Evening star., 1907-05-05
DARK MURDER CASE
Idaho ExpectantIy Awaits the
Trial of Haywood.
WILL BEGIN ON THURSDAY
Effort to Bring Steunenberg's
Slayers to Justice.
STORY OF THE CRIME REToLD
Prosecution Depends on the Confes-
sion Supposed to Have Been Made
by Harry Orchard.
STORY OF THE CRIME RET0LD

BOlSE, 1daho, May 4.-W1lllam IL. hay.
wood. secretary and treasurer of the West
ern Federation of Miners, will, Thursday
next, be placed on trial charged with the
murder of former Gov. Frank Steunenberg
of Idaho. In all. four men are in custody
charged with the same offense. They are
William D. Haywood, Charles H. Meyer.
president of the Western Federation Of
Miners; George A. Pettibone, a former
member of the executive board of the same
organization. and Harry Orchard, men,
ber of the federation.
Orchard, 1t is alleged made a confession
in which he admitted that he killed the
former governor. and, it is alleged, impli-
Gated the other men under arrest, together
with others. as accessories before the fact
Under the laws of the state of Idaho while
1T is admitted that Haywood, Meyer and
Pettibone were not in the state of Idaho
at the time of the murder, they are charged
with the actual murder, the contention un-
der the statute being that they were on the
spot in spirit; that they planned and,
therefore, compa assed the death of Steunen-
berg.
In its main and lateral branches the
complete history of -he case extends back
to the early period of conflict between the
union and non-uniOn miners in the Occur
D'Alene region, what is known as the
Panhandle country of Idaho, that narrow
strip of mountainous country, rich in land
and silver ore, under the shadow Of the
great divide between Idaho and Montana.
Motive of the Crime.
The background to the Steunenberg case is
the momentous struggle in the Occur
d'Alene, extending over a period of seven
years and involving the calling out Of the
state militia and finally the dispatchng of
United States troops by President McKin-
ley to the scene of conflict centering around
the mining towns of Wallace, Gem and
Wardner. To the part that Gov. Steunen-
berg played in those stormy days, an ex-
ample followed later by the governor Of
Colorado the prosecution goes for motive
and theory charged against the accused.
1t is alleged that for purposes of revenge.
as evidence of unrelenting determination to
carry on a campaign Of terrorism. TO i'm
press with their power, daring and loyalty,
and to retain the moral and financial sup
port of some 1900 followers, the men,
bers of an Inner circle" Of the Western
Federation of Miners planned and executed
a long series of murders and acts Of vio-
lence, medieval in conception and nihilistic
in execution.
1t is charged that Harry Orchard and
Steve Adams, now under arrest and charged
with the commission Of other murders, were
the hired agents and actual executors of
many of these malevolent plots.
These crimes. it is alleged, can be traced
the days of the "bull pen,'' q stockade in
which several union miners were impris-
oned in 1890 under guard OF United States
troops, again to the great Cripple Creek
glenn Colorado. Geographically the action
is confined chiefly to Colorado and Idaho,
but Montana. Utah. Nevada and California
are also states in which were enacted por-
tions Of the tragedy.
Steunenberg a Union Man.
Orchard lies in the Idaho penitentiary,
ready to take the stand against Haywood.
1t is alleged that Orchard will repeat his
confession on the witness stand, and as the
chief witness for the state, will relate
story filled with plot and counterplot, start
ling in developments and execution.
Steve Adams also made confession. and
it is expected that he will be one of the
witnesses for the prosecution, although
Adams later. under pressure OF relatives. 1t
is said. repudiated portions Of his state
ment.
Frank Steunenberg. who came from hum
BILE but masterful stock, began life as a
printer, joined the Typographical Union
and throughout the greater part of his life
was in strong sympathy with the cause and
struggle of union labor. This circumstance
gives ground for an important contention
of the case Upon the one hand, 1t was ar
gued that because Steunenberg refused to
countenance or. as governor, 10 permit Vlo-
lence in behalf of union labor he was
stricken down as a traitor to his fellows by
a mind that never forgets and an arm that
can reach through years to strike when
least expected.
Upon the other hand, 1t is contended that
his well-known advocacy of union princi-
pies made it at once improbable that his
death was procured by union men.
Death by a Bomb.
The murder Of Steunenberg is pivotal
point in the history of this case, the most
remarkable in American Jurisprudence, for
the events develop backward and forward
from his assassination.
Steunenberg was blown to death on tho
evening Of December 30, 1903. In the
gathering gloom of stormy evening he en-
tered the side gate of his yard at Cald-
WELL where, retired from politics, he lived
the simple life of sheep farmer. A bomb
of peculiar manufacture, with fish line
attached under the snow beside the
gate. The fish line was also fastened to
the gate. AS Steunenberg entered the
opening of the gate sprang the trigger of
the bomb He was terribly mangled, being
blown nearly fifteen feet from the gate.
He lived nearly an hour. was conscious,
and spoke, but his ruptured eardrums
were dead to sound, and he died without
knowing what had killed him. He asked
his wife who had shot him, and the mysti-
fication of his eyes showed that ne couio
not hear her reply.
The explosion of the bomb aroused not
only the little town of Caldwell, but the
whole state of Idaho. Orchard had muir
dered Steunenberg and before the day
was over he was suspected He had gone
to Caldwell from Denver as Thomas Hogan
and variously represented himself to be
an insurance man, a buyer of sheep and
gambler. A search of his room in hotel
revealed the first definite evidence. and on
January / 1906, he was arrested. Orchards s
trunk revealed more evidence, and then a
score Of witnesses told Of seeing him at
various times lurking about the Steunen-
berg home with Jack Simpkins, q membe.
of the executive board OF the Western
Federation of Miners. who has not been
caught, watching the Steunenberg house
with field glasses and making inquiries as
to Steunenberg's movements.
Orchards Confession.
Orchard. when asked at his preliminary
examination II he wanted counsel said that
IL news of his arrest were published abroad
counsel would promptly be on the ground
to advise him.
Subsequently, Hogan was identified by
the Colorado police as Harry Orchard,
wanted on the charge of blowing up the
! Independence Col) depot, and upon this
| identification he admitted that Hogan was
an assumed name, that his real name was
Harry Orchard.
In the meantime the case had passed into