The Battles of Blair Mountain
January 15, 2008 8:49 AM   Subscribe

By September, President Warren Harding had sent in Federal troops and bombers under war hero Billy Mitchell to put down the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War. Short video. Podcast. That was then. Now a second battle of Blair Mountain continues to preserve the history and the environment of the first.

Previously mentioned five years ago on Mefi. Spurred by discussion of coal mining in this earlier thread.
posted by Atreides (13 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, I guess I can give you a half-point for this question, but I really hope you study up next time.
posted by blacklite at 8:56 AM on January 15, 2008


This is some excellent stuff. Thanks for the pointers.
posted by tkolar at 9:04 AM on January 15, 2008


Longer video.
posted by Mike D at 9:08 AM on January 15, 2008


Shockingly, the coal companies are promising legal action, and if enough landowners protest the preservation efforts, they'll likely win that battle at least.

Do we have any estimates of how much coal remains under Blair Mountain? That would tell us how valuable winning the fight might prove to be to the coal companies, and thus how hard they'll fight.
posted by Shotgun Shakespeare at 9:13 AM on January 15, 2008


Do we have any estimates of how much coal remains under Blair Mountain?

The NPR page linked to above mentions "land around Blair Mountain" that contains 12 million tons of coal. It is not clear if that is actually the disputed land.
posted by marxchivist at 9:20 AM on January 15, 2008


I didn't realize getting 1,050,200 in Donkey Kong qualified you as a war hero.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:24 AM on January 15, 2008


Worth the read just to find out where the term "redneck" came from..... thanks
posted by HuronBob at 10:07 AM on January 15, 2008


"I didn't realize getting 1,050,200 in Donkey Kong qualified you as a war hero."

Depends on if you're playing on a standup console or a cocktail table.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:11 AM on January 15, 2008


Actually, "redneck" predates the Battle of Blair Mountian:

1. U.S. a. A member of the white rural labouring class of the southern States; one whose attitudes are considered characteristic of this class; freq., a reactionary.
Originally, and still often, derogatory, but now also used with more sympathy for the aspirations of the rural American.

1830 A. ROYALL Southern Tour I. 148 This may be ascribed to the Red Necks, a name bestowed upon the Presbyterians in Fayetteville. 1893 H. A. SHANDS Some Peculiarities of Speech in Mississippi 53 Red-neck,..a name applied by the better class of people to the poorer inhabitants of the rural districts. 1904 Dialect Notes II. 420 Redneck, n., An uncouth countryman. ‘The hill-billies came from the hills, and the rednecks from the swamps.’ 1913 J. DAVIS Life & Speeches iii. 42 If you red-necks or hill billies ever come to Little Rock be sure and come to see me come to my house.
posted by Floydd at 10:19 AM on January 15, 2008


Harding. Maybe that was a Freudian slip. Regardless, that's what I get for rushing a post to make it class on time. My apologies and my thanks for pointing that out.

I strongly considered putting an addendum to the earlier Mefi thread to make any etymology discussions DOA, after seeing the subject of the last thread engulfed by such. Meh. Thats all I can say.
posted by Atreides at 10:30 AM on January 15, 2008


Mod note: fixed the typo
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:31 AM on January 15, 2008


Thanks, Jessamyn. ;)
posted by Atreides at 11:10 AM on January 15, 2008


Nifty
posted by Smedleyman at 1:54 PM on January 15, 2008


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