In the 4th (AND FINAL!!!!) part of our West Virginia Mine Wars coverage, we're diving into the most tumultuous period of the mine wars, the absolute batshit crazy summer of 1921, the murder of Sit Hatfield, the armed miner's march, and the Battle of Blair Mountain.

Need I say more?

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In the 3rd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Matewan Massacre, the infamous confrontation when Matewan Chief of Police and unexpected union ally Sid Hatfield and Mayor Testerman confronted prominent Baldwin Felts agents in the middle of an illegal eviction. We also cover the importance of Mingo and Logan counties that found themselves in the middle of a heated tug of war match between the union and operators and we explore the wild, continuous violence that the region saw in the aftermath of the Matewan Massacre as a heavily publicized trial drew national attention to the region, the new strike dragged on, and tensions reached critical mass. Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In the 2nd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, when coal companies in Paint Creek refused to recognize union negotiations for a simple wage adjustment and lit the metaphorical match on a bed of gasoline-doused straw. We cover more Baldwin Felts shenanigans including the Bull Moose Special, along with the Dirty Eleven and the guerrilla tactics used by strikers in retaliation. We cover the state intervention that included threatening workers with deportation if they didn't accept a bare bones settlement to go back to work. And we also learn more about the schism between rank and file strikers like Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney and union leadership that saw strikers continue to fight back, with or without union support, until they got what they wanted. Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders