Prepared by Ann Kennedy, NBCT

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COAL MINING in Indian Territory (Oklahoma)

• Prepared by Ann Kennedy, NBCT
• OKAGE Teacher Consultant

http//www.ok.gov/oiac/documents/2011.FINAL.WEB.pd
f
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Labor Omnia Vincit

• Oklahoma's state motto is Labor Omnia Vincit.
  That means "Labor Conquers All Things."(also
  rendered as "Hard work conquers all", a reference
  to the early pioneers).

http//digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v020
/v020p178.html
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Quick Fact Check

• Oklahomas motto is
• a) Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)
• b) Carpe diem (seize the day)
• c) Labor omnia vincit (labor conquers all things)

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Commercial mining began in Indian Territory
(I.T.) in 1873. Since then more than 200 million
tons of coal have come out of Oklahoma mines.
http//www.ok.gov/oiac/documents/2011.FINAL.WEB.pd
f
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Oklahomas Coal Belt
Oklahoma lies in the Western Region of the
Interior Coal Province of the central U.S. Most,
if not all, of the coal produced in the state has
been mined from a 14,500-sq.-mile area extending
from Kansas through northeastern Oklahoma and
eastward through central Oklahoma to Arkansas.
http//www.ok.gov/mines/Coal_Program/Oklahoma_Coal
/
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J.J. McAlester founder of the Oklahoma coal
industry
McAlester married Rebecca Burney, a Chickasaw
woman. This gave him full citizenship rights
to make claims to coal deposits. The
discovery of coal led the operators
of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railway
(Katy) to lay track in the area.
This brought prosperity to the
region and made McAlester a
wealthy man, too!
http//digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/en
tries/M/MC003.html
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Coal Mining Dangers in Oklahoma
Historians consider mining in Indian Territory
(I.T.) to have been the most dangerous in the
country. There were ten major coalmining
accidents that killed 187 men, but at least five
men had to die for an accident to be called a
major disaster.
http//www.miningartifacts.org/Oklahoma-Mines.html
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What was dangerous about coalmining?
Miners could die from rock falls, coal dust
explosions, noxious gases and explosions called
windy shots, which could travel and kill miners
long distances from the initial blasts.
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DISASTER mine owners emphasize profits over
safety

• 1887 - 18 miners killed in Savanna
• 1892 - 100 men killed and nearly 200 injured in
  an explosion in Krebs
• 1910 - ten miners killed from noxious gasses
• 1912 - 73 men killed in McCurtain from a 50-foot
  tongue of fire
• More than 200 killed in accidents in Oklahoma in
  the 1920s

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The Knights of Labor, the first union organized
in Indian Territory, 1882 their goal was to
negotiate first and strike as a last resort.
http//digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/en
tries/C/CO005.html
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Peter Hanraty Union leader, mine inspector,
and member of the Oklahoma Constitutional
Convention
Striking in Indian Territory
Hanraty was working in coal mines at the age of
9! He understood the value of hard work and
recognized the danger of the coal mines.
http//explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId
1-2-1070
http//digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/en
tries/H/HA018.html
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STRIKE!March 10, 1894

• Peter Hanraty led a strike of 1000 against the
  Indian Territory Coal Company. Why?
• The company reduced wages 25
• Dangerous work conditions in the Lehigh and
  Coalgate mines

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Lehigh Number Eight Coal Mine
http//digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/en
tries/c/co001.html
http//www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/okcoal/place/leh
igh/pa000502.htm
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The strike affected the entire community.
http//www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/okcoal/place/leh
igh/pa000504.htm
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Coalgate, OK1889
http//digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/en
tries/c/co001.html
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The 1894 coal miner strike failed.WHY?

• The strikers were demoralized by resistance from
  the Choctaw government and the U.S. government.
• The U.S. government sent federal troops from Ft.
  Reno to halt the strike.
• Many miners were apprehended and expelled from
  I.T. because they lacked permits to work there.
• The union did not have a strike fund.
  Consequently, after two months they ran out of
  money.
• The strikers were forced back to work out of
  economic desperation.
• In the end, nothing was gained.

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Choctaw Chief WILSON NATHANIEL JONES (ca.
1827-1901) opposed the strike. Along with Indian
Agent Dew Wisdom, Jones asked for federal troops
to help end the strike. Troops were sent from
Ft. Reno.
Fort Reno
http//digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/en
tries/f/fo037.html
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The Ft. Smith Conference (1899) and rejection of
the Big Four
Choctaw Coal Company
Atoka Mining Company
Kansas and Texas Coal Company
Osage Coal And Mining Company
http//cigarboxlabels.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_ite
mId95001
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http//engage.washington.edu/site/MessageViewer?em
_id127862.0
http//digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/en
tries/O/OS003.html
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Scabs African Americans were imported from
Alabama and West Virginia to be strike breakers.
Results Threats, harassment, intimidation
Jim Crow Laws
Racial tension was high in this era of Jim
Crow, but no violence occurred between strikers
and strike breakers.
http//www.umwa.org/index.php?qcontent/diversity-
umwa
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http//digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v020
/v020p178.html
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Discussion

• Oklahomas motto is labor omnia vincit. Based
  upon what you have learned about role of
  coalmining in our state, do you think this motto
  is an accurate description of the people of
  Oklahoma? Why or why not?