ASSASSINATED BOMB GOVERNOR IDAHO LABOR UNION STEUNENBERG AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED

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ASSASSINATED BOMB GOVERNOR IDAHO LABOR UNION STEUNENBERG AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED :
$89.88

FRANK STEUNENBERG

(1861 – Assassinated 1905)

4th GOVERNOR OF IDAHO 1897-1898

NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER

In 1896 Steunenberg wonthe Democratic nomination for Governor of Idaho by endorsing \"fusion\"with the Populist ticket, then went on to win the governorship by the biggestlandslide in Idaho\'s history! When labor violence erupted in northern Idaho in1899, Governor Steunenberg took a tough stance. He declared martial law andasked President William McKinley to send federal troops, leading to the arrestof hundreds of union activists. He returned to his home in Caldwell, Idaho onDecember 30, 1905, pulled a wooden slide that opened the gate to his side door,and triggering a bomb that exploded, mortally wounding him. Within an hour, hewas dead. Governor Steunenberg\'s assassination was found to be in retaliationfor his strong anti-union measures.

HERE’S AN AUTOGRAPHSIGNATURE NOTE CARD SIGNED BY STEUNENBERG:

“Frank Steunenberg

Born Keokuk, Iowa

August 8th, 1861

Gov. of Idaho -

1897- 1898”

The document, measures 5” x 3” and is in VERY GOODCONDITION, executed on heavy card paper stock.

A FINE ADDITION TO YOUR IDAHO POLITICALHISTORY AUTOGRAPH, MANUSCRIPT & EPHEMERA COLLECTION!

Biographical Sketch ofthe Honorable

Frank Steunenberg

Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861–December 30, 1905) was the fourth Governorof the State of Idaho,serving from 1897 until 1901. He is perhaps best known for his 1905 assassinationby one-time union member HarryOrchard, who was also a paid informant for the Cripple CreekMine Owners\' Association.Orchard attempted to implicate leaders of the radical Western Federation of Minersin the assassination. The labor leaders were found not guilty in two trials,but Orchard spent the rest of his life in prison.

Early career

Born in Keokuk, Iowa,and raised in Knoxville, Steunenberg was thefourth of ten children of Bernardus and Cornelia (Keppel) Steunenberg, withfive brothers and four sisters. He attended Iowa State Collegeat Amesand then went on to become a printer\'s apprentice and publisher. In 1881 he washired by the Des Moines Registerin Des Moines.Steunenberg later published a newspaper in Knoxvilleuntil 1886, when he moved west and settled in Caldwell,Idaho Territory, where he joinedhis younger brother Albert K. Steunenberg (1863–1907) in taking over the Caldwell Tribunefor six years.

Steunenberg became active in politics in Caldwell and Idahogained statehood in 1890. He was elected to the first statelegislature that fall at age 29 as a fusioncandidate, endorsed by both the Democraticand PopulistParties.

Governor

With labor union support, in 1896Steunenberg was nominated as both the Democratic and Populist candidate for governor.He won the November election at age 35 and became the first non-Republicanelected to that office and was re-elected to a second two-year term in 1898.(Four-year terms began with 1946 election.) Steunenberg served during a periodof considerable labor unrest, particularly in the mining industry in northernIdaho. As a result, many corporations, fearing thatSteunenberg\'s government would not support them if there was a strike,increased their wages for workers.

The Bunker Hill Mining Company,however, hired only non-union labor, and kept wages lower than unionized minesin the area. In April 1899, members of the Western Federation of Minersdestroyed the company\'s mill at Wardnerin the Silver Valley.In response, Steunenberg declared martiallaw and because the national guardwas deployed to the Philippines due to the Spanish–American Warof the preceding year, Steunenberg asked PresidentWilliam McKinleyto send federal troops to quell theunrest. This action was seen as a betrayal by Steunenberg\'sunion supporters. Martial law remained in place through the end of his term,and Steunenberg did not seek a third term in 1900.

Assassination

Nearly five years after he left office, Steunenberg was killed outside hishouse at 1602 Dearborn Street in Caldwell by a bomb rigged to the side gate. HarryOrchard, a former miner from the Western Federation ofMiners (WFM), was arrested in Caldwell shortly after for the assassination, andthe investigation was conducted by Pinkertonagent James McParland. Orchard atfirst claimed innocence, but after solitary confinement and intenseinterrogation by McParland, Orchard signed a 64-page type-written confessiondetailing years of being a paid assassin and dynamiterfor the WFM. Orchard claimed he was hired to kill Steunenberg by leadership ofthe WFM, and he had been in previous jobs that resulted in at least 17 otherdeaths. Orchard said his orders for the killing of Steunenberg came from \"BigBill\" Haywood, general secretary of the WFM, CharlesMoyer, president of the WFM, and GeorgePettibone, a labor activist who had a prior conviction relatedto an 1892 labor disputein Coeur d\'Alene.At McParland\'s urging, the three were arrested in Denver in February 1908, andhurriedly extradited to Idaho for trial.

The nationally publicized trial took place in Boiseover several months in mid-1907 and included new U.S. SenatorWilliam Borah for the prosecution andClarence Darrow for the defense.On the witness stand, Orchard repeated his written confession, admitting toyears of setting bombs for the WFM. He was then cross-examined by defenselawyers for 26 hours, spread out over a week\'s time. In addition to Orchard,the prosecution presented 80 more witnesses to corroborate Orchard\'sdescription of numerous attacks. Darrow and the defense team called over 100witnesses of their own. Closing arguments lasted two weeks, the most talkedabout of which was by Darrow. Modern commentators have praised Darrow\'s closingargument, which used powerful emotional rhetoric focused on the moralsuperiority of the unions\' position. However contemporary reaction wasuniversally negative. The Chicago Tribune called it \"the mostunseemly, abusive, inflammatory speech ever delivered in an Americancourtroom.\" Despite most observers\' opinions that the verdict would beguilty, the jury returned an acquittal for Haywood in late July. Pettibone wasdefended in a separate trial by Judge OrrinN. Hilton of Denver,Coloradoand was also acquitted, and charges were dropped against Moyer.

Orchard pled guilty and received a death sentence in a separate trial, butthe sentence was commuted to life in prison. In 1952, at 86 years of age and 45years after the Haywood trial, Orchard wrote in his autobiography that all ofhis confession and his trial testimony were true.

Legacy

At the request of the Steunenberg family, attorney Borah gave a brieforation at the funeral in Caldwell on January 2, 1906.

A monument to Steunenberg was dedicated in December 1927 in Boise; theoutdoor bronze statue faces the front steps of the Idaho State Capitolfrom across Jefferson Street. Its inscription is as follows:

“Frank Steunenberg

Governorof Idaho
1897 - 1900

“When in 1899 organizedlawlessness challenged the power of Idaho, he upheld the dignity of the state,enforced its authority and restored LAW AND ORDER within its boundaries, forwhich he was assassinated in 1905.
\"Rugged in body, resolute in mind, massive in the strength of hisconvictions, he was of the granite hewn.\" In grateful memory of hiscourageous devotion to public duty, the people of Idaho have erected thismonument.”

The quote is from Borah\'s oration at the funeral in 1906.

EX-GOVERNOR KILLED BY DYNAMITE BOMB
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Frank Steunenberg of Idaho Victim of an Assassin.
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GOVERNOR FROM 1897 TO 1901
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The Bomb Had Been Placed at His Gate at Caldwell,
and Exploded as He Entered.
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BOISE, Idaho, Dec. 30.-Frank Steunenberg, formerly Governor of Idaho, waskilled to-night by a bomb at his home in Caldwell. A dynamite bomb had beenplaced at his front gate with a contrivance that exploded the bomb as heentered. Both legs were blown off and he lived but twenty minutes.

There is no known reason for the outrage, but it is charged to somemembers of the famous inner circle of the Coeur D\'Alene dynamiters, whom heprosecuted relentlessly in 1899 while he was Governor.

Gov. Gooding is in communication with the police and is prepared to lendthe full support of the State in running down the perpetrators of the crime.The State will offer a large reward.

Steunenberg was Governor of Idaho from 1897 to 1901, having been twiceelected on the Populist ticket. He was born in Iowa forty-four years ago, andhad been in Idaho since 1887. He leaves a widow and three children.

A special train left here for Caldwell to-night carrying the Governor andothers who go to assist in organizing the work of running down the criminals.

The latest information is that the bomb was placed beside the gatepost,and that the moving of the gate exploded it.

When persons rushed to the gate the prostrate man asked, \"Who shotme?\" He also asked to be turned over, then lapsed into unconsciousness,and died without giving any information.

The victim\'s clothing and shoes were torn to tatters and his back wasterribly injured. Both legs were shattered frightfully. The shock of theexplosion was felt all over Caldwell, and broke all the glass in one side ofthe ex-Governor\'s home. Every road out of town is guarded to interceptsuspects.

Two men are under suspicion. They had been about Nampa several days andleft for Caldwell to-day. They lived in Coeur-D\'Alene at the time of the riotsin 1899.

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Gov. Steunenberg stood nearly seven feet in his stockings, and never worea necktie. When he appeared on Broadway six years ago he created a sensationwith his Western costume, broad hat and long hair. He was a firm believer inwoman suffrage and the future of the Mormon faith. He accused the East ofmisunderstanding in the latter matter, stating that the Mormons as he knew themwere good citizens.

When rioting broke out at the Coeur d\'Alene mines in the Spring of 1899the civil authorities found themselves unable to cope with the situation.

A call for aid was sent to the War department by Gov. Steunenberg, andFederal troops under Gen. Merriam were sent to the scene of the trouble. Scoresof the rioters were rounded up and driven into a \"bullpen,\" wherethey were kept prisoners for a long time.

They were liberated only after considerable correspondence had passedbetween the Governor and Elihu Root, then Secretary of War.

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