“… We were almost starved.” (Elinore Rupert, Part 8)

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image credit:  goodreads Leatherstocking Tales, James Fenimore Cooper

February, 1912

Dear Mrs. Coney,—…Soon we started again, and if not quite so jolly as we were before, at least we looked forward to our supper with a keen relish and the horses were urged faster than they otherwise would have been. The beautiful snow is rather depressing, however, when there is snow everywhere. The afternoon passed swiftly and the horses were becoming jaded. At four o’clock it was almost dark. We had been going up a deep cañon and came upon an appalling sight. There had been a snow-slide and the cañon was half-filled with snow, rock, and broken trees. The whole way was blocked, and what to do we didn’t know, for the horses could hardly be gotten along and we could not pass the snow-slide…”

Today, Elinore gives us a peek inside her humble abode, and then tells us about a literature-inspired dinner.  Once again, there’s snow involved.

The letters of Elinore Rupert are in the Public Domain.

“A very angry Aggie strode in.” (Elinore Rupert, Part 7)

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Rock Springs, Wyoming Railroad Depot Train Station (image credit: hippostcard.com)

October 6, 1911

Dear Mrs. Coney,

… Aggie was angry all through. She vowed she was being robbed. After she had berated me soundly for submitting so tamely, she flounced back to her own room, declaring she would get even with the robbers. I had to hurry like everything that night to get myself and Jerrine ready for the train, so I could spare no time for Aggie. She was not at the depot, and Jerrine and I had to go on to Rock Springs without her. It is only a couple of hours from Green River to Rock Springs, so I had a good nap and a late breakfast. I did my shopping and was back at Green River at two that afternoon. The first person I saw was Aggie. …”

In this episode, the Edmonsons and their sweet Cora Belle make another appearance. Some new characters–big and small–also join the group.

The letters of Elinore Rupert are in the Public Domain.

“The wind was shrieking, howling, and roaring.” (Elinore Rupert, Part 6)

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image credit: homesteader.org

September 1, 1910

Dear Mrs. Coney,

—It was just a few days after the birthday party and Mrs. O’Shaughnessy was with me again. We were down at the barn looking at some new pigs, when we heard the big corral gates swing shut, so we hastened out to see who it could be so late in the day. It was Zebbie. He had come on the stage to Burnt Fork and the driver had brought him on here…. There was so much to tell, and he whispered he had something to tell me privately, but that he was too tired then; so after supper I hustled him off to bed….

Zebulon Pike Parker shares his story from home, then a frightening storm is followed by a beautiful sunrise.

The letters of Elinore Rupert are in the Public Domain.

“The ‘rheumatiz’ would get all the money …” (Elinore Rupert, Part 5)

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August 15, 1910.

Dear Mrs. Coney,—

… Grandma Edmonson’s birthday is the 30th of May, and Mrs. O’Shaughnessy suggested that we give her a party. I had never seen Grandma, but because of something that happened in her family years ago which a few narrow-heads whom it didn’t concern in the least cannot forgive or forget, I had heard much of her. The family consists of Grandma, Grandpa, and little Cora Belle, who is the sweetest little bud that ever bloomed upon the twigs of folly …

The Elinore Rupert series continues with a family tragedy, a young girl’s industry, and a sewing bee.

The letters of Elinore Rupert are in the Public Domain.

“I had a confession to make …” (Elinore Rupert, Part 4)

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“June 16, 1910

My Dear Friend,

Your card just to hand. I wrote you some time ago telling you I had a confession to make and have had no letter since, so thought perhaps you were scared I had done something too bad to forgive. I am suffering just now from eye-strain and can’t see to write long at a time, but I reckon I had better confess and get it done with.”

In this fourth episode in a multi-part series, Elinore shares big news with Mrs. Coney, her former employer in Denver.

The letters of Elinore Rupert are in the Public Domain.

“I am making a wedding dress.” (Elinore Rupert, Part 3)

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November 22, 1909

My dear Friend,—

I was dreadfully afraid that my last letter was too much for you and now I feel plumb guilty. I really don’t know how to write you, for I have to write so much to say so little, and now that my last letter made you sick I almost wish so many things didn’t happen to me, for I always want to tell you. Many things have happened since I last wrote, and Zebulon Pike is not done for by any means, but I guess I will tell you my newest experience …

In this third episode of a multi-part series, Elinore Rupert meets a pair of twins with interesting names, and helps arrange a family reunion.

The letters of Elinore Rupert are in the Public Domain.

“Such a snowstorm I never saw!” (Elinore Rupert, Part 2)

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Image Credit: N.C. Wyeth, Letters from a Homesteader

September 28, 1909

Dear Mrs. Coney,—

… it was still snowing, great, heavy flakes; they looked as large as dollars. I didn’t want to start “Jeems” until the snow stopped because I wanted him to leave a clear trail. I had sixteen loads for my gun and I reasoned that I could likely kill enough food to last twice that many days by being careful what I shot at. It just kept snowing, so at last I decided to take a little hunt and provide for the day. I left Jerrine happy with the towel rolled into a baby, and went along the brow of the mountain for almost a mile, but the snow fell so thickly that I couldn’t see far ….

Sincerely yours,
Elinore Rupert

In this second episode of a multi-part series about Elinore Rupert, the author and her daughter Jerrine venture out into the great wilds of Wyoming.  When their explorations take a scary turn, a new friend helps them find their way.

The letters of Elinore Rupert are in the Public Domain.

“Everything is just lovely for me.” (Elinore Rupert, Part 1)

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Image Credit: Sweetwater County Historical Museum

Burnt Fork, Wyoming
April 18, 1909

Dear Mrs. Coney,
…
There is a saddle horse especially for me and a little shotgun with which I am to kill sage chickens. We are between two trout streams, so you can think of me as being happy when the snow is through melting and the water gets clear. We have the finest flock of Plymouth Rocks and get so many nice eggs. It sure seems fine to have all the cream I want after my town experiences. Jerrine is making good use of all the good things we are having. She rides the pony to water every day.

I have not filed on my land yet because the snow is fifteen feet deep on it, and I think I would rather see what I am getting, so will wait until summer. They have just three seasons here, winter and July and August. We are to plant our garden the last of May. When it is so I can get around, I will see about land and find out all I can and tell you.

…

Sincerely yours,
Elinore Rupert

In March 1909, Elinore Rupert moved from Denver, Colorado to Burnt Fork, Wyoming to be a housekeeper for widowed homesteader Clyde Stewart. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave tracts of land to male citizens, widows, single women, and immigrants who pledged to become citizens; Rupert hoped to have a homestead of her own someday.

After moving, Rupert began a years-long correspondence with her former employer, Mrs. Juliet Coney, a widowed schoolteacher. The letters would eventually be published in the Atlantic Monthly, and then in a book. Over several episodes, we’ll hear Rupert’s own words about her adventures in Wyoming.

Rupert’s letters are in the Public Domain.

“They’re going to bomb us!” (Mine Wars, Part 3)

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Lick Creek Camp Dwellers, 1922 (Image credit: Library of Congress)

“You know our rights under the Constitution, that no man should be condemned or jailed until we have had a free and impartial trial. We claim to be citizens of the United States and we ask for the rights of citizenship ; we claim to be loyal to our country, and we are loyal to our country, and all we ask is that we shall have our rights. We claim that we are citizens of the United States of America, according to the amendment to the Constitution. You know that that guarantees us free and equal rights and that is all we ask.”

–Testimony of George Echols, miner and UMWA organizer

The West Virginia Mine Wars were a series of armed conflicts between coal mine operators and employees in the Mountain State.  The first episode in this three-part series was about the conditions in the West Virginia coal fields in the years leading up to the Mine Wars.  The second episode discussed Paint Creek and Cabin Creek strikes that ended in 1913.

For several months, the nation’s attention was focused on the war raging across the Atlantic. West Virginia was the second largest producer of the coal needed to fuel steel mills and Navy ships. The higher demand for coal, along with the labor shortage, lead to an increase in miners’ wages.  But the increases were not permanent, and many of the issues that had sparked the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek strikes remained. And the violence returned. It culminated in the Battle of Blair Mountain, which was the largest armed insurrection in United States since the Civil War.

I referred to several sources, including the following–

The Devil Is Here in These Hills: West Virginia’s Coal Miners and Their Battle for Freedom, by James Green

“A union man: the life of C. Frank Keeney” by Charles Belmont Keeney III

Struggle in the Coal Fields: The Autobiography of Fred Mooney

West Virginia Archives and History

West Virginia Coal Fields, Hearings Before the Committee on Education and Labor U.S. Senate, 67th. Congress, First Session Pursuant to S. Res. 80

Written in Blood: Courage and Corruption in the Appalachian War of Extraction, edited by Wess Harris

“They hit me and threw me down.” (Mine Wars, Part 2)

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  • Mother Jones addressing miners in Montgomery, WV
  • Arms confiscated by National Guard on Paint Creek and Cabin Creek

“Mother Jones was then about 80 years of age.  Her hair was snow white, but she was yet full of fight.  With that brand of oratorical fire that is only found in those who originate from Erin, she could permeate a group of strikers with more fight than any living human being.  She fired them with enthusiasm, she burned them with criticism, then cried with them because of their abuses.  The miners loved, worshipped, and adored her. ” — Autobiography of Fred Mooney

The problems that had been brewing in West Virginia coal fields came to a violent boil during the Mine Wars. For years, WV mine operators had employed guards from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency. The guards were often “clothed with some semblance of the authority of the law, either by being sworn in as railroad detectives, as constables or deputy sheriffs.”* They were accused of harassing, beating, and even killing miners with impunity.

Like workers all over the country during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, WV miners railed against long hours, low pay, and what some called un-American living conditions. And like many laborers during this tumultuous period, they found comfort and courage in the fiery words of Mary Harris Jones, aka Mother Jones.

This second episode in a three-part series focuses on the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek Strikes, during which martial law was declared three separate times. At least 20 people were killed.

I referred to several sources, including the following–

Autobiography of Mother Jones

Conditions in the Paint Creek District, West Virginia Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. Senate