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  • | Newspaper

    The Situation at Martinsburg

    This article in the July 18, 1877 edition of the Baltimore Sun gives an account of the previous day's confrontation in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

  • | Newspaper

    Governor Matthews' Letter

    West Virginia Governor Henry M. Mathews requests United States troops to quell what he called "domestic violence" and to stop the activities of what he deemed "unlawful combinations."

  • | Newspaper

    Governor Matthews Explains

    West Virginia Governor Henry M. Matthews replies to Secretary of War George McCrary's request for more information about the state's military strength, noting that some of the state and local militia were sympathetic to the strikers. He also claims that U.S. troops are necessary to prevent "bloodshed."

  • | Newspaper

    An Explanation by Captain Charles J. Faulkner, Jr.

    This letter to the editor by Captain Charles J. Faulkner, printed in the July 19, 1877 edition of the Baltimore Sun defends his decision to leave the railroad yard at Martinsburg, West Virginia. Faulkner's letter comes in response to newspaper editors who suggested that his company left too soon.

  • | Newspaper

    The President Asks for Information

    In response to West Virginia Governor Henry M. Matthews request to President Hayes for U.S. troops in the crisis, Secretary of War George W. McCrary replies by asking for details about the scale and scope of the "insurrection."

  • | Newspaper

    The President's Proclamation

    On July 18, 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes issued a proclamation calling the citizens engaged in the strike to peacefully disperse and return to their homes.

  • | Newspaper

    Mr. Garrett to the President: An Urgent Request for United States Troops

    On Wednesday, July 18, 1877, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad President John W. Garrett sends a message to President Hayes urging him to send United States troops to end the strike and the "open intimidation" of railroad employees who did not join the strike.

  • | Newspaper

    The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Strike

    This article in the July 18, 1877 edition of the Baltimore Sun notes the extent of the trouble on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the rioting at Martinsburg, West Virginia, and the militia's ineffectiveness.

  • | Newspaper

    Labor, Trouble, and Disturbances

    This dispatch from West Virginia Governor Henry M. Matthews, reprinted in the July 17, 1877 edition of the Baltimore Sun, states Matthews' desire to preserve the peace and protect the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's trains.

  • | Newspaper

    A British View of the Baltimore Strike

    This excerpt from the July 18, 1877 edition of the London Times offers a glimpse into the British view of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Strike.

  • | Newspaper

    Trouble on the Baltimore & Ohio

    This article from the July 17, 1877 edition of the Baltimore American gives an account of the strike's origins in Baltimore, its spread to Martinsburg, West Virginia, the arrival of the miltary, and a description of the demonstrations that took place.

  • | Newspaper

    The Military Called Out

    The American reports that John King, vice-president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, requested state militia to guard the property of the railroad and quell the "riot." West Virginia Governor Henry M. Mathews in a telegraph assures King that he will do everything in his power to "suppress the riot."

  • | Newspaper

    Garrett Announces Wage Reduction

    This July 11, 1877 circular announces a wage reduction for workers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

  • | Pamphlet

    Map of Webster County, Neb., July 1877

    One of the notable features of this map of Webster county is the amount of land held by the railroad; note also the proposed line between Hastings and Red Cloud. The reverse of the map is full of useful information and propoganda about Webster County, home "land of the richest quality."

  • | Newspaper

    OUTRAGE IN ALABAMA

    The ejection of a party of Alabama African American men and women from a first class car on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad is recounted in this letter from William Jenkins of Tuskeegee, Alabama.

  • | Contract

    Burlington Northern Land Contract, Febrauary 10, 1877

    In this February 10, 1877 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, 80 acres of land in Lancaster County, Nebraska are sold for $7.00 per acre. This immigrant took advantage of railroad lands to increase his property holdings, as he already owned land in Nebraska.

  • | Pamphlet

    Prices of B & M Railroad Lands

    An examplar with the terms of purchase on credit for Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company Lands; the interest, payment dates, and sample payment amounts are meant to inform prospective buyers who may have not owned land before moving West.

  • | Photograph

    The Great Railroad Strike, Opposite 32nd and 31st Sts.

    Part of a series of stereographs published in the wake of the 1877 Railroad Strike. The images show the destruction at Pittsburgh, which resulted from violent clashes July 21-22.

  • | Artwork

    View on the Platte Valley Plains, near Columbus, Nebraska, as seen from the Union Pacific Railroad

  • | Artwork

    View of the Town of Sydney, The Nearest Railraod Station to the Black Hills, 1877