Harry Orchard

The Man God Made Again

     The story you are about to read is true. It is taken from a biography written by LeRoy Edwin Froom, who wrote the book based on manuscripts and diary entries from Harry Orchard himself. The Pacific Press Publishing Association published the book in 1952. (All quotations in this discussion are taken from the book.) What makes this man, Harry Orchard, so special? His story is arguably the most amazing story of a conversion of anyone in the last 100 years! In order to accept that statement, some historical perspective is necessary. (The picture on the left is Orchard before his conversion and the picture on the right is Orchard after his conversion. The pictures are reproductions of 100-year-old photographs.)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:     Harry Orchard, by his own admission, killed over twenty people and destroyed millions of dollars worth of property during his criminal life between 1896 and 1905. He was intimately involved in the murderous activities of mining unions in the western part of the United States. He, in fact, was their chief assassin. State Supreme Court justices, governors, and mining officials were not beyond his reach. Anyone who got in the way of the miner's unions was "fair game" to the union officials, and Harry Orchard (not his real name) carried out their desires. The anarchist, athiestic attitude of the leaders of these unions cannot be overemphasized. Some of these men later became involved in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which founded the Soviet Union. A quote from the book is in order here.

Page 45 "The entire story of violence in the mining sections and of the radical organizations with which Orchard was associated from 1896 to 1905 was part of that bitter capital-labor struggle at the turn of the century. These militant union organizations were then just coming into self-conscious power. Animosities were regarded as unavoidable,and the line of battle was sharply drawn and aggressively defended. The specious doctrine that the end justifies the means was inculcated. The unions contended that the conflict was actual war against capitalism and sought to justify violence. The killing of a scab was termed bravery comparable to that shown by a soldier who killed an enemy.

In the frontier sections of northern Idaho, western Colorado, and the adjoining territories at the turn of the century, there was an intensity of feeling and a ferocity of action that paralleled the primitive physical conditions of the area. The mining labor leaders contended that the capitalist control system was worn out and corrupt, and called for direct action against it. "Labor is entitled to all it produces" was its militant philosophy. Orchard first espoused unionism, then he accepted the extreme views of direct action. He came to know no limits and no fears.

"Big Bill" (William D.) Haywood was the strong man of the WFM (Western Federation of Miners), operating particularly in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and the bordering states. He was also one of the founders of the even more violent IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), into which the Federation was merged in 1905 for a time.

These were the living conditions in Harry Orchard's time. As a paid assassin, Harry Orchard killed or attempted to kill dozens of people, some of whom are depicted below.







Chief Justice William H. Gabbert







        John Neville (center)











          Frank Hearn		 Men Harry Orchard attempted to kill or did kill





Justice Luther M. Goddard




















      Merritt W. Walley

However, the crowning act, the act which cost Harry Orchard his freedom for the rest of his life, was the assasination of then ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg, (depicted below), on December 30th, 1905.


Governor Frank Steunenberg

Type of bomb used to kill Gov Steunenberg

The next afternoon, Saturday, December 30, I was playing cards in the saloon of the Saratoga. A little before dusk, when the game was over, I walked into the lobby and saw Steunenberg sitting there engaged in conversation with someone. I quickly went up to my room, No. 19, picked up the bomb, wrapped it in newspaper, put it under my arm, and went downstairs. He was still in the lobby but preparing to leave. I hurried out to his residence by a back route and placed the bomb close to the side gatepost. I tied a fishline to a screw eye in the cork and around a picket of the gate. This was so contrived that when the gate opened it would pull the cork out of the bottle and let the acid run out, thus setting off the caps and the bomb. It was arranged that if he did not open the gate wide enough to pull the string, he would still strike the cord with his foot as he walked thorugh. Either way would be equally effective. It was a cold, blustery day, and there was considerable snow on the ground. After laying a paper over the bomb, I covered it with snow. On my return to the hotel, I passed Steunenberg on his way home, and I hurried as fast as I could, hoping to get there before the bomb went off. But about a block and a half away from the hotel I heard the explosion. It rocked the supper dishes on the tables of Caldwell and was heard miles away. Arriving at the hotel within a couple of minutes, I went to the barroom, found the bartender alone, and called for a drink." Page 81.

The manner in which Harry Orchard committed his crimes needs to be explained. For years he escaped capture simply because he was not at the scene of the crime when the explosion took place. During his day, assassins would actually have to make physical contact with the person they wanted to kill in order to kill them; ie walking up to them with bombs or shooting at close range. Orchard's methods were new at the time. He would use a trip wire or slow burning acid on blasting caps to set off the explosion which killed his victims, thus allowing him time to be somewhere else when the explosion took place. This provided him with an alibi if necessary. This was entirely new to law enforcement at the time.

Victor, Colorado mine, blown up by Orchard

DETAILS OF CRIMES:     The Victor mine, looking like the picture at left, was blown up at a cost of $2 million. The reason was to get the mine owners to accept union demands. Two people were killed by Harry Orchard in the process of blowing up this mine in Victor, Colorado.












Site of Independence, Colorado train station in early 1900s

















Type of bomb used to blow up the train station

     The Independence, Colorado train station was located on this spot in the early 1900s. Harry Orchard planted a bomb underneath the train station platform, set the trip wire about 100 yards out along the railroad track, and when the train came in and the men were congregating on the platform, the train broke the trip wire and set off the bomb.


Thirteen non-union men were killed by Harry Orchard with the type of device depicted in the black and white picture.

REASON FOR CHANGING PLEA IN COURT FROM INNOCENT TO GUILTY:     (From pages 104 and 105)  I do not believe that a man ever lived who could go over forty years of his past life, tell all the vital things that had happened, and not get mixedup-unless he just tells the absolute truth, and nothing but the truth.....The last question that I can remember (asked me by Clarence Darrow when I had been on the witness stand for about eight days) was this: "I would like you to tell the judge and jury just what has been your real motive in telling such an unbelievable story. My answer was, "I wished to make myself right with God and man, as far as lay within my power."

LIFE AND TIMES OF HARRY ORCHARD:     During his destructive years at the turn of the century (1900) times were significantly different that they are today. Mass communication was decades away. The trial of Harry Orchard in 1906 was carried by major eastern newspapers by telegraph daily to the editors on the East Coast. Telephones were barely making it into cities in the United States. Cripple Creek, Colorado, now a very small city, in 1900 had over 100,000 people in its locality with trolley cars running day and night. Brothels were common. Theodore Roosevelt was president. Arizona would not become a state for another decade, and Hawaii and Alaska wouldn't obtain statehood for another half a century. Skilled workers worked for $3.00 a day. A good horse and buggy cost $500, which was about the same cost as a Ford Model T. That helps us understand the significance of Harry Orchard's destructive ways. He blew up a $2 million mine, among other things. By today's standards, that mine was worth about $16 to $20 million dollars.

CONVERSION OF HARRY ORCHARD:     As Christians, we say that we should forgive our "neighbor". Most of us don't have to face a crisis like Mrs. Steunenberg did. Her husband, in the prime of his life, was literally cut down by a bomb. A trip wire bomb was set by Harry Orchard on the front gate to the Steunenberg's house. When the governor opened the gate, the bomb literally blew him apart. His own family was in the house at the time. The explosion rattled the dishes in the restaurants in town. The governor (by that time ex-governor) did not live through the night. Orchard was a stranger in town, and Caldwell, Idaho was a small town. He had left incriminating evidence in his room, saying later that he had simply forgotten to clean up the room. He was arrested, charged and put in jail. During the trial, God was working on his heart. He swore that the only way he could make things right with God and man was to tell the whole truth during the trial. He went over 40 years of his life under cross examination by one of the ablest attorneys in American history named Clarence Darrow. He was never tripped up because he always told the truth.

Mrs. Steunenberg

Mrs. Steunenberg

When the trial was over, Governor Steunenberg's son asked to see Harry Orchard, saying that his mother had given him some papers to give to Orchard. The papers were religious material. Harry later asked for a Bible. He eventually met with Mrs. Steunenberg several times. Mrs. Steunenberg was a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. Because of her love for Jesus, she could forgive the man who killed her husband in a horrible way. And, mainly due to the witness of this remarkable woman, Harry Orchard accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. And then, to complete the story, the guards actually let Orchard out of jail, under escort, to be baptized into the Boise, Idaho, Seventh-day Adventist church! And, his membership was voted upon favorably by the congregation! The moral of this story is that we should never give up on anybody because we can only see the outside! God can look at the heart.


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REFERENCES:

Present Truth Web Site

Harry Orchard, The Man God Made Again, Leroy Froom, Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1954.