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Learning from Historical Documents for Chapter 12

Letters from F. D. Becker to Gov. S. V. Stewart, 1917. Montana Council of Defense records, 1916-1921. Record Series 19. [box 2 folder 15]. Montana Historical Society Research Center. Archives. Excerpted in Not In Precious Metals Alone: A Manuscript History of Montana (Helena, 1976): 251.

Context for the F. D. Becker Letter:

Labor strife in the timber industry during the summer of 1917 created bitterness on both sides of the issue. Patriotism during World War I translated into an opposition to strikes and militant unionism, promoting accusations of treason and obstructionism from lumber owners when workers tried to organize. In response to a timber industry strike led by the Industrial Workers of the World (known as the IWW or Wobblies), Montana's governor called out the militia to preserve the peace and allow lumbering operations to proceed. Depending upon the interests involved, two views of the roles and methods of the Wobblies existed, and Governor Stewart received letters expressing both. Letters written by F. D. Becker, Secretary of the Montana Lumber Manufacturer's Association, typified the sentiment the lumber owners had towards the Wobblies. But the governor also received mail from supporters of the IWW, including this letter from Sanders County attorney Wade Parks.

View the original June 27, 1917, letter.

View the original June 29, 1917, letter.

Read the excerpt. 

Complete a Written Document Analysis Worksheet.

About Primary Sources:
 
Letters, diary entries, census records, newspapers, and photographs are all examples of "primary sources," material created at a particular moment in the past that has survived into the present. Primary sources can provide clues to the past. They are our windows into an earlier time. The Montana Historical Society contains thousands of primary sources. In the 1970s, archivists collected just a few snippets into a book, which they called Not in Precious Metals Alone: A Manuscript History of Montana. That book is now on the web in its entirety. The above sample from that book relates directly to this chapter.
 

Wherelandwriteshistory

Steamboat Helena, photo by W. E. Hook, Montana Historical Society Photo Archives

 
Wherelandwriteshistory

Strike bulletin, courtesy Mark Johnston, Eureka, MT