North Park in Billings in Yellowstone County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

The ARU Railroad Strike - 1894

Historic Montana Avenue

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 15, 2020

1. The ARU Railroad Strike - 1894 Marker

Inscription. The American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, went on strike against the Pullmans Works of Chicago in June of 1894. Railroad workers throughout America showed their support for the strike by refusing to handle any Pullman cars. Troops from Fort Custer, including the African-American 10th Cavalry, better know as the Buffalo Soldiers were detailed to guard the trains in Billings until the strike ended in July.

Erected by Downtown Billings Starts Here. (Marker Number 41.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Labor Unions • Railroads & Streetcars.

Location. 45° 46.955′ N, 108° 30.11′ W. Marker is in Billings, Montana, in Yellowstone County. It is in North Park. It can be reached from Montana Avenue (Business Interstate 90) near North 26th Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2526 Montana Avenue, Billings MT 59101, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Montana’s Yellowstone Country.

It is also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Chief Plenty Coups Visits - circa 1921 (a few steps from this marker); Calamity Jane Visits Montana Avenue - 1894 (within shouting distance of this marker); George L. Tracy Building (within shouting distance of this marker);

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Actor Bill Hart Visits Montana Avenue - 1927 (within shouting distance of this marker); The McCormick Hotel - 1905 (within shouting distance of this marker); Billings Implement Building (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Mills Durant Star Building (about 300 feet away); Swift and Company Building (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Billings.

More about this marker. Markers erected by Downtown Billings Starts Here are secure to streetlight standards and are only visible from the sidewalk provided they are not covered by a flower pot.

Also see . . . Pullman Strike. In Billings, Montana, an important rail center, a local Methodist minister, J. W. Jennings, supported the ARU. In a sermon he compared the Pullman boycott to the Boston Tea Party, and attacked Montana state officials and President Cleveland for abandoning "the faith of the Jacksonian fathers."[16] Rather than defending "the rights of the people against aggression and oppressive corporations," he said party leaders were "the pliant tools of the codfish monied aristocracy who
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 15, 2020

2. The ARU Railroad Strike - 1894 Marker
seek to dominate this country." (Submitted on February 6, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)

Calamity Jane with armed soldiers on the right during the Billings railroad strike of June 1894. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Billings Gazette

3. Calamity Jane with armed soldiers on the right during the Billings railroad strike of June 1894.

Jane, or Mrs. Clinton Burke at that time, ran a restaurant on Billings' south side.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 6, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 458 times since then and 42 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 6, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.