Volume 17 , Issue 17

One Hundred years ago, 2 June 1915, Wednesday

It was Wednesday, 2 June 1915, that we found the following headline in the Chickasha Daily Express: "Mobilize Here For Harvest." It stated Chickasha was threatened with overflow of Enid invaders applying to county agent Cooper for jobs. The calls resulted in labor surplus. Those looking for work came from far and near to find work in the wheat fields, but meet only disappointment.

That Chickasha was threatened with the same overflow of farm laborers and camp followers that took Enid by storm, was evidenced that morning when when up to 10 o'clock more than 80 men had applied for work at the office of O. C. Cooper, Grady county agricultural agent, many of whom bore slips from the government department of labor with directions to come to Chickasha and with the assurance that employment awaited them at $2 to $3 per day with board and lodging.

There were probably men among them who would not work if given employment, but the great majority bear the appearance of being sincere in their desires for farm work of any kind. They came from many parts of the United States. Four, who had traveled together, came from Pennsylvania. One of these men said, "We came to Kansas City 'on the cushions' and saw a federal man there. He gave us some slips and told us to come to Enid and that there was plenty of work there for us. We paid our fare as far as Caldwell and from the time we started to Caldwell, we had paid out about $90 for railroad tickets. When we got to Enid we found that the town was overrun with men.

"Last Sunday night the soup kitchen at Enid fed 437 men for supper. The town fed us for several days, first starting in with three meals a day and then cutting it down to two. Breakfast at 11 o'clock in the morning and supper late in the afternoon. Sunday the mayor posted notices that the coup kitchen would close at supper Monday night. Monday they held us in Enid at the point of a gun and in the evening made us leave Monday Enid. The government man at Enid gave us four the tip Monday to come to Chickasha and said that the harvest here would commence a few days sooner than up here."

When asked concerning the reported riot in Enid the men said, "Yes, there was a riot started, but a bunch of about 25 or 30 of the I. W. W.'s started it. When the notice was posted that the soup kitchen would close Monday night, a committee from the I. W. W.'s called on the mayor and he sent down a bushel of potatoes, some onions, about 75 loaves of bread and lot more stuff, enough food for about 125 men. The I. W. W.'s built a fire made a long table, cooked the stuff and had a big meal.

They are first. There were about 50 men yet to be fed when they finished. The chief of police and some deputies were there and when the I. W. W. bunch had finished they let us come up to finish. The chief asked one of the leaders what had become of all that bread and he said, 'It's over there on the table.' We went over and found about half a dozen loaves. Their bunch had eaten the rest. The chief arrested three of the leaders and took them to the city jail. The rest of the gang went up the track, got a soap box and some of them started to speak. Our bunch stayed down at the other end of the yards. The police drove the agitators away. After that the I. W. W.'s called on the city officers and told them that if they didn't turn the three men out, they would have to arrest the whole crew and if the officers refused to do that, they would wire the I. W. W. headquarters and flood the town with men. The three leaders were turned out and the whole bunch loaded on a freight train going north. We were loaded into a freight car like a bunch of cattle and started south. Some of us got off here and the others went on south. Don't know where."

The slips were signed by a man named Green from Kansas City and were headed "The Department of Labor."

On the back of the slips were directions for Enid. On the face of the slips the word "Chickasha" had been written and the men said that the government man at Enid had so directed them.

One of the men was from Chicago, and another from New York and four were from Tennessee. One of the men had a letter stating that Oklahoma would need 18,000 harvest hands. The four from Kansas Ciyt stated that Green had told them the same thing and that the harvest would be going well by June 5. The "Department of Labor" slips stated that the wages would be from $2 to $3 per day with board and lodging. One of the men had a letter signed by Ashton, labor commissioner, Oklahoma City, and gave the dates as early in June when the men would be needed in Oklahoma.
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