Talk:Battle of Blair Mountain
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The article, as currently written is misleading. Whatever the "Battle of Blair Mountain" may be, it clearly NOT "the largest armed conflict in American history." I am rewording it to "one of the largest riots in American history." While 'riot' may not be the most apropiate word, it is probably better than 'armed conflict' which suggests an actual war rather than a clash between armed civilians and police. Feel free to reverse this change, as I must confess my knowledge of the incident to be scant at best.
- Now changed to "one of the largest armed uprisings", and considerably expanded. --OpenToppedBus - Talk to the driver 16:04, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for your work on this OTB. Aman 9/7/06
Still wrong. The Whiskey Rebellion was at least as large... Also, no where near as large as the nationwide race riots following the Martin Luther King assassination I would imagine.
- The current version makes it clear that it's only the largest "in labor history", not the largest of all. Neither of those examples are labor/union-related. I think the wording works OK, though more input might be good. --OpenToppedBus - Talk to the driver 09:03, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
This is possibly a minor detail in comparison to some of the other material here, but "the murder of Sid Hatfield, police chief of Matewan, on the steps of the McDowell County courthouse in July 1921 by alleged company goons" is factually wrong on two counts.
Smilin' Sid wasn't "murdered." He was assassinated in retaliation for his attempt the previous month to arrest hired mercenaries of the Baldwin-Phelps Security Company on charges of murder during the winter of 1921. He was gunned down in broad daylight, in front of scores of witnesses, by Baldwin-Phelps men. The people in Matewan still remember, even if the rest of the country doesn't.
