The Mutiny at the Mines
When the National Guard refused to muster out of service after a stint at the King County mines, a military adjutant faced down his own men in a tense standoff over labor and authority.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Adjutant Charles Esplin, Jr., returned last night from Port Townsend, having gone in his official capacity to pay off the members of Company I for their services at the King County mines. He stated: 'It has been charged against me that I went to Port Townsend with the view of standing in with Captain Jones. I brand the statement as false. I went there to do my duty as an officer of the First regiment. In the inspection, eighteen men appeared in uniform, and fourteen appeared in citizens' clothes, some of the latter having been excused by the inspecting officer, Colonel Henry A. Landes. As the law requires that a company shall muster out at least twenty-four men, there is no possible way by which the company can legally be mustered out of service. I may say that the fourteen who appeared tried in every way to bulldoze me into paying them according to their way, but I absolutely refused to encourage them in their insubordination. Many reputable citizens present expressed strong condemnation of the tactics of the minority. What is needed for the best welfare of the National Guard of Washington is the new regulations which will provide a punishment for just such insubordination.'
“I may say that the fourteen who appeared tried in every way to bulldoze me into paying them according to their way, but I absolutely refused to encourage them in their insubordination.”
This 1892 standoff reveals a recurring tension in Washington state: the National Guard being deployed to labor disputes—specifically the coal mines near Seattle—and the subsequent friction between the rank-and-file soldiers and the command structure. Much like modern debates over the role of law enforcement in labor or social unrest, this story highlights a moment where the 'citizen soldier' model fractured against the realities of industrial conflict.
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