In April of 1891 the white workers at Newcastle Mine were on strike. This protest of a recent contract with the mine’s owners was called by the union that most of the workers there belonged to, the Knights of Labor. About 25 miles southeast, in Franklin, the owners of the Newcastle Mine, the Oregon Improvement Company (OIC), had been preparing to keep production going in spite of union attempts to preserve their wages and the eight-hour day by reopening the Franklin Mine. Upon hearing news of the strike the month before the OIC sent Theron B. Corey, new superintendent of the Franklin Mine, to the Midwest to recruit as many Black workers as he could. Washington State chapters of the Knights of Labor’s previous discrimination against Chinese railway workers gave the OIC reason to believe that the Knights of Labor would not accept Black workers into their ranks although the national union had several all Black chapters throughout the country.
Corey was able to recruit 500 Black miners and laborers to come and work in the previously shut down Franklin Mine and they departed the Midwest on a train out of St. Paul, Minnesota. The train arrived in Palmer, and to avoid being spotted by the Knights of Labor, workers marched to Franklin under cover of darkness arriving on May 17, 1891. What they arrived to were new homes the OIC had promised, protected by barbed wire and armed guards. Their arrival did not go unnoticed though. The new Black miners were reported in that morning newspaper in Seattle where they were referred to as “invaders” by the press.
Many of the new hires were unaware they were being used to undermine the union. Although not technically scabs, since Franklin Mine was shut down before the strike, the OIC knew that the Knights of Labor would see it that way. Enough workers to operate the mine already existed in the area but, they were mainly union members and sympathizers. Moving Black miners into Franklin was a part of a larger plan by the company to rid all their mines of union workers.
On the morning of June 28, the OIC ordered that sixty Black miners travel from Franklin to Newcastle to cross union lines and work in the Newcastle Mine. While still on the platform in Franklin waiting for the morning train they were shot at by armed miners from Newcastle. Although none on the platform were injured, a man who met the shooters elsewhere, Ben Gaston was shot and fell downhill 30 feet. His attackers stole the gun he carried and fled. He was taken to the hospital and survived. This attack outraged the Black community of Franklin but intervention by private company guards and the county sheriff kept them from retaliating.
The violence did not end there. Around 7:30 PM that night the hired guards noticed two armed men hiding near Franklin station and made them leave. Two shots rang out as the train arrived and a guard on board returned fire. As he did so, everyone on board who was armed began to shoot in every direction. At the sound of the shots the Black community nearby also took up arms.
One group from Franklin believed the attackers to be hiding in the “flats” by the Green River and they headed there, taking a position facing the white miner’s homes. They opened fire on the houses and residents fled, hiding in the surrounding terrain. Several were injured but again, there were no reported deaths. Elsewhere, OIC manager Park Robinson though, shot two striking miners dead, claiming they had run towards him during the conflict.
The fighting was stopped when the National Guard arrived. The governor ordered that King County mines be disarmed and that the hired guards employed by the OIC be removed. Although the Knights of Labor denied involvement in the hostilities they would be largely blamed for this incident and violence around unions would soon lead to the end of the organization.
Black workers remained in the area after these incidents and continued to work in the coal mines. Forming their own social club which offered comradery and some protection by still sometimes hostile white workers.
The Eastside Heritage Center is working to bring more of the stories of this community to you. If you or anyone you know has information they can share with us about the Black community in eastern King County please email us at info@eastsideheritgecenter.org or simply respond to this email.
Resources
The Coals of Newcastle - A Hundred Years of Hidden History. 2020 Edition. Published by Newcastle Historical Society. Newcastle, WA.
“Employing Racism: Black Miners, the Knights of Labor, and Company Tactics in the Coal Towns of Washington”. Jourdan Marshall . The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor Project. https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/black_miners.htm
"Oregon Improvement Company completes purchase of Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad Company and Seattle Coal & Transportation Company on November 26, 1880." John Calbick. Historylink.org. 2014. https://historylink.org/File/10920
Franklin: Everything you always wanted to know. Black Daimond History. 2011. https://blackdiamondhistory.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/franklin-everything-you-always-wanted-to-know/
African Americans used as strikebreakers at the Franklin coal mines starting on May 17, 1891. Greg Lange. Historylink.org. 2000. https://historylink.org/File/1941
“Knights of Labor.” History.com Editors. 2019. https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/knights-of-labor
"Knights of Labor." Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Knights-of-Labor
