While the nation generally viewed the American West as the storied ranges of cowboys and Indians, in reality the region was poised on the brink of an industrial showdown. It was a conflict that would eventually grip the West from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. . .destroy thousands of lives. . .challenge the nation's core values of justice. . .and shape the very nature of working in America throughout the twentieth century. It was a very different time, and the fuse had been lit.

To see turn-of-the-century miners in action, view this short Quicktime movie. View this vintage footage by downloading a free version of Quicktime.

Follow along Ken Verdoia's Fire in the Hole script, posted here in thematic sections, and explore achival photographs:

Introduction

Coeur d'Alene
Violence flares and troops are called out as Idaho explodes in 1892

Showdown
Unions gain a foothold in the Colorado gold fields in 1894.

"Absurd Technicalities?"
Mines are dynamited and troops march again in 1898.

Free America?
The dreams of a "worker's paradise" are crushed in Cripple Creek.

The Trial of the Century
A Governor is killed; Labor goes on Trial; and legal legends lock horns in Idaho in 1907.

Wobblies
The Rise of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) and Joe Hill's trial and execution in Utah; 1905-1915

Massacre
Southern Colorado Coal Field War and the Ludlow "massacre"; 1913-1914

Sounds of War
America enters World War I and loyalty becomes an issue; 1917

Gibraltar
Butte, Montana and the lynching of Frank Little; 1912-1917

Cut Out the Cancer
Bisbee, Arizona and the great deportation of 1,200 union miners; 1917

Epilogue