Menu
Super-patriotism and Sedition: Montana During World War I
Making the World Safe for Democracy
Photo: [2nd Montana Regiment leaving for France, World War I].
View of soldiers of the 2nd Montana Regiment marching down Main Street (Last Chance Gulch) in a parade in downtown Helena, Montana. The viewpoint is looking north from Broadway and Main Street. Crowds of people line each side of the street, some holding umbrellas. The Broadway Hotel and the Montana Trust and Savings Bank are on the far left, while Gans & Klein Co. is on the immediate right. Dated October 24, 1917.
A long-standing dispute between Serbia and Austria-Hungary ignited a global conflict in the summer of 1914. In June, Bosnian-Serbian student Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia the following month.
Germany stood with Austria-Hungary; the countries formed an alliance called the Central Powers.
Russia came to Serbia’s defense, triggering Germany to declare war on Russia. France and Britain had pledged to support Russia. The three countries, collectively known as the Allies, fought against the Central Powers.
The United States, under President Woodrow Wilson, initially stayed out of the foreign conflict. Wilson was re-elected in 1916, aided by the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” But by the spring of 1917, with Germany sinking American ships and urging Mexico to declare war on the United States, Wilson could no longer stay neutral.
On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on the Central Powers. Four days later, the declaration passed with a Senate vote of 82 to 6, and a House vote of 373 to 50. (Notably, the only congresswoman at that time, Montana’s Jeannette Rankin, voted against declaring war.)
On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the “war to end all wars” with the aim of “making the world safe for democracy.”
Many Americans were skeptical about the decision. Some immigrants, such as those from Germany and Austria-Hungary, were sympathetic to their homelands, while others, like the Irish, did not want the U.S. to aid Britain. Socialists, pacifists, and syndicalist groups (revolutionary labor organizations that sought to abolish capitalism and overthrow the government) were outspoken opponents. The federal government found one syndicalist group, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), to be especially troublesome.
The U.S. government went to great lengths to build favorable public opinion about the war, developing remarkably effective propaganda campaigns. The patriotic fervor the campaigns created, combined with President Wilson’s belief that political dissent was a threat to the national interest, had profound impacts on free speech rights across the country.
Economic and social conditions in Montana at this time were tumultuous. The ubiquitous Anaconda Copper Mining Company dominated industry, politics, and news media. The IWW was agitating in the mining and timber industries against deplorable working conditions, capitalism, and the war. A mining disaster in Butte killed 168 workers. Government insistence upon loyalty and patriotism bred fear and hysteria across the state and the nation.
In response, Montana’s 15th Legislative Assembly created one of the most repressive laws ever written, the Sedition Act of 1918. Dozens of Montanans were incarcerated for speaking out against the war.
Montanans in the Great War
Photo: [Draftees leaving Two Dot, Montana during World War I].
View of a train car loaded with draftees preparing to leave and a gathering of people, some with American flags at Two Dot, Montana.
Montana had one of the highest rates of WWI service in the country. 11,700 people enlisted, and 29,446 were drafted under the Selective Service Act of 1917.
There were 4,061 casualties among Montana’s servicepeople - 681 were killed in action or died of their wounds; 236 died of disease or other causes; 2,469 were wounded or missing; and 618 died outside of the war zone.
--
Photo: 'Montana Boys' (Camp Lewis, Wash. Oct. 1917).
View of approximately 142 men in 'street clothes,' presumably new recruits or draftees, from Montana at Camp Lewis, Washington, with unidentified structures and trees in the backgorund. Likely part of the 91st Division, known as the 'Wild West Division,' that was comprised of men from western states including Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska Territory. The 91st Division was trained at Fort Lewis after it was created in August 1917.
Photo: Soldiers on University of Montana campus
World War I soldiers drilling on the University of Montana campus, Missoula.
Montana Labor and the War Effort
Photo: Hot stuff, molten copper, Washoe Smelters
Workers pose on the floor of the smelter. Molten copper flows from pipes on the left side of the photo into molds. The mold in the foreground appears to be overflowing.
Montana was uniquely positioned to feed the insatiable appetites of the war machine - appetites for copper, lumber, and wheat. The people who worked to produce these commodities were directly impacted by the war.
Copper - Used in munitions manufacturing, ship building, electrification, and communications. Surging wartime demand fomented labor unrest in the western U.S., especially in Butte. The Granite Mountain-Speculator Mine tragedy occurred just two months after war was declared, leading to a massive labor strike. The strike placed pressure on mine owners when the market was at peak demand. IWW organizer Frank Little arrived in Butte in July 1917, intent on organizing laborers and denouncing the war. Little was brutally murdered on the morning of August 1, 1917.
Theories about the identities of Little’s murderers abound. Were they Anaconda Company hired guns? Local police officers operating outside the law? Labor union insiders who disapproved of Little’s organizing tactics? Or perhaps incensed super-patriots lashing out against Little’s anti-war message?
The murder of the “Martyr for Solidarity” has never been solved. To learn more, check out season one of the Death in the West podcast.
Photo: Approx. 50,000 cords of wood in sight.
View of area near Anaconda, Montana, with approximately 50,000 cords of wood cut and stacked across the landscape. The wood that was cut and collected was used for the smelters in Anaconda and the mines in Butte, Montana.
Timber - Used in building mine shafts, fueling copper smelters, and constructing airplanes. As in the copper industry, increased demand for timber had profound impacts on the laborers. Unsafe working conditions, spoiled food, and inadequate shelter for the workers led to strikes at a time when the market was desperate for material. The IWW was successful in organizing and agitating among Montana’s timber workers.
Harvesting, group of men and at least four machines.
Wheat - Used to feed the troops. Bombarded with messages like “Food Will Win the War” and “Win the War with Wheat,” Montana farmers were encouraged to increase wheat production. Some farmers felt cheated by grain elevator operators and underserved by the railroads. The Nonpartisan League (NPL), a radical farmers’ organization with North Dakota roots, appealed to the agitated farmers, but the NPL’s strong anti-war stance alarmed Montana law makers.
"Montana Possesses a Vital Spirit of Patriotism Not Found Excelled Anywhere" - James A.B. Scherer, National Council of Defense
Photo: Montana Council of Defense Members.
Conglomerate portrait of the Montana Council of Defense members, individuals identified as follows: Governor Samuel V. Stewart in the middle; clockwise from the top, Mrs. Tylar Thompson; Will A. Campbell; Samuel Sansburn; C. D. (Charles Diggs) Greenfield; C. V. Peck; I. D. (Ignatius Daniel) O’Donnell; M. M. Donogue; N. T. Lease; Sidney M. Logan, and Chas. J. Kelly.
President Wilson created the Council of National Defense in August 1916 and requested that individual states form their own councils. Governor Samuel Stewart appointed the Montana Council of Defense - without legislative approval - in 1917.
The defense councils had similar aims as the Committee on Public Information: to convince farmers to plant more crops, to increase military enlistment, to fundraise through the sale of liberty bonds, and to strengthen popular support for the war effort.
Because it was organized without legislative approval, the Montana Council of Defense initially had no legal basis, authority, or appropriations. It also faced challenges from the U.S. Court for the Federal District of Montana Judge George Bourquin and from District Attorney Burton K. Wheeler. Bourquin had ruled that aliens could not be drafted under the Selective Service Act, and Wheeler had refused to prosecute dissenters under the Espionage Act of 1917. Both men were treated with suspicion by Montana Council of Defense members and other super-patriots around the state.
Subsequently, Governor Stewart called a special legislative session in February 1918. He asked the assembly to provide the Montana Council of Defense with the power and appropriations to “‘curb the pernicious activities’ of saboteurs, criminals, and anarchists.”
The legislature was happy to oblige.
"They Were In No Mood For Due Process" - Clemens Work, Darkest Before Dawn
Photo: [House of Representatives, Fifteenth Legislative Assembly, Montana, 1917].
Collage of individual portraits of members of the 1917 Montana House of Representatives, Fifteenth Legislative Assembly.
In addition to legitimizing the Montana Council of Defense, the special session of the 15th Legislative Assembly passed the Sedition Act. It penalized anyone who, while the United States was at war, uttered, printed, wrote, or published “any disloyal, profane, violent, scurrilous, contemptuous, slurring, or abusive language” about the government, the military, the flag, or military uniforms. Violators were subject to fines of $200-$20,000, or prison terms of up to twenty years, or both.
The law was approved on February 22, 1918. Less than three months later, on May 16, 1918, the federal government enacted a sedition law that differed from Montana’s by only three words.
Scholars of this period argue that the state and federal sedition laws were created specifically to crush the radical syndicalist group, Industrial Workers of the World. But Wobblies were not the only ones caught up in the laws’ repression.
Propaganda Propels Patriotism - and Dissent
Photo: World War I parade, Stevensville, Montana
World War I parade, Stevensville, Montana. Men, women, and children line the street. Most carry American flags.
One week after entering the war, President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information. It was the nation’s first large-scale propaganda agency, and its goal was to foster positive public opinions about the United States’ involvement in the war. Brightly colored advertisements with catchy phrases alternately called young men to duty, disparaged anyone who was “un-American,” touted extreme patriotism, and manipulated citizens into supporting the war.
Photo: Many peoples - one nation : Let us unite to Americanize America.
Poster showing the American flag waving among clouds. Includes text "The Flag Speaks" by Franklin K. Lane.
Loyalty to the flag was a well-worn propaganda troupe. E.V. Starr, a 48 year-old homesteader from McRae, made disparaging remarks about the government. In response, community members insisted that he kiss the flag. He said “the American Flag was nothing more than a colored rag with a little paint smeared on it and for all he knew it might be covered with microbes.” He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison.
“Discharged at Hardin Arraigned at Forsyth,” The Hysham Echo, 13 June 1918, p. 5, col. 2.
Poster promoting thrift and economy on the part of citizens to aid in the war effort.
In his role as head of the U.S. Food Administration, Herbert Hoover encouraged Americans to conserve food to aid the war effort. Known as “Hooverism,” these conservation efforts were dutifully practiced by some and vehemently opposed by others.
Angry that there was no sugar on his table at the Pollard Hotel in Red Lodge, wine salesman Ben Kahn complained about food rationing, then said, “This is a rich man’s war, fostered by Wall Street capitalists.” He was sentenced to 7 ½-20 years in prison.
“Local Man Held on Sedition Charge,” Billings Evening Journal, 8 March 1918, p. 2, col. 2.
Photo: Large Poster for Liberty Bonds
A Liberty Bond was a war bond sold in the United States to support the allied cause in World War I - For the third Liberty Loan campaign in 1919, 9 million posters, 5 million window stickers and 10 million buttons were produced and distributed.
“100% Americans” were expected to financially support the war effort by purchasing liberty bonds. While many citizens chose to loan money to the government in support of the war effort, others chose not to; some simply could not afford to. Whatever the reason, refusing to buy a liberty bond was almost certain to cast doubt on a person’s loyalty.
Ellsworth Burling, a 48 year-old farmer and IWW member from Moorhead (Powder River County), said that liberty bonds were a “damned graft all around, and I wouldn’t buy one if I had $10,000.” He was sentenced to 1-2 years in prison.
“Smiths Arrested on Sedition Charge and Held in $5,000 Bond,” Miles City Star, 5 June 1918, p. 5, col. 3.
Photo: Win the war for freedom.
A WWI poster from the Department of Labor expressing how working more during war time will benefit the country.
The Industrial Workers of the World (whose members were known as Wobblies or, derogatorily, as the “I Won’t Works”), posed a direct threat to capitalism and the American middle-class lifestyle. Their protests against the government, the moneyed ruling class, and war, as well as their close association with sabotage (misunderstood though it was) made them a prime target for repression.
“To hell with the United States. I don’t care for them. What’s more, I’m a Wobbly, and nobody who doesn’t carry a red card can drink with me.” Tom Cason, 64 year-old teamster from Missoula, sentenced to 1 ½ - 3 years in prison.
“Boasting Wobbly Jailed in Missoula,” Great Falls Tribune, 23 April 1918, p. 4, col. 4.
Pressure to support the war was not just a top-down effort from the federal government. Inflamed local patriots put significant pressure on their communities, as well. Spying on neighbors and turning them in - or taking vigilante action against them - for expressing an “unpatriotic” opinion was common. It was a time of intense upheaval in Montana.
"Find a Way to Deal with the Men Who Abuse The Freedom of Speech" - Helena Independent, 30 August 1917
Photo: Corner shot of prison towers at Deer Lodge
Corner shot of prison towers at Deer Lodge, Montana.
Seventy-nine Montanans were convicted of sedition in 1918 and 1919. Forty-one of them were sentenced to prison terms varying from one to twenty years. Some of them were IWW members; most were not. They had exercised their First Amendment right to free speech at a time when dissent was perceived as dangerous. All told, they served a total of over sixty-five years at Montana State Prison.
The last to be released was Martin Ferkovich, who was freed on November 16, 1921. He served thirty-three months for saying, “Austria is my country and I won’t fight against her. I wouldn’t shoot my own brother…The kaiser was all right; he never bothered me. The kaiser didn’t bother this country.”
“Alleged Friend of Kaiser Held Under $10,000 Bond,” The Roundup Tribune, 19 September 1918, p. 1, col. 4.
See "More Seditious Quotes" section below for further examples.
Eighty-eight Years Later
View of an unidentified young woman holding up a newspaper with 'PEACE' headline commemorating the end of World War One. She is seated next to the Confederate Memorial Fountain, Hill Park, Helena, Montana.
World War I ended on November 11, 1918. The federal Sedition Act was repealed in December 1920. Montana’s law expired at the end of the war but remained on the books until the state’s criminal code was overhauled in 1973.
In 2006, through the efforts of faculty and students at the University of Montana School of Law and School of Journalism, Governor Brian Schweitzer pardoned everyone who had been convicted of sedition during World War I.
In a moving public ceremony, Schweitzer said, “Across the country, it was a time in which we had lost our minds. So today in Montana, we will attempt to make it right. In Montana, we will say to an entire generation of people, we are sorry. And we challenge the rest of the country to do the same.” Descendants of those who had been convicted gathered, heard the Governor apologize, and celebrated as their ancestors were exonerated.
Exhibit Author: Desirée Funston, MLIS
Bibliography
Bosco, Peter I. America at War: World War I, updated edition, (New York, NY: Facts on File, 2003).
Chester, Eric Thomas. The Wobblies in Their Heyday: The Rise and Destruction of the IWW During the WWI Era, (Praeger, 2014).
Edgerton, Keith. Free Speech, Sedition and Montana During World War I; (https://www.msubillings.edu/lectures/ww1/pdf/Sedition%20in%20Montana%20-Edgerton.pdf : accessed 22 June 2026).
Fredrickson, Leif, Ericka Fredrickson, Chad Dundas, and Zach Dundas. “The Murder of Frank Little.” Death in the West podcast, 2020. https://www.deathinthewestpod.com/
Gutfeld, Arnon. Montana’s Agony: Years of War and Hysteria, 1917-1921, (Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1979).
Johnson, Charles S. “Schweitzer Grants Pardons to 78 Convicted of Sedition in World War I,” The Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), 4 May 2006, p. 2, col. 2.
Kohl, Martha. “The Great War: From the Vaults of the Montana Historical Society,” Montana the Magazine of Western History, vol. 67 (Autumn 2017), p. 67-71.
“Montana and the Great War,” Montana Historical Society, (https://mths.mt.gov/education/index5 : accessed 6 July 2026).
PBS. Jailed for Their Words: When Free Speech Died in Wartime America; (https://www.pbs.org/show/jailed-for-their-words/ : accessed 3 July 2026).
Rowland, Russell. “Commentary: When Sedition Came to Montana,” Daily Montanan; (https://dailymontanan.com/2025/04/01/when-sedition-came-to-montana/ : accessed 22 June 2026).
State of Montana, Governor’s Proclamation, 5 November 2018; United States World War I Commission (https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/images/bell-tolling/pdfs/Montana.pdf : accessed 7 July 2026).
Trasciatti, Mary Anne. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: The Rebel Girl, Democracy, and Revolution, (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2026).
University of Montana School of Journalism. Montana Sedition Project, (https://clcowgill.wordpress.com/ : accessed 5 July 2026).
Work, Clemens P. Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005).
Work, Clemens P. “Montana’s Sedition Act,” Distinctly Montana Magazine, (2 November 2022); (https://www.distinctlymontana.com/montanas-sedition-act : accessed 22 June 2026).
Zellick, Anna. “Patriots on the Rampage: Mob Action in Lewistown, 1917-1918,” Montana the Magazine of Western History, vol. 31 (Winter 1981), p. 30-43.
More "seditious" quotes
“Get out of the country and the jurisdiction of the draft board. They are just tin soldiers anyway and are just persecuting the I.W.W.” Thomas Burans, 62 year-old miner and laborer from Missoula, sentenced to 1-2 years in prison.
“First Sedition Jury is Chosen,” The Missoula Sentinel, 23 May 1918, p. 2, col. 1.
“To hell with the United States. I don’t care for them. What’s more, I’m a Wobbly, and nobody who doesn’t carry a red card can drink with me.” Tom Cason, 64 year-old teamster from Missoula, sentenced to 1 ½ - 3 years in prison.
“Boasting Wobbly Jailed in Missoula,” Great Falls Tribune, 23 April 1918, p. 4, col. 4.
“Hurrah for the kaiser! —- the United States! —- the flag! I hope the kaiser will win in this war, and I mean what I say!” Pete Ervik, 36 year-old railroad laborer from Saltese, sentenced for 2-4 years in prison.
“Duncan Gives 2 to 4 Years,” The Missoula Sentinel, 25 April 1918, p. 1, col. 1.
Charles Horhmann, a 55 year-old butcher from Philipsburg, “couldn’t refrain from boosting the Huns.” He was sentenced to 1-2 years in prison.
“June Crop of Hun Lovers Reported,” The Helena Daily Independent, 12 July 1918, p. 3, col. 3.
Ed Horn, a 35 year-old teamster and I.W.W. member from Plains was accused of declaring that the quickest way to end the war would be to kill the heads of government at the White House. He was sentenced to 1-2 years in prison.
Sanders County Signal, 21 June 1918, p. 2, col. 2.
“United States Liberty bonds are no good. The government will not back them up and those who buy them will lose their money. The United States Government is no good.” Matt Johnson, 33 year-old lumberjack from Missoula, sentenced to 2 ½ - 5 years in prison.
“Finn’s Case Heard,” The Missoula Sentinel, 24 April 1918, p. 1, col. 7.
Herbert Mansolf, a 29 year-old laborer from Missoula, denounced the French and the British and said a “German flag would fly over New York.” He was sentenced to 2-4 years in prison.
“Seditious Talk Lands Him in Jail,” The Daily Missoulian, 24 March 1918, p. 1, col. 1.
August Adam Miller, a 36 year-old rancher from Deer Lodge, started a celebration in response to German war successes. He was sentenced to 2-4 years in prison.
“On Sedition Charge,” The Anaconda Standard, 28 March 1918, p. 4, col. 3.
Joe Reilly, a 38 year-old miner from Saltese, made remarks bearing “a striking similarity to those made by [Pete] Ervik.” He was sentenced to 2-4 years in prison.
“Charge Saltese Man with Disloyal Talk,” The Daily Missoulian, 9 May 1918, p. 5, col. 3.
Albert Brooks, a 29 year-old laborer and I.W.W. member from Dillon, was arrested for “anti-war talk and distribution of I.W.W. literature.” He was sentenced to 7-15 years in prison.
“Alleged Seditionists are Arrested in Dillon,” The Anaconda Standard, 1 March 1918, p. 10, col. 3.
Tony Diedtman, a 43 year-old bar swamper from Helena, wore a ring bearing the Iron Cross of Germany. He then said, “This d— country is not worth a d—, and as soon as Germany gets over here me for the old country. Then they (the United States) can all go to hell.” He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison.
“Arrested Men Seeking Bail,” The Montana Record-Herald (Helena), 1 June 1918, p. 2, col. 6.
“Let the sons of b—--s eat hay,” said Louis L. Fowler, a 64 year-old farmer and stock raiser from Ennis, in regard to growing wheat to feed soldiers. He went on to refuse to subscribe to the Red Cross and to buy Liberty Bonds. He was sentenced to 4-8 years in prison.
“Unpatriotic Utterances,” The Madisonian (Virginia City), 19 April 1918, p. 1, col. 3.
Ray Helvey, a 48 year-old farmer from Melrose, made “insulting remarks about the flag and the government” and uttered “false statements against the third Liberty loan.” He was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison.
“Isaacson Given a Lengthy Term,” The Butte Daily Post, 18 May 1918, p. 7, col. 5.
“I know this d—- government is getting nutty, but it won’t last long. They are getting a good licking in France all the time now from the Germans. All they can do is to monkey around with the Germans in this country, but it won’t last long. I am awful sorry the Germans in Helena don’t stick together and do something. I whistle and sing German and they don’t bother me so far, and they better not, as I don’t stand any monkey business and somebody is liable to get hurt.” August Lembrecht, 56 year-old blacksmith from Helena, sentenced to 1-3 years in prison.
“Arrested Men Seeking Bail,” The Montana Record-Herald (Helena), 1 June 1918, p. 2, col. 6.
H.F. Lucas, a 44 year-old cook from Butte, “abused and used unmentionable names concerning the flag and the country and…declared in the presence of three firemen that he is an I.W.W. and proud of it.” He was sentenced to 5-15 years in prison.
“Two Men Must Face Charges of Sedition,” The Butte Daily Post, 6 April 1918, p. 3, col. 1.
“The president of the United States is a pro-German and is just standing back taking the money; the government of the United States and its army is a joke; and Pershing is ‘over there’ not to finish the war, but to prolong it as long as possible.” Albert Edward Maker, 37 year-old laborer and I.W.W. member from Townsend, sentenced to 4-8 years in prison.
“The Montana Way,” The Great Falls Leader, 25 April 1918, p. 4, col. 1.
“I don’t see why we should be fighting the kaiser and I don’t see why people should go crazy over patriotism. The kaiser and his government is better than the United States and I would go over to Germany if I could.” Frank McVey, 36 year-old laborer and I.W.W. member from Bozeman, sentenced to 2-4 years in prison.
“Frank McVey Charged with Uttering Sedition,” The Bozeman Courier, 17 April 1918, p. 7, col. 3.
“I feel sorry the poor boys that have to go over there to be killed like sheep, for they will never come back except as cripples and that will do them no good…I be d—-- if I would kiss this rotten flag.” Leo Reno, 42 year-old lunch counterman from Helena, sentenced to 10-20 years in prison.
“Arrested Men Seeking Bail,” The Montana Record-Herald (Helena), 1 June 1918, p. 2, col. 6.
John Ruck, 57 year-old carpenter from Winston, was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison because “he hoped Germany would sink every dam [sic] ship that America sent over.”
“John Ruck of Winston is Sent Up for Sedition,” The Helena Daily Independent, 16 April 1918, p. 8, col. 4.
“I wish they could come after me some night to take me out to kiss the dirty rag - what they call the American flag.” Adam Steck, 53 year-old bartender from Helena, sentenced to 1-3 years in prison.
“Arrested Men Seeking Bail,” The Montana Record-Herald (Helena), 1 June 1918, p. 2, col. 6.
Frank Waara, a 37 year-old itinerant laborer, was kicked off a train near Eustis for wishing “the kaiser the best of luck in the war.” At the time of his arrest, he was found in possession of I.W.W. literature, and I.W.W. membership card, and a picture of Frank Little. He was sentenced to 18-36 months.
“Arrested on Sedition Charge,” The Bozeman Courier, 24 April 1918, p. 1, col. 2.
“Business Good Says Sheriff,” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 25 April 1918, p. 2, col. 3.
Harry Peter Wolf, 38 year-old carpenter from Dillon, was “charged with uttering insulting words about the uniform of the United States army.” He was sentenced to 5-10 years in prison.
“Interest Shown in the Trial of H.P. Wolf,” The Butte Miner, 27 February 1919, p. 12, col. 2.
“Austria is my country and I won’t fight against her. I wouldn’t shoot my own brother…The kaiser was all right; he never bothered me. The kaiser didn’t bother this country.” Martin Ferkovich, 39 year-old miner from Roundup, sentenced to 10-20 years in prison.
“Alleged Friend of Kaiser Held Under $10,000 Bond,” The Roundup Tribune, 19 September 1918, p. 1, col. 4.
J.A. Griffith, 47 year-old laborer and I.W.W. member was arrested in Billings and found in possession of a large amount of I.W.W. literature.
“J.A. Griffith, I.W.W. Organizer, Pleads Not Guilty of Sedition,” Billings Gazette,18 July 1918, p. 2, col. 6.
John Harrington, a 58 year-old miner from Lewistown, was sentenced to 2-4 years in prison for cursing the US government and saying he hoped “the kaiser would defeat the American soldiers in France and send them home.”
“Lewistown News,” The Anaconda Standard, 13 April 1918, p. 9, col. 4.
“This is a rich man’s war, fostered by Wall Street capitalists.” Ben Kahn, 38 year-old wine salesman from Red Lodge, sentenced to 7 ½ - 20 years in prison.
“Local Man Held on Sedition Charge,” Billings Evening Journal, 8 March 1918, p. 2, col. 2.
“You American son of a —-, I was born under as good a flag as you were and can whip any American son of a —- who says that about the kaiser.” Fred Vogel, 56 year-old butcher from Lewistown, sentenced to 1-12 years in prison.
“Fred Vogel’s Preliminary,” The Democrat-News (Lewistown), 26 April 1918, p. 5, col. 5.
“The war is for the benefit of the rich people…” W.K. Smith and Janet Smith, a ranching couple from Sayle, were both convicted of sedition. W.K. received a sentence of 10-20 years in prison. Janet, the only woman sent to prison for sedition, received a 5-10 year sentence.
“Smiths Arrested on Sedition Charge and Held in $5,000 Bond,” Miles City Star, 5 June 1918, p. 5, col. 4.
William Arnoldy, 55 year-old farmer and I.W.W. member from Rosebud, said “that the Allies would be whipped in 30 days and that they ought to be” and that he “hoped the boys who were going to France would be sent to the bottom of the sea.” He was sentenced to 8-16 years in prison.
“Arnoldy Convicted of Sedition,” The Ingomar Index, 17 October 1918, p. 5, col. 2.
Liberty bonds were a “damned graft all around, and I wouldn’t buy one if I had $10,000. Furthermore, I won’t eat any of the substitutes, for I don’t like them.” Ellsworth Burling, 48 year-old farmer and I.W.W. member from Morehead, sentenced to 1-2 years in prison.
“Smiths Arrested on Sedition Charge and Held in $5,000 Bond,” Miles City Star, 5 June 1918, p. 5, col. 3.
Louis Christensen, a 33 year-old carpenter from Miles City, allegedly made disparaging remarks about the draft and the Liberty loan. He was sentenced to 2-5 years in prison.
“Dane a Seditionist,” The Helena Daily Independent, 18 October 1918, p. 6, col. 2.
Theodore Klippstine, a 40 year-old farmer from Richland County, was charged with making disloyal and seditious remarks while registering for the draft in Sydney. He was sentenced to 4-10 years in prison.
“District Court News,” Sidney Herald, 10 January 1919, p. 1, col. 2.
“I’ll buy flags of truce for the Americans when they go over there, and I hope they’ll never come back.” William McKee, a 50 year-old farmer from Miles City, sentenced to 1-2 years in prison.
“Find Miles City Man Guilty of Sedition,” Billings Gazette, 6 June 1918, p. 1, col. 7.
When Fred Rodewald, a 42 year-old farmer and I.W.W. member from Sumatra, was asked to buy Liberty bonds, he said that he was “too hard up, that times were hard. He was asked if times would be hard if the Kaiser came over here, and was accused of saying that we would be better off if the Kaiser did come to the United States.” He was sentenced to 2-5 years in prison.
“Rodewald Found Guilty,” The Hysham Echo, 26 September 1918, p. 1, col. 6.
Using a loud voice and speaking in German, 74 year-old farmer Herman Rohde of Miles City made several statements supporting Germany in the war, including that it was “right that the Tuscania was sunk because Germany had warned America to keep off.” He was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison.
“Charge Rhode [sic] with Uttering Sedition,” Miles City Star, 16 April 1918, p. 5, col. 4.
Fay Rumsey, 49 year-old rancher and I.W.W. member from Sarpey Creek, was accused of saying “he wished the Germans would come in and clean up the United States and Sarpy [sic] Creek in particular - That President Wilson was in cahoots with the money power of the country and if he…were drafted he would not fight for this country, but with the Kaiser.” He also threatened to poison a neighbor’s livestock “so that no soldiers could be fed on the beef.” He was sentenced to 2-4 years in prison.
“Two County Residents Face Sedition Charge,” Forsyth Times-Journal, 26 September 1918, p. 1, col. 5.
E.V. Starr, a 48 year-old homesteader from McRae, made disparaging remarks about the government and liberty bonds. In response, community members insisted that he kiss the flag. He said “the American Flag was nothing more than a colored rag with a little paint smeared on it and for all he knew it might be covered with microbes.” He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison.
“Discharged at Hardin Arraigned at Forsyth,” The Hysham Echo, 13 June 1918, p. 5, col. 2.
Martin Wehinger “remarked he hoped that Germany would win the war and that she would lick both France and England and then come over here and whip the United States.” He was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison.
“Two Arrests Made on Sedition Charges,” The Miles City Independent, 12 April 1918, p. 8, col. 5.
Photo Credits
Montana Historical Society Library and Archives
University of Montana Mansfield Library
