Battle of Matewan
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The Battle of Matewan was the stand-off that resulted from the attempt of coal miners to unionize in Matewan, West Virginia on May 19, 1920. The coal companies hired the Baldwin-Felts private security agency to evict local miners, who had joined the newly formed Local of the UMWA, from their company homes. The miners got word of this and met the team at the Matewan Train Depot. There ensued a shootout that left ten men dead (7 Baldwin-Felts, 2 miners, 1 mayor). It was featured in the 1987 film Matewan and also in the play Terror of the Tug.
In northern Minnesota where iron miners faced a parallel struggle in the 1920's, a river was named the Matewan River in honor of the dead and as a reminder of the struggles faced by miners and the necessity for a union. It is located southwest of Ely, Minnesota.
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