THG Podcast: Assassinated US Governors

THG Podcast: Assassinated US Governors

[Music]
welcome to the history guy podcast a
podcast dedicated to stories of lesser
known historical events told by Lance
skyer also known as the history guy on
YouTube I’m Josh your host a writer for
the channel and eldest son of the
history guy we tell all kinds of stories
about history from the modern era to the
ancient past so you never know what
we’re going to talk about next one thing
you can be sure of it is history that
deserves to be
remembered today the history guide tells
two stories of American political
assassinations at the turn of the 19th
century first he talks about the only
assassination of a sitting us Governor
then he talks about the former Governor
killed by Dynamite while they happened
in different parts of the country
together they illustrate some of the
biggest political battles of the time
and the lengths that some went to get
their
way without further Ado let me introduce
the history
guy as a successful attorney in Kentucky
state senator William goal took on the
interests of the powerful railroads and
the wealthy Elite of the Gilded Age but
along the way he made enemies the
political career and assassination of
William Goble still the only sitting us
Governor ever to be assassinated is
history that deserves to be remembered
William Justice Goble was born in 1856
to German immigrant parents in
Pennsylvania his father served in the
Civil War on the union side leaving his
mother at home with four children she
taught them about their German Heritage
William spoke only German until age six
his father was discharged from the Army
in 1863 and moved the family to
Covington Kentucky just across the Ohio
River from Cincinnati William eventually
decided to become an attorney and
Apprentice with former Kentucky Governor
John Stevenson from age 15 to 21 he
graduated from Cincinnati Law School in
1877 he eventually became Stevenson’s
partner in his law practice Stevenson
was Chief counsil to Kentucky Central
Railroad and Goble became an expert in
contracts corporations and
railroads he went into his own law
practice to address alleged abuse by the
railroads and negligence in the courts
many overworked injured Railroad
employees and widows came to him for
help settlements were large and he
became quite Rich Goble also defended
Railroad employees arrested in the 1894
Pullman Strike he didn’t charge a fee
became hailed as the railroad lawyer and
the poor man’s lawyer in 1887 Kentucky
state Senator James Bryan decided to
resign his seat and run for lieutenant
governor Goble decided to run for the
seat because it represented Covington he
ran on a platform of railroad regulation
and support for organized labor with a
popular platform and the support of
Stevenson Goble assumed that his
election would be easy but ran into
problems because the union labor party
was running on a similar platform and
appealing to both Democrats and
Republicans goal Ren as a Democrat won
by just 56 votes he came to a Kentucky
Democratic party that was on Hard Times
Republicans had come to the state to to
break white rule during Reconstruction
the economy was poor workers wages were
low farmers were in debt and taxes were
high Goble was not a southerner his
family had fought for the union he was
not the typical Kentucky Democrat he
believed in civil rights or blacks and
women and he added a populist agenda
there were only two years left in the
term Goble was serving so Goble had to
make a name for himself quickly his
first bill reduced the tolls on
Covington roads owned by a corporation
favored more regulation and reforms
voters love to but he made the
ex-confederate ruling class angry he
served on a committee to investigate
lobbying by the railroad industry it’s
lobbyists had attempted to get the
legislature to abolish the Kentucky
Railroad Commission goal’s committee
uncovered abuses by lobbyists such as
giving free passes money food whiskey to
legislators he helped defeat the bill to
abolish the commission became quite
popular in this district and easily won
re-election in 1889 in
1893 in 1890 he served on the committee
drafting the new Kentucky Constitution
secured a passage put in the Railroad
Commission in the Constitution and thus
insulating it from the legislature and
attempts to abolish it but Goble made
enemies in the process and that nearly
cost him his political
career the Kentucky Constitution
included a clause Banning anyone who had
participated in a duel from holding
office a leftover from its days as a
western frontier state that had a
dueling problem it also required public
officials to swear an oath that they
would not fight any duels goal nearly
run a foul of this clause in
1895 John Leathers Sanford a former
Confederate Colonel turned Banker was
widely believed to have cost goal an
appointment to ky’s highest court in
retaliation for goal leading legislation
to lower the tolls in Covington costing
Sanford a lot of money Goble wrote an
article in a newspaper calling him garia
John Sanford was angered when Goble let
a group opposed to increases in the
tolls on the bridge between Covington
and Cincinnati one of his Investments
the last straw was when Goble
transferred three accounts from
Sanford’s Bank to another Sanford Was
Heard saying he was going to kill Goble
or be killed on a trip to the bank in
Covington Goble and his colleague were
stopped by Sanford while talking Sanford
kept his hand on his pistol in his
pocket Goble held on to his pistol sford
asked Goble if he wrote the article and
he said he had both men fired at each
other but Witnesses were not sure who
fired first Goble had turned the last
moment and Sanford shot went through
goal’s clo where as the Cincinnati
inquir explained pass through his
coattails trousers and underclothing
without drawing blood Sanford was shot
in the head just above the right eye he
died 5 hours later Goble turned himself
into police and was investigated for
murder he pled self-defense the corers
inquest agreed it was a stroke of good
luck had he been convicted to
participating in a duel he would have
been banned from holding public
office in 1899 9 Goble received the
Democratic nomination for governor
during the election he campaigned
against the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad and talked about his opponent
and comment William Taylor and his cozy
relationship with the railroad Goble
asked crowds if they wanted the railroad
to be the master or the servant of the
people in 1904 the chairman of the
railroad admitted that they spent
$900,000 to attempt to defeat goal on
November 7th 1899 Taylor beat goal by a
narrow margin of just 2383 votes
Goble was gracious in defeat but his
supporters were not Democrats in some
counties began making accusations of
voting problems and Goble was persuaded
to ask for a recount under the Kentucky
Constitution contested elections were to
be decided by a contest committee made
up of 11 members of the legislature the
committee drawn by lot included more
Democrats and favored goal Taylor sent
for supporters to come to Frankfurt and
thousands of armed mountain men from
Eastern Kentucky answered his call to
intimidate his opponents in order to
take the election in his favor the
Louisville Courier General declared
armed mob of Mountaineers invade
Frankfurt to bully the
legit on the clear and cold morning of
January 30th 1900 goo walked to the old
state capital in Frankfurt despite
having been warned of an assassination
attempt he had two bodyguards with him
including Captain e Lillard Warden of
the State Penitentiary as they reached
the State House gate a shot rang out
Goble uttered an involuntary exclamation
of pain and attempted to draw his
revolver but his strength failed him and
he sank to the sidewalk several more
shots followed but no one else was
wounded Goble was carried two blocks to
the capital hotel where a doctor ee Hume
had an office the doctor immediately
recognized that the bullet wound which
had entered above the right breast and
punctured along before exiting next to
the spine was Mortal Goble was taken to
a room on the second floor of the hotel
the shots were fired from the direction
of a three-story building in which a
number of State officials including
governor Taylor and Secretary of State
Caleb Powers had
offices when Taylor was told of the
event he seemed to be horrified and
decried the assassination attempt but as
goal supporters started to come to
Frankfurt he called out the state
militia in order to preserve order the
militia formed so quickly that some
people were suspicious thinking that he’
already planned to call the militia for
some unknown
purpose the state teetered on the brink
of a civil war for several days the
Democratic majority in the legislature
tried to meet but Taylor had them
forcibly dispersed Taylor then ordered a
meeting of the assembly himself but
called them to London Kentucky a
republican dominated area the Republican
minority came while the Democrats did
not resulting in the Republicans not
having a
quorum Taylor tried to keep the contest
committee from meeting but they managed
to outwit him and meet in secret on
January 31st the contest committee
declared the injured Goble the winner
the Republican minority was angered as
were voters in Republican districts
Taylor remained defiant
Goble was sworn as his Governor from his
sick bed knowing that Goble was not long
for this world his lieutenant governor
JCW Beckham was also sworn in goal’s
first order was to disband the militia
called up by Taylor the call was ignored
by the Republican commander of the
militia Beckham as acting Governor then
replaced the agitant general of the
militia with one of goal’s men who
formed another
militia for a while Kentucky had two
Governors two Lieutenant Governors two
agitant
two militias and two legislator all
continuing to do business as if the
others didn’t
exist Taylor remained defiant he tried
to draft Bank vouchers to pay his
militia but the president of the bank
refused the payment he pardoned a
prisoner in the State Penitentiary but
the warden who had been with Goble when
he was shot refused to free the prisoner
Taylor continued to use his militia to
forcibly prevent the legislature from
meeting when a judge sent an order
restraining him from doing so he had his
soldiers arrest the man serving the
order
Goble died from the gunshot wound on
February 3rd 1900 journalist said his
last words were tell my friends to be
brave fearless and loyal to the Common
People his lieutenant governor Beckham
was sworn in but the standoff with
Taylor
continued with Goal dead Democrats and
Republicans tried to negotiate a
compromise on the election Democrats
would get the governorship for Beckham
Republicans would remove the militia
from Frankfurt and Democrats would give
immunity to any Republican official
involved in the
assassination Taylor however did not
want to leave office and refused to
recognize the agreement turning to the
courts when a warrant was issued for the
arrest of Caleb Powers Taylor’s
Secretary of State for the assassination
Taylor protected him instructing the
militia to block him from being arrested
Powers managed to escaped Frankfurt
wearing a disguise trying to get to a
republican area but was caught by the
sheriff in
Lexington ultimately the Kentucky court
of appeal said the legislature acted
legally in declaring goal the winner
Taylor Taylor appealed to the US Supreme
Court who refused to hear the case
allowing the court of appeals decision
to stand out of legal options Taylor
stepped down and JC W Beckham became
Governor 16 people including Taylor were
indicted in the eventual case about the
assassination Taylor fled to
Indianapolis the Indiana Governor
refused to extradite him so he was never
questioned about the case by Kentucky
authorities three of the men accused
made deals to testify for the state in
exchange for immunity five went to trial
and two were acquitted Caleb Powers was
convicted along with Harry uty and Jim
Howard prosecutors said Powers was The
Mastermind uty was the intermediary and
Howard was the Assassin the trials were
highly irregular all three judges were
prog Global Democrats and the jury pool
was light on Republicans Republican
appeals courts overturned the
convictions of powers and Howard Powers
was tried three more times with two
convictions and a hung jury Howard was
also tried and convicted again udy was
sentenced to life in prison and did not
appeal it after 2 years in prison became
a witness for the state in Howard’s
second trial he testified that Taylor
had conspired with UT and Howard he
admitted that he acted as an
intermediary and supported the
prosecution theory that Taylor and
Powers were the masterminds and Howard
the
Assassin despite the three men spending
some time in prison for the crime the
assassination of goal has never been
conclusively solved and most historians
think that the identity of the Assassin
and any plotters will likely never be
discovered after serving 8 years years
in prison in 1908 Howard and Powers were
pardoned by Beckham’s successor Augustus
Wilson Powers went on to be elected to
two terms in the United States House of
Representatives utti was paroled in 1916
and pardoned in 1919 Taylor was also
pardoned by Wilson but he rarely
returned to Kentucky and became a
successful lawyer in
Indiana Goble was an unlikely politician
in Kentucky he wasn’t even a native
wasn’t part of the traditional power
structure of the Gilded a AG he didn’t
give rousing speeches he excelled at
working behind the scenes to get his
agenda passed he took on powerful
railroads and corporations in his home
state and while he wasn’t part of the
ex-confederate ruling class his populist
agenda attracted voters he remains the
only sitting governor in US history to
be assassinated a victim of the powerful
wealthy of the Gilded
Age now’s the part of the episode where
we get to chat with the history guy a
little bit about what we just heard what
we’re going to hear and some behind the
scenes stuff you only get to hear about
on the podcast and we’d like to welcome
Betty Joe my grandmother and the history
guys mom back to the
podcast you know this is a this is an
amazing story as I mean as all the
stories we look at we always pick great
ones but this pair of stories that we’re
looking at today is is wild especially
because it’s just it’s almost totally
forgotten this is a period of history
that uh I think a lot of people you know
it gets glossed over in the history
books we I think people understand that
there was Labor unrest in the United
States but to the level of what happened
say here in Idaho uh this is a former
you know retired governor and he’s
assassinated with dynamite and I it’s I
don’t know when people are told about
this anything like it it’s not brought
up in most of the most of the uh when
you talk about you know issues with
labor they don’t talk about the time
that this former governor was blown up
by booby trap uh because of his
opposition to Labor uh you know part of
the fun of being the history guy uh is
that you know you get to learn about I
mean I I have degrees in history I never
heard either I I did not hear either of
these ever mentioned in any history
class that I ever took and they really
do represent the era it’s not that this
these are just you know odd events they
are they’re both just crazy stories it’s
crazy what’s going on in these states
and and but that that these were these
did really represent the big challenges
of the time largely at this time a
populist challenge a challenge of Labor
uh and a lot of the development of the
West so it’s because you know we we like
to talk about the wild west we think
about you know the hers or or or the
Indian Wars or whatever and really it
was a lot of it had to do with these
labor struggles uh and and really you
know what did what did that mean the
people that were populating the West
thought differently than the people in
the East and they were more populist
they were more egalitarian people had
gone west to escape the structures and
that led to these challenges of course
you don’t have a mind if you you don’t
have a rich person to build the mind but
you don’t have a mind if you don’t have
poor people to mind the mind and that
always led to conflict but they’re also
just they’re crazy both these stories
are just they’re whack they’re out of
control something’s wrong with people
and so I think that that that part of
the lesson here is you know if we think
you hear people today they’ll think
America is more divided than it’s ever
been uh it might be more divided than
most people’s memory I mean I guess that
that depends because I think we
sometimes kind of forget what the 1970s
were like but uh certainly it is not
more divided than it’s ever been it’s
not more divided than the Civil War but
it’s really I mean this turn of the
century it’s a guilded age is coming
along and and the this this kind of
conflict uh we just you couldn’t imagine
that today you could not imagine today
in a contested election that someone’s
answer would be lean out the window and
shoot the guy right I mean that’s it’s
it’s absolutely wild and these are the
things I mean this would be big big news
today if if any of this happened I mean
we’re talking about we’re talking about
straight up terrorism and and in
oh yeah well two Governors two
legislators two militias two militia
captains or two two two and and you know
that’s that’s insane I mean you know we
we don’t even in all that we have today
and there’s a lot today there’s
contested elections today Arizona was
just you know still arguing over the
Arizona election still arguing over
Georgia in the cycle before that and you
know for all of that you know the answer
was never that both of you raised up an
armed militia and used it to literally
keep the legislature from meeting but
one of the other really interesting
things is that these are forgotten
stories we don’t remember them we don’t
know anything about them and today we
know what happened three minutes ago and
so you always have to remember that
Communications has made all the
difference in the world as far as how we
react to things and how we see things
and in those days I’m sure that they
knew that things were split or that
people didn’t agree with each other but
just think about the whole concept is
different because because we have
instant news yeah you didn’t have a news
cycle here you didn’t have 24-hour you
didn’t have people looking at their
Oh’s just being on the other side of the
other side of the state would have would
have made it a different experience he
would have been at a distance from it
and today we would we’d have I mean we’d
have people filming every piece of it
there’d be witness uh you know iPhone
videos from every angle and it’s it’s a
very different it’s true we would see it
different so maybe uh division today
affects the whole nation and the
perception of the nation maybe faster
than it than it did then but so I mean
that the thing that that we have these
you know these two stories that are you
a good distance apart between what
Kentucky and Idaho and they both did
involve the you know the presidency and
National politics at the time uh but I
mean that shows that these still were
representing National Trends and
National divisions uh and both of these
stories going to end up you know tying
to some of those same divisions so you
in different ways but it is you know
when we talk about I mean it’s just
amazing how can these be forgotten
because understanding this and
understanding the nation survive this
and understanding how the nation survive
that might be meaningful in days when we
have political division and disagreement
and and elections that
in dispute and and all the sorts of
things that that led to these it’s
interesting because in Lexington there
is a brass plaque on the ground that
says this is where Goble was shot uh and
I wonder how many people walk over that
plaque and have no idea who William
Goble is more or less outside of
Kentucky uh well and I wonder if in
Kentucky do you suppose if you’re in a
duel today they can take you that you
can’t no longer be Governor you still
can’t I wonder how many of those laws
still exist cuz I thought that was
really funny too if you’re if you’re in
Kentucky and someone’s going to run you
don’t like challenge him to a duel
apparently if you get them to fight a
duel they they they’re ineligible but I
yes I mean we T right now you will have
candidates on both sides where the other
side is says you they love that guy so
much that he could literally shoot
someone dead in the street and they
would still vote for him that literally
happened in he literally shot the guy in
the face and then ran for govern yeah
that one that’s I mean it’s it’s
shocking cuz you hear that and you’re
like oh my gosh he I mean he shot a dude
I mean in public
I I don’t know how you you think it
would make it difficult the big question
was was it a duel that was the the real
question there was was it a duel that
was that was they really care if the guy
died I it would be an interesting it
would be an interesting uh of course we
don’t you know we don’t generally I mean
they they they were Kentucky was not
exactly the the frontier exact at at
that point but uh more so maybe than you
know New York but yeah more so yeah you
know it’s it’s a mountaineering State I
think I mean it was certainly were a
little bit more Rough and Ready in the
nation and you know at the turn of the
century there but and you know he he got
shot right through his underwear too you
have to you have to appreciate how lucky
he was that this guy was able to shoot
in a way that literally pierced his
underwear and didn’t you know didn’t
draw BL managed to and I mean they were
they were
close I I they had to have been by they
had have been standing right right next
to each other but and you know Ang Angry
Words turn to gunfire that’s that’s
that’s never a good thing but I mean
it’s not something we would expect of
someone that’s you running for govern it
would be it would be uh pretty crazy for
for someone who was you know running for
governor for a for a political person to
literally get in a gunfight although
also you know I think that today we we
kind of view view that a little
differently uh it’s it’s a you know now
we’ve got we’ve got it’s a very
different world than it used to be it is
yeah I mean yeah well you know we’ve
talked about the Hamilton duel and I
mean know that’s things things have just
kind of changed with time so uh we we I
guess less frequently deal with our
political issues via gunfire it’s not
like it’s completely
it’s it’s still a political but it’s
maybe not the same political issue that
it used to be it’s maybe not the same
yes they’re probably not shooting
literally out of the window of the
governor’s office that’s yeah that one
we don’t know that it might have been
from the Secretary of State’s office
we’re not sure which window that’s
something we might know today just
because we would we would have some
video where you could see maybe see the
shot coming through or something that
that’s true yeah so they would have a
clear idea of who it was that was
shooting at each other there from the in
front of the the the the captain of the
prison and yeah uh you know this is this
story it’s it’s kind of crazy for out
but it’s really interesting uh uh
because Goble was you know he was such a
political Outsider uh he was challenging
the traditional structures he was uh
presenting himself as a hero of the
Common Man uh and that’s you know you
always see that I mean those sort of
populists always rise and you see them
in all sorts of of eras of history and
you know whenever you challenge the
status quo then there’s going to be some
Kickback uh and it’s interesting where
they both found uh their uh their
support base and you you can laugh
certainly about the politics of it and
when you know when you question an
election when they when when he decided
for a recount they didn’t actually go
recount the votes uh they just by lot
Drew
11 members of the Kentucky state house
and then they decided and obviously they
were going to decide based on their
politics so then you’re just wondering
who’s who’s drawing the right straws I
mean that that’s all around bizarre uh
but and the story that he’s the only you
know uh sitting us Governor to have been
assassinated of course it’s very story
is that he wasn’t actually a governor
when when he was shot he was only a
governor but he was a governor by the
time that he died uh is really I mean
this is this is this whole story is is
crazy and it’s crazy that politics could
get so acrimonious that it would come to
the point that you’re both you know you
both your arm militias are facing each
other uh and and yet you know uh uh
despite all of that I mean the only
violence that occurred was this
assassination I mean you know it didn’t
erupt into into gosh you you sure think
it could have and I mean these were you
want to talk about partisanship it would
be it would be crazy
if if you know one one candidate in say
a govern a govern governatori candidate
in the state you know calls in the the
Democratic militia and the the
Republican militia is is a different
entity that’s uh it’s it doesn’t quite
work like and you name and you got you
know you got different judges and you
got I mean there’re all but and there so
I mean there there really could have
been a civil Civil War here and I just
love the fact that we had two
legislatures we had two Governors we had
two everything uh uh which is just
absolutely just think about what that
must have been like and who followed
whose orders and so forth I know yeah
what if you had to you know you know the
bank the bank guy uh the bank President
says oh I’m not going to I’m not going
to
honor he has to make he’s got to make
make a decision on that and the captain
of the prison doesn’t accept the pardon
and and so so I mean you know you you’ve
divided up the the offices by you know
who’s taking what side and it’s kind of
hard to see in this whole story here
there was any truly neutral party no
everyone seemed to be you don’t that I
mean it’s not like they go to some court
or something like that where someone’s
saying we’re going to try to easily
adjudicate this based on the law I mean
they’re all I mean it was no question
when you selected your legislators by
lot what they were going to vote
regardless of what the what the vote
count was uh and and and the way to
prevent that was to literally use the
you know armed people try to keep them
from meeting from meeting and voting you
know you can see how that felt like a I
mean it feels like a system that’s
really R for abuse where where you know
if you’re like oh well I lost the
election well you know I’ll just all I
have to do is ask for a recount and
apparently that’s enough yes and and
then hopefully my guys will the on I
mean that’s crazy and I mean that’s
certainly not the first time you know
all all the time you’ll have places
where through throughout American
history and honestly throughout world
history where you know there’s a
position where there’s a committee of
five people or whatever and it all comes
down to which side gets more people yeah
making making that decision though I
mean to be fair it doesn’t sound like
Goble was really trying to game the
system it sound like he was he was
convinced that there was the election
irregularities gosh what does that sound
like oh my goodness we’ve got some the
other guy was sure he had been elected
it was a very narrow election gosh we
never see anything like that happened
these days uh so I mean it is uh it is
important because we just not told the
story which I don’t I don’t know why uh
it is important because it says that
this nation has faced more division than
we have today and we managed to come
through that uh it is important
certainly as a lesson to learn I mean
probably the best way to solve things is
not to raise two militias and try to see
you know can who’s got the most guns you
know there’s there’s a lot of but it
also is as it’s a it’s a ripping
historical yarn it is I mean it is a
drama of All Sorts to see what’s going
on throughout you know and prison escape
I mean I you can look at the best plots
that we see on television shows and they
really aren’t as crazy as this one and
there many things happen you’re like how
could how could that happen why would
that continue happening uh and uh I mean
it’s one of these things that would be
hard to write as a story today because
people might not necessarily believe
yeah we we could really you and they
shoot him and before he bleeds to death
they make him Governor you know which at
that point you know I mean it sounds
like they knew that the the wound was
you know was Mortal was Mortal I mean
when they were they weren’t doing that
thinking oh maybe he’ll recover it
didn’t seem like that was it seems like
everyone thought that that was unlikely
uh but you know they’re making a point
of all and I’m not sure exactly what
point they’re making except that you
know how dare you shoot our guy in the
in public but well maybe the point was
we want we don’t want the guy who shot
him to
be by virtue of shooting the opponent to
make
or or maybe he was a dead man walking
huh yeah yeah you and and he you know I
guess to an extent uh uh he sacrificed
his life in order to come to a
conclusion uh on this on this uh you
know uh the Stormfront that they had run
into you know this it does show just how
I mean how National these these labor
issues were because you know the two
stories we talk about today are about
two very different industries that were
in you know very different locations but
they they were fairly similar in terms
of you know what the the actual like
foundational argument was about and the
fact that you know this is a guy who was
a he was not a typical politician and he
was able to make a name for himself you
know essentially in politics by picking
the S he picked as a lawyer yeah
absolutely I mean labor was the really
the biggest issue of the day especially
as things do in the west and you know
Goble was standing for railroadman and
railroad rights and that’s that’s what
got him there uh and you do you do have
to wonder because we’ll talk about
sternenberg in in in a moment here you
have to wonder you know if uh if he had
been Governor uh would he have having to
work with all those diverse State
interests been able to maintain uh that
degree of loyalty because sternenberg is
going to find out in a bit that it’s
it’s kind of hard to stay on on one side
versus another so I mean to an extent uh
you know Goble maybe couldn’t have been
anything but a martyr I’m not I’m not
saying it was a good thing he was shot
or anything like that I’m saying that
maybe his political path was Set uh and
maybe that shows in the fact that you
know he’d had the violence before in
terms of the you know the the the
shooting match between he and arriv Ral
so I mean you know it’s it seems like he
was on a path kind of from the start and
that’s where the path ended
up if you support the history guy and
would like to find more of our content
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history guy.com
next up the history guide talks about
the assassination of former Idaho
Governor
Stenberg 112 years ago today on December
30th 1905 retired former Idaho Governor
Frank Stenberg went for a walk around
his neighborhood in well Idaho through
nearly 10 in of December snow as he
strolled that frigid December morning
you can imagine that like millions of
others that he was thinking about the
possibilities for the new year when he
returned home he opened the side gate to
his yard and it exploded while he was
gone someone had rigged the gate with
several sticks of dynamite blown nearly
10 ft in the air the governor was
grievously injured and died in his home
later that day the assassination of
Frank Stenberg made national headlines
in its day and the trial that followed a
national sensation included some of the
most famous Advocates of the day arguing
over one of the most contentious issues
facing the Young Nation it is a story of
the wildest part of the wild west and a
part of the nation’s history that many
people would rather forget and yet this
now nearly forgotten political
assassination deserves to be remembered
as much as we think of the West in terms
of cowboys and Indians Outlaws and
lawmen and settlers crossing the nation
in their covered wagons the history
development in the American West was
actually largely driven by minerals the
discovery of gold in California in 1849
the famed Gold Rush drove the westw
expansion and the overall development of
the United States perhaps more than any
other single event the California Gold
Rush was followed by many more from the
Black Hills of South Dakota to Tombstone
Arizona to the Alaskan Klondike many US
Western States including Nevada Colorado
Idaho Arizona Montana North and South
Dakota and Alaska were originally
settled not by Farmers but by Miners and
Prospectors and while many of those
miners headed west hoping to strike
their Fortune the vast majority ended up
working in a profession that was
dangerous grueling and where power was
concentrated in the hands of the mine
owners attempts to unionize labor in the
American mining industry began as early
as the 1860s although early attempts
tended to be short-lived responses to
specific complaints in response mine
owners formed mine owners associations
intended to protect the interests of the
mining companies a similar event in the
escalating conflict was the labor strike
in cordine Idaho in 1892 the central
labor complaint had to do with
automation replacing Miners and reducing
wages but the situation escalated when
it was discovered that the mine Owners
Association had infiltrated the miners
Union with a detective along the M
owners to outmaneuver many of the
Union’s plans the use of these so-called
labor spies in this case a detective
from the famous Pinkerton agency named
Charlie Singo was a particular bone of
contention the discovery of the labor
spy led to a violent confrontation with
striking miners exchanging gunfire with
mine guards and replacement workers
called strike Breakers three people were
killed and 17 injured in the violence in
response Idaho Governor Norman bushnel
Wy declared martial law deploying both
troops of the Idaho National Guard and
later federal troops many union members
were confined without formal charges in
the four months of Martial law the
heavy-handed response resulted in the
formation of a new better organized and
more militant Union organization called
the Western Federation of miners the wfm
would then play a central role in the
many violent mining labor disputes in
the United States and Canada in the
latter part of the 19th and early part
of the 20th centuries the wfm LED
strikes in Creek Colorado in
1894 and Leadville Colorado in 1896 both
of which resulted in the deployment of
the Colorado National Guard while the
former was largely successful in
achieving its goals the latter was not
and resulted in an evolution into a
smaller more radically socialist and
more violent wfm this would set the
stage for another labor dispute in
Calene in 1899
in 1896 Idaho had elected a new governor
a former newspaper editor named Frank
stunnenberg the 36-year-old stunnenberg
had won the nomination for both the
Democratic and the populist party and
had won the election on the back of
significant Union support he was the
first Idaho governor who was not a
Republican and Mining Company fears that
he would not support them in a labor
dispute was enough to cause them to
raise wages he easily won election to
another two-year term in
1898 but trouble flared in 1899 the
Western Federation of miners was having
a dispute with two mining operations
that chose to pay a lower wage and
operate only with non-union miners the
wfm perceived these two mining
operations to be a threat to their wage
scale on April 29th 1899 union members
from the wfm used nearly 3,000 lb of
dynamite to destroy a mill belonging to
the Bunker Hill mine so much Dynamite
was needed that the union men
commandeered a train at gunpoint to move
it all the mill contained a huge
concentrator used to refine ore into
silver in the blast the wfm destroyed
the most expensive piece of mining
equipment in the United States worth
more than A4 million dollars at the time
the local sheriff supported the union
and did nothing to prevent the violence
shocked by the extent of the damage and
the lawlessness Stenberg appealed to
President William McKinley for federal
troops declaring sashon County where the
event had occurred to be in a state of
insurrection and Rebellion once again
martial law was declared the response
was heavy-handed including
indiscriminate arrests where hundreds of
of men were herded into so-called
bullpens without trial or the right of
hius Corpus some were held in inhuman
conditions for as much as a year
politicians sympathetic to the union
cause were arrested newspapers critical
the federal response were closed down
the power of the wfm in the area was
broken one of the Union supporters was
convicted of murderer and the death of
one of the Bunker Hill employees and
several were convicted of the federal
crime of interfering with the maale for
the Abduction of the train used to carry
the dynamite
for his action declaring martial law
Stenberg was seen as a traitor by the
unions that had helped to elect him he
did not seek re-election in 1900 but
enmity against him clearly remained 5
years later when he was killed by the
booby trap on his gate the wfm
immediately fell under suspicion in the
assassination 2 days after the explosion
January 1st 1906 a suspect was arrested
the man named Harry Orchard had been
staying at a local hotel a waitress
reported that he had acted suspiciously
on the day of the bombing a search of
his hotel room found further evidence
that he had made the bomb the lead
investigator a famous Pinkerton
detective named James mcparland
convinced Orchard that he would be
better off if he became a witness for
the state Orchard then told an
astounding tale not only had he killed
Governor Stenberg but he admitted to 17
other murders all at the behest he
claimed of the leadership of the western
Federation of miners the trial of wfm
leader Big Bill Haywood held in 1907 was
one of the most dramatized of the day
called by the press the greatest trial
of modern time one question regarding
the Mind Leader’s arrest in Colorado
went all the way to the United States
Supreme Court the prosecution included
future US senator William Bora and the
wfm leaders were represented by the
legendary attorney Clarence Darrow after
nearly a 3-month trial Haywood was
acquitted largely because Orchard’s
testimony could not be corroborated in
the end only Harry Orchard was convicted
and sentenced to life in prison the
trials of the three wfm leaders in the
assassination of Frank stunnenberg ended
up being sort of a watershed in the
American labor movement while the trials
themselves offered plenty of drama and
there were accusations of misconduct on
both sides they ended up being sort of
Trials on the idea of organized labor in
the United States and the acquittals
represented not just the fact that the
jurors could objectively appreciate
facts but also showed the growing
Sympathy for the populist movement in
the Western United States still there
are many who argued that the jurors were
intimidated that they were afraid that
their families would face violence if
they convicted and to this day there’s
still disagreement over whether the wfm
was involved in stenberg’s
murder ironically the aquid might have
represented sort of a death nail for the
radical tactics of the wfm exhausted
after years of violent confrontations
including the notorious Colorado labor
Wars in 1903 and 1904 labor had soured
on violent tactics and the acquittals
themselves showed that labor members
could get Fair trials in the United
States which itself undercut much of the
rationalization that was used to justify
those violent tactics in embracing more
radical socialism had alienated many of
the former allies of the wfm and so by
the 1910s the Western Federation of
minors had lost its position as a
leading voice in the labor movement in
the Western United States in 1916 they
changed their name to the international
Union of Mind Mill and smelter workers
and enjoyed a brief Resurgence in the
1930s and 1940s but their association
with socialism cost them during the Red
Scare of the 1950s and finally with
declining influence they merged with the
Steel Workers Union in 1967
Harry Orchard was sentenced to life in
prison for the murder and died in the
Idaho State penitentiary in 1954 at the
age of 88 he maintained throughout his
life that his confession and implication
of the wfm leadership was true Big Bill
Haywood’s Fame in the labor movement
grew after his acle he eventually split
with the wfm as the union moved away
from more radical socialism and aligned
himself with the industrial workers of
the world which he had helped to found
in 1918 he and over a 100 other members
of the iww were arrested Ed Under The
Espionage Act for instigating a labor
strike during wartime facing up to 30
years in prison he skipped bail and fled
to Russia where he became an ally of the
Bolsheviks he died in Russia in
1928 The Once trial of the century has
largely faded from the national memory
as has the period of violent labor
confrontations at the turn of the 20th
century and yet that period when
violence was common on both sides
represented significant changes in
American culture and law and established
the industrial labor movement in the
United States and for that reason alone
that assassination of Frank Stenberg on
a frigid December morning in
1905 deserves to be
remembered I feel like in this episode
as you’re telling the story The the
intro is so shocking because it’s just
this guy walking around he’s going for a
walk and then he gets blown up by
Dynamite a booby trap of dynamite that
was set up while he was that’s pretty
harsh for someone to put several sticks
of dynamite in your garden fence while
well I mean it does start out quite
startling because he’s out taking a walk
when there’s 10
in the real lesson on both of these is
don’t go for a walk because that’s when
it when it goes bad but yeah he goes out
for a walk in 10 inches of snow what’s
the worst that you think he’s going to
get pneumonia or something like that he
opens the gate and he’s blown in the air
so yes this was uh this was a political
assassination and it was done to make a
statement and uh uh boy it did so I mean
again if we want to talk about how
divisive things are very little uh a
small percentage of our politics today
uh deal with dynamite whereas this
particular episode has quite quite a
shocking amount of dynamite more sticks
than should be necessary to kill one guy
and more sticks than should be necessary
to make a political Point certainly was
not them just trying I mean man if if
you’re going to kill a guy there are
ways to do it that are a little less
dramatic right this is this was this was
a statement and and it was very clear
statement I think that you know you use
Dynamite as a as an assassin from the
the mining Union
10 foot in the air yeah you’re making it
very clear like this was us allegedly
because you know the union always always
denied it maybe he was just a crazy guy
with with sticks of dynamite for some
reason but uh and and again this is this
was a this a former Governor that was
killed because of act that he took as a
governor uh I never once heard a mention
of this name uh in in getting a degree
in United States history uh and it’s I
mean it’s a very I think unknown event
but it did represent uh not just uh the
politics of the time I mean when we talk
about the labor unrest of the time
there’s a lot of things that people talk
about including the Mind Wars in
Colorado but it represent maybe the Apex
of those Wars uh because it really was
the events around the Stenberg
assassination that would kind of change
the trajectory of Labor and kind of
represent the end of that of that very
volatile very violent era of of Labor
dispute where you know there were a lot
of guns involed uh and so I mean nothing
nothing we talk about with labor today
even you know even you know this messy
disputes with labor today uh I mean you
know they don’t involve you know having
to hijack a train to carry all the
dynamite goodness yeah that’s well and
it’s really it’s it’s hard to say
exactly who was a good guy in this uh CU
I can I can kind of see I can kind of
see where everyone was at I mean we kind
of see how you know how the union was
radicalized uh where where they you know
they feel like they don’t have any
support in the government and that their
only their only choice is and you can
see where you know when the federal the
federal troops come in to to and you
know they’re essentially only take
they’re they’re clearly taking a side
well yeah well I mean you can see why a
pro pro-union Governor would eventually
have to call in troops just because of
the level of violence you can see how
the the the union would see that as a
betrayal but you also see as soon as
they got there as soon as as the
military got there I mean they’re just
randomly arresting people they are
shutting them away in camps forever I
mean you can see here how this all how
this could spiral to to where it did
it’s really and you know it’s it’s kind
of interesting because the the real core
of the dispute that ended up in all of
this uh really had to do it’s it’s kind
of it’s a weird detail sort of thing so
in Idaho there there’s wet mines and
there’s dry mines and the the wet mines
people were literally working way waste
deep in cold water and in the dry mines
you were working out of the cold water
so that that when you worked in the wet
mines they paid you more because you had
to buy special equipment uh these you
know overalls rubber overalls I guess to
not freeze to death in the water so the
dry mind say we can play less per day
but the miners still make more but we
would be not paying the minimum Union
wage and so we had to use non-union
miners uh so that’s an interesting
that’s an interesting discussion you can
see what one minor might say I would be
willing to take a little less pay if I
don’t have to buy the pans and stand in
the water uh and that was the dispute
where the union saw that as as a chance
at union busting because you’re using
non-union workers and breaking their
wage agreements which they had fought
for so hard uh and that’s where that’s
where the tension comes from but it
seems I mean you can see like two sides
of that story uh and it does feel like a
bit of an extreme response uh to then
blow up the most expensive piece of
buying equipment in the United States
well and that’s and I mean you want to
talk about you know where in terms of
you know who is on whose side they blow
this place up and I mean they blow it
into Smither and like they they
don’t at first they essentially are
saying we’re not going to you know we’re
not going to do anything about that like
it’s we’re we’re just going to let them
go well yeah the sheriff was on their
side so he wasn’t I me that’s crazy
could you could you imagine a sheriff
today what somebody goes and I mean they
they turn that thing into match sticks
and and the sheriff refuses to arrest
him well and kill the person too I mean
kill the kill the yeah and and and then
they’re mad that the governor you know
does something about it it’s also
interesting because we were in the midst
of the Spanish American war he couldn’t
call up the state militia because they
were they were in the Philippines
fighting and so we had to send troops I
mean it’s it’s it’s crazy about I mean
again this was you know this was just a
really crazy if we’re going to talk
about division imagine a time when what
the labor dispute is well I disagree
with you over way your mind so I’m going
to literally blow your processing plant
to match sticks with someone inside
there uh that’s that’s crazy yeah this
one again it’s crazy and then uh and
then they become so mad over the
response which to be fair feels awfully
heavy-handed by the time they do it of
course it’s hard to call the Army into a
domestic dispute and have that be uh you
know have that be anything other than a
fairly you know brutal response because
that’s not what the arm’s built to do
right but anyway so they’re so mad about
that that after the guy retires they
wait till he goes out in a walk and they
blow up his fence you know it’s it’s uh
it’s all around crazy it’s wild how deep
these you know these uh loyalties and
grudges I mean held is that this they
this I mean this was years after he was
it was several years after he had
retired and he was essentially out of
the game you know it’s he was it was a
political assassination but they saw him
as as betraying the movement yeah it was
clearly a political assassination based
so it really was what he did as Governor
that led to that and it’s interesting
because he had been a you you you
imagine he didn’t lose his Sympathy for
the union you just can’t you can’t let
them just blow stuff up that they mean
if you let them do that I I at some
point there’s just you know what’s the
where’s the rule of law but it’s yeah
there’s got to be so I mean it shocked
even his conscience and you know he felt
he felt they had to moveed to the rule
of law and you know some of these things
like now it’s against the law it would
be a significant violation of the law
for the for the owners to infiltrate the
Union uh with a with a spy that’s which
is crazy stuff although I I bet they
still try to do some of that uh although
at least you it would be against the law
and you can see where these I mean you
you can really see where the mine owners
who seem to have all the power and the
money and stuff and who are admittedly
at odds with the workers I mean that’s
that was that’s been true uh I mean
throughout history but especially once
you get into industrialization and stuff
like that uh and and and you can see why
that turned why so much of that turned
to you know these these bull bullist
well and down in in Colorado The
Experience had been I mean darn near
Civil War The Experience had literally
been you know armed groups on both sides
and then a lot of death uh from Union
troops you know massacres by by militia
and troops so you can see how they had
radicalized to that point I mean but it
it makes a difference here when we find
out you know where Big Bill Haywood
winds up you know that we’re it’s a
little different than we see today I
mean these were there were people that
were literally seeing this in the same
way that the Bolsheviks were seeing it
in Russia uh and they were they were
seeing this as as as a revolution and I
think they would have been willing to
call up the red guards just like like
Russia was so this was this was kind of
the Apex of that they’d had all the
violence in Colorado
and that had for some of them said you
know violence is not working and for
others it had radicalized them and so
that something like the dry mine pays
less than the wet mine could lead to
something as dramatic as 3,000 pounds of
TNT dynamite then then could lead to
something as dramatic as killing a
former governor who’s out of the game
with with dynamite it’s all around crazy
and then of course it goes into uh it
goes into the whole trial Story the
person his Orchard is is he knows that
he did it he but he’s he is claiming
that they’ve killed lots of people it
leads to another it leads to another
trial and and uh you know it’s it’s and
all of that in the end comes down to it
really takes the violence team out of
Labor movement moves it a different
direction so that we still have Labor
unrest uh we still have you know
significant labor unrest after this
period uh but uh it is moved away from
the point where that is that is kind of
armed camps in in what is close to Civil
War uh and you know away from something
that looks like a bolic res like to
think we’re a little more civilized now
um I I I prefer either way you know
whether where your argument wants to be
in whether things have gotten better or
worse or whatever uh I I think in
general we’re in a better place when we
can you know when a strike doesn’t
involve uh armed gunfights I in general
in general I mean we we still we still
see labor action obviously in America
and and after the period of this we it’s
been regulated in so many ways that are
intended to I the whole idea is that we
learned how terrible it could be and it
was intended to to serve both sides
without it turning into uh the the you
know massacres and things that we had uh
really much more violent our whole
vision of what the wild west looked like
these times you know after the turn of
the century much more violent uh than uh
than you know white her whacking people
in DOD City and stuff like that uh with
his you know with the butt of his gun uh
so I mean it’s Justa perod of US history
I mean it’s it’s interesting that we
don’t think of it in the same way that
we think of you know other parts of US
history I mean how Wild and Woolly this
was that you were you know you were
using Dynamite on the former Governor uh
and uh it it just says again you know
the lesson that we learned from all of
that is that we can disagree and not
have it turn into that sort of violence
so in an era when uh you know it’s not
all that uncommon to have people in the
street upset over things uh maybe the
lesson we need to learn is go relearn
the lessons of these forgotten events
and say that you know we can be uh very
much divided as a nation uh and yet we
we can come to Solutions as a nation
that uh that don’t tear the nation apart
because we did that we tried it and it
was it was we learned that it was you
know worse and then one of these days we
might find Jimmy haa who
knows he’s he’s underneath the
mine you know even if you’re talking
about the H era I mean still I mean you
know the dynamite wasn’t usually
involved I mean that’s I don’t we have
no idea how many as far as we know we
have no idea how many assassinations
were order by the by the by the uh uh
unions you know in either era might be
the reason we can’t find haa oh
maybe certainly you know this this does
come off as the unions inside and this
is I mean this is true in other places
too where that you know this this
concentrated power could come off as I
mean this was almost organized crime the
the level of I mean it was essentially
what they were doing of course yeah
what’s more organized crime than being
able to call up your own militia you
know I mean so so yeah so yeah I mean
and you know there’s there’s all sorts
of accusations on both sides and labor
disput and stuff like that today and
sympathies for the Nations shift back
and forth between labor and management
and all that sort of thing uh and and I
you know I think there there have always
been arguments about Connections uh
between unions and Union Busters and
organized crime and and power and you
know the rich versus the poor and the
and the Working Man versus the uh
management and all the I mean all those
issues are still around today uh but I
mean if if we think that those issues
are are crazy today if we think those
ISS are radical today if we think issues
between populists and powerbase are
radical today uh then honestly we’ve
we’ve not seen anything like that uh
like we’ve like what the nation has
already survived so I you my my you know
I would say as a historian and I usually
just like to tell history and let people
make their own decisions but I would say
one of the lessons we learned from this
is don’t be that let’s not do this again
right let’s not shoot from the windows
of the courthouse let’s uh let’s not use
Dynamite on our enemies let’s not blow
things up as our as our means of
solution uh and you know this this
realize that we can have differing
opinions without tearing the nation
apart because it does seem occasionally
these days that people have forgotten
those lessons uh and maybe that they
should hear in class about William Goble
and and and sternenberg and and uh and
you know what it means when we when we
take our politics the wrong certainly
you know uh solution the solutions we
have are not always perfect and uh you
can see in places like this where the
the solutions were imperfect that led us
to where we got but you have to think
that you know we’re still better off if
we’re not blowing each other up yeah I
mean we we learned lessons then we
changed the way that we did things then
if we have to learn lessons now that’s
fine but let’s not learn them the same
hard way that we did
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Listen to this episode of the THG Podcast, which posts in addition to regular History Guy content, about a month after it releases on podcast services. Subscribe to the RSS feed for more: https://feeds.captivate.fm/thehistoryguy/

Today the History Guy tells two stories of American political assassinations at the turn of the 19th century. First he talks about the only assassination of a sitting US governor. Then he talks about the former governor killed by dynamite. While they happened in different parts of the country, together they illustrate some of the biggest political battles of the time, and the lengths some went to get their way.

This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.

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