On Aug. 3, 1932, Vigo County was invaded by 900 armed troops of the Indiana National Guard.

Their mission was to liberate 78 miners surrounded by several thousand picketers - many of the picketers armed with military rifles - at the Dixie Bee shaft coal mine outside Pimento.

On the previous day, diplomatic efforts by Vigo County Sheriff Joseph Dreher and Prosecutor Charles C. Whitlock to disperse 3,000 to 6,000 hostile picketers - many imported from Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky - were unsuccessful. Both men narrowly avoided being struck by gunshot.

Picketer Taylor Kellar was killed and at least nine other men were injured during the barrage. Mindful of the mob violence that resulted in 23 deaths at a mine near Herrin, Ill. during June 1922 under similar circumstances, Dreher urgently appealed to Indiana Gov. Henry G. Leslie for assistance.

By a proclamation issued on Aug. 3, at 9 a.m., Gov. Leslie declared Sections 13,14, 23 and 24 of Linton Township - four square miles near the mine - a "military district."

Under the guidance of Col. Paul A. Seiberling, commander of the 151st Infantry, the National Guard established its primary base on the Indiana State Teachers College campus. Aviators and a crew of mechanics located at Dresser Field (renamed Paul S. Cox Field in 1933), at the present site of Terre Haute South Vigo High School.

U.S. Highway 41 south of Terre Haute was closed to all traffic for several hours when Col. Seiberling dispatched 250 experienced troops to patrol the area. Tents were erected before rescue operations were initiated shortly after midnight on Aug. 4. Meanwhile, 13 trapped miners reached freedom in the darkness.

The rescue proceeded without incident though picketers continued to fire at the mine until troops were within 500 yards. The 64 besieged men and one woman (Selma Thompson, wife of the mine barn boss) had not eaten for 36 hours.

One miner, who insisted upon anonymity, provided an account of the ordeal:

"We went to work at the mine about 7 a.m. on Tuesday (Aug. 2). At that time there was only a few men in the picket line and we began to hoist coal.

"About 10 o'clock, we were called out of the mine as the crowd of picketers had increased to several thousand and it was thought they might want to trap us in the mine. We washed and started home. The deputy sheriffs, however, were told they would not permit us to leave. We ate lunch and stood around outside. Seemingly by pre-arranged signal at exactly 2 p.m., a hail of bullets was fired at us from all directions.

"Two of our men were shot by the first round and the rest of us jumped for shelter. The man standing next to me dropped to the ground and said, 'Well, they got me.' A bullet grazed my hand, my hat was shot off my head and bullets pierced my trouser legs.

"The next two men were shot down in the next half hour of shooting, which continued for about an hour-and-a-half. Snipers were located in trees and in the cornfield and shot at us with high-powered rifles. Some of them were excellent marksmen.

"Tuesday night was about the longest night I have ever experienced. We were expecting the troops to arrive any minute. We had nothing to eat and the only water we had to drink was hot and rusty boiler water.

"On Wednesday, we moved into the boiler room. Firing continued throughout the day with a heavy barrage of fire about 15 minutes out of every hour. We were about to give up hope when we saw National Guard planes soaring overhead. Some of the picketers fired at the planes and stopped firing at us. As soon as the planes would leave, they would began firing at us again heavier than before.

"During the night, some of our men attempted to crawl through the picket lines, but most were unable to do so. The sweetest music of my lifetime was the bugle call announcing the arrival of the troops."

The crisis at the Dixie Bee mine was only one of several confrontations in southern Indiana in 1932 between members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), their sympathizers, and non-union miners or those affiliated with a new "scab union" called the Associated Miners Union of Indiana.

Indiana's coal mining industry had been struggling for a decade. There were 174 operating shaft mines in the state in 1924. By 1932, the number was 67. Miners earning $7.50 for a seven-hour day in 1924 contractually agreed to accept $6.10 a day in 1929.

During the Depression things got worse. Men without jobs were willing to work in a mine for as little as a dollar a day and travel great distances for employment.

When its contract expired on March 31, 1932, the UMWA had retained affiliation with only 33 Indiana mines and mine operators refused to extend the existing $6.10 per day wage. In June, an accord was reached between mine owners and a union wage scale committee to pay $4 a day, but it was rejected by UMWA membership.

Throughout the showdown at the Dixie Bee mine, the UMWA publicly denounced violence. Dixie Bee mine reopened in mid-August, but smaller incidents erupted at other mines, including the Eagle and Vermillion mines near Clinton. On Aug. 11, 12 southern Indiana non-union mining companies sought continued state protection.

By Aug. 15, all but 255 guardsmen had been sent home. One battalion established a tent camp at Shakamak State Park under the command of Major Ralf C. Paddock (and, subsequently, Major Byron R. Colglazier, Col. John S. Fishback and Major Norman Thompson) to maintain guards at the mine.

The number of troops was reduced to 108 on Oct. 1.

In 1933, the Dixie Bee mine was placed in receivership and, soon thereafter, was closed.

Mike McCormick is the Vigo County historian. His column appears each Sunday.