Martial Law and Miners' Rights in West Virginia

A West Virginia governor once declared martial law three times and had American civilians tried

in military courts, all because miners asked for a raise. This was the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek

Strike of 1912. It started when union workers on Paint Creek wanted better pay.

The coal companies flat-out refused. The strike exploded, spreading to nearby Cabin Creek,

and it stopped being just about money. Miners were fighting for their basic rights: to have

a union, to have free speech, and to stop companies from blacklisting them forever.

The coal operators turned the district into an armed camp. They hired hundreds of Baldwin-Felts

detectives, built machine gun nests, and evicted striking families from their