Big Trouble - Big Book

I have just finished reading Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas (Simon and Schuster 1997). The sub-title of this book is “Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America.” The murder in question was the 1905 killing of ex-governor of Idaho, Francis Steunenberg, by a hidden bomb, in the city of Caldwell, Idaho. The “struggle for the soul” had to do with the fact that this was more than merely a murder trial, but also a trial that pitted the unions against the corporations that were exploiting them, or, if you prefer, between socialism and capitalism. This was at the time when socialism was a power to be reckoned with, especially as it was so much involved in the labor union movements. The bomber, who confessed, was a man named Harry Orchard, who named “Big Bill” Haywood, George Pettibone, and Charles Moyer, who were all officers in the Western Federation of Miners, for commissioning him to assassinate Steunenberg. It was clear that not only did the corporations, most newspapers, and many others, including even the President of the U.S., want to find them all guilty, they wanted if possible to rid the world of The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and, if possible, socialism itself.

This is a big book in the sense that it is 750 pages. It is also big because of the unbelievable cast of characters that appear in it, from the famous Pinkerton Detectives like the famous (or infamous) James McParland and Charles A. Siringo, to the defense lawyers like Clarence Darrow and Edmund F. Richardson, the prosecutors, William E. Borah (later Senator Borah), James J. Hawley, and others. One also encounters the President of the U.S., Theodore Roosevelt, the Governors of Idaho and Colorado, and even actress Ethyl Barrymore, baseball pitcher, Walter Johnson and hosts of newspaper publishers and reporters. It is also big in the sense that although it took place in a somewhat remote place, Boise and Caldwell, Idaho, it reverberated throughout the world as the issue of socialism was such a huge and serious problem at that time (indeed, the ashes of one of the union members involved were eventually buried in the Kremlin).
I find it difficult to characterize this tome, other than big in every respect. It is also remarkable, strange, detailed, and laden with digressions of all kinds. One might well argue that digressions take up a great deal of the book in that most of them are not truly necessary for the main theme of the book. Similarly, many of the details are not really necessary either. But the book is fascinating, at the same time, because all of the detail and digressions are in themselves of considerable interest. For example, the pages on the young Ethyl Barrymore’s career and state of mind are interesting but hardly necessary for the ongoing trial that she just happens to visit at that time. Even the histories of Caldwell and Boise are not particularly relevant to the main theme of the book, but they are interesting, as is the discussion of baseball and the pitching of Walter Johnson. Thus, even though the book is long and not particularly easy reading, I found it difficult to put it down once I began. The trial drags on for several months and at times the reader loses sight of it entirely. In fact, I believe it is fair to say that the trial, ostensibly the main theme of the book, is in fact only a rather minor feature, being lost in the detail and the digressions by the time it is finished. But it is also a true tale of the Wild West, from the hijacking of a train in Burke, Idaho, to the dynamiting of the Bunker Hill in Kellogg, Idaho. Most everyone was carrying a gun, fighting, shootings and bombings were commonplace with little or no remorse, gambling and prostitution flourished as, apparently did greed, adultery, bribery and theft.

What I found by far the most interesting feature or message one might take away from this work actually gets little mention. A clue can be found in this quote:

“Finally, the opposing camps in this nasty class war sputtering along the icy ridges of the Rocky Mountains had just about canceled each other out. Operative for operative, hired gun for hired gun, bought juror for bought juror, perjured witness for perjured witness, conniving lawyer for conniving lawyer, partisan reporter for partisan reporter, these cockeyed armies had fought each other to an exhausted standoff.” (p. 748)

The fact is, every major protagonist in this battle, without exception, from the President of the United States, the Governors of Colorado and Idaho, the Detectives, Lawyers, Prosecutors, Reporters, and all, acted at times dishonestly, despicably, unethically and illegally. This was true from the beginning, when the defendants were illegally kidnapped in Colorado and secretly transported to Idaho, throughout the trial, and up until the very end. Because of this there is no way one could conclude that “justice” had been served, and even to this day it is not clear that justice was served by this supposedly “lawful” process (there are some compelling arguments that it was not). Aside from the above quote the author does not comment on this. But what does it tell you about our legal system, both then and now? After all the time and effort, all the questionable and illegal maneuvers on both sides, the case was finally decided by only two factors: a man was bribed to retract his confession, and the Judge’s instructions to the jury.

If you have the time to invest this is an account well worth reading and pondering. I have been told that the author committed suicide shortly after the completion of this work. I wouldn’t wonder that he became so disillusioned with what passes for justice that he just couldn’t take any more.