Union vs. Citizen Militia During the Occupation of St. Maries

The corner of First and College

Martial Law in St. Maries, Idaho

Working conditions in Pacific Northwest lumber camps were harsh around the turn of the 20th Century and the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) organized men to strike for an eight-hour work day and healthier living conditions in the filthy vermin-infested “rag camps,” (tent bunkhouses) scattered in the forests.

Western lumber camps were largely staffed by nomadic workers aged 15 to 50, many of whom had no wives and children. About half were displaced Native Americans and most of the rest were immigrants from Wales, Italy, Serbia, Greece and Turkey.

St. Maries became a hotbed of IWW organizing after the union opened an office in St. Maries in 1916, and organizers fanned out into the region’s Lumber camps.

Loggers Demand Humane Working Conditions

Loggers around Bovill went on strike against the Potlatch Lumber Company in early winter of 1916. Loggers at Alder Creek struck the following month, then the protest spread to Fernwood. In February, two more strikes were organized near Coeur d’Alene.

Among the lumberjacks’ demands were an eight-hour work day, Sundays off, clean bunks with lights, privies and laundry facilities, medical care, disease free cook shacks, and no blacklisting of union men.

Then workers in Idaho joined a widespread strike in the Pacific Northwest just about the time the US entered WWI. It had the crippling effect of cutting short the supply of spruce desperately needed by the War Department to build military planes.

Troops Become Loggers Paid by a Partnership of Government and Industry

An alarmed federal government reacted by sending troops and officers into the Northwest to stabilize the lumber industry. 25,000 troops were dispatched to man the logging camps and sawmills, and they were compensated by a partnership of the Army and lumber contractors — a military-industrial complex of the day.

Protesting Became Illegal

The Idaho legislature, which was hashing out the pros and cons of the IWWs demands when Congress declared war, quickly voted to repress the radicals. Anti-sabotage and criminal syndicalism bills were passed by overwhelming majorities.

Meanwhile, government and industry formed the nationalistic Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen, which extracted pledges from workers to support the war effort and snitch on IWW organizers. Demand for better working conditions became a crime. It didn’t help that IWW leaders were vociferously opposing what they called the “imperialist war in Europe.”

Leader Arrested, Followers Rounded Up

Sheriff E. Noland raided the IWW headquarters in St. Maries and arrested secretary William Nelson for fomenting sabotage. Free speech was curtailed as martial law was instituted. Anybody who possessed an IWW card or passed out their literature was guilty of criminal syndicalism and herded to makeshift jails called bullpens.

Citizen’s Militia Helps Out the Sheriff

Three months after Nelson’s arrest, three-hundred Wobblies gathered on First Street between College and Jefferson and decided to storm the jail to free their leader. The sheriff was assaulted when he came to quell the disturbance. An alarm was sounded and the local armed citizen militia assembled a block away on Second Street, which caused the union men to disperse.

Four days later the government sent in one hundred soldiers to restore order, and Nelson was moved to Coeur d’Alene where he was convicted of criminal syndicalism.

Think About it At Bud’s

I pondered the area’s fascinating history over pie and ice cream at Bud’s Burgers, the hands down favorite restaurant of the locals. It’s jut up the street from the Wobblies sign.

Bud’s is famous for their burgers, homemade pies, and ice cream desserts.

St. Maries is an authentic vintage logging town where the St. Maries and St. Joe Rivers converge.

If you want to explore the woods and immerse yourself in St. Maries’ history and culture, you will find links to reasonably-priced accommodations on the Greater South Lake Coeur d’Alene Alternative website. Here is the view out the door of the Riverfront Suites.

A wild rice harvesting boat cruises past the Riverfront Suites overlooking the St. Joe River in St. Maries

Check out the historic murals around town, the steam donkey at Mullan Park, and the interpretive kiosk at Marble Creek Interpretive Center up The Joe. When you get tired of studying history, check southlakecda.com for live music and entertainment around the south end of the lake.