Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-05-05
MOYER CASE HISTORY
Review Of Event, Leading Up to Trial
which Begins Thursday.
DATES BACK TO c0UER D'AlENE CONFLICT
Reign Of Tsrsr Existed in Mountain States
for Years.
STtUNENBERG KILLED BY BOMB At GATE
Orchards Confession ALLEGED 70 Imp'ieats
All Defendants,
sTtUNENsERG KILLED BY soMB At GATE
MEN WERE ARRESTED IN COLORADO
Attorneys AIIeEe that Their Extradi-
tiOn Was Irregular. hut supreule
Court Decided Against
Them.

wood, secretary and treasurer of the West
tern Federation OF Miners, will on Thurs
| day next be placed on trial. charged with
the murder OF Ex-Governor Frank steunen-
J berg OF this state. In all four men are
| In custody charged with the same offense
| They are William d. Haywood; Charles
| II. Meyer, president OF the Western FEEDER
alton Of Miners; George A. Pettibone, a
| former member OF the executive board OF
! the same organization, and Harry Orchard
a member of the federation OF these men
| Orchard. 1t Is alleged. has made a confess
sion in which he admits that he killed the
| former governor and In the same confes-
sion, It is alleged. duplicates the other
! men under arrest, together with others, as
being accessories before the fact Under
the law OF the state OF Idaho, while Il ia
| admitted that Haywood Meyer and Petit
bone were not In the state of Idaho at the
time Of the murder. they are charged with
the actual murder. the contention under
the statute. being that they were on the
| spot In spirit; that they planned and there
| fore compassed the death OF Governor
| steunenberg
In It's main and lateral branches the COM
| plete history OF the case extends back TO
the early period Of conflict between the
union and non-unon miners in the CoueF
| D'Alene district. or what Is known as the
|
strip of mountainous country, rich in lead
and silver ore, under the shadow Of the
great divide between Idaho and Montana
Background of the Case.
The background to the steunenberg case
Is the momentous struggle in the Couer
D'Alenes. extending as it did over a period
Of seven years and involving the calling
out of the state militia and finally the
dispatch of United States troops by Presi-
dent Mckinley to the scene OF conflict CEN
tering around the mining towns Of Wallace,
Gems and Warden.
To the part that the dead governor
played in these stirring days, furnishing,
as he did, example followed later by
the governors Of Colorado, the prosecution
goes for motive and theory charged
against the accused. II is alleged that for
purposes OF revenge. as evidence of unre-
lenting determination to carry on cam
paign OF terrorism. to impress with their
power. daring and loyalty on, and retain
the moral and financial support and fealty
Of some 1900 followers. the members OF
| an inner circle" OF the Western Fedora
tion Of Miners planned and executed a
long series Of murders and acts of violence,
medieval in conception and nihilistic In ex-
ecution. 1t is charged that Harry Orchard
and Steve Adams, now under arrest and
charged with the commission OF other muir
ders, were the hired agents and actual ex-
ecutorB OF many OF these malevolent plots
These crimes, It is alleged, can be traced
down through the last fifteen years, through
the days of the bull pen." a stockade in
which several hundred union miners were
imprisoned in 1899 under guard Of United
States troops; again to the great Cripple
Creek strike and the more recent prolonged
struggle I'm Colorado Georgia phically the
action is confined chiefly to Colorado and
Idaho. but Montana. Nevada and California
are also stages on which were enacted por-
tions Of the tragedy.
Orchard has made a confession, II is
stated, and lies in the Idaho penitentiary
ready to take the stand against Haywood.
1t is alleged that Orchard will repeat his
confession upon the stand and, as the chief
witness for the state. will relate story
filled with plot and counterplot startling in
development and execution.
Steve Adams also made a confession and
It is expected he will be one OF the wit
nesses for the prosecution, although Adams
later, under pressure of relatives, II Is said,
repudiated portions Of his statement
Frank steunenberE's Career.
Frank Steunenberg. who came from hum
BILE but masterful stock. began life a
printer, joined the Typographical union
and throughout the greater part Of mis- lie
was in strong sympathy with the cause
and struggle of union labor This circum-
stance gives ground for an important con-
tention OF the case Upon the one hand II
was argued that because steunenberg re-
fused TO cOuntenance or, as governor. per-
nit violence in behalf OF union labor he
was stricken down as traitor TO his fell
lows by a mind that never forgets and
arm that can reach through years 70 strike
when least expected Upon the other hand
il is contended that his well known ad-
vocacy Of union principles made It at once
improbable that his death was procured by
union men.
The murder OF steunenberg is a pivotal
point In the history of this, the most re-
markable case IN American Jurisprudence,
for the events develop backward and for
ward from his assassination.
Steunenberg was blown TO death on tn
evening Of December 30. 1905. In the gathos-
ing gloom OF the stormy evening he en-
tered the side gate OF his residence at
Caldwell, where, retired from politics, he
lived the simple life OF a sheep farmer. 4
bomb OF peculiar manufacture, with
string attached was sunk IA the snow be-
side the gate, the string-a piece Of fish
line--being fastened to the gate. As steun-
enberg entered the opening or the gate
sprang the trigger OF the bomb He was
terribly mangled. being blown nearly hf-
teen feet from the gate. He lived nearly
an hour. was conscious and spoke, but his
ruptured ear drums were dead to sound
and he died without knowing what had
killed him. He asked his wife who had
shot him and the mystineation OF his eyes
showed that he could not hear her reply
whole state Aroused
The explosion Of the bomb aroused not
only the little town Of Caldwell but the
whole state OF Idaho. Before the day was
over Il was suspected that Orchard had
murdered steunenberg. He had gone 20
Caldwell from Denver AZ Thomas Hogan
and vaTiOusly claimed 90 be an insurance
Imam a huYer OF ahaen ana 4 aamI-nrufu.-