Train of Terror

Train of Terror. . , During the 1912-1913 Paint Creek - Cabin Creek strike, coal companies imported strikebakers – the miners called them "scabs" - to ensure the continued operation of the mines. In an effort to safely transport strikebreakers though the strike zone, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad retrofitted a train with armor plating and machine guns. The "Bull Moose Special", as it became know, not only transported strikebreakers but also served as a symbol of intimidation toward striking miners. , On the evening of February 7, 1913 coal operator Quinn Morton and Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill boarded the Bull Moose Special along with ten deputy sheriffs and several railroad special agents. There were a total of about twenty-four heavy armed men in the armored car and one other. Sheriff Hill’s destination was Mucklow, where he intended to serve "John Doe" arrest warrants sworn to by Morton for several men involved in a shooting earlier in the day. Sheriff Hill missed a previous passenger train and boarded the Bull Moose Special at Quinn’s recommendation. Morton had loaded the Bull Moose Special with rifles and ammunition ostensibly to deliver to Mucklow so that the town could protect itself from attacking miners. , Late in the evening of February 7, the Bull Moose Special slowly approached the tent colony of Holly Grove with in lights off. Anticipating a potential altercation, the miners evacuated many of the women and children into dugout shelters prior to the train's arrival. Because of this, only miner died in the attack, although several others were injured including a woman who was shot in the foot. When the train arrived in town, Quinn Morton along with the in mine guards and deputy sheriffs opened fire on the tent colony with rifles and machine guns. Intense gunfire quickly illuminated the nighttime sky as both sides exchanged fire. Sherif Hill did not participate in the assault and claimed that he had no knowledge of a premeditated attack. Morton claimed that the attack was in self defense. , The only injury sustained by anyone on the train was when the engineer received a slight bullet wound to the hand. Lee Calvin, a mine guard aboard the train during the attack, testified to Congress that after the Bull Moose Special left Holly Grove, Quinn Morton remarked: “We gave them hell and had a lot of fun. Let’s back up and five them another round.”