Albert Horsley

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Harry Orchard was born Albert Edward Horsley in 1867 in Wooler Township, Ontario, Canada. He was known as Thomas Hogan in 1905, and also used the aliases Dempsey and Goglan.[1]

Orchard was a member of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM). In 1897, Harry Orchard, along with August Paulsen, Harry Day, May Arkwright, butcher F. M. Rothrock, lawyer Henry F. Samuels and C. H. Reeves, invested in the Hercules Mine in Idaho. A decade later, Orchard's ownership of a share in the mine would be used to impeach his testimony in a murder trial.

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[edit] The Haywood trial

In 1905 Orchard was arrested for the assassination of Frank Steunenberg, ex-governor of Idaho. He raised suspicion when a detective for the Mine Owners' Association recognized him as Orchard; he responded that his name was Hogan; and, it was discovered that he was registered at his hotel under the name of Goglan. When his room was searched, evidence related to the murder was discovered.[2]

Orchard made an elaborate confession to Pinkerton detective James McParland, and he also confessed to murdering at least sixteen other people. Possibly to avoid the immediate hanging that had been threatened by McParland,[3] Orchard testified in Bill Haywood's trial, stating that the murder of Steunenberg was ordered by Haywood, Charles Moyer and George Pettibone, all leaders of the WFM. Famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow argued that Orchard had his own, personal motive for murdering former Governor Steunenberg. As the result of a violent incident during a labor struggle in Coeur d'Alene, Steunenberg had ordered severe measures against the unionized miners, including a declaration of martial law. Darrow argued that if Orchard hadn't been forced to sell his one-sixteenth share of the mine because of the martial law decree, he would have become wealthy. Orchard had denied the accusation. The Haywood defense team then produced five witnesses from three states who testified that Orchard had told them about his anger at Steunenberg. Several of them stated that Orchard had vowed to seek revenge against the former Idaho governor.[4]

[edit] Harry Orchard's history

Harry Orchard was a complex individual who apparently had sought opportunity working for both sides in labor disputes. Orchard confessed to playing a violent, and ultimately, decisive, role in the Colorado Labor Wars. During the Haywood trial Orchard confessed to serving as a paid informant for the Mine Owners Association.[5] He reportedly told a companion, G.L. Brokaw, that he had been a Pinkerton employee for some time.[6] He was also a bigamist, and admitted to abandoning wives in Canada and Cripple Creek. He had burned businesses for the insurance money in Cripple Creek and Canada.[7] Orchard had burglarized a railroad depot, rifled a cash register, stole sheep, and had made plans to kidnap children over a debt. He also sold fraudulent insurance policies.[8] Orchard's confession to McParland took responsibility for seventeen or more murders.[9]

Orchard also tried to help McParland build a case by implicating one of his fellow miners from the WFM, Steve Adams. The effort failed, but it revealed interesting details about the methods McParland used to induce defendants to turn state's evidence.

[edit] Results of all the trials

The Idaho jury found Haywood not guilty. Pettibone was found not guilty in a separate trial, after the defense declined to argue the case.[10] Charges against Moyer were dropped.

Steve Adams was tried in three separate trials, resulting in two hung juries in Idaho and an acquittal in Colorado.[11]

The state of Idaho had provided Orchard with "a library of religious tracts,"[12] which may have influenced his announced conversion to religious belief. In The Pinkerton Story, a 1951 book that is very sympathetic to the Pinkerton Agency, the authors state their belief that the leaders of the WFM may have been guilty, but,

...the prosecution let Orchard get away from the facts and his testimony turned into a syrupy story of repentance, religion, and God's mercy to sinners, which had the effect of turning everyone's stomach.[13]

After all the others were acquitted or released, Orchard was tried alone. He received a death sentence in Idaho for the murder of Frank Steunenberg. Pinkerton Detective McParland invoked religious symbolism in a letter to Governor Gooding, arguing against executing Orchard:

I have seen many penitent sinners who were fully prepared to die, but all such would have much rather lived if that were possible. Even the Saviour of Mankind, as the Holy Writ informs us, requested of the Father in Heaven that if in His Wisdom He could do so the cup, the crucifixion, should be passed away...[14]

Orchard's sentence was commuted to life in prison.[15] When the question of pardon came up in 1920, William A. Pinkerton wrote,

I know McParland was in favor of Orchard being pardoned but I always regarded Orchard as a cold-blooded desperado and murderer and the only reason he gave information was to save his own worthless hide...[16]

No pardon was granted, and Orchard died in prison in 1954.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Pinkerton Story, James D. Horan and Howard Swiggett, 1951, page 291.
  2. ^ The Pinkerton Story, James D. Horan and Howard Swiggett, 1951, page 294.
  3. ^ Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 90.
  4. ^ Roughneck-- The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, page 125.
  5. ^ Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 119.
  6. ^ All That Glitters — Class, Conflict, and Community in Cripple Creek, Elizabeth Jameson, 1998, page 228, from Dubofsky, We Shall Be All, page 98.
  7. ^ Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 118.
  8. ^ Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 119.
  9. ^ Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 92.
  10. ^ The Pinkerton Story, James D. Horan and Howard Swiggett, 1951, page 306.
  11. ^ Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 141.
  12. ^ Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 92.
  13. ^ The Pinkerton Story, James D. Horan and Howard Swiggett, 1951, page 306.
  14. ^ The Pinkerton Story, James D. Horan and Howard Swiggett, 1951, page 307-308.
  15. ^ Roughneck-- The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, page 140.
  16. ^ The Pinkerton Story, James D. Horan and Howard Swiggett, 1951, page 308.

[edit] See also

There is much more info about the Steunenberg trials under James McParland and Bill Haywood.

[edit] External links

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