The Commonweal Army's Soaked March to Kent
Striking workers and the unemployed marched from Seattle to Kent in a pouring rain, seeking passage east to Washington D.C. as part of the nationwide Industrial Army movement.
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The Northwestern Industrial Army yesterday continued its march to Kent and progressed as far as Kent, beginning the tramp through a pouring rain with songs, and being cheered by occasional gifts of food from the farmers. Marshal Drake and a posse of deputies visited the camp and found it orderly. The army reached Kent at 1:30 p.m., thoroughly drenched but in good spirits. Reveille sounded at 4:00 o'clock, and in ten minutes fires were started and breakfast was being prepared. The best meal since leaving Seattle was served at 8:00 o'clock, each company being provided with at least two professional cooks, who have won the praise of the boys in the tent by the way they have prepared it. There was some delay in securing teams to haul baggage, but at 7:30 the march began.
“The army reached Kent at 1:30 p.m., thoroughly drenched but in good spirits.”
This event was part of the 'Coxey's Army' protest, where thousands of unemployed workers marched on the capital to demand public works jobs during the Panic of 1893. Today, the route they walked from Seattle to Kent is a major industrial and transit corridor, reflecting the same economic tensions regarding labor and regional infrastructure that fueled the 1894 movement.
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