Senator Ted Kennedy - February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009

Today I will refrain from Steunenberg related history and instead join those of all political affiliations to honor the history and service of Senator Kennedy. I didn't always agree with every position the Senator took and, like all of us, he was an imperfect human being and made mistakes. Being a Senator was his destiny, to be president was not...and fortunately he was around long enough to accomplish much more than his brothers ever had an opportunity to do.

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
--Ted Kennedy

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
--Robert Frost from Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Lone bugler playing taps at Arlington National Cemetery as Senator Kennedy is laid to rest.

(AP Photo/Richard A. Lipski, Pool)

Are They Going To Hang My Papa?

You may remember that our friend and music historian, Gary Eller, discovered an original music score of Are They Going To Hang My Papa? at Lawson's E-Mu-Zeum. Gary recorded it utilizing that nice throaty voice of John Larsen, the melodic Michelle Groves (Henrieta Haywood vocals), and the old time piano sound of Sean Rogers.

Other than the one that Gary found at the E-Mu-Zeum, I had not seen another original of the sheet music anywhere else...until recently on eBay. I hope Gary and I or some of our other friends weren't bidding against each other. I was lucky enough to come out a winner on this one. Since eBay adopted a policy of keeping everyone's ID private, you never can tell who you are biding against. Took some of the fun out it as I made a lot of friendly contacts with folks having similar historical interests and we would even give each other a break now and then on the bidding. Probably why eBay went to hidden identities as they wouldn't want anybody getting too friendly and not driving up those profits.

From Gary's Annotated Bibliography of Early Idaho Songs:
Are They Going to Hang My Papa? (Owen Spendthrift, 1907). Sheet music cover sheet and lyrics are found on page 115 of the book “Sagebrush Post Offices” by Mildretta Adams (1986). The original sheet music is in the EMU Museum in Grandview. The cover shows a photograph of Big Bill Haywood’s daughter “little Henrietta”, who was born when Haywood was mining in Silver City in 1897 and formulating ideas for the radical Western Federation of Miners union. Adams states that this “sob” song was written and prominently posted all over Boise to arouse sympathy for Haywood during his trial for the assassination of former Governor Frank Steunenberg.

The size of the sheet music is larger than my scanner so the edges are cut off a bit in the above scan. The pages are in pretty decent shape and you see a nice close-up of Henrietta. We can see the child manipulation and attempt to pull at your heartstrings! Works for me, because if I keep looking at darling little Henrietta I might start feeling sorry for Haywood. But I am reminded of Frank Steunenberg's children and how they felt seeing the bloody and mangled body of their father. Many children, caught in the middle of labor violence, lost parents and family members and a bit of their childhood innocence...just like little Henrietta.

Listen to Are They Going To Hang My Papa? along with Dynamite Harry and Farewell SteunenbergIn 1907, marchers sang this song in the streets of New York. See 20,000 Parade for Accused Miners

What The Heck Is An Emu-Z-Um Anyway?

To pick up a recording of Are They Going To Hang My Papa?, Dynamite Harry, Farewell Steunenberg and many others, get your copy of the book and CD, Early Songs of Southern Idaho and the Emigrant Trails.

NEWS FLASH!
Songs! Songs! Songs! by the author of The Torch of Reason (Words and music, regular sheet music size). Click on the "page 479" to view the full page ad that includes Are They Going To Hang My Papa?. Frederick Forrest Berry, the author of Torch of Reason, wrote the lyrics for Are They Going To Hang My Papa? using the pseudonym Owen Spendthrift. Thanks Gary for this link that came from one of your contacts.
--Courtesy of Bonner County Historical Museum in Sandpoint, ID.

Addendum: Here is a copy of the same ad from the back of The Torch of Reason (p. 479) that I found at Internet Archive, a online book site I prefer over Google books. I notice my original of Are They Going To Hang My Papa? was quite a bit more expensive than advertised. The price you pay I guess for 100+ years of wear and tear.

BIG BILL HAYWOOD

These are a few Bill Haywood related items that I am migrating up from the unarchived picture section way down at the bottom of the blog. So if you have bottom fished you may have spotted them before. I will be removing them from that location.

This photograph I acquired of Haywood is probably an old copy made on photographic paper from another photo and sold for use in news publications and periodicals of that period (from the markings on the back). Click image for more information on Haywood.



"so low he has to climb up a ladder to get into Hell"

I saw an original of this postcard just once. Unfortunately, this is just a copy.


Click on any of the images for better viewing.

IWW Today.

If Freedom's road seems rough and hard,
And strewn with rocks and thorns,
Then put your wooden shoes on, pard,
And you won't hurt your corns.
To organize and teach, no doubt,
Is very good, that's true,
But still we can't succeed without
The Good Old Wooden Shoe.
--Joe Hill

This scan of the "Sabotage emblem was provided to me by Gary Eller and is from page 136 of Rosalie Sorrel's 1990 songbook, Way Out in Idaho. It is reproduced with permission of the Idaho Commission on the Arts that owns the rights to Sorrel's book. I moved it up here because it fits perfectly with the video and you will see the same symbols and learn more about what it means.

Information on Haywood is scattered throughout the blog but here are a couple post links.
Bolshevik Bill Haywood-Fugitive in Red Square

Reflections on the Haywood Trial Verdict
"Ultimately, even though found not guilty, the violent tactics of Big Bill Haywood were exposed and his influence diminished. Years later, he would flee to Russia, a fugitive from the very justice system that had served him so well in that Boise courtroom."
--John T. Richards, Jr.

Big Bill Haywood is reported on his way back in disgust

Artist Charles N. Landon Sketches Scene At The Haywood Trial

--Washington Post - 6/11/1907.

--Fort Wayne News - 5/21/1907

Click on the pictures to enlarge for better viewing. These were locate on Footnote.com and saved to my Spotlights section.

I had not seen very many sketches that were actually done in the courtroom at the time of the Haywood trial. A little research determined that the artist, "Landon", was Charles N. Landon, an illustrator of some note for The Cleveland Press. Landon went on to develop a correspondence cartooning course that was a must do for many well-known and not so known cartoonists.

During my search, I also ran across the above sketch of Orchard drawn by Landon. Interestingly, this one was apparently done at the Idaho State Pen. It turns out that Landon was one of a second group group of reporters that were granted special access by Governor Frank Gooding and James McParland for an audience with Orchard at the Idaho Penitentiary. I believe that took place on May 16, 1907. Let me know if you have seen or discover other Landon sketches related to the trial.

THE LANDON SCHOOL OF ILLUSTRATING AND CARTOONING By Charles N. Landon.
Highly Recommended
C.N. Landon's mail order correspondence course on cartooning instructed young cartoonists in the early 1900s in the fundamentals of drawing cartoon characters, influencing a generation of artists. Carl Barks (Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge), Floyd Gottfredson (Mickey Mouse), Roy Crane (Wash Tubbs, Buzz Sawyer), Milton Caniff (Steve Canyon) and Jack Cole (Plastic Man) all took the course. This facsimile edition is the first time the course has been republished in its complete form, also including rare promotional material and drawings from his prestigious alumni.

Publisher: Enchanted Images, 2008
Binding: Softcover
Dimensions: 8x11
Pages: 246pg
Color: black and white
ISBN: #9780978594602
--From Bud's Arts and Books.Com

Finding copies of the above described 2008 edition seems to be a challenge, as apparently only a very small number were ever published.

I don't believe I see Orchard among those on the cover although there are a few evil looking characters in the group. There is one mention of C.N. Landon on page 646 in Big Trouble regarding his impression of Harry Orchard: "Landon saw beneath Orchard's 'veneer of polish and sanctimony' the 'vengeance and greed' that drove him to kill." --Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas

STEUNENBERG SON (My grandfather Julian) ON THE STAND

6/5/1907 - STEUNENBERG SON ON THE STAND.
"Julian Steunenberg is a strong, well-set-up youth with light hair. He took the stand very bravely, but when Senator Borah began questioning him a cloud of pain passed passed over his face and he shielded his eyes, evidently to keep back the tears. He told of meeting Orchard, then known at Hogan, at the local railroad depot in Caldwell three days before the crime and telling him, in answer to his inquiry, that his father would be home the following Friday. He said that he was on his way home with his uncle and was about two blocks behind his father when the explosion occurred."--The San Francisco Chronicle

Typically Julian would have been at his father's side. On the evening of 12/30/1905, he was a couple of blocks behind. If not for this twist of fate, he may well have been killed too and I would not be writing this today.

Full article above can be viewed on my Footnote.com account by clicking on the picture below.

Gunfighters in Boise-D.C. Scott & Bob Meldrum

"Peacherino gun men"

Now there is some descriptive reporting! This article shows the rather romanticizing view sometimes depicted of gunfighters out West. It didn't seem to matter if the subject at hand actually lived in the West or was merely visiting from a more Eastern part of the country.

The Fort Wayne News, July 7, 1907

Click the pic to enlarge for reading.

We have talked about "Bad Man" Bob Meldrum before but D.C. Scott was a somewhat lessor known part of our story and garnered nary a mention in Big Trouble or in Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century. However, he played an important part (how important depends on what story your believe) in the mining and labor disputes of that period and his name did enter into the trial. Hint..D.C. Scott was a detective for the F&CC Railroad.

Can anyone tell me about him? We know what Darrow would say.

D. C. Scott, chief of detectives of the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad...."An oily, slimy fellow," Darrow termed the detective.
--7/25/1907, San Francisco Chronicle

"What Aller Swore. Aller swore that he saw Orchard and D.C Scott together at the depot of the Florence and Cripple Creek railroad on a Sunday, about three weeks prior to the explosion at the Independence depot on the 6th day of June, 1904. Scott, this afternoon, swore that he was not in Cripple Creek at the time and a number of witnesses corroborated this. As a result of this rebuttal testimony information was sworn out after the court adjourned charging Aller with perjury." --7/16/1907, Atlanta Constitution

You can also view this article and many others on my Fold3.com Spotlights.

You may recall seeing the photo postcard below elsewhere on the blog. Its shows famed detective/gunfighter/author Charles Siringo up on the stairs and the aforementioned Bob Meldrum second from the left next to Harry Orchard. Rudie Barthell is also pictured (standing up one step right behind Orchard) and is mentioned in Big Trouble as a sidekick to Meldrum. However, I have not found anything much on Barthell nor substantiated any association between him and Meldrum. Give me a holler if you know anything more about him. You can bet there is some fine hardware under those coats.

Update 12/2015: I have since discovered more about Rudie Barthell & will try to get a story posted in the new year.  

In the photo, it appears that Orchard is being escorted out of the Ada County Courthouse in Boise to a waiting carriage. The courthouse had a jail in the basement but Orchard was kept at the Idaho Pen while Big Bill Haywood was housed in the jail. Other than the above newspaper article, I have not seen D.C. Scott in any trial related photographs but I haven't really been looking either. I'll be on the lookout for him now.

Photo from the collection of John T. Richards