Централия трагедиясы: Қанды қақтығыс және құрбандықтар тарихы

The Centralia Tragedy, also known as the Centralia Conspiracy and the Armistice Day Riot, was a violent and bloody incident that occurred in Centralia, Washington, on November 11, 1919, during a parade celebrating the first anniversary of Armistice Day. The conflict between the American Legion and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies") members resulted in six deaths, others being wounded, multiple prison terms, and an ongoing and especially bitter dispute over the motivations and events that precipitated the event. Both Centralia and the neighboring town of Chehalis had a large number of World War I veterans, with robust chapters of the Legion and many IWW members, some of whom were also war veterans. The ramifications of the event included a trial that attracted national media attention, notoriety that contributed to the First Red Scare in 1919 to 1920, the creation of a powerful martyr for the IWW, a monument to one side of the battle, a mural for the other side, and a formal tribute to the fallen Legionnaires by US President Warren G. Harding.

Throughout late 1800s, Washington IWW organizing efforts illuminated the friction between the vision the initial settlers had for the Northwest and the evolving needs of the denizens of the urban and industrial centers. In late 1908, Wobblies protested Spokane agencies that fraudulently recruited workers for jobs that did not exist. In response, the city passed an ordinance banning street meetings and public rallies. When that ordinance was amended to allow specifically the Salvation Army to speak and hold meetings in public, the Wobblies took to the streets to defend their right to free speech. Within a month, 500 protesters had been arrested including 19 year old Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. The fight ended with the ordinance revoked, with both sides declaring victory. Hoping to come to the assistance of striking shingle weavers in Everett with another free speech demonstration, Wobblies traveled north to sustain the strike. The shingle weavers were striking to restore their wages as the price of cedar had recovered. Although open conflict was avoided, tensions simmered on both sides. 1914–1918 saw scattered strikes in the mining and mill industries. IWW efforts to open a hall for local members were met by opponents of the IWW who lived in Centralia. In 1917, the Wobblies tried to open a hall using an alias on the lease agreement, but the landlord evicted the group when he discovered its identity. The IWW succeeded in opening a union hall in the Spring of 1918. Relations with non union members, particularly with the veterans who would eventually form the local chapter of the new American Legion, continued to deteriorate. The Bolsheviks had come to power in Russia and many feared that the IWWs intentions were similar, due in part to constant inflammatory allegations of ties between the two. Union members were being arrested across the country on federal sedition charges. IWW members were often targeted by vigilante violence around the region. To the business owners of Centralia, and the American Legion members in particular, the political leanings of the Wobblies were believed to be un American and possibly treasonous. On April 30, 1918, the union hall was looted during a Red Cross parade. However, considering Elmer Smith's strong belief in non violence and seeming good character, it is doubtful that armed conflict was his objective. The true intent of Smith's recommendation will probably never be known. Legion Post Commander Warren Grimm, who would become the first casualty of the massacre, was a local lawyer who interacted regularly with Smith. Despite vastly different viewpoints, evidence from personal logs indicates that the professional dealings between these two men were generally respectful and they had an appreciation for each other's legal acumen. Grimm was one of the leading figures in Centralia. A local high school football star and an All American at the University of Washington, he had served with distinction as a U. S. Army officer with the American Expeditionary Force Siberia protecting the Trans Siberian Railway during the Russian Revolution. To this day, the American Legion believes that Grimm was specifically singled out in advance as a target, especially since he had made a public speech about the "evils of the Bolsheviks" based on his experiences in Siberia, and was known to be strongly anti IWW. The post massacre Labor Jury of union leaders paints him as a lead participant in a Centralia Conspiracy who subverted his own men into attacking the Roderick Hotel. Wobbly sympathetic author John Dos Passos ironically described Grimm as a "young man of good family and manners" in 1919, the second book of the U. S. A. trilogy, published in 1932. Warren's brother and law partner, Huber "Polly" Grimm, was Centralia's city attorney at the time. Regardless of his personal feelings toward the Wobblies, Huber is on record during the town hall meeting of October 20, 1919, asserting that the IWW had legal rights and there was no law that could be used to force them to leave town. To celebrate Armistice Day, the town leaders of Centralia planned a combined parade with the neighboring city of Chehalis, to be followed by festivities. The full contingent of both Centralia and Chehalis American Legion Posts, along with other civic organizations, were to march in the parade. This helped create a parade body that was overly crowded and unwieldy. To make matters worse, the route was entirely inadequate, with the parade doubling back on itself at Third Street, a short way from the IWW Hall on North Tower. In addition, the route was modified only weeks before the festivities. According to event planners, this new route was meant to accommodate the larger than usual parade. In consequence, the parade was beset by a high number of starts and stops, tight crowding, and large gaps. More menacing, for the first time, part of the changes would result in the parade passing directly in front of the new Wobbly hall. There were persistent rumors circulating among union members that the lumber companies and local business leaders were ready for a repeat of the 1918 incident and would use the Armistice Day parade as cover. The changes to the parade route, along with various inflammatory speeches by Centralia leaders, helped to fuel these fears. Regardless of the truth of these rumors, they began to take on a life of their own. They became so prevalent that the owner of the Roderick Hotel, who was renting the facility to the IWW, asked the local sheriff for assistance during the march. The sheriff declined to provide protection. According to the Centralia Sheriff's Department, it was unable to commit already scarce resources simply on the basis of a rumor. In contrast, the Wobblies viewed this unwillingness as additional proof of what they believed to be the developing conspiracy against them. Some members of the Legion marched with rubber hoses and gas pipes. The postmaster and a local minister were seen carrying nooses. According to the IWW, their union members, fearing attack, decided to place men armed with pistols within their hall. To help prevent a repeat of the 1918 street beatings, additional Wobblies were staked out across the street in the Avalon and Arnold hotels. Members were also stationed on nearby Seminary Hill, with a commanding view of the street in front of the Roderick. According to other people living in Centralia, the IWW, being on the losing end of the previous confrontations, was looking for a fight and wanted to even the score with bloodshed. As proof, they point out that only seven Wobblies were actually inside the hall. The rest, allegedly armed with high powered rifles and stationed in those other buildings and on Seminary Hill, served not as lookouts but as ambushers. Since they could not influence any confrontation within the hall, these residents believed, the Wobblies' goal was to create a killing field in the middle of North Tower Street. However, there was no general agreement among the IWW on how to defend their hall. Some Wobblies did not know that others were armed and not all were armed. Some did not know that other Wobblies were watching the parade from locations outside the hall. According to the American Legion, the realigning of ranks presented Wobbly member Eugene Barnett, stationed in the Avalon, a direct shot at Grimm. The bullet from Barnett's rifle caught Grimm in the chest and passed through his body. The legionnaire McElfresh, standing nearby, was next. Hit in the brain by a .22 caliber bullet allegedly fired from Seminary Hill over 500 yards away, he was killed instantly. As the mortally wounded Grimm was dragged to the sidewalk, additional shots rained down on the unarmed Legionnaires. Caught between dying in the open and charging their ambushers, the Legionnaires then stormed the Roderick and the surrounding buildings. In contrast, the IWW claims that as the Legionnaires paused, a small group, possibly with Grimm's complicity, broke off and charged the Roderick with the intent to repeat the events of the previous year. When the initial group broke down the doors, the Wobblies, fearing for their lives, fired in self defense. As the first group of Legionnaires fell back in disarray, Grimm was gut shot in the entrance of the hall leading a second group of attackers. McElfresh was then shot by John Doe Davis, one of the few Wobblies never to be captured, as he waited his turn outside. Evidence supports and contradicts both theories. Firstly, Grimm's and McElfresh's wounds were caused by rifle bullets fired at medium to long range, not revolvers, and the blood trails from both men began in the middle of the street. In contrast, the IWW claims that Grimm and McElfresh were two of the three "secret committeemen" behind the Centralia Conspiracy and points to the significant fact that Grimm did give the order to halt in front of the Wobbly hall. The American Legion counters that by pointing out what they believe is the incriminating coincidence that Grimm and McElfresh were the first two men killed by the Wobblies, and both were shot in the street over 100 feet away from the Roderick on the north side of Second Street on Tower Avenue. The IWW responds with a statement by Dr. Frank Bickford, asserting that he had personally led the raid and that the Legionnaires initiated the conflict. Bickford later testified that "the door of the I. W. W. was kicked open before the shooting from inside began." The Legionnaires counter that Bickford was a lying braggart and, by his own admission on the stand, was legally deaf and so could not have known when the shooting actually started. The Legionnaires further counter with statements from the IWW member Tom Morgan, who was inside the Wobbly hall during the massacre and testified "that shots were fired before any rush was made upon the I. W. W. Hall." The IWW replies that Tom Morgan committed perjury to "make a deal," as evidenced by all charges against him being dropped. Both sides have additional eyewitnesses that support their side of the story. Most of the witnesses supporting the IWW's version of events were members of various unions. Most of those supporting the American Legion's version were war veterans and local businessmen sympathetic to the Legion. A close examination of the trial transcript and the most reasonable interpretation of the evidence is that Davis killed Grimm while he was firing from the Avalon Hotel, McElfresh was killed by a Wobbly firing from the IWW hall, and that Cassagranda was killed while he was running west on Second Avenue by a revolver probably fired by Davis firing from the Avalon Hotel. A third theory was advanced by the defense counsel George Vanderveer in his opening statement: "I exonerate now and forever the American Legion from any responsibility for this. They were made catpaws." According to Vanderveer, as the Centralia contingent of Legionnaires began to pass by the Wobbly hall, a small group of men attempted to storm the building. However, although a few Legionnaires as individuals may have participated, the main aggressors were from the Centralia Citizens' Committee and were acting at the behest of F. B. Hubbard, president of the Eastern Railway & Lumber Company. Everest escaped from the rear of the Roderick Hotel, fired at his pursuers, and reloaded as he ran. The Legionnaire Alva Coleman grabbed a nonfunctioning revolver from a captured Wobbly or a nearby house and began to chase Everest. Shot and wounded by Everest, he passed the revolver to Legionnaire Dale Hubbard, a noted athlete, who caught up with Everest as the Wobbly was trying to ford the Skookumchuck River. Pointing the useless revolver at Everest, Hubbard ordered Everest to drop his gun and surrender. It is not known whether Hubbard knew that his revolver was useless. Everest most certainly would have assumed it was working. Everest, unable to cross the river, turned and shot Hubbard. Everest was then captured, beaten, and thrown into jail. All of the captured Wobblies were taken to the local jail. Elmer Smith, who had not participated in the actual massacre, was also rounded up and incarcerated. There is also some confusion over whether IWW leader Britt Smith was jailed then or captured soon afterward. The Wobbly Loren Roberts, 16, turned himself in on November 13. The last fatality was Deputy Sheriff John M. Haney, who was killed on November 15. He was shot by members of a posse from Centralia because he had failed to give the proper countersign. Bert Bland was the last Wobbly captured, on November 19.

As evening fell on November 11, 1919, popular feeling ran high, and a massive vigilante mob began to form outside the jailhouse. Electrical power to Centralia was cut off, and American Legionnaires ordered drivers to shut off their headlights. Hidden by the darkness that produced, the mob took Wesley Everest from the prison. A police report, filed on the day after the lynching, casts doubt on the castration story. The report includes a set of fingerprints and a description of the body but makes no mention of castration. refused to accept the verdict since Washington State law did not recognize a charge of third degree murder. After a few more hours of deliberation, the jury changed its verdict for those two prisoners. As time passed and passions cooled, a public campaign was spearheaded by Elmer Smith. In 1930, one prisoner died in jail, and another was released. In 1931, three prisoners were paroled. 1933, the newly elected Democratic governor, Clarence D. Martin (1884–1955), commuted or pardoned the sentences of three of the prisoners. The last prisoner, Ray Becker, continued to maintain his innocence and refused to be paroled. In 1939, with help from liberal State Senator Mary Farquharson, his sentence was commuted to time served. A bronze statue of a doughboy was erected in 1924 at Centralia's George Washington Park. The sculpture, The Sentinel created by Alonzo Victor Lewis, honors the four Legionnaires killed in the tragedy. In 2023, a bronze plaque honoring the deaths of the ten IWW members during the Centralia Tragedy was installed next to the statue, The Sentinel. A pardon request had been delivered to the state governor earlier that year to vacate the judgments against the eight IWW members who were convicted. The gravesite of Wesley Everest, the home of Dale Hubbard, and the statue of the doughboy are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The tragedy is mentioned in several literary and film works. Robert Cantwell, who was a teenager living near Centralia when the events occurred, would feature the theme of strikes in his works, including Laugh and Lie Down (1931) and The Land of Plenty (1934, 1971). The death of Wesley Everest are important in the character development of one main heroes of the novel Davita's Harp by Chaim Potok. The author, John Dos Passos, describes the riot in his U. S. A. Trilogy. A brief scene of the massacre is also featured in the 2011 film J. Edgar. The tragedy plays a central role in John Straley's mystery in the Cecil Younger series, Death and the Language of Happiness.