Steunenberg, Frank, 1861-1905

Uncle Sam and President Roosevelt look at a variety of graves: Frank Steunenberg, Arthur L. Collins, and others. In the background is a skeleton that says, “murder,” “ruin”; and explosions at Vindicator Mine, Independence Depot, and Bunker Hill Mill. There is a handwritten note under “Lest we forget!”: “…[t]hat I was with you as newspaper correspondent in Victor when you were mobbed there by this same outfit. Harold Baxter E.M. Consulting Engineer for Davis [,] Goldfield.” Caption: Uncle Sam–“Must we have murder and destruction before we need troops?”

Comments and Context

The long, sensational trial of “Big Bill” Haywood and other radical labor organizers in Idaho, for acts ranging from wildcat strikes to deadly violence to the assassination of the state’s governor, ended in late 1907. But agitation and violence in Western mines did not end.

There was labor violence at the Goldfield mines in Nevada, where agitators had turned their attention, and where official feared an escalation in the fashion of bloodshed in Colorado mines, or in the notorious cases in Idaho. These factors and factors inspired the cartoon plea in the local Goldfield Chronicle, a newspaper that, like many Western mining towns, lasted but a few years.

An editorial in The Outlook responds to an article in the same edition of the magazine that provides a sympathetic account of the principles and actions of the Western Federation of Miners. While the writer of the letter agrees that it is good to understand principles the same way their advocates do, it is not always good to approve them. Opinions can all be freely advocated, but all practices cannot be freely undertaken. The Western Federation of Miners are free to advocate for anarchy, but not to practice it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906

Grand Jury indictment of Big Bill Haywood, Charles H. Moyer, George A. Pettibone, and John L. Simpkins for the murder of ex-Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03

The Albany Evening Journal editorializes on President Roosevelt’s criticism of the men on trial for the murder of Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg as “undesirable citizens.” While Roosevelt denies that his comments reflect on the men’s guilt of the specific charge, and are merely related to their general conduct, the editors note that this argument is not likely to convince those who believe Roosevelt’s remarks will influence the outcome of the trial against the defendants.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-14

President Roosevelt referred to Big Bill Haywood, Charles H. Moyer, and George A. Pettibone as “undesirable citizens,” not because of their alleged involvement in the murder of Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg, but because of their roles as labor leaders.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907

Joseph Wauhope, associate editor of Wilshire’s Magazine, details the bias of the courts and unfairness of the trial of Charles H. Moyer, George A. Pettibone, and Big Bill Haywood in the murder of Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-19

A letter to The Glass Worker accuses President Roosevelt of acting unfairly in the murder trial of Big Bill Haywood, Charles H. Moyer, and George A. Pettibone, who stand accused of assassinating Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05

President Roosevelt details how Attorney General Bonaparte is to respond to United States District Attorney N. M. Ruick, using quotations from various correspondences.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-24

President Roosevelt responds to a letter from William Henry Jackson, sent on behalf of the Cook County Moyer-Haywood-Pettibone Conference. Jackson had taken exception to an earlier letter in which Roosevelt had referred to several people, including Charles H. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood, as “undesirable citizens.” Roosevelt stands by his description of Moyer, Haywood, and Eugene V. Debs as undesirable citizens, although he assures Jackson that his statement was not an attempt to influence the outcome of the trial of Moyer and Haywood for the murder of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-22

President Roosevelt explains his opinion to Lyman Abbott on several points on which they disagree. First, Roosevelt would interfere on behalf of the Armenians if they were willing to fight. Second, he is currently trying to form an agreement with Japan that would prohibit laborers from each country immigrating to the other. However, he feels that all the Japanese already in the country should be given “the franchise and school facilities,” and treated as well as possible. Third, he is “not well acquainted with the situation in Utah,” but thinks Mormons should be treated exactly as anyone else. He does understand the situation in Idaho, which was not about Mormonism. McLain W. Davis’s claims regarding polygamy among Mormons in Idaho were investigated and found baseless.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-01-03

President Roosevelt is delighted with the army’s preparations under Secretary of War Taft. He thanks Taft for sending Judge Advocate General George B. Davis’s opinion on the right to intervene in Cuba. However, if intervention is necessary, he would “not dream of asking the permission of Congress.” He regards the treaty as the law and he “shall execute it.” Roosevelt requests Taft give speeches in Colorado and Idaho.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-17

President Roosevelt has heard that Idaho Governor Frank Robert Gooding has received contributions from mine owners to help in the prosecution of the alleged murderers of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg, and tells Idaho Statesman owner Calvin Cobb that if this is true it would represent “the grossest impropriety.” The government must show that it is a neutral party and is not working on behalf of either the mine owners or the Western Federation of Miners. Roosevelt has previously condemned labor unions sending money to the accused, and just as strongly condemns capitalists sending in money to support the prosecution. He asks that Cobb show this letter to Gooding.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-20

President Roosevelt tells Calvin Cobb that he appreciates what Idaho Governor Frank Robert Gooding is trying to do in trying to bring the murderers of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg to justice. Roosevelt believes that the Western Federation of Miners has been conducting a reign of terror on many Rocky Mountain states, and recognizes the risk that Gooding is in in trying to prosecute them. While Charles S. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood deserve a fair trial, Roosevelt believes that their “black record of wrong-doing” should get them no sympathy. He hopes, however, that Gooding will act against both the Western Federation of Miners on the one hand and the corporations on the other, and not fall into the errors of former Colorado Governor James Hamilton Peabody.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-16

President Roosevelt asks Lyman Abbott to look over an article by Philip Battell Stewart to consider it for publication in The Outlook. If he decides to publish it, Roosevelt asks Abbott to not use Stewart’s name, as he fears being that it could put him in danger of an assassination attempt by the Western Federation of Miners. He would like to see Abbott in Washington, D.C., sometime to discuss matters that have come up in Congress.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-16

President Roosevelt tells Idaho Governor Gooding that he had not seen a particular editorial Gooding mentioned. However, he is not surprised that it gave the wrong impression, as he feels that “the editorial writers and the correspondents of Collier’s Weekly write with a reckless ignorance of their subjects.” He will gladly speak to Calvin Cobb, but he is not sure that he can have any effect on the reporting of the eastern press. Both the men accused of the murder of ex-governor of Idaho Frank Steunenberg and the nation as a whole deserve a fair trial and to know the facts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-21

President Roosevelt thanks The Outlook publisher Lawrence F. Abbott for the letter, and reiterates that in working to produce reform and reduce the size of the largest fortunes, he wants to set out explicit steps and avoid vague language. He also wants to make sure that it is clear that he does not encourage “what is wicked among the labor people,” referencing “the hundreds of murders perpetrated under the foulest and most infamous circumstances by the members of the Western Federation of Miners,” which he considers Big Bill Haywood and Charles H. Moyer guilty of. While it is possible to go too far in the enforcement of order, Roosevelt considers it worse to encourage crime.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-28

President Roosevelt responds to The Outlook editor Lyman Abbott’s comments on the sections of Roosevelt’s recent “muck-rake speech” dealing with the inheritance tax. Roosevelt did not mean to suggest that such a tax would be the only measure necessary to deal with the amassing of large fortunes, but wished to bring attention to the fact that it would help. He believes that a progressive income tax would also be good, but feels that it is harder to frame such a measure, while modifying the tariff would have a minimal effect on such fortunes. Roosevelt is puzzled by Abbott’s comments about taxing land, and asks if he is trying to revive the theories of Henry George, or if he is referring to something else. Regardless, Roosevelt feels the language is too vague to be useful, while he was trying to bring attention to specific measures that could be accomplished. He was surprised the portion of his speech dealing with labor leaders has received little attention; while he feels that the amassing of great fortunes is harmful to the United States, so too is the sort of violence resulting from “unhealthy sentimentality and morbid class consciousness” like that of socialist leader Eugene V. Debs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-23

President Roosevelt calls Attorney General Moody’s attention to the situation in Idaho relating to the trial of Charles H. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood. Roosevelt emphasizes that justice must be done, and the men must be judged related to the particular facts of the case of the assassination of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg, regardless of the sort of labor agitation they were involved with elsewhere. Roosevelt also does not wish for there to be errors in their favor, however, and asks Moody to look into agitation on their behalf by labor unions, who are unwilling to consider the possible guilt of Moyer or Haywood. Roosevelt highlights some writings of Eugene V. Debs and Thomas W. Rowe which seem to amount “to an incitement to anarchy and chaos.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-26

President Roosevelt agrees with Edward Smith’s characterization of labor leaders Charles H. Moyer and Big Bill Haywood. He cautions, however, that society must not fall into error, and in the trial of Moyer and Haywood for the murder of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg of Idaho, they must be judged on whether they committed the murder, not “whether they are infamous creatures.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-23

President Roosevelt is glad that there will be a published memorial honoring murdered ex-governor of Idaho Frank Steunenberg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-22