The Everett Massacre (also known as Bloody Sunday) was an armed confrontation between local authorities and members of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

(IWW) union, commonly called "Wobblies". It took place in

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

on Sunday, November 5, 1916. The event marked a time of rising tensions in

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

labor history.

Background

In 1916, Everett, Washington was facing a serious depression. There was ongoing confrontation between business, commercial interests, labor, and labor organizers. There had been a number of labor-organized rallies and speeches in the street. These were opposed by local law enforcement, which was firmly on the side of business. IWW organizers had gone into Everett to support a five-month-long strike by shingle workers. Once there, vigilantes organized by business had beaten them up with axe handles and run them out of town. The

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

IWW decided to go to Everett in numbers to hold a rally to show their support for the striking shingle workers.

Confrontation at the dock

On November 5, 1916, about 300 IWW members met at the IWW Hall in Seattle and then marched down to the docks where they boarded the steamers ''Verona'' and ''Calista'' which then headed north to Everett. ''Verona'' arrived at Everett before ''Callista'' and as they approached the dock in the early afternoon, the Wobblies sang their fight song " Hold the Fort". Local business interests, knowing the Wobblies were coming, placed armed goon squads on the dock and on at least one tugboat in the harbor, ''Edison'', owned by the American Tug Boat Company. As with previous labor demonstrations, the local businessmen had also secured the aid of law enforcement, including the

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 75th-most populous ...

sheriff Donald McRae, who was known for targeting Wobblies for arbitrary arrests and beatings.

Shootout

More than 200 vigilantes or "citizen deputies", under the ostensible authority of Snohomish County Sheriff McRae, met in order to repel the "

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

." As the ''Verona'' drew into the dock, and someone on board threw a line over a bollard, McRae stepped forward and called out "Boys, who's your leader?" The IWW men laughed and jeered, replying "We're all leaders," and they started to swing out the gang plank. McRae drew his pistol, told them he was the sheriff, he was enforcing the law, and they couldn't land here. There was a silence, then a Wobbly came up to the front and yelled out "the hell we can't." Just then a single shot rang out, followed by about ten minutes of intense gunfire. Most of it came from the vigilantes on the dock, but some fire came from the ''Verona'', although the majority of the passengers were unarmed.McCurdy, at 264 Whether the first shot came from boat or dock was never determined. Passengers aboard the ''Verona'' rushed to the opposite side of the ship, nearly capsizing the vessel. The ship's rail broke and a number of passengers were ejected into the water, some drowned as a result but how many is not known, or whether persons who'd been shot also went overboard. Over 175 bullets pierced the pilot house alone, and the captain of the ''Verona'', Chance Wiman, was only able to avoid being shot by ducking behind the ship's safe. Once the ship righted herself somewhat after the near-capsize, some slack came on the bowline, and Engineer Shellgren put the engines hard astern, parting the line, and enabling the steamer to escape. Out in the harbor, Captain Wiman warned off the approaching ''Calista'' and then raced back to Seattle.

Death toll

The Seattle Star November 6 1916 Front Page

At the end of the mayhem, two citizen deputies lay dead with 16 or 20 others wounded, including Sheriff McRae. The two businessman-deputies that were shot were actually shot in the back by fellow deputies; their injuries were not caused by Wobbly gunfire.John McClelland Jr., ''Wobbly War: The Centralia Story'' (Tacoma: Washington State Historical Society, 1987)Lowell S. Hawley and Ralph Bushnell Potts, ''Counsel for the Damned'' (New York: Lippincott, 1953). The IWW officially listed 5 dead with 27 wounded, although it is speculated that as many as 12 IWW members may have been killed. There was a good likelihood that at least some of the casualties on the dock were caused not by IWW firing from the steamer, but on vigilante rounds from the cross-fire of bullets coming from the ''Edison''. The local Everett Wobblies started their street rally anyway, and as a result, McRae's deputized citizens rounded them up and hauled them off to jail.Clark, at 207 As a result of the shootings, Governor

Ernest Lister Ernest Lister (June 15, 1870June 14, 1919) was an American politician who served as the eighth governor of Washington from 1913 to 1919. Biography Born in Halifax, England, Lister immigrated with his family in 1884, to be near his uncle, who w ...

of the State of Washington sent companies of militia to Everett and Seattle to help maintain order.

Question of violence

There have been many efforts to find the IWW, a self-described radical union, at fault for the violence. Other historians have placed blame on external forces, including that a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

working as a

labor spy Labor spying in the United States had involved people recruited or employed for the purpose of gathering intelligence, committing sabotage, sowing dissent, or engaging in other similar activities, in the context of an employer/labor organization r ...

had advocated violent action at an IWW meeting in Everett.

Aftermath

Upon returning to Seattle, 74 Wobblies were arrested as a direct result of the "Everett Massacre" including IWW leader Thomas H. Tracy. They were taken to the Snohomish County jail in Everett and charged with murder of the two deputies. After a two-month trial, Tracy was acquitted by a jury on May 5, 1917. Shortly thereafter, all charges were dropped against the remaining 73 defendants and they were released from jail.

Footnotes

External links

The Everett Massacre Digital Collection
''Everett Public Library.''

''University of St. Francis.''

''University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections.''
Essay on the Everett Massacre
''HistoryLink.org - The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Everett Massacre 1916 murders in the United States 1916 in Washington (state) Mass murder in 1916 Massacres in 1916 November 1916 events Everett, Washington History of Snohomish County, Washington Labor disputes in Washington (state) Industrial Workers of the World in Washington (state) Protest-related deaths Labor-related violence in the United States Vigilantism in the United States Crimes in Washington (state) Police brutality in the United States