Print |
E-mail to a friend
OPINIONS
Voice of the people
Blair Mountain should be saved
Coal companies want to blow the top off Blair Mountain, a historic site that should be preserved. It was listed as an historic site, then nine day's later was taken off because of Massey and Arch coal.
The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the largest civil uprisings in United States history and the largest armed rebellion since the American Civil War. For five days in late August and early September 1921, in Logan County, West Virginia, some 10,000 armed coal miners confronted 3,000 lawmen and strikebreakers, called the Logan Defenders, who were backed by coal mine operators during an attempt by the miners to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coalfields. The battle ended after approximately one million rounds were fired, and the U.S. Army intervened by presidential order.
Now, one of our most historic landmarks is open to mountaintop removal. I think we should fight this. I'm not against coal, but against destroying one of our most historic landmarks. Does Arch Coal and Massey Energy have enough power to kill such an historic event in the face of those who fought there? Blair Mountain should be saved. But, after all, the big energy and coal companies control West Virginia. Blowing the top off Blair Mountain will give them the victory they sought in 1921.
Michael Messinger
Chesapeake, Ohio
