250 Labor Protesters Stole A Train, Then Arrested In Green River — Wyoming History

GREEN RIVER, Wyoming — A group of 250 unemployed protesters hijacked a train in Idaho in spring 1894 and were arrested in Green River, Wyoming.

Arrest and charges

The first major march on the nation’s capital included many Wyomingites who had lost their jobs and were fighting for survival.

Protests in Washington, D.C., are common these days, but they weren’t in 1894, when the first major march on the nation's capital included many Wyomingites who had lost their jobs and were fighting for their survival.

In addition to such hardships, getting to the East Coast wasn’t easy for anyone in the West.

Some would-be protesters stole freight trains, and many who joined the march were arrested along the way, including a group of about 250 in Green River.

The protest became known as “Coxey’s Army,” named after leader Jacob Coxey of Iowa.

The movement included many people in the West desperate to be heard, and those who could also joined them along the way.

The public was supportive, too, until those train thefts cast a pall over the entire effort.