The Battle of Blair Mountain (Aug 25-Sep 2, 1921) in Logan County, West Virginia, was the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War, and the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. 10,000-15,000 coal miners battled 3,000 cops, private cops and vigilantes, who were backed by the coal bosses. Up to 100 miners died in the fighting, along with 10-30 Baldwin-Felts detectives and three national guards. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested. One million rounds were fired. And the government bombed striking coal miners by air, using homemade bombs and poison gas left over from World War I. This was the second time the government had used planes to bomb its own citizens within the U.S. (the first was against African American during the Tulsa pogrom, earlier that same year).
From the late 1800s, mine owners forced workers to live in company towns. They deducted miners’ rent from their wages and paid them in scrip, which was worthless everywhere accept at the overpriced company stores. The work was extremely dangerous and safety equipment and precautions were minimal. And the mine owners routinely used private detectives and goons to spy on workers, infiltrate their meetings, beat them up, murder them, and block any attempts to unionize.
During the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike (April 1912 through July 1913), the sheriff and his deputies attacked the miners’ tent colony at Holly Grove, in West Virginia with the “Bull Moose Special” (an armored train fitted with machine guns). Mother Jones was one of the main organizers of this strike. Over 50 people died during the violent confrontations with scabs, goons and private detectives. Countless more died from starvation and malnutrition. In terms of casualties, it was one of the deadliest strikes in U.S. history.