The Industrial Army on Trial
Striking laborers and members of the 'Industrial Army' face court scrutiny following a violent confrontation near Yakima.
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.
Yesterday was 'Wealers' day in Judge Hanford's court, as the defense spent the afternoon presenting their side of the case. The testimony flatly contradicted the accusations of the deputies, with defendants denying participation in the fracas in Yakima on the evening of May 9. Many of the men on trial are foreigners, and their testimony was punctuated by moments of confusion, including one witness who asked in broken English if 'wild Indians' were involved when he encountered a locomotive. The legal defense team, led by James Hamilton Lewis, argued for the right of his clients to be tried in the southern division. Several defendants, including C. S. Lister and John Hays, testified they were in Ellensburg attending to a sick comrade when the incident occurred, a claim supported by some deputies. Other witnesses described hearing rumors that the deputies intended to back the train toward a bridge and dump the men into the river. One witness, Charles Wright, identified the city marshal of Ellensburg, P. C. McGrath, as the official who facilitated their movement on the railroad cars.
“They are going to back the train to the river, and will shoot you off like dogs and dump you in the river.”
This trial of the 'Industrial Army'—part of the 1894 Coxey’s Army movement—highlights the intense labor unrest that defined 1890s Seattle. The fear of transient labor groups in the 1890s mirrors modern-day debates over public space, homelessness, and the criminalization of poverty in Seattle.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.