The Oregonian (Portland) -- Saturday, June 19, 2010, 10:00 AM John Terry, Special toThe Oregonian
Time was when mere mention of "Wobblies" was enough to provoke fear and loathing in the hearts of society's capitalistic elements. Never was such fear and loathing more pronounced in Oregon than in February 1911. And never was there a time when the radical Industrial Workers of the World, aka IWW and Wobblies, evoked greater sympathy in the state. The motivation for IWW demonstrations in Portland that year was not outrage against local or even regional business. The incentive was Fresno, Calif., where Wobblies were battling city officials over the right to preach their doctrine on city streets. Fresno authorities were jailing the speakers. The IWW was responding by sending more speakers to overcrowd city jails and jam local courts. The IWW successfully used that tactic in a 1910 free-speech campaign in Spokane and decided to put it to the test in Fresno. "Hundreds demonstrated their solidarity with Fresno by parading through downtown Portland, banners aloft," history professor Jay Carlton Mullen of Southern Oregon University writes. The Portland IWW held a meeting with local Socialists, and an executive committee was formed. It voted to refer to the crusaders by numbers instead of names to emphasize oneness. It raised some money and dispatched scouts to assess trains. "Army Goes South," read The Oregonian's headline on Feb. 17, 1911, with subheads: "Workers of World Take Possession of Train," "Loaded Cars Broken Open" and "Campaign for 'Free Speech' Is Planned by Socialists." Mullen says "take possession" was a stretch. Although Southern Pacific bigwigs in Portland would rather have denied access to their trains, he says, "the brakemen, engineers and so forth, who probably were union men as well, were probably more responsive" and freely provided space in empty boxcars. In all, 112 men headed south. At a stop in Albany, the crusaders "demonstrated their travel regimen," Mullen says. A few solicited funds, but "most sat quietly, exchanging stares or occasional pleasantries with curious onlookers." In Junction City, "Almost all of the male population was waiting for them, backed up by a formidable array of weapons ..." The scene turned peaceful as townsfolk "began to suspect a prank" and turned a sympathetic ear to the Wobblies' cause, Mullen says. Stops in Eugene and Roseburg were likewise quiet. Problems arose in Ashland. Officials of Southern Pacific's Shasta Division managed to block access. The group decided to hike 10 miles south to Steinman in hopes of boarding a train there. There was snow in the mountains. In Steinman, the railroad section boss lent the ill-clad protesters shovels and axes to clear snow and build fires. His wife distributed apples and crackers. Southbound trains sped past, so the protesters trudged four miles uphill to the Siskiyou Tunnel. They bought vegetables from a store and feasted on mulligan stew. Railroad detectives again barred them from southbound trains. The group debated whether to forcibly board a freight, but decided to demonstrate their peacefulness by walking the rest of the way to Fresno. They tramped on through the Siskiyou Mountains, in snow as deep as six feet, and on into California as far as Red Bluff. They did hitch a ride 12 miles from Mount Shasta to Dunsmuir in the private rail car of an itinerant actress, May Roberts. Other than that, they walked the 150 miles from Ashland. A tavern owner and the Knights of Pythias in Dunsmuir extended hospitality, as did the Eagles Lodge in warmer Kennett. The Wobblies played the Kennett baseball team and lost 2-1. In Red Bluff came word that the Fresno conflict had been settled. The Oregon contingent disbanded and, presumably, headed home. Nonetheless, theirs was an epic journey that should be remembered, Mullen says. A committee is seeking to memorialize what it calls those "brave men of conviction whose solidarity stand for free speech is absolutely amazing." Wes Brain of Medford, the de facto executive secretary, said the 16-member committee promoting the Wobbly Walk Free Speech Monument has no financing. But it's determined to see an appropriate marking of the route in time for the event's centennial. For information, e-mail: brain at mind.net. -- John Terry, Special to The Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2010/06/oregon_wobblies_make_mark_with.html
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