Hawks Nest Strike

Hawks Nest Strike. . Like many other areas of West Virginia, coal mining has played an important role in the history of Ansted and the surrounding area. Soon after the 1873 completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, coal mines began springing up in the New River Gorge region surrounding Ansted. The nearby Hawks Nest mine was one of the earliest. In 1872, the Gauley-Kanawha Coal Company was organized by Dr. David T. Ansted and George W. Imboden. The following year they opened a mine just below the summit of Gauley Mountain, and in 1875 changed the name to the Hawks Nest Coal Company. A system of mine car tramways was used to transport the coal from Ansted down to the railroad cars at the bottom of the gorge. , This area was also the site of West Virginia's first coal strike. On January 12, 1880, West Virginia National Guard troops were dispatched to Hawks Nest to step in and defuse a conflict. Operators at Coal Valley (present day Montgomery) had informed their union miners that the competition from the Hawks Nest mine was hurting their business. Upon hearing this, the Coal Valley miners made their way to Hawks Nest and threatened the miners there with harm if they continued working. , William N. Page, manager of the Hawks Nest mine, approached Fayette County Sheriff C.H. McClung who, fearing loss of votes in the upcoming election, offered no help. When Governor Henry Mason Matthews was contacted, he ordered troops to the scene and order was restored shortly after their arrival. Several miners from Coal Valley were charged with intimidation in the Fayette County Civil Court.