Frank Steunenberg (August 8,
1861 December 30, 1905) was the fourth Governor of the State of Idaho
, serving
from 1897 until 1901. He is perhaps best known for his 1905
assassination by one-time union member
Harry Orchard, who also admitted to
being a paid informant for the Cripple Creek, Colorado
, Mine Owners'
Association. Orchard attempted to implicate leaders of
the radical
Western
Federation of Miners in the murder. The labor leaders were
found not guilty in two trials, but Orchard spent the rest of his
life in prison.
Early career
Steunenberg attended Iowa State at Ames and then went on to become
a printer's apprentice, and publisher.
In 1881 he was hired
by the Des Moines
Register in Des Moines
, Iowa. Steunenberg later published a newspaper in
Knoxville
, Tennessee
, before finally settling in Caldwell, Idaho
where he joined his brother taking over the
Caldwell Tribune for six
years
In Caldwell Steunenberg became active in politics and was elected
to the first Idaho Legislature in 1890 as a
fusion candidate endorsed by both the
Democratic and
Populist
Parties.
Governor
With labor union support, in 1896 Steunenberg was nominated as both
the Democratic and Populist candidate for governor. He won the
November election and became the first Governor of Idaho who was
not a member of the
Republican Party.
Steunenberg served during a period of considerable labor unrest in
the Idaho mining industry. As a result, many corporations, fearing
that Steunenberg's government would not support them if there was a
strike, increased their wages for
workers.
The
Bunker Hill Mining
Company, however, did not.
In April 1899 striking members of the
Western Federation of
Miners destroyed the company's mill at Wardner
. In response Steunenberg declared
martial law and asked
President William McKinley to send federal troops to
quell the unrest. This action was seen as a betrayal by
Steunenberg's union supporters. Steunenberg did not seek reelection
in 1900.
Assassination
On December 30, 1905, Steunenberg was killed outside his house in
Caldwell by a bomb rigged to his front gate.
Harry Orchard was arrested shortly thereafter
for the murder, and the investigation was conducted by
Pinkerton agent
James McParland.
With the promise of a
lighter sentence, McParland compelled Orchard to write a confession
in which he implicated "Big Bill"
Haywood, general secretary of the Western Federation of Miners,
Charles Moyer, president of the
Western Federation of Miners, and George Pettibone, a labor activist who had
a prior conviction related to an 1892 dispute in Coeur
d'Alene
, as co-conspirators. McParland arrested the
three in Colorado in February 1906.
The
nationally publicized trial took place in Boise
in
1907. There was a lack of evidence in a case that was
supported only by Orchard's testimony.
Clarence Darrow, a lawyer who specialized in
defending trade union leaders, won an acquittal for Haywood.
Pettibone was defended in a separate trial by
Judge Hilton of Denver, and was also
acquitted. Charges were dropped against Moyer. Orchard received a
death sentence in a separate trial, but the sentence was commuted
to life in prison.
More information about the Steunenberg trials at
James McParland.
References
- Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter
Carlson, 1983, page 119.
- Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter
Carlson, 1983, page 135.
- The Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood, William Dudley Haywood,
1929, page 224 ppbk.
- Idaho State Historical Society Public Archives Research
Library.
http://www.idahohistory.net/Reference%20Series/0402.pdf
- The Autobiography of Big Bil Haywood, William Dudley Haywood,
1929, page 224 ppbk.
Additional references
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