George A. Pettibone (May 1862 – August 3, 1908) was an

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

miner. Pettibone was best known as a defendant in trial of three leaders of the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a trade union, labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mining#Human Rights, mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and ...

for the 1905 assassination by bombing of

Frank Steunenberg Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861December 30, 1905) was the fourth governor of the State of Idaho, serving from 1897 until 1901. He was assassinated in 1905 by one-time union member Harry Orchard, who was also a paid informant for the Cripple C ...

, former governor of

Biography

Pettibone was convicted of contempt of court and criminal

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

in the Coeur d'Alene labor strike of 1892. He was later implicated in the 1905 assassination of

, ex-

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Idaho, by a confession and testimony from

Harry Orchard Albert Edward Horsley (March 18, 1866 – April 13, 1954), best known by the pseudonym Harry Orchard, was a miner convicted of the 1905 political assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. The case was one of the most sensational an ...

(WFM) general secretary

Bill Haywood William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928) was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of A ...

and WFM president Charles Moyer were also implicated. Haywood was represented by

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...

, the most renowned defense lawyer of the day, who obtained an acquittal. Pettibone was tried after Haywood, and was defended by Orrin N. Hilton of Denver. Pettibone was also acquitted, and charges against Moyer were dropped.Carlson, ''Roughneck: The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood,'' 1983. Pettibone fell ill with cancer during his trial. After his acquittal he returned home to

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. On August 1, 1908, Pettibone underwent surgery for stomach cancer in Denver.Associated Press
"Pettibone Suffers from Cancer Stomach,"
''Grand Junction ODaily Sentinel,'' Aug. 1, 1908, p. 1. Surgeons pronounced Pettibone terminal following the operation and he died in Denver two days later.

Notes

References

*Carlson, Peter. ''Roughneck: The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood.'' New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1983. *"George Pettibone Dead." ''New York Times.'' August 4, 1908.

External links

* Trade unionists from Idaho American miners 1908 deaths 1862 births {{US-crime-bio-stub

Biography

See also

Notes

References

External links