There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday May 28, 1907
Boise, Idaho – Mrs. Adams Great Comfort to Mrs. Haywood
From The Spokane Press of May 24, 1907:
WIFE WHO SUFFERED FOR HUSBAND LEADING
WITNESS FOR HAYWOOD
—–BY JACOB WALDECK
BOISE, May 24.-Mrs. Steve Adams usually occupies a seat near Mrs. Haywood, and is one of the chief figures in the case. Her husband was arrested a year ago on the charge of being implicated in the conspiracy to murder Steunenberg. Pinkerton detectives worked an alleged confession that was repudiated by Adams a few months ago.
When Adams deserted the prosecution he was taken to Wallace in northern Idaho and tried on the charge of murdering a claim jumper. The jury disagreed. Adams is now in jail at Wallace, but will probably be brought here to testify. He is in the list of state’s witnesses.
Mrs. Adams has the distinction of having been summoned as a witness by both sides. What the state wants to prove by her as a witness is a good deal of a mystery. What the state will get from her in the way of evidence, unless it is secured by main force is no mystery at all. Mrs. Adams is a witness for the defense.
She is a handsome young woman, of good form and well gowned. Like the other women in the case, that is, the relatives of prisoners, she has had so much of anguish and excitement in the past year that she has gained thorough self control, and nerve racking experiences are now endured by her with apparent composure.
When Adams was arrested he and his wife were living with Adams’ uncle, J. W. Lillard, a wealthy land owner in Oregon. Adams was lodged in the penitentiary in this city. He was placed in quarters with Orchard and the latter urged him to assist the cause of the prosecution. The only persons who were allowed to see Adams were the chief prison officials, the attorneys for the state and Pinkerton detectives. He finally made a long statement. Thereafter he was a favored guest.
Mrs. Adams was sent for and the family occupied a cottage in the prison grounds. High officials, even the governor, visited them. The visiting list was limited to these dignitaries. Relatives and friends were not permitted to see the family.
This prohibition continued until Lillard, as a supposed delegate to an irrigation congress in session here, gained admission to the prison as a visitor. He succeeded in getting to Adams and assuring him that he still held the confidence of his former friends. He asked Adams whether he would like to get out of the penitentiary. Adams reckoned he would like nothing better, since learning he had friends outside the walls. It is claimed that one reason why he remained was that he had been told that the miners had become bitterly incensed toward him, and that his life would not be safe a moment outside the walls.
There was no trouble about getting him out. He had been arrested as a Steunenberg murder suspect, but the officers soon found he had nothing to do with that crime. In the confession signed by him, however, were statements that, if true, would be of great importance in connection with Orchard’s confession. So he had been induced to remain as a voluntary prisoner.
Adams was released on habeas corpus proceedings, but was immediately arrested and taken to Wallace for trial.
Mrs. Adams followed. She remained until the beginning of the Haywood trial, when she came here in response to the summons as a witness. She has done much to assist Mrs. Haywood in bearing the great burden of her troubles.
———-
From the Albuquerque Evening Citizen of May 25, 1907:
SOURCES & IMAGES
The Spokane Press
(Spokane, Washington)
-May 24, 1907
Mrs Steve Adams by C. N. Landon
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085947/1907-05-24/ed-1/seq-1/
Albuquerque Evening Citizen
(Albuquerque, New Mexico)
-May 25, 1907
Mrs Haywood and Mrs Adams by C. N. Landon
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020615/1907-05-25/ed-1/seq-1/
See also:
“The Adams Case” by Emma F Langdon, from The Cripple Creek Strike:
http://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/langdon30.html
Steve Adams (Western Federation of Miners)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Adams_(Western_Federation_of_Miners)
The ordeal of Steve Adams did not end until July 15, 1908:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085947/1908-07-15/ed-1/seq-1/
Tag: Steve Adams
https://weneverforget.org/tag/steve-adams/