(5833) Durst Ranch, Hop Pickers in their camp on strike, Wheatland, California

Durst Ranch hop pickers in their camp organizing to strike.

A bumper crop of hops at the ranch that year brought in close to 3000 men, women, and children to work as pickers. When the living conditions and poor wages led IWW activists to call for a strike, the ranch owners called on the sheriff to put it down. A confrontation took place on August 3, 1913 and two lawmen and two migrant workers were killed. The IWW was blamed for the four deaths and the two activist, Richard Ford and Herman Suhr, were tried and convicted of murder.