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- Riots, Protests, and Other Civil
Disturbances
- Wheatland Riot, August 1913
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- National Guard camp
at Wheatland School (Sacramento Bee)
On August 3, 1913, the Superior Judge of Yuba County wired the
Governor that rioting had taken place that afternoon in the hop
fields near the town of Wheatland. The judge stated that in a
fight between Industrial Workers of the World hop pickers and
peace officers of Yuba County, the district attorney, the Undersheriff
and two rioters had been killed and the sheriff, the constable
of Wheatland Township and several others had been wounded; that
the rioters retained the ground and bodies of the killed and wounded
and that further bloodshed and rioting were imminent.
Immediately upon receipt of this information
and orders from the Governor, The Adjutant General sent 200 National
Guardsmen to Wheatland, where they arrived at daylight on August
4th.
The troops promptly surrounded the rioters'
camp, estimated to contain 2,000 people, and assisted the peace
officers in serving warrants on the leaders and those persons
charged with crime.
Although most of the persons in what had
been the rioters' camp were gone within 24 hours following the
arrests, the troops were not completely withdrawn from the area
until August 9th, when the fears of the frightened citizens of
Wheatland had subsided.
- Official
History
- By Brigadier General Edwin A. Forbes,
Adjutant General of California (1911-1915)
- On August 3, 1913, the Superior Court
Judge of Yuba County wired the Governor that serious rioting
had taken place that afternoon in the hop fields near the town
of Wheatland, that the Sheriff of Yuba County had been seriously
and supposedly mortally wounded and the District Attorney and
Undersheriff of Yuba County had been killed, two Industrial Workers
of the World (IWW) had been killed, the Constable of Wheatland
Township had been shot through the arm and several others wounded,
in a fight between the IWW hop pickers and the peace officers
of Yuba County, that the IWW retained the ground and bodies of
the killed and wounded and that further bloodshed and rioting
were imminent.
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- Immediately upon receipt of this information,
and receiving orders from the Governor to send help to stop the
rioting and restore order, Company F, 2nd Infantry Regiment (now
the 184th Infantry Regiment), of Woodland, was ordered to Sacramento
to join Companies E and G, 2nd Infantry Regiment and Troop B,
1st Squadron of Cavalry, and to proceed to Wheatland. Companies
A and I, 2nd Infantry Regiment, were ordered to proceed by special
train to Wheatland, there to meet at daylight.
Orders were carried out promptly end connections made as directed.
There were approximately 200 National Guardsmen at Wheatland
at daylight of August 4th. The rioters' camp was estimated to
contain 2,000 people. The National Guard promptly surrounded
the camp and assisted the peace officers in serving warrants
upon the leaders and those rioters charged with crime.
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- Part of the camp was searched for dynamite,
which we had bean informed was in possession of the rioters.
Afterwards the National Guard began patrolling the IWW camp and
established a
camp for the battalion. The rioters commenced to leave after
the National Guard had been in Wheatland a short time and within
twenty-four hours most of them were gone. A detail of soldiers
escorted the peace officers with their prisoners to the Yuba
County Jail in Marysville. The work of the National Guard could
have been concluded then, but the citizens were so badly frightened
because of the horrible actions of the rioters on August 3rd,.
that they begged the Governor to leave the troops longer on duty
for fear of further outbreak.
On August 5th, 100 soldiers left Wheatland and the remainder
were ordered to leave as soon as conditions would permitted.
On August 8th, orders were issued for all troops to leave Wheatland
the following day.
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- Extracted from the 1940 History
of the California compiled by the Works Progress Administration
(WPA) in conjunction with the California National Guard and the
California State Library,
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- Additional
History:
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- "We
Are Not Slaves": The Photographic Record of the Wheatland
Hop Riot: The First Images of Protesting Farm Workers in America
- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatland_hop_riot
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- Updated 22 December 2020