Archives West Finding Aid

Carbon County, Utah, was separated from Emery County in 1894 by the Utah Territorial Legislature. In the previous decade, railroad construction between Salt Lake City and Denver had exposed the rich coal deposits and a large mining industry had begun. By the 1920s however, the early stages of the Depression had hit the mining industry hard. Safety standards in the county mines were poor as demonstrated by the 1924 coal mine explosion in Castle Gate where 172 miners were killed. As the Depression became widespread, wages and hours were cut back for miners and unrest began to grow. To add to the unrest in Carbon County was a rivalry between the towns of Price and Helper. Price was the county seat, had a large American-born population, and was home to many mine owners. Helper was viewed as the miners' town and had a large immigrant population. To add to already complex rivalries were the competing aims of two union organizations: the National Miner's Union (NMU) and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The UMWA had been established in Carbon County for a long time but had organized few miners. When NMU representatives Paul Crouch and Charles Guynn arrived in Carbon County in early 1933, they had great success as miners around Helper quickly joined NMU. In responce, officals in Price began to throw their support to the UMWA. The rivalry intensified when the mayor of Price, Rolla West, stopped NMU workers from marching in the Forth of July Parade. The mayor of Helper, Frank R. Porter, responded by having NMU workers have their own parade in Helper. This break between the two unions and the two towns led to an explosion of violence when NMU workers went on strike while UMWA workers stayed on the job. Since NMU was openly pro-communist, Price officials convinced Governor Henry H. Blood to send the National Guard to end the strike. UMWA members became deputies and acts of violence between Helper and Price exploded. Several arrests were made and NMU's Charles Guynn was tried and convicted of rioting. An amnesty was allowed for other NMU leaders provided they left the county. All remaining NMU workers were forced to join the UMWA in order to gain work in local mines and the UMWA remained the dominant union in Carbon County for nearly thirty years.