The Wheatland Hop Riots

November 27, 2016

The Wheatland Hop Riots

Durst Hop Ranch protesters. Source

August 3, 1913- The Wheatland Hop Riot, on Durst Ranch in Wheatland California, was the second major farm labor disputes in the United States, and in California history. It was pivotal of furtherlabor confrontations throughout the 20th century. The riot resulted in four deaths and numerous injuries, was subsequently blamed by authorities on the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Two key players in this event are Richard "Blackie" Ford, the spokesman for striking field workers at the time of the Wheatland hop riot, and Herman D. Suhr, secretary of the Durst Farm local of the Industrial Workers of the World and a leader of the ill-fated August 1913 strike.

Source; Jim Casey's Website Said to have been taken from City Marshal C. J. McCoy's scrapbook. McCoy was also a key player in the hop riot history.

The following was not written by myself, but is an excerpt from:

"History of Yuba and Sutter Counties California with Biographical Sketches OF The Leading Men and Women of the Counties Who Have Been Identified with Their Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present"

History by- Peter J Delay

Tragic Results of I. W. W. Agitation in the Hop-fields

City Marshal C. J. McCoy, wearing the badge
of Marysville Policeman
“Butch” Dobler, who was killed by a
highwayman named “Mountain Scott”
on June, 2, 1868.Source; Jim Casey's Website

"On Sunday evening, August 3, 1913, the people of Marysville were startled by news from Wheatland, twelve miles south, that Edward T. Manweli, district attorney of Yuba County, had lost his life, that Sheriff George H. Voss had been mortally wounded and that a deputy sheriff named Thomas Riordan had been killed, as the result of an I. W. W. agitation in the camp of the hop-pickers on the Durst Brothers' place, which adjoined Wheatland. Citizens, aided by the police, at once formed relief parties, and these parties hastened, armed, to the scene. Coroner J. K. Kelly and his deputies, with City Marshal C. J. McCoy, now sheriff, were among the first to arrive at Wheatland, where they found the residents terrorized by the awful events of the afternoon.

Investigation proved that the trouble in the hop-fields had been brewing for several days. Agents of the I. W. W. had worked, in their usual way, to cause the men and women employed by Durst Brothers to become dissatisfied with their wage and with camp conditions as regarded sanitation and other matters. On the clay prior to the murder of the district attorney and the attack upon the sheriff, a committee headed by the leaders of the I. W. W. contingent had waited upon R. H. Durst of Durst Brothers with a written demand for an increase in the pickers' rates, for movable toilets in the field, for separate toilets for the women, for "high-pole" men, for lemonade made from lemons instead of acid, for the delivery of drinking water in the field twice a day, and for a committee from the pickers to inspect the hops and pass on them. Early in the morning of the fatal day, a second visit was paid Durst by the committee. Durst accepted some of the terms and vetoed others, chiefly the demand for increased pay, saying he would continue to pay the wages generally paid in California by growers of hops.

Durst Ranch Laborers, which included Children

Durst visited Wheatland, and without swearing to a complaint, demanded that Constable Lee Anderson arrest the leader of the strikers. Complying with Durst's request, Anderson' went to the field and attempted to arrest the man pointed out by Durst. The reception given Anderson was a rough one, Anderson having confessed that he did not have a warrant of arrest. Returning to Wheatland, he had a complaint drawn. Armed with a warrant, he now made another attempt to arrest the leader. This time he received a reception even warmer than the first. In the scrimmage, in which women pickers as well as men participated, Anderson was wounded in the arm, and was fortunate to escape with his life.

Durst Hop Ranch

Again repairing to Wheatland, Anderson notified Sheriff G. H. Voss over the phone of the conditions, and advised immediate action. The sheriff assembled several deputies in Marysville, among them the man Riordan, whom he knew to be fearless, and proceeded to Wheatland. Arriving there, he was met by District Attorney Manweli, who had spent the day in Wheatland on legal business. Manwell volunteered to accompany the posse to the scene of the trouble.

On their arrival at the hop-fields, the officers found that an indignation meeting was in progress, with one man perched on a box in the center of a dance platform, making a speech of an incendiary character. Making his way through the crowd, Manwell sought the cause for the gathering. As he did so the strikers surged around him, and about the sheriff and his deputies. In the excitement, a portion of the platform broke down, as did the box the speaker was standing upon. ' This seemed to intensify the bad blood among the rioters. As Manwell stood with his arm upraised, and with cigar in hand, appealing to the strikers to "keep the peace," he was shot down, and died almost instantly.

Source

The rioters then turned their attention to the other "Scissorsville officers," this being the term by which the leader had referred to the sheriff and others in his speech before their arrival. Sheriff Voss was next attacked. A large Porto Rican among the strikers secured the sheriff's club, and was beating him over the head with it when Deputy Sheriff Henry Daken, a resident of Wheatland, unloaded one barrel of his shotgun into the back of Voss' assailant, killing him instantly. Just who shot the man Riordan was never learned with certainty.

Durst Hop Ranch protesters. Source

After killing the Porto Rican, Deputy Sheriff Daken was compelled to shoot another man, a Mexican, in the hand. His gun was then empty, and he was forced to flee the mob. He arrived at the store building pursued by about twenty of the rioters. Taking a position behind the counter, after the doors were locked, he exchanged his clothing for other garments provided him, and shaved off his moustache. Thus disguised, he was able peaceably to retreat from the building toward evening, after the mob had threatened to burn the place. Daken was later the principal witness at the trial of the murderers of District Attorney Manwell. But for the work of Daken, the horde probably would have murdered every one of the sheriff's deputies.

The unfortunate district attorney was a member of the Wheatland branch of Odd Fellows. Members of the lodge, as soon as they learned of the murder, formed a committee to go to the scene of the crime and recover the body. At risk of being treated roughly, the committee well performed their disagreeable task. They met some faint opposition, but finally, on proving that their mission was a peaceable and a sacred one, were able to remove the remains to their hall, to rest there till the arrival of the coroner.
Several suspects were arrested by City Marshal C. J. McCoy and taken to the County Jail in Marysville. On the following morning, Adjt.-Gen. E. A. Forbes, close friend of Manwell and former resident of Yuba County, ordered Company I, of Oroville, and Company G, of Sacramento, together with Troop B of the latter place, to Wheatland, where martial law reigned for several days.

Source

Sheriff Voss was removed to a Marysville hospital, where he was forced to remain until well into September before reporting at his office. For a time his life wa« despaired of ; and while he lived for several years aftc-i [sic] this experience, his friends contended that his life was cut short by the treatment he received on "bloody Sunday" at Wheatland.

On Strike. Source

Through arrests made, and through further investigation, E. B. Stan- wood, who was appointed by the supervisors to succeed E. T. Manwell as district attorney, learned with the aid of other officers that "Blackie" Ford and Herman D. Suhr were the ringleaders among the I. W. W. rioters. Ford was traced to Winnemucca, Nev., and returned on August 18 to Marysville, where he was recognized; as a man who previously had preached I. W. W.' doctrine in the county-seat, Suhr was taken in Prescott, Ariz.
The trial of Ford and Suhr, together with that of several suspects indicted by the grand jury for the murder of Manwell, began on January 12, 1914. In the court-room appeared a number of "sob-sisters," some representing a San Francisco journal, and some others, members of organizations allied with the I. W. W. The latter organization rented a house across from the courthouse and established headquarters there, sending out literature intended to create sympathy for the men on trial.

The jurors chosen to hear the evidence were A. F. Folsom, Browns Valley; W. H. Finch, eastern Yuba County; A. J. McCarty, Hammonton ; C. E. Stephenson and Frank Platte, Marysville ; Emile -Picard, who later was one of the victims, with his wife, in a double murder, mentioned in this chapter; C. E. Shogren, August Erick- son, and Edward Carlson, all of Arboga ; R. E. Alderman, of Waldo ; John J. Norton, of Marigold ; and W. Bainbridge, of Rackerby. A. C. Allread, a Marysville blacksmith, was selected by agreement as an alternate juror, to take part in the verdict in the event of sickness or death of an}- member of the jury. Daily attendants at the trial were men well known as active in I. W. W. ranks. Such as were suspected of being present for ulterior purposes were closely watched by the officers.

Durst Ranch. Source

District Attorney Stanwood was assisted in the prosecution of the defendants by W. H. Carlin, well-known Marysville attorney, who bore a State-wide reputation as a criminal lawyer, but who always preferred to be on the side of the defense. It was proven by the prosecution that Suhr had, during the agitation at Wheatland, sent a telegram to I. W. W. headquarters at San Francisco, ordering that "more wobblies be sent to Wheatland." A verdict of conviction was returned against both Ford and Suhr, and they were given life sentences. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to secure their parole, but to no avail. Judge E. P. McDaniel, who presided at their trial, would never take a part in any movement toward commutation of sentence or parole.

Richard "Blackie" Ford

Herman D. Suhr

In Memoriam

Edward Tecumseh Manwell was a native of Wheatland. He taught school a number of years in his native county, at the same time studying law. His first political office was that of Assemblyman; and he served two terms as a representative from this district, then known as the Eighth Assembly District. He next was chosen county superintendent of schools, holding the office from 1906 to 1910. In 1910, he succeeded Fred H. Greely, present county auditor and recorder, as district attorney, filling the office until his death. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, as well as of the Odd Fellows, and had served as a member of the National Guard.

Manwell was survived by his widow and eight children, the oldest being Ray Manwell, who at the time this is written is himself filling the office of district attorney. The remains of Edward T. Manwell rest in the family plot at Wheatland. The funeral procession that proceeded from Wheatland, where the services were held, to the grave, was attended by people from all walks of life in Yuba and the surrounding counties.

The conviction of Ford and Suhr has for years caused the I. W. W.'s to give this section a wide berth. The Wheatland tragedy, it should be added, had the effect of arousing the people of the State to legislation providing more definite rules for camps where workers are employed, particularly as to sanitary conditions, proper housing, water supply, etc."

1892- Hop House being built in Wheatland

On Strike Source

Hop Pickers, Source

A young boy poses next to an airplane during the Durst Hop Ranch Strike. The plane is covered with writing promoting the IWW. The back of the photograph reads: “A Wobbly Pilot Appeals for Wrangel and Cline, Ford and Suhr” Source