The Black Miners Who Came to Save Roslyn
In February 1885, a special train carrying 300 African American laborers from the East Coast arrived in Washington Territory to break a coal strike. Their arrival ended weeks of unrest and restored order to the struggling mining town.
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. 14 — Today 300 black men rolled into Roslyn, armed with Winchesters and guarded by Sheriff Packwood and 23 deputies. This was the special train which has been telegraphed all over of 600 settlers en route for Washington Territory. They are black settlers, and have to settle the Roslyn Coal Co.'s difficulty. These colored men are from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia.
The special train consisted of fine coaches with dining-car, and arrived at Steilacoom at 6 o'clock, when a double header was put on for Roslyn, with orders to pull through without ringing bells or blowing whistles. Superintendent V. Powell, General Manager Rangley and Assistant General Manager Lytle were aboard.
On arriving at Roslyn not a man was seen but the agent. The train was side-tracked under the coal-sheds. The news soon spread, and in a short time 300 or 400 miners were inspecting the train. Not a gun was fired nor a loud word spoken. The agitators have all long since disappeared, and the men have been ready to go to work for the last 12 days.
A mass meeting of citizens and miners was immediately called, and a committee of nine miners and three business men to confer with Manager Rangley was appointed. The committee arrived at no definite results. Another conference is to be held this evening. The correspondent visited and talked freely with the leading miners and business men, and all agree unanimously that had the better class of miners not given way on the agitators in time and not suffered them to rule, all would have been well. As it is, the law-abiding and industrious class suffer, and it works a great hardship if they lose their jobs and homes. The company has been so tried with that sympathy of the community is with the company.
This account highlights a moment when racial dynamics were weaponized by corporate interests to break labor solidarity. While the paper frames the arrival of Black miners as a restoration of 'law and order' against 'agitators,' modern historians recognize this as part of a broader pattern where employers imported marginalized labor forces to undermine unionization efforts—a tactic that echoes in later strikes across the Pacific Northwest.
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