Item #5986 Was It Murder? The Truth About Centralia. Walker C. SMITH.
Was It Murder? The Truth About Centralia

Was It Murder? The Truth About Centralia

Centralia, WASH. Centralia Publicity Committee, [1925]. Early Reprint. Printed Wrappers. Small 8vo. Pp. 47. Frontis. photo. Illustrated with a reproduction of the Wesley Everest "Tell the Boys I Did My Best" martyr card. In the printed wraps, saddle-stapled. A bright, fresh copy. Near Fine. Item #5986

Title on front cover continues: "Authentic Record of the Causes Leading to, the Actual Events of, and the Trial That Followed the Armistice Day Tragedy at Centralia, Wash., Nov. 11, '19. Including Sworn Affidavits of Five Jurors Who Declared that the Convicted Men Are 'NOT GUILTY'".

On the first celebration of Armistice Day the American Legion chapter in Centralia held a patriotic parade that featured a nefarious ulterior motive: Destroy the local hall of the IWW. Acting on legal advice, Wobblies in the hall met the Legionnaires’ forceful entry with resistance and gunfire, killing three legionnaires. Wobbly Wesley Everest, a WWI veteran, was chased by the mob. When cornered he shot and killed the first of his attackers. That night he was kidnapped from the city jail, then lynched above the Chehalis River. Although his corpse was riddled with bullets, the local coroner declared his death a suicide. In a notorious kangaroo court, Everest's fellow Wobblies were dispatched to the Big House with long sentences. SMITH, 9614; see MILES, 4519 (records only the Seattle edition). Now protected in a removable, clear archival sleeve with acid-free backing.

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Price: $175.00