CHARLESTON, W.Va.: Fed up with poor wages, work and living conditions, thousands of coal miners a century ago marched in an effort to unionize in West Virginia, resulting in a deadly clash and the largest U.S. armed uprising since the Civil War.
On Friday, some descendants of those involved will join others in retracing the steps that culminated in the 12-day Battle of Blair Mountain.
The miners whites, Blacks, and European immigrants banded together, bent on doing something about their treatment by coal operators. They became known as the Red Neck Army for the distinctive bandanas they wore around their necks.
At least 16 men died before the miners surrendered to federal troops in September 1921.
Bloody conflicts in the mining industry in the early 20th century, known as the West Virginia Mine Wars, have been overlooked in public schools. But recently Blair Mountain has received much greater attention in the public.
In 2018, the Blair Mountain Battlefield was restored to the…