In 1891, miners in the Coal Creek Valley, the most lucrative mining region in the state of Tennessee, decided they were tired of being replaced by convict labor and were going to do something about it. So on the night of July 14th, 300 men, armed to the teeth, descended upon the stockade in Briceville where the convicts were housed, took control, and proceeded to send the prisoners back east to Knoxville on a train. It was not only a brazen display of defiance against the coal companies, but also the first act in what would become known as the Coal Creek Wars.

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