HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 14

(By Delegates Manypenny, Walker, Wells, Ambler,

       Cooper, Canterbury, Hamilton, A. Evans, Frich,

       Pasdon, Barrett, Fleischauer, Moye, L. Phillips,

       Campbell, Fragale, Staggers, Hartman, Ellem, Guthrie

       and P. Smith)

Requesting that the West Virginia National Guard locate and secure fill for construction from some other source than Blair Mountain, the birthplace of the labor movement in West Virginia, the United States and the world.

    Whereas, The Battle of Blair Mountain was fought from August 25 to September 2, 1921, on the Blair Mountain Battlefield; and

    Whereas, For days, some ten thousand miners marched, struck, fought and made peace to secure living wages and safe working conditions to support their families; and

    Whereas, In so doing, these miners left this world a better place than it was when they entered it; and

    Whereas, The miners who fought and died at the Battle of Blair Mountain made it a sacred ground; and

    Whereas, Due to the declaration of martial law and suppression of the news, the participants in the Battle of Blair Mountain left little record of the details of their struggle, except their bones, bullets and buttons; and

    Whereas, To hide any advantage the opposition might have won, the miners buried their dead hurriedly in shallow graves; and

    Whereas, For fear of prosecution, conviction and execution as traitors, the miners who survived fled the state and changed their identities and maintained a code of silence; and

    Whereas, On information and belief, the bones, bullets and buttons on Blair Mountain Battlefield are being disturbed, destroyed or buried, desecrating the graves of those buried there and eliminating the historical evidence of the Battle of Blair Mountain; and

    Whereas, On information and belief, fill from Blair Mountain is being removed for use as construction material to build nearby landing facilities for the West Virginia National Guard base in Charleston; and

    Whereas, There are many other possible sources of fill than Blair Mountain in the vicinity; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Delegates:

    That the West Virginia National Guard is hereby requested to locate and secure fill for construction from some other source than Blair Mountain, the birthplace of the labor movement in West Virginia, the United States and the world; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward a certified copy of this resolution to the Adjunct General of the West Virginia National Guard.