Hop Field Knife Fight Ends in Acquittal
A dispute over work performance in a Green River hop field leads to a court appearance and a surprising verdict for an accused man.
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.
William Grayson was accused of cutting John Burns, of White river, with a large pocket knife. The two men were working together in a hop field near Green river and got into a dispute as to which one was trying to shirk his work. Grayson claimed that he was using his knife to remove a splinter from his finger when Burns sprang upon him. He admitted that the cut occurred in the struggle that ensued, but denied that it was intentional. When the case was called, the prosecuting witness failed to appear. A bench warrant was issued, but not until the case had proceeded with other witnesses and the jury had retired. When Burns finally appeared, he blamed his absence on a deputy sheriff who allegedly told him the case would not be called that day. The deputy denied this, but the jury eventually brought in a verdict of not guilty.
“Each accused the other of trying to shirk and of carrying the lighter poles.”
This dispute over labor intensity and workplace conflict reflects the precarious nature of seasonal agricultural work in the 1890s. While hop fields have mostly vanished from the immediate Seattle landscape, the struggle for dignity and safety among seasonal workers remains a persistent theme in Pacific Northwest labor history.
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