American Epistles

Today, Elinore gives us a peek inside her humble abode, and then tells us about a literature-inspired dinner.  Once again, there's snow involved.

October 6, 1911 Dear Mrs. Coney, … Aggie was angry all through. She vowed she was being robbed. After she had berated me soundly for submitting so tamely, she flounced back to her own room, declaring she would get even with the robbers. I had to hurry like everything that night to get myself and … Continue reading “A very angry Aggie strode in.” (Elinore Rupert, Part 7) →

Zebulon Pike Parker shares his story from home, then a frightening storm is followed by a beautiful sunrise.

The Elinore Rupert series continues with a family tragedy, a young girl's industry, and a sewing bee.

In this fourth episode in a multi-part series, Elinore Rupert shares big news with Mrs. Coney, her former employer in Denver.

In this third episode of a multi-part series, Elinore Rupert meets a pair of twins with interesting names, and helps arrange a family reunion.

In this second episode of a multi-part series about Elinore Rupert, the author and her daughter Jerrine venture out into the great wilds of Wyoming.  When their explorations take a scary turn, a new friend helps them find their way.

In March 1909, Elinore Rupert moved from Denver, Colorado to Burnt Fork, Wyoming to be a housekeeper for widowed homesteader Clyde Stewart. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave tracts of land to male citizens, widows, single women, and immigrants who pledged to become citizens; Rupert hoped to have a homestead of her own someday.

After moving, Rupert began a years-long correspondence with her former employer, Mrs. Juliet Coney, a widowed schoolteacher. The letters would eventually be published in the Atlantic Monthly, and then in a book. Over several episodes, we'll hear Rupert's own words about her adventures in Wyoming.

The West Virginia Mine Wars were a series of armed conflicts between coal mine operators and employees in the Mountain State. The first episode was about the conditions in the West Virginia coal fields in the years leading up to the Mine Wars. The second episode discussed Paint Creek and Cabin Creek strikes that ended in 1913.

For several months, the nation’s attention was focused on the war raging across the Atlantic. West Virginia was the second largest producer of the coal needed to fuel steel mills and Navy ships. The higher demand for coal, along with the labor shortage, lead to an increase in miners’ wages. But the increases were not permanent, and many of the issues that had sparked the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek strikes remained. And the violence returned. It culminated in the Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest armed insurrection in United States since the Civil War.

The problems that had been brewing in West Virginia coal fields came to a violent boil during the Mine Wars. For years, WV mine operators had employed guards from the Baldwin-Felts detective agency. The guards were often “clothed with some semblance of the authority of the law, either by being sworn in as railroad detectives, as constables or deputy sheriffs.”* They were accused of harassing, beating, and even killing miners with impunity.

Like workers all over the country during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, WV miners railed against long hours, low pay, and what some called un-American living conditions. And like many laborers during this tumultuous period, they found comfort and courage in the fiery words of Mary Harris Jones, aka Mother Jones.

This second episode in a three-part series focuses on the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek Strikes, during which martial law was declared three separate times. At least 20 people were killed.