Editing Roslyn, Washington (section)

===Knights of Labor Strike of 1888 and African American migration===
[[File:Roslyn-2.jpg|thumb|right|The Brick Tavern is the oldest continuously operating tavern in the state, and was featured prominently in ''[[Northern Exposure]]'' (1990 to 1995). Roslyn was used as the site for filming the fictitious town of Cicely, Alaska, in the hit CBS television series.]]
Tensions between management and labor in the Roslyn mines began spilling over in the summer of 1888, when management laid off a number of [[labor union]] workers who were petitioning for eight-hour work days and higher wages. These layoffs led to a [[labor strike]] by the [[Knights of Labor]], which shut down the mines. [[Northwest Coal Company]], which conducted mining operations at Mine No. 3, a few miles away in nearby [[Ronald, Washington|Ronald]], responded by recruiting [[strikebreaker]]s. This included 50 black laborers from the East and Midwest who were transported by train with almost 40 private armed guards. The recruitment of these armed forces raised the interest of Territorial Governor [[Eugene Semple]] when he heard that they harassed area residents calling themselves [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]]. This was considered a [[paramilitary]] challenge to Washington Territory authority and Semple ordered the local sheriff to disperse the unit.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9240|title=Roslyn coalminers strike, precipitating the importation of black miners, on August 17, 1888.|website=www.historylink.org|access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref>

Semple visited Roslyn to investigate Northwest Coal Company's practices and condemned the company for hiring a private militia on suppositions that the white strikers would attack black laborers and overpower police forces. Semple's report describes the residents as "intelligent" and "law-abiding," and the company's suppositions as erroneous. He did not intervene on the labor disputes, and strikers continued to lose ground in negotiations.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Roslyn-miner-memorial-and-KBHR.JPG|thumb|right|upright|The Coal Miners' Memorial in Roslyn. The radio station film set from the ''Northern Exposure'' television series is in the background.]]

In a span of two years, the company recruited more than 300 black laborers from [[Virginia]], [[North Carolina]], and [[Kentucky]]. Many relocated with families, and this migration was the largest increase in the African-American population of Washington Territory up until that time. Sheriff Packwood of Kittitas County reported to Semple that relations between out-of-work white workers and the black population were strained with potential to turn violent. However, after the strike broke tensions reduced, and whites reconciled with working along black miners. As the regional coal industry boomed, competition for employment reduced, and eventually workers organized as equals with [[United Mine Workers]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/aaw/vignette_aahw/roslyn-washington/|title=Roslyn, Washington (1886-- ) • BlackPast|date=March 15, 2008|website=BlackPast|language=en-US|access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref>