The Boston Cowboy Strike (episode 313)

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Jake:
[0:04] Welcome to Hub History, where we go far beyond the Freedom Trail to share our

Introduction to the Cowboy Strike

Jake:
[0:09] favorite stories from the history of Boston, the hub of the universe. This is episode 313, the Boston cowboy strike. Hi, I’m Jake. This week, I’m gonna talk about a labor action that took place in Boston in 1936. At a time when the power of organized labor was on the rise. A one day wildcat strike became the founding moment for a labor union that still exists today, staged by an organization that was at first known as the Cowboy Turtle Association at the old Boston Garden. This was the first rodeo strike in the world though calling it a rodeo strike can be a bit confusing as the editors of the Boston Globe pointed out just a few days after the strike took place. Writing the rodeo strike was by the riders and not as one might think by the steers who play the role of the bull doggies. I think calling it a cowboy strike is more evocative though, as we’ll hear, Cowgirls were an important facet of this particular rodeo and the union probably owes its long term success in large part to the wife of one of the cowboys involved.

Jake:
[1:23] In other notes. I got the inspiration for this episode from my favorite source. A listener, Sam s wrote in Last December and said I wanted to share an event that might be enough for an episode in case you all were not aware, there was a cowboy strike in Boston at the old garden in 1936.

Jake:
[1:44] Well, I was not aware, but Sam’s note sent me down the right path to research Boston’s 1936 cowboy strike at the garden.

A Thank You to Our Sponsors

Jake:
[1:54] But before I share what I learned about the Boston cowboy strike, I just want to pause and say a big thank you to the loyal listeners who sponsor the show. This episode basically marks the eighth anniversary of the Hub History Podcast, when I celebrated the 1st 100 downloads of our very first episode about Pope’s Night in Boston that aired at the end of October 2016. I couldn’t imagine that. A few years later, thousands of people would tune into every episode to hear me ramble on about stories from Boston history that hopefully you don’t hear otherwise. Since then, we’ve won a preservation achievement award and a star award for innovation and communications in public history. And the show’s opened a lot of doors for me in the Boston history world. Along the way, expenses keep adding up and the sponsors who support the show with $2.05 dollars or even $20 or more each month have allowed us to keep pace, to everyone who’s already supporting the show. Thank you. If you’re not yet supporting the show and you’d like to start, it’s easy. Just go to patreon.com/hubor or visit hubor.com and click on the support us link and thanks again to all our new and returning sponsors.

The Birth of the Cowboy Union

Jake:
[3:14] This show is being released on November 3rd and 88 years ago. Today, newspapers around New England carried stories announcing the end to a strike by an upstart union, a union with a surprising name that was formed in a surprising place. At first, you wouldn’t really think that Boston would be the city where a cowboys union would be organized. And yet Pittsfield’s Berkshire Eagle reported on November 3rd, 1836 the World Championship rodeo opened without the world champions. 65 of the best riders in the country put their lariats and mothballs and rode out on strike. They declared they wouldn’t risk their necks riding wild brons and roping mean steers unless the management came through with more prize money. The Springfield Republican from November 2nd carries a story describing how the strike started on opening night of the rodeo. The first rodeo riders strike in history today threatened to delay the opening of Colonel Wt Johnson’s exhibition of Bronco Busters Steer Dogger, fancy Ropers and trick riders at Boston Garden. The show is scheduled to open tonight but Colonel Billy was handed an ultimatum by the cow hands, double the prize money or no rodeo.

Jake:
[4:34] Rodeos didn’t originate here in Boston, but they found a receptive audience here by the 19 fifties, huge commercial rodeos would be held in auditoriums around the city. But at the time of the world’s first cowboys strike, the modern form of the event was just emerging in the spring 1985 issue of the Southwest review, Lee Milazzo describes how the commercial rodeo came to be, rodeos evolved from the play of the hired men on horseback. And these early cowboy contests usually took place in the town squares of the railheads at the end of the trail drives. But the first formal rodeo was held in Prescott, Arizona on July 4th 1864. The nation’s birthday soon became known as the cowboys, Christmas in Rodeo Circle.

Jake:
[5:25] William F Cody took the rodeo on the road. And his famous Wild West shows made the new sport a tremendous success in the East as well as in the West. In an article written for the West End Museum, Mayer Aviles describes how the promoter of Boston’s 1936 rodeo helped to bring Wild West shows that Buffalo Bill stage as all day outdoor spectacles indoors. When Buffalo Bill Cody’s first Wild West Show captured the attention of the country in the 18 eighties promoters built on a success by condensing the all day outdoor event into a shorter smaller competition that lasted only a few hours and could take place in urban indoor sports arenas.

Jake:
[6:11] Entrepreneur and cattleman. Colonel Wt Johnson became one of the top rodeo producers of his day with the abridged rodeo model, after hosting his first event in San Antonio in 1928 his showmanship soon caught the attention of the Madison Square Garden rodeo officials from New York. By 1931 he was brought on as producer Johnson quickly expanded and hosted his inaugural Boston Garden rodeo in November of 1931. 3 years after the arena opened its doors. The event set an attendance record for the stadium as 18,506 Spectators descended on the west end for a glimpse of the action while popular. It was the rise of increasingly commercialized rodeos put on by producers like Johnson that eclipsed the success of traditional Wild West shows. The 1931 Boston Garden Rodeo was so well received that it became an annual event spanning a week or more each November. Even as the Great Depression plunged the country into financial turmoil. An evening at the rodeo provided several hours of escapism at a relatively low cost. And the train mines that service North station enabled fans from far away to see the shows.

Jake:
[7:30] Because of my own lingering prejudices. I assumed at first that Colonel Wt Johnson was an unreconstructed confederate, but I was mistaken, Johnson didn’t earn the rank of colonel as a secessionist since William Thomas Johnson wasn’t even born until a decade after the civil war. In fact, he doesn’t seem to have earned it at all. Instead, he seems to have adopted the rank out of thin air during the 19 teens when his Texas ranches were producing beef to support the war effort.

Jake:
[8:04] Wt Johnson retained this stolen valor for the rest of his career. Always insisting on being addressed as a colonel such as in this profile that ran in the globe as part of the promotion for the rodeo on October 29th, 1936, Colonel Wt Johnson of San Antonio, Texas, the only rodeo stock magnet in the world ruler of a cattle empire in Texas and foster father, the cowboys and Cowgirls from Canada to Mexico, who will produce the world’s championship rodeo at the Boston Garden from November 1st to 11th is truly the angel of the rodeo. The colonel weighs more than 200 pounds, has gray hair and talks with a deep voice but he’s not taking time out to grin. Colonel Johnson has 25,000 acres set aside for nothing but rodeo stock in Maverick County. 100 50 miles west of San Antonio. He calls it the bird nest. Rodeo ranch. He has another ranch, six bar ranch in the Delaware Mountains in Culberson County. It’s bordered by the state of New Mexico on one side and Mount El Capitan which is 11,456 ft high sets out in front of his ranch house.

Jake:
[9:22] He claims without fear of contradiction to have the finest string of bucking horses in the United States. And he is the only man in the country who owns his own ranch houses and all of his own rodeo equipment. Promotional stories in the newspapers painted a rosy picture of life at the rodeo. But amongst the rank and file cowboys, trouble was brewing. The riders risked injury and even death in the ring knowing that they would only get paid if they won in their event for roping. That depended on how quickly you could get a rope under your calf for bulldogging. It was how quickly you could jump from a horse and wrestle a steer to the ground. And for bronch riding, there was a point system based on how long you could stay on the horse’s back and how hard it bucked to get you off.

Jake:
[10:13] In the November 4th edition of the Springfield Republican. An interview with Rodeo cowboy, Jake mcclure explained how a run of bad luck might mean that you came out broke at the end of a hard season’s risky work.

Jake:
[10:27] There are only about 30 of us who do it regular following the rodeos around the circuit. The rest are boys and girls who come here for a good time and find it according to their natures and dispositions.

Jake:
[10:41] A man who makes a living out of roping bronch riding or bulldogging, concentrates on the matter at hand. The regulars specialize in one of the three divisions. Ropers and bulldog get the most money. The riders take the most punishment. A top flight roper having a lucky year can make from 7000 to $10,000. A rider who gets $5000 would be breaking some kind of record mcclure said he didn’t know why this was so except that broncho busting seems to be less popular. The luck comes in. The animals you draw to work on when they start coming ornery, they keep coming ornery and you think maybe the whole world is ganging up to stab you in the back, said mcclure. But if you’re a regular hand, you know, that’s just the way the luck works. It makes a difference. In 1929 mcclure made about eight or $9000 with the depression prize money dipped a little bit. But he didn’t really suffer from a personal crash until last year in a rodeo after rodeo. He said, I drew the Orest Critters you ever saw? And at the end of the season, if I made $10 above expenses, I don’t know about it.

Jake:
[11:59] So rodeo riders would put their health and ability to work both in a rodeo arena and back home on the farm on the line with no guarantee that they would even break even at the end of the season.

The Appeal of Collective Action

Jake:
[12:11] It’s easy to see why the idea of collective action was appealing to the cowboys who came to Boston in the fall of 1936 at the time, unions were enjoying a revival in America. From the late 18 hundreds. Organizers had tried again and again to employ collective bargaining to give workers in all different industries a fighting chance for better wages and safer working conditions. Only to be crushed time and time again when federal and state authorities inevitably sided with management. I grew up in coal country where striking miners would be turned out of their company owned houses to live in tents through the Bitter Mountain winters only to have police turn a blind eye when company thugs use tents where Children were sleeping for target practice or set fire to entire camps in the middle of the night. Just when it seemed like the miners had reached a tipping point, might have enough collective power to change the political landscape. The state police company thugs and the US army spent five days and expended over 1 million rounds of ammunition to break up a Union march. Look up the battle of Blair Mountain to learn how anti union forces use machine guns, airplanes and World War One surplus bombs and even poison gas against American workers who just wanted a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

Jake:
[13:36] In the decade and a half since that tragedy, things had started looking up for American Unions. Franklin Roosevelt was up for re-election in 1936. In fact, some of the same newspapers that reported on the cowboy strike promised that if the strike was resolved in time to hold the rodeo on November 3rd election day. Real time election returns will be announced in the Garden with the Globe noting, complete election returns direct from the Election bureau of the Boston Globe will be announced at tonight’s Rodeo Show at the Boston Garden, and at three of Boston’s leading theaters, the Keith Memorial, the Rko Boston and the fine arts.

Jake:
[14:19] At each of these places, patrons will hear bulletins on both the state and the national elections as they are received from the globe’s famous election. Experts, Roosevelt’s promise of a new deal for the American worker included changes that helped create a renaissance for unions just as FDR was about to be elected to the second of his four terms.

Jake:
[14:41] A high school lesson plan about unions from the Library of Congress explains the key legislation in the early 19 thirties as the nation slid toward the depths of depression. The future of organized labor seemed bleak. In 1933 the number of labor union members was around 3 million compared to 5 million a decade before, most union members in 1933 belonged to skilled craft unions, most of which were affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. The A FL the union movement had failed in the previous 50 years to organize the much larger number of laborers in such mass production industries as steel, textiles, mining and automobiles. These rather than skilled crafts were to be the major growth industries of the first half of the 20th century.

Jake:
[15:35] Although the future of labor unions looked grim in 1933 their fortunes would soon change. The tremendous gains labor unions experienced in the 19 thirties resulted in part from the pro union stance of the Roosevelt administration and from legislation enacted by Congress during the early New Deal, the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 provided for collective bargaining. The 1935 National Labor Relations Act also known as the Wagner Act required businesses to bargain in good faith with any union supported by the majority of their employees.

Jake:
[16:16] The ink on the Wagner Act was barely dry by election day in 1936. But it signaled a shift in attitude on the part of the federal government, federal agencies and even troops would no longer be mobilized automatically to crush unionization efforts.

Federal Support for Labor

Jake:
[16:34] Instead, the new legislation protected union organizers and encouraged companies and workers to negotiate. And as the October 29th, 1936 globe reminds us the working conditions in a rodeo certainly seemed to cry out for a union to protect working cowboys. This year, the colonel has brought up 900 head of stock, all of which will be housed on the exposition building adjoining the Boston Garden. His brahma Steers for writing purposes, averaged 1200 pounds. His Texas range cattle used for bulldogging, run about 900 pounds and his string of brahma steers are the greatest collection seen in any rodeo today. The cows that he will use for the cow milking contests are wild and tough and will fight like Wildcats. The good old colonel predicts that there will be more skinned up and knock down cowboys than you’ve ever seen in your life.

Jake:
[17:33] Nothing quite like gleefully bragging about how many workers are gonna get injured at your event to endear you to the workforce. Right? Keep in mind that all the cowboys who are going to get skinned up and knocked down would pay for the privilege. Both professional rodeo riders who followed the circuit around the country and seriously competed for the prize money in their events and enthusiastic amateurs who were mostly locals who wanted to test their riding and roping abilities. Everyone who entered the arena had to pay an entry fee to Wt Johnson. The performers also paid for their own food and lodging when they were traveling with the rodeo as well as stable fees for their horses. On top of that, the Boston Garden just like every venue. Whereas Rodeo appeared, had to pay Johnson a large fee on top of the entrance fees paid by contestants.

Jake:
[18:27] In the eyes of many of the cowboys who participated, their entry fees were supposed to go toward their prize money while the venue fees will cover Johnson’s expenses and his personal profit. The conflict in Boston began when the cowboys realized that something didn’t quite add up writing for the West End Museum. Myra Vila’s notes, the conflict boiled over on October 30th 1936 during a Friday matinee, when Josie Bennett, wife of champion steer wrestler, Hugh Bennett realized the advertised prize money for all events was less than the total entrance fees. Johnson charged the performers to participate in the rodeo.

Jake:
[19:11] Hugh Bennett owned ranches in Arizona and Colorado and he had a reputation as a legendary horseman, after joining the rodeo circuit, he became known as a top timed event cowboy earning the world title in steer wrestling in 1932. And in steer roping in 1938 I did some reading to try to figure out whether his wife Josie was also a writer in the rodeo. Wt Johnson had a reputation for employing women as Cowgirls in his rodeos, which was unusual for the 19 thirties. Even more unusually, he also had a reputation for paying them well, treating them fairly and even paying for their medical care if they were injured in the arena, which was a courtesy he didn’t extend to the cowboys.

Jake:
[20:02] As far as I can tell though Josie Bennett never performed in the rodeo. But her actions at the 1936 rodeo in Boston would have far reaching consequences.

Jake:
[20:15] Like a monster truck rally today or I suppose, like a rodeo in a place that still gets more of them audiences for Wt Johnson shows were mostly driven by Children. Sure, mom and dad were happy to go and sit in the stands and watch some roping or barrel racing. But the kids were probably the ones who begged them to get tickets. Knowing this, Johnson made a point of promoting his rodeo to Children. And in the days before television advertising, he took the show to Boston Streets. Longtime listeners might remember episode 111 where we discussed how women’s groups in Boston essentially invented playgrounds as a way to keep urban Children out of trouble. And on October 31st, the globe reported how the rodeo came to a popular playground. Hundreds of boys and girls from the congested districts of Boston assembled at the Nashua Street playground this morning and gleefully shouted, right. I cowboy and yip, yip Yippee. Colonel Wt Johnson’s aggregation of cowboys and Cowgirls who are putting on a free open air show for their special benefit. It was an interesting and highly amusing preview of the rodeo which will continue daily and evenings at the Boston Garden starting Monday night through November 11th.

Jake:
[21:36] The other street level promotion for Johnson’s Rodeo was a Wild West parade which was scheduled for Sunday, November 1st. The day before the Rodeo opened at Boston Garden.

Jake:
[21:48] This parade took a page for the promotional handbook for circuses. When a circus came to town, it was customary to hold a parade from the train yard where the circus train was unloaded to the grounds where the circus was to be held, serving the dual purposes of getting all the exotic animals to the circus and using them to attract the attention of the ticket buying public.

Jake:
[22:11] The rodeo usually held a similar parade to drum up interest even though it was to be held at the garden which was adjacent to the North station rail yard. So there was no need to march through the streets to reach the arena. In an article that makes the so called Colonel sound like a Disney villain. The November 2nd Springfield Republican reports. Colonel Johnson called off the wild West parade through the city streets and said he would try to recruit a new herd of cow hands from a rodeo which closed Saturday in Chicago.

Jake:
[22:44] Colonel Johnson declared, I suppose I could give him more money. I’ve got plenty of money, but it’s the principle of the thing they knew before we left what the prize money was to be in Boston. But they waited until the eve of the opening after everything was all advertised to hold us up. Well, they won’t get it.

Jake:
[23:07] After Josie Bennett recognized that the cowboys were being underpaid for their appearance in Boston. Her husband Hugh used his popularity among the rioters to convince 61 of them to sign a petition pledging that they would not perform unless the prize money was doubled. The accounts I’ve read say that only about half a dozen or maybe a dozen riders were in serious contention for the top honors. So Hugh and Josie Bennett must have been charismatic organizers to convince the lesser performers and amateur riders to sit out a contest that they suddenly would have had a good chance to win. On October 31st, Hugh gave copies of the petition to Wt Johnson and the management of the Boston Garden. But he also knew that a large rodeo was closing in Chicago the next day. If Johnson wanted to employ scabs, it’d be easy for a blockbuster to get on the train after the Chicago Show closed and be in Boston in time for opening day.

The Role of Josie Bennett

Jake:
[24:08] Writing for the magazine Western Horseman in 2011. Randy Witt describes how the Bennetts and their supporters were able to transform a local protest into the seeds of a National Cowboy Union.

Jake:
[24:22] Meanwhile, the telegraph line was busy to Chicago where the world’s greatest rodeo was going on. A lot of cowboys would contest in both rodeos in those days. And a similar petition was signed by the Chicago contestants which read we the undersigned cowboys showing at the Chicago Stadium. Do hereby agree not to go to the Boston Show unless the demands of the cowboys now at Boston are met, the boys at Boston must be allowed to work and not barred from that show.

Jake:
[24:56] The article in Western Horseman includes a photo of the striking cowboys. It’s still a bit too new to be in the public domain. So I’ll link to the article in the show notes rather than posting the picture in it. Hugh Bennett is at the head of a group of cowboys all dressed in 10 gallon hats, standing with their horses and all their belongings gathered up at the back entrance to the garden. It looks like they’re all prepared to start riding back to the open prairies. And Randy Witt’s article continues. The photo of the walkout was organized for the Boston Press to make sure news of the strike and its consequences. Were well publicized. Hugh loaded up his rope horse with a trunk, suitcase and bed roll to make it look like he was really headed home. In fact, the cowboys who bravely signed the petition didn’t know for certain their strike would work. Hugh advised Josie to look into arranging railroad transportation back home. Most of the cowboys and their horses had ridden east on the train, Johnson had reserved and Johnson was threatening to quote, turn you all out in the bay, meaning they could all find their own way home.

Jake:
[26:11] However, with the Chicago cowboys standing with the strikers in Boston, it was gonna be hard for Johnson to turn them out in the bay, opening night of the rodeo on Monday, November 1st was canceled but Johnson was determined to put on a show on Tuesday, the second, in place of world champion riders and ropers Johnson drafted a few dozen stable hands and grooms to take the place of the striking cowboys. In the meantime, the next day’s Boston Globe reports how the striking cowboys made their presence known during the first night of the Boston performance, gathered in a section after they had bought tickets by sending one person in civilian clothes to the box office. The cowboys waited until the final announcement of the grand entry. The introduction of Colonel Johnson for their first outburst as the colonel came riding forward to the center of the arena. The men made such an outcry of booing and shouting that the announcement of John Jordan was lost in the whale. At once, the band struck up the star spangled banner. This brought the cowboys to their feet and held up the demonstration for a few minutes. But as soon as the Bronk events were called, the booing started again and kept up for a solid hour until police threatened to take action.

Jake:
[27:33] The saddled bronch event in which grooms from the stable shoot men and others who were never in the real prize money did the riding brought down a wild din of wailing and booing. Bring on the cowboys show us some riders, the cowboys in the stands cried as rider after rider bucked off or failed to make a ride, having remained quiet until Johnson entered the strikers then became as disruptive as they possibly could. They violently jeered and booed when the boss was introduced, drowned out the band with their rendition of the song, empty saddles in the old corral and just generally made a nuisance of themselves.

Jake:
[28:16] Police in the garden repeatedly threatened to clear the section that the cowboys were sitting in if they didn’t quiet down, which they only did after hearing that an agreement with Johnson was close at hand with the opening night of the rodeo canceled. And the second night turned into a joke, Johnson was confronted by the garden management. They needed him to either reach a settlement with the strikers or cancel the rodeo’s remaining dates because the spectacle on display was becoming embarrassing.

The Strikers’ Victory

Jake:
[28:46] In the end, Johnson had no real choice except to concede with a story in the November 3rd globe reporting under the headline cowboys win rodeo strike, the cowboys won every one of their points, an increase in prize money restoration of three men and the ousting of the noncontract men who participated in last night’s events. In addition, as a bonus of goodwill, the management of the garden suggested to the colonel that all the cowboys who had paid money to watch the events should have $20 given to them upon turning in the stubs. Today, when Colonel Johnson finally agreed to meet the demands of the men, the spokesman for the cowboys at once asked for his signature in writing, he was about ready to sign when the booing started up again. This delay brought from the cowboys the statement that they would leave town today since there was not enough prize money to make it worth staying. Finally at 11 o’clock, the colonel signed the agreement giving the top hands an additional $4000 in prize money to make the total for the 14 contests stand at approximately $14,000. He also agreed to restore the entry fee which each cowboy must pay before he can sign up for a contest.

Jake:
[30:07] The outcome of the strike is that the champions, the top hands will remain in Boston through the contests. It means that the best men will win more money. It means also that the rodeo has been saved for Boston. None of the contestants make any money unless they win, they pay their own overhead for food lodging. The terms agreed upon tonight, bring the prize money at the Boston contests to a figure to be compared with other large rodeos. Dick Truitt. Spokesman for the steer wrestler said the announcement at the end of the strike was made dramatically from the microphone. It was stated that the strike was over and that the 61 cowboys the champions will be back in the contests beginning today. Then through a large gate, the entire group marched in and stood in the middle of the arena with Colonel Johnson. This show of unity was enough to satisfy the garden management that there would be no further embarrassments from the striking cowboys. But it was not enough for Johnson. The so called colonel got out of the rodeo business soon after the strike in Boston. But rodeos would continue to be a strong draw at the garden until well into the 19 sixties.

Formation of the Cowboy Turtle Association

Jake:
[31:24] The union that Josie and Hugh Bennett willed into existence one night in Boston would continue under a unique name. A 1936 issue of hoofs and horns which bragged that it was read by more contestants and fans than any other rodeo magazine explains the mission of the union in its early years.

Jake:
[31:46] The cowboy turtle association came into being during the recent rodeo at Boston. The purpose of the organization is to raise the standard of rodeos as a whole and to give them undisputed place in the foremost rank of American sports. This is to be done by classing as unfair those shows which use rules unfair to the contestants and those which offer purses so small as to make it impossible for contestants to meet their expenses.

Jake:
[32:15] The association asks a fair deal for contestants as well as rodeo organizations and hopes to work harmoniously with them. It is hereby understood and agreed that on this day, November 6th, 1936 the undersigned cowboys and Cowgirls have formed an association to be called the United Cowboy Turtle Association. And do hereby agree to abide by the rules and regulations thereof. In 1939 cowboys turtle Association spokesman Everett Bowman explained how the organization came to have such a ridiculous moniker. The reason for the name is that the turtle is the slowest thing the boys could think of and they were content to go slow but hold whatever ground they gained, this time, the boys really decided to stick together and make a success of our association.

Jake:
[33:09] In his article in Western horseman, Randy Witt describes how the cowboys turtle association matured from a few hotheads yelling in the stands of the Boston Garden, to a professional association whose stamp of approval imparts respectability on modern rodeos. The CT A survived and grew at the annual RA A convention in Reno in January 1937 meaning the Rodeo Association of America, representing management, Hugh Bennett addressed the attending rodeo managers and explained the goals of the CT A, all entry fees added to publicized purse money, a working relationship with rodeo management and a pledge for rodeos to only allow CT A members to compete along with local contestants. Also, there would be no more strikes by contestants at a special meeting of the CT A in the Blackstone Hotel at Fort Worth. On March 16th, 1945 the board voted to change the association’s name to the Rodeo Cowboys Association, headquarters will be moved from Phoenix to Denver and per rodeo is poised to enter a golden age.

Jake:
[34:26] 30 years later, the name of the organization will be changed again to the professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Today. The PRC is the largest sanctioning body for professional rodeos.

Legacy of Josie Bennett

Jake:
[34:41] Josie Bennett, who did the math and realized that the cowboys were getting underpaid in Boston went on to be a tireless organizer for the turtles and later the PR C A doing much of the work of the secretary treasurer’s position while Hugh formally held that office, though the sexism of the time kept her from holding a formal title with the union. Josie Bennett was inducted into the pro rodeo Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1979 in recognition of her efforts to protect and pay rodeo performers. To learn more about the Boston Cowboy strike. Check out this week’s show notes at hubor.com/three 13, I’ll have links to a lot of resources related to this week’s show starting with past podcast episodes, 99 about the early cowboy history of Brighton, 111, about the Boston women who invented playgrounds and 198 about another new deal era labor showdown in Boston.

Jake:
[35:46] I’ll link to Randy Witt’s article about the strike in Western horsemen. So you can see the picture of the strikers posing at the garden as well as the article by Mayer Avila for the West End Museum about rodeos at the garden. Over the years. I’ll link to all the newspaper accounts I quoted from although most are behind paywalls as well as a handful of journal articles that provided useful context for this non rodeo fan to make sense of the event.

Jake:
[36:15] Before I let you go. I have some listener feedback to share. I’ll start out by reminding everyone that this episode was suggested by a listener named Sam S who wrote in at the end of December 2023 letting me know about the 1936 cowboy strike in Boston.

Listener Feedback and Community Engagement

Jake:
[36:33] Since then. We’ve also gotten a lot of nice emails from listeners starting with this one from Miles Howard that came in back in April. Hi, Jake. Greetings from JP, longtime listener of Hub history here. I’m currently working on a story for the Boston Globe’s ideas section involving a modern perambulation of the Boston Bounds. Meaning I recently did a walk around the entire city perimeter and this story is gonna be couched in the lost tradition of municipal perambulation that you dug into. In episode 44. I’d love to shed some light on where this tradition came from and how it faded away. I wondered if you might be interested in connecting for a short phone interview in the near future. It’d be great to revisit some of the history you touched on in the perambulation episode. That email exchange then led to me getting quoted in the globe, which was very exciting. I dropped a line about the puritans in their contracts that I’m pretty proud of. I’ll link to the story about Miles and his perambulation. In this week’s show notes, Samson also stumbled across episode 44 and was moved to write in saying.

Jake:
[37:44] For years while playing the George Wright golf course in Hyde Park in Roslindale, I wondered why there was a granite post with HP engraved on the top of it. The letters were stacked. I was just browsing your earlier episodes to recommend some to my dad who’s new to the world of podcasts and found number 44 perambulating the bounds. Well, mystery solved as to what it is. It’s positioned off the ninth hole well, within what’s to day considered Hyde Park. Thanks for the Note Samson. I know of a couple other boundary stones pretty close to that one, but because I don’t play golf, I didn’t realize there was one in the George Wright.

Jake:
[38:30] Now, unlike Miles who contacted me before writing a news article, Lisa Gordon contacted me after she wrote a terrific article for WBUR. It was so great that I based most of this year’s Black History Month episode on it and she wrote, hi, I just came across your podcast episode 294. The Rise and Fall of Black Boston’s First Hospital. I’m Lisa, the one who wrote the WBUR profile. Thank you for the shout out. You found some references that I hadn’t uncovered yet, particularly the Nashville Globe article. I’m gonna look at those. I also didn’t know about the linen shower. I’ll be following your podcast now. Thank you.

Jake:
[39:17] It’s always really gratifying to have somebody with expertise, validate the work that I do here on the show. So, thanks a lot, Lisa. I got a really neat note from a listener named Chelsea who is responding to the story of Boston’s first street lamps which washed up on Race Point Beach in Provincetown along with the fourth T ship that didn’t quite make it here in 1773. That story was aired as episode 266 in January 2023. And again, as part of episode 290 marking the anniversary of the Tea Party last December, Chelsea Road. I recently discovered your podcast. I’ve enjoyed it. I live in Texas but love American history and love learning about Boston. The episode on the history of Boston street lamps brought up an interesting family connection for me. My grandfather was a natural gas engineer and worked on a project in Boston at some point decades ago that required old gas lamps being removed and discarded. He ended up saving one which he installed outside his home in Texas where it stood for decades more. My parents now have it and plan to install it outside their house. The date on the lamp reads 1880. I wish it were possible to know which part of the city it came from. Anyway. Thanks for the interesting listen.

Jake:
[40:43] That’s really cool. I have to say that I would love to have a classic Boston gas lamp at home. I’d also love to have one of Boston’s original wooden water mains which were discussed in episodes 292 and 293 and inspired this note from a listener, dear, Jake. I have been listening to your podcast for a few months but subscribed immediately when you started a podcast series on the Water supply. I recently completed reading one of your sources, City Water City Life, which I thoroughly enjoyed too. But I was disappointed that the book and the podcast so far did not get to the story of the Quabbin as a former resident of Western Massachusetts, I’ve been eagerly anticipating it. I hope you’ll have the chance to get to part three soon. Sincerely a room. I do really want to get back to part three of Boston’s drinking water story. But the research for anything about the Quabbin seems overwhelming, arun, stick with us and I’ll get to it eventually and I apologize if I mispronounced your name.

Jake:
[41:58] In September, Doug G from Allentown, Pennsylvania wrote him with some kind words and a request for a podcast recommendation. Dear Jake and Nikki. Good afternoon. I wanted to write you to give you praise for your podcast that I recently discovered on itunes Hub. History is great. And I’m a big fan of the history of Boston. So far, I’ve listened to four episodes and I want to listen to more of them. Each episode is interesting and every day that I listen to it, I learned more than I ever knew about Boston’s wretch history. As a short note, I was up in Boston in 2010 and I would like to return there again to spend more time on the Freedom Trail. The last time I was there, I was a little rushed. I had a two o’clock appointment to tour the Massachusetts Statehouse and I stayed there longer than I expected. I would. So I had to rush through the rest of the sites on the Freedom Trail and I just made it in time to go to the top of the Bunker Hill monument. The view of Boston from the top was wonderful. I would love to do it again. I was also in Conquered. But again, I arrived too late and everything was closed.

Jake:
[43:10] My trip besides there took me up to Salem Quincy where I visited the home of John Adams, another of my favorites since I watched the HBO miniseries on him. And I also visited where he is buried. Our final two days were in Salem and then Plymouth before leaving to come back to Eastern Pennsylvania. Both of you do a great job on your podcast. I give it five out of five stars. Keep up the good work. Oh, Philadelphia, since it’s so close to me is also my favorite city. Do you know of any podcast that dives deep into the history of Philadelphia? Like Boston? Thanks.

Jake:
[43:51] I wrote back to thank Doug for his praise and to recommend the Found In Philadelphia podcast. I listen to a ton of local history podcasts from other cities to learn stuff. I don’t know. And to get inspiration for the show, I especially recommend Found In Philadelphia, the Charleston Time Machine, East Bay Yesterday City on the edge, which is for Albuquerque and archive Atlanta.

Jake:
[44:21] And our last email is from Scott Kay. Hi, Jake. I’m a longtime listener of the show. Although I’m a bit slow getting through the episodes in late August, I listened to episode 305 about the Cunard Line. Years ago I worked on State Street right next to the Cunard building. I used to live in East Boston too and was aware of the Cunard dock, but I didn’t really know the whole history. I took a vacation up to Halifax in early September and saw the attached statue which very much had me thinking of the episode. I thought you might get a kick out of this too. Having all the history from the podcast’s background made visiting Halifax more fun. I also went to a maritime museum while I was up there which had a big display on the Halifax explosion. Probably not too surprisingly, Boston is only mentioned in passing and also alongside New York is providing aid. I guess it’s not the same big deal up there as it is at the Christmas tree lighting every year here. Ok. Thanks for all the great shows, Scott, a road trip to Nova Scotia is definitely on my bucket list. So I’m hoping to be able to see the statue of Samuel Cunard that Scott sent pictures of myself one of these days.

Jake:
[45:45] So far this year, we’ve only gotten two reviews on Apple podcasts. I said thanks to the first reviewer a few months ago who complimented my depth of reporting. The most recent reviewer is anonymous and they gave the show five stars, but they said that my voice sounds like a i not in an insulting way, but in a way that implies that they’re really not sure if I’m a real person, I’ll put some bloopers at the end of this episode to remind everybody that I am. In fact, a human being. And to end on a funny note back in September 2023 a listener named Justin wrote in with a really rude note about co-host Emerita Nicky’s voice. I responded immediately pointing out that Nikki had only appeared on the show about a half dozen times since she officially left the podcast in 2019. And I suggested that Justin should listen to newer episodes, listen to a different show or f off. Justin was silent for 344 days after my message. Then he responded to say, wow, back at you, fuck off yourself. You fucking.

Jake:
[46:59] Truly poetic stuff, here at hub history. We love getting listener feedback though, I’d rather read a helpful episode suggestion from Sam than a profane insult. Like Justin’s whether you loved the episode or just liked it a lot. I’m happy to hear your corrections and to learn about additional sources that I missed. If you’d like to leave us some feedback on this episode or any other, you can email podcast at hubor.com. We are Hub History on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and most active on Twitter. If you’re on Mastodon, you can find my profile at, at Hubor at better dot Boston, or just go to hubor.com and click on the contact us link, while you’re on the site, hit the subscribe blank and be sure that you never miss an episode. If you subscribe on Apple podcasts, please consider writing us a brief review. If you do drop us a line and I’ll send you a hub history sticker as a token of appreciation because I’m a real person. That’s all for now. Stay safe out there listeners.

Jake:
[48:27] But the first formal rodeo was held in Prescott, Arizona, Prescott. But the first formal but the first formal rodeo was held in Prescott Arizona on July 4th 1864. And for Bronk riding, there was a point system based on how.

Jake:
[48:46] And for Bronch writing and for Bronk writing, there was a point system. It’s easy to see what it’s easy to see why the idea of collection. It’s easy to see why the idea of collection. It’s easy to see why the idea of collective action.

Jake:
[49:06] Required businesses required businesses to bargain in good faith. Had to pay Johnson a large fee on top of the entry fees paid by, had to pay Johnson a large fee on top of the entrance fees paid by, had to pay Johnson a large fee on top of the entrance fees paid by contestants, on top of the entrance fees paid by contestants. When Josie Bennett, wife of Ch when, but when Josie Bennett, wife of champion steer wrestler, Hugh Bennett, all of which will be all of which will be housed in the exposition, all of which will be housed on the exposition building adjoining the Boston Garden. The tremendous gains. Labor union, the tremendous gains, labor, union, the tremendous gains labor unions experienced in the 19 thirties resulted. Look up the, look up the battle of Blair Mountain to learn how, look up the battle of Blair Mountain. That’s Blair Mountain to learn how anti union forces use machine guns, airplanes.

Jake:
[50:20] Machine guns, airplanes and surplus bombs and poison gas, machine guns, airplanes and World War One surplus bombs and poison gas against American workers who just wanted a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Let’s see your favorite A I narrate with that kind of accuracy.