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The '''Pullman Strike''' of 1894 was the biggest strike in American history.  The upstart American Railway Union (ARU), led by [[Eugene Debs]], was supporting a factory strike in Chicago against the makers of Pullman cars.  The nation was in the midst of a deep depression, the [[Panic of 1893]], and the strike in Chicago was failing. Debs escalated it by having his ARU members refuse to handle trains that carried Pullman cars (which were luxury passenger cars, and also carried the U.S. mail.) The railroads fired the ARU members, the ARU then tried to shut down the national railroad system in July, 1894. It largely succeeded west of Detroit (but failed in the East and South because it had few members there). The federal government under President [[Grover Cleveland]], a [[Bourbon Democrat|conservative Democrat]] went to federal court to get an injunction against Debs and the ARU, noting federal responsibility to move the mails.  They ignored the injunction and Cleveland sent in the U.S. Army to enforce the law, move the mail, and break the strike.  Disorganized violence by strikers against the army and the railroads broke out in many rail centers from Chicago to the West Coast, but the army got the job done and the strike soon ended.

The '''Pullman Strike''' of 1894 was the biggest strike in American history.  The upstart American Railway Union (ARU), led by [[Eugene Debs]], was supporting a factory strike in Chicago against the makers of Pullman cars.  The nation was in the midst of a deep depression, the [[Panic of 1893]], and the strike in Chicago was failing. Debs escalated it by having his ARU members refuse to handle trains that carried Pullman cars (which were luxury passenger cars, and also carried the U.S. mail.) The railroads fired the ARU members, the ARU then tried to shut down the national railroad system in July, 1894. It largely succeeded west of Detroit (but failed in the East and South because it had few members there). The federal government under President [[Grover Cleveland]], a [[Bourbon Democrat|conservative Democrat]] went to federal court to get an injunction against Debs and the ARU, noting federal responsibility to move the mails.  They ignored the injunction and Cleveland sent in the U.S. Army to enforce the law, move the mail, and break the strike.  Disorganized violence by strikers against the army and the railroads broke out in many rail centers from Chicago to the West Coast, but the army got the job done and the strike soon ended.

==Montana==

==Montana==

The strike was based in Chicago but affected the entire west, especially the Northern Pacific Railroad routes in Montana. The Great Northern and Union Pacific railroads experienced less disruption.  The disruptions lasted several weeks in summer 1894. Violent union activists from the newly formed American Railway Union in Billings, Livingston, Butte, Helena, and Missoula tried to stop the movement of trains operated by workers who belonged to the older established railroad brotherhoods. President Cleveland sent in troops from the 22d US Infantry to patrol Northern Pacific tracks and depots. Union activists threatened and actually attacked the troops in Livingston. Unionized miners from western Montana supported A.R.U. efforts. After the strike collapsed, N.P. and U.P. officials blacklisted many Montana railroad employees. Six A.R.U. leaders were also convicted of violating an anti-strike injunction. The Pullman Strike was a central event in the labor turbulence and political activism, which swept Montana during the 1890s, fostered by strong anti-railroad populism among some farmers and many miners in the state.<ref> W. Thomas White, "Boycott: the Pullman Strike in Montana."  ''Montana: the Magazine of Western History'' 1979 29(4): 2-13 </ref>

The strike was based in Chicago but affected the entire west, especially the Northern Pacific Railroad routes in Montana. The Great Northern and Union Pacific railroads experienced less disruption.  The disruptions lasted several weeks in summer 1894. Violent union activists from the newly formed American Railway Union in Billings, Livingston, Butte, Helena, and Missoula tried to stop the movement of trains operated by workers who belonged to the older established railroad brotherhoods. President Cleveland sent in troops from the 22d US Infantry to patrol Northern Pacific tracks and depots. Union activists threatened and actually attacked the troops in Livingston. Unionized miners from western Montana supported A.R.U. efforts. After the strike collapsed, N.P. and U.P. officials blacklisted many Montana railroad employees. Six A.R.U. leaders were also convicted of violating an anti-strike injunction. The Pullman Strike was a central event in the labor turbulence and political activism, which swept Montana during the 1890s, fostered by strong anti-railroad populism among some farmers and many miners in the state.<ref> W. Thomas White, "Boycott: the Pullman Strike in Montana."  ''Montana: the Magazine of Western History'' 1979 29(4): 2-13 </ref>

==Cleveland==

==Cleveland==

Noting that the mail is a constitutional duty of the federal government, Cleveland rejected the demands by Illinois Governor [[John Peter Altgeld]], a fellow Democrat, to stay out. Altgeld, with ties to the labor unions, was a leader of the radical left wing of the party, and was using states rights arguments favored by southerners who wanted  no federal protection of the voting rights of blacks. "If it takes the the entire army and navy . . . to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered."  he promised.  Cleveland ignored Altgeld and the states rights argument --and indeed consulted with no one outside his cabinet--and sent in the army to take control of the rail yards in Chicago and dozens of other major cities. Cleveland had the strike leaders arrested as strikers attacked the army violently in numerous cities.  The army reopened the rail system, ended the strike, and broke the union.  Cleveland had made the most dramatic intervention of federal power into local affairs since the end of [[Reconstruction]], and was bitterly resented by states-rights elements.

Noting that the mail is a constitutional duty of the federal government, Cleveland rejected the demands by Illinois Governor [[John Peter Altgeld]], a fellow Democrat, to stay out. Altgeld, with ties to the labor unions, was a leader of the radical left wing of the party, and was using states rights arguments favored by southerners who wanted  no federal protection of the voting rights of blacks. "If it takes the the entire army and navy . . . to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card will be delivered."  he promised.  Cleveland ignored Altgeld and the states rights argument --and indeed consulted with no one outside his cabinet--and sent in the army to take control of the rail yards in Chicago and dozens of other major cities. Cleveland had the strike leaders arrested as strikers attacked the army violently in numerous cities.  The army reopened the rail system, ended the strike, and broke the union.  Cleveland had made the most dramatic intervention of federal power into local affairs since the end of [[Reconstruction]], and was bitterly resented by states-rights elements.