Dale Payne, a native of the now almost gone town of Eskdale, released his book on his hometown.  He will be publishing only 250 copies, 182 pages, with lots of pictures. (See above and below) Eskdale was an “independent town” during the Cabin Creek-Paint Creek Mine Wars which means that it was not controlled by one of the coal companies. It was the home of the Blizzard clan and many other activists during the Mine Wars. Unfortunately, almost all of it has been demolished now. To contact Dale Payne to purchase one of the rare copies, send him an e-mail at - dalmarpayne@hotmail.com.

Picture of Ma Blizzard’s Beer Store in Eskdale, provided by Dale Payne

I plan on making a documentary film about the Cabin Creek-Paint Creek Mine Wars. None exists now. The best single source of info on it is Dr. Fred Barkey’s Ph.D. thesis about the Socialist Party in WV. Eskdale was an important town controlled by the Socialist Party, lead by Eugene Debs who visited it in order to write a report on what had happened on the Creeks.

Here is some of my research -

I reached out to my trusty “WV Encyclopedia”that I keep on my desk for ready reference, reading the many entries about “Mother Sarah Rebecca Blizzard,”” Bill Blizzard,” her famous son, “The Blizzard Treason Trial,”” Mine Wars” and other items in the landmark publication. 

Then I read the chapter on “Medieval West Virginia” in “Mother Jones - the Most Dangerous Woman in America,” thanks to WVLC’s WV book collection. It talks about the destruction of socialist newspapers ordered by a WV governor, and Jones being arrested after appearing at a large rally at Eskdale. Dr. Fred Barkey, an expert on the history, told me that “Eskdale was an independent town - independent of the coal companies.”

Next Wess Harris, the publisher of “When Miners March,” asked me if I had taken any pictures of Ma Blizzard’s home in Dawes. Dr. Theresa Burriss, a  researcher at Radford University is writing a book that will include Mother Blizzard, contacted Wess about photos of Ma Blizzard’s home. Eventually, she contacted me directly…..here is what she e-mailed me….

Hi, Steve,  My book is entitled, Women of Change, Women of Courage: Appalachian Activists, and is centered on contemporary women with whom I’ve conducted interviews over the past two years.  I received a $10,000 grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities last year to help defray travel and transcription costs.   However, I am including a history chapter to highlight women from the past who laid the foundation for today’s activists.  This is where Ma Blizzard comes into the picture—among other women, such as Ollie “Widow” Combs and Aunt Molly Jackson.  UT Press is my publisher.   

Theresa   Theresa L. Burriss, Ph.D.Director, Learning Assistance & Resource
Center, Assistant Professor of English & Appalachian Studies, Contributing Senior Editor, Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture 127 Walker Hall  P.O. Box6977   Radford University Radford, VA  24142540-831-6857      tburriss@radford.edu  

“Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers.”   * Mignon McLaughlin

_____________________________________________________________

Since I had not taken any pictures, I needed to find some. Someone suggested I call the Cabin Creek Fire Dept. so I did….Unfortunately, they were on a fire call…so I called the Cabin Creek Clinic. They recommended I call Kenny Billows who runs a store in Eskdale. He told me that he had just torn down Ma Blizzard’s house the week before but that he had a picture of Ma Blizzard’s famous beer store. He said the old house was nothing but a pile of wood almost anyway. Unfortunately, Kenny had given the picts of the beer store to a native of Eskdale, Dale Payne, a retired state trooper now living in Fayetteville.

I sent out an e-mail to my friends about the tragedy of Ma Blizzard’s house being torn down just a week before I contacted Kenny. Karen Vuranch of “Coal Camp Memories” was good friends with Dale Payne, and gave me his phone number. I called Dale, and the very next day, he drove from his home to The Cultural Center, showing me the two pictures of Blizzard’s beer store. He himself was looking for a picture in the WV Archives of Eskdale for his book he has almost completed on Eskdale, named after a great resort in Scotland.

Dale Payne, author of coming book on Eskdale

Trying to help Dale find the picture, I searched the WV Archives for Eskdale, and one of the entries was about an amazing event that took place at Eskdale and other sites in the area. Eugene Debs, perhaps the most courageous political leader in the history of our country, came to investigate the Cabin Creek-Paint Creek Mine Wars to write a report. The conclusions of his  report had been REVERSED by the local media, causing Debs many problems with members of the Socialist Party, both in-state and nationally.

If you search the WV Archives for “Mother Jones,” you will find  more than 1,000 links. If you search for “Eugene Debs,” you will find 160 documents. You know what I will be doing for the foreseeable future….

The most interesting article I have read so far is about Debs’ visit to Eskdale. Roger Fagge of Cambridge University wrote “Eugene V. Debs in West Virginia, 1913:
A Reappraisal” that appeared in “West Virginia History, Vol. 52, 1993.) I was truly amazed at the results of the local press reversing, misstating, etc. the conclusions of Debs report on that was happening on Cabin and Paint Creek.

Finally, on Monday, June 25th, Dr. Barkey finally let me see Chapter IV of his Ph.D. thesis for the University of Pittsburgh - “The West Virginia Socialist Party at Its Peak, 1911-1915.” I read its 60 pages, and it was fantastic, explaining a lot about the Socialist Party in WV, and what happened at Eskdale and other town on Cabin and Paint Creeks in 1911.

In the meanwhile, I think that someone could make a great, dramatic film about the mine wars on Cabin and Paint Creeks, using the visits of Mother Jones and Eugene Debs as two points to focus on…along with the Blizzard clan at Eskdale, The Bull Moose Special and other infamous battles, etc. There are no films about either Mother Jones or Eugene Debs. And God knows that almost no one even knows about the famous “Mother Jones of West Virginia,” Mother Blizzard.

Reprinted with permission of the WV Humanities Council, copyrighted 2006 

Mother Blizzard Labor activist Sarah “Mother” Blizzard was born Sarah Rebecca Rogers, October 6, 1864, in Edmond, Fayette County. She spent her early life on the family farm and witnessed the advent of coal mining in southern West Virginia following the coming of the railroads in the 1870s and 1880s. Blizzard was deeply involved in the United Mine Workers of America, from the organization’s early beginnings in the late 19^th century. She encouraged her husband, Timothy Blizzard, and her children to participate in union activities. Her support for the 1902 coal strike led to her family’s eviction from their home in Kilsyth, Fayette County. The family resettled in the Cabin Creek District of Kanawha County, where Sarah Blizzard allowed striking miners to camp on her land during the violent 1912-13 Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike. During the strike, she participated in the umbrella march with Mother Jones, whom she knew and to whom contemporaries often compared her; on this occasion the women armed themselves with umbrellas, Jones and Blizzard allegedly striking policemen with theirs. Blizzard also organized a group of women to sabotage a rail line, blocking the return of the armored Bull Moose Special to the miners’ camp.  Remembered as “Mother” or ‘Ma” Blizzard by the miners she helped to look after, Sarah Blizzard was the mother of UMW District 17 President Bill Blizzard and great-grandmother of UMWA President Cecil Roberts. She died September 28, 1955.See also Bill Blizzard, Bull Moose Special, Mine Wars, Mother Jones. Shae Davidson, The Plains,
OhioWV Encyclopedia 2006The destruction of the Socialist newspapers ordered by Governor Hatfield  that took place during this time period truly reminds me of the current age we live in….. Three WV historical markers - the top one is real, I made the images of the bottom two. Dale Payne making a visit with me at The Cultural Center. A copy of his new book will be placed in the WV State Archives.

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