and control, violent confrontations were frequent over labor issues in Beauregard Parish during this period. The BTW had announced its intention to strike against the major mills in DeRidder, Louisiana, and the surrounding area, and the mill owners and operators were determined to shut down the mills, and lock out and blacklist union workers before acceding to their demands. But the Hudson River Lumber Company, the Long-Bell Lumber Company's subsidiary in DeRidder, was not part of the Southern Lumber Operators Association. It honored the Brotherhood of Timber Workers (BTW) and paid cash rather than scrip to workers.
On July 7, 1912, the union workers held a series of rallies at several different company towns including Bon Ami and Carson, Louisiana. The day started out with over 800 workers, women, and children at DeRidder. Covington Hall and Arthur L. Emerson, two of the leaders of the strike, gave speeches. The group, with twelve wagons, marched the six miles to Carson for more speeches and to attempt to sway the non-union workers to join the BTW. The rally had no trouble in Carson before deciding to head back to Bon Ami. On their way, the group was warned by their scouts that gunmen were waiting to attack the march on the road back. Some choose to continue on the road and they saw no trouble. Another group decided to take a longer way through Grabow. At Grabow, the remaining group, which number around 200, decided to break for lunch. Grabow had a number of non-union workers and it was quickly decided to hold a rally with speeches. This instantaneous decision soon led to a violent confrontation. Emerson spoke on top of a wagon to roughly 25 non-union men plus the additional union men who had come with him.
Shots were fired, resulting in 4 deaths and 50 wounded in a shoot-out of around 15 minutes and an estimated 300 shots. There is considerable debate on who fired first. While there were some unorganized single shots, the first organized firing came from the mill office, where four men, including the owner John Galloway, had been waiting for the march. This group had spent the day drinking. Some of the union men did have weapons and returned fire. One of the participates who was with the union was notorious gunman Charles ("Leather Britches") Smith. He boasted of killing over six men, but it's clear that this story was a work-of-fiction. His boosts caused much resentment amongst the lumber company men. He was killed a few months later on September 25, 1912, from a shootout with a deputy and three local men.
The Louisiana National Guard was called out and arrived the next day but there were no further acts of violence and they withdrew shortly after. The local sheriff arrested non-union and union men soon after the shooting. The owner of the mine, Galloway, was one of those arrested and was accused of murder by a coroner's jury in DeRidder; however, no formal charges were presented and he was released, along with six of the arrested company men. Over thirty of the union men, including Emerson, who were at Grabow were arrested in the next few days. Judge Winston Overton started a grand jury investigation. Overton was considered hostile to the union. Subsequently, 65 of the timber workers' group were brought up on charges ranging from inciting a riot to murder.