The Newcastle Riot: When Labor Turned on Labor
A preliminary examination reveals the chaotic morning of the Newcastle strike, where a mob of Knights of Labor marched to stop non-union miners from working—and ended up shooting at them.
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.
THE RIOTERS IN COURT.
Frank Terrace Given a Preliminary Examination. Courtroom Testimony in Regard to the Riot with Distinctive Features of the Scene.
[By Our Special Correspondent]
Newcastle, Wash., May 10.—The preliminary examination of Frank Terrace, charged with riot and assault, was held before Justice Jones this morning. The testimony revealed a chaotic scene on the morning of the 8th, when a large body of men, identified as Knights of Labor, marched from the direction of the Catholic Church toward the railroad depot.
Witnesses described the crowd as numbering between 75 and 90 men, who were whistling and yelling, attempting to stop miners from going to work. Terrace was seen with them, though he claimed he was not doing more than the rest. John Dobson, a resident of Newcastle, testified that he encountered the crowd near his home. "One of the men sang out, 'Get up that man,'" Dobson said. "Five or six made a rush at me. They came down from the bank and had reached the turn-table. Terrace was still on the bank. Conroy said, 'Boy, turn your rifles on that man,' and they shot at me, one bullet going between my legs, cutting my pants and drawers."
Dobson produced his coat tail, which had a bullet hole in it, to prove his testimony. He stated he ran until he got out of range, after which the crowd went toward Coal Creek.
The defense attempted to introduce evidence of a prior "duel" between Dobson and Terrace, but this was revealed to be nothing more than a dispute between a drunk man and a sober man over a pig, long since settled by arbitration. The prosecution argued that Terrace had been a nuisance to the peace and welfare of the miners at Newcastle.
Later, Justice Underberg discharged the two Dobsons (John and William Jones) who were also charged. He delivered a stern lecture to the Knights of Labor present, stating: "There are a great many complaints made by workingmen as to the maladjustments in the industrial system, but the only just grievance they have is against those who deprive them of the fullest opportunities for the payment of their labor... When this is secured, the labor question is solved so far as human law can solve it. For one class or clique of men to arrogate to themselves the right to work, using force and violence to prevent others who do not belong to the faction or organization from laboring as their allies, is not liberty, nor is it despotism, and is entirely inconsistent with the essence of free institutions and the spirit of American liberty."
This 1903 account of the Newcastle coal strike highlights a brutal era of labor history where union solidarity was often enforced through intimidation and violence against 'scab' workers or rival factions. The judge's rebuke of the Knights of Labor for using force to control who could work echoes modern debates about picketing, essential worker rights, and the boundaries of lawful protest versus unlawful coercion in the workplace.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.