The illegal Arizona deportation that changed U.S. labor law – but all suspects walked free

Phelps Dodge’s Illegal Roundup of 1,200 Striking Miners

Bisbee, Arizona hides a dark chapter from 1917 that changed labor rights forever.

When 3,000 miners went on strike for safety and fair pay, the Phelps Dodge mining company struck back.

At dawn on July 12, armed men rounded up 2,000 workers at gunpoint. They marched them to Warren Ballpark where they faced a choice: reject their union or leave town.

About 1,200 men were packed into cattle cars and shipped to the New Mexico desert without food or water. Though a federal probe called it “wholly illegal,” no one ever paid for this crime.

The historic Copper Queen Hotel still stands where mining executives planned what became known as the Bisbee Deportation.

Workers Fight Back Against Mining Company in Arizona Town

The Industrial Workers of the World started Metal Mine Workers Union in Bisbee in early 1917. Over 1,000 miners joined, though only about 400 paid dues.

Earlier unions like the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers gave workers little help. IWW took a different approach by bringing together workers of all races.

Phelps Dodge Corporation ran everything in Bisbee at this time, owning the mines, hotel, hospital, store, library, and newspaper.

Miners Stand Up With Bold List of Demands

On June 24, 1917, IWW leaders gave mining companies demands that rocked the power structure.

They wanted two men on each mining machine for safety, no dangerous blasting during shifts, equal pay for all races, and flat wages not tied to copper prices.

Company bosses quickly said no to everything, claiming the war effort made changes impossible. Walter Stuart Douglas, who ran Phelps Dodge, already promised to crush every union in Arizona.

Workers walked out two days later.

Thousands Walk Off the Job in Massive Show of Unity

More than 3,000 miners stopped working on June 26, 1917, making up about 85 percent of all mine workers in Bisbee. The walkout hit all the big operations: Phelps Dodge, Calumet and Arizona, and Shattuck Arizona mines.

The strike stayed peaceful with no reports of worker violence. Sheriff Harry Wheeler set up his office in Bisbee right away to watch things closely.

Local officials quickly asked the federal government to send troops to break up the strike.

President Wilson Refuses to Send Army Against Strikers

Sheriff Wheeler asked Governor Campbell for federal troops on July 2, trying to paint the strike as “pro-German and anti-American.”

The governor sent a message to the White House asking for military help.

President Wilson turned down the request and instead picked former Arizona Governor George W.P. Hunt to help solve the dispute.

Walter Douglas saw what was happening and started forming two groups: the Citizens’ Protective League and Workmen’s Loyalty League to handle things himself.

Mining Company Tests Deportation Tactics in Nearby Town

A smaller IWW strike started at the Phelps Dodge mine in Jerome between July 5-10. On July 10, armed non-union workers rounded up 104 IWW members there.

They freed 37 miners who promised “good behavior,” but put the other 67 on trains and sent them to Needles, California.

This Jerome operation worked as a trial run for what was coming in Bisbee. After seeing how smoothly it went, company leaders decided to move ahead with their bigger plan.

Secret Late-Night Meeting Seals Miners’ Fate

Sheriff Wheeler met with Phelps Dodge executives on July 11 to plan the mass deportation. Walter Douglas gave the final order to remove all striking miners from town.

They recruited 2,200 men from Bisbee and Douglas to serve as one of the largest posses ever put together in American history.

Company officials also arranged with El Paso and Southwestern Railroad to provide special trains. They planned to shut down all phones and telegraphs so no one could call for help.

Armed Men Drag Workers From Their Beds at Gunpoint

Armed deputies wearing white armbands spread through Bisbee at 4:00 a.m. on July 12. Each carried lists of names from Phelps Dodge showing who to arrest.

Men were pulled from their homes at gunpoint, many still in pajamas. The posse took over telegraph and radio services to keep news from getting out.

The roundup turned deadly when IWW miner James Brew shot Deputy Sheriff Orson McRae before other deputies killed Brew.

Baseball Field Becomes Holding Pen for Captured Men

The armed posse marched 2,000 arrested men two miles to Warren Ballpark by 7:30 a.m.

Sheriff Wheeler watched from a car with a loaded machine gun as men were sorted. Families and onlookers gathered around the baseball field in shock.

Deputies gave each man a choice: quit the IWW and go back to work, or face deportation. About 700 men agreed and went free.

The remaining 1,200 refused and waited to learn their fate.

Cattle Cars Carry Human Cargo Through Desert Heat

Deputies loaded 1,186 men into 23 cattle cars and boxcars with no food or water. The trains traveled for 16 hours through the desert in 112-degree heat.

The deportation trains went 200 miles to Tres Hermanas, New Mexico, where the men were dumped in the desert.

Guards warned them never to return to Arizona or face death. Eventually, U.S. Army troops from nearby Columbus, New Mexico, found the abandoned men.

Sheriff Turns Mining Town Into Military Camp

Sheriff Wheeler took complete control of Bisbee after the deportation. Armed guards checked everyone at all roads into town.

People needed special “passports” just to enter or leave Bisbee.

Wheeler set up secret courts with no legal authority to question and deport anyone suspected of supporting unions.

Hundreds more residents faced trials and deportation in the following months. The Arizona Attorney General stepped in and ordered Wheeler to stop these illegal activities.

Justice System Fails as Powerful Men Escape Punishment

A Presidential Mediation Commission investigated the deportation in November 1917, led by Secretary of Labor William Wilson.

The commission included future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter as its legal counsel. Their report called the deportation “wholly illegal and without authority in law, either State or Federal.”

Federal agents arrested 21 Phelps Dodge executives in May 1918, but only one man, Harry Wootton, ever faced trial, and a jury acquitted him in 1920.

No one ever faced punishment for the deportation, and most of the deported workers never returned to Bisbee.

Visiting Copper Queen Hotel, Arizona

The Copper Queen Hotel at 11 Howell Avenue was owned by Phelps Dodge Corporation, the mining company behind the 1917 Bisbee Deportation when 1,200 striking miners were illegally rounded up and deported.

You can stay in one of 48 rooms, including the John Wayne suite with period furnishings.

The hotel offers ghost tours at check-in for a fee, plus the 1902 Spirit Room restaurant and saloon with live music and lunch daily.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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