The Roslyn Race War: How a Strike Turned Seattle into a Fortress
In February 1903, hundreds of armed Black miners from Montana arrived in Seattle bound for the coal mines of Roslyn. The city braced for violence as white workers threatened to close down the town's economy and seize its property.
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.
SEATTLE, Feb. 12 — A special train leaving our city this morning, bound for the Roslyn coal mines, passed through at 8 o'clock. Many were armed with Winchester rifles. It is said they are going to work in place of the strikers. They came from Montana. They are hardy fellows and took on an appearance as though they could do big execution if fight arose.
SEATTLE, Feb. 13 — Five hundred heavily armed negro miners from Montana passed through here last night for Roslyn, landing there under cover of darkness. The group have been very quiet in their movements, and very few knew of their passage until the men were gone. They had sent out a rumor that the mines would be closed for three months. A large armed force will go from here with the negroes.
There will undoubtedly be trouble, as this institution [strike] has made Roslyn a strong, growing piece of steam coal land. The change will be a bitter one more it is turned bodily over to the negroes.
Many of the old workers left the company for years, and by thrift and economy have acquired considerable property in Roslyn, which will now become practically valueless. Roslyn is beautifully situated, and this strike was a thumping and growing piece of steam coal land. The change will be a bitter one more it is turned bodily over to the negroes.
This 1903 event highlights how labor disputes in the Pacific Northwest were often intertwined with racial terror and economic displacement. The threat that Black workers would 'deprive' white families of their property mirrors modern anxieties about gentrification and who has the right to occupy urban spaces, though here the mechanism was violent intimidation rather than market forces.
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