On December 30th, 1905 Frank Steunenberg, former governor of Idaho, was killed by a bomb that detonated when he opened a gate to his Caldwell, Idaho home. Almost immediately afterwards it was speculated that the Western Federation of Miners had plotted Steunenberg's death, as a result of his harsh anti-union stance during his tenure as governor. On New Years Day 1906 Harry Orchard, the man who committed the bombing, was jailed and denied his guilt.
The Governor of Idaho contacted the Pinkerton Detective Agency for help in conducting the investigation. James McParland, one of the premier Pinkerton agents, was dispatched to Boise. McParland visited Orchard, who was in the state penitentiary at the time, proposing that if Orchard confessed and became a witness against the WFM leadership, implicating them in the murder, then he would receive leniency. After several days Orchard broke down, issuing a confession to the murder and 17 others, all of which, he claimed, were ordered by the leadership of the WFM. Orchard specifically implicated Secretary-Treasurer Bill Haywood, President Charles Moyer, and George Pettibone in the murders.
With Orchard's confession, McParland worked with the Governor of Colorado to get a warrant for the three mens arrests, as all three resided in Denver, Colorado, the headquarters of the WFM. On February 17th, 1906 all three men were captured and sent on a train to Idaho. Edmund Richardson, an attorney for the WFM, traveled to Idaho and began formulating a defense for the men. Additionally Richardson would send petitions for Habeas Corpus, as the men had been extracted from Colorado without a chance to contest their imprisonment. This argument failed in both the Idaho Courts and in the Supreme Court.
Whilst imprisoned in Idaho, Bill Haywood would run as the Socialist nominee for the Governor of Colorado. The Socialist ticket in 1906 would receive 16,000 votes, approximately 6 times the amount votes received two years earlier in 1904. During this period the Socialist Party, American Federation of Labor, and Industrial Workers of the World all raised large amounts of money for defense of the WFM men. Eugene Debs wrote an inflamatory piece in Appeal to Reason "Arouse, ye slaves!" stating he would personally lead a revolution if the corrupt practices of the court ended in a conviction of Haywood and the others.
Meanwhile McParland sought to expand the case against the WFM leadership, bringing forth Steve Adams, a miner implicated in several plots by Orchard, as an additional witness.
Supreme Courts ruling in Pettibone v. Nichols resulted in Clarence Darrow, a famous Chicago defense attorney, becoming involved with the case. Darrow was able to remove Steve Adams as a witness, separately defending him against older murder charges in 1907.
As the trial began on May 7th, 1907, the government had only the testimony of confessed bomber Orchard. Orchards past was skillfully exploited by Darrow and during the trail Orchard admitted to being an informant for the Mine Owners' Association as well as accepting money from Pinkerton agents. Additionally the stated that he had planted explosives during mining disputes before he had met Haywood and Moyer. Finally after Darrow's concluding statement, which caused many in the courtroom to break into tears, the jury voted 8-2 (with 2 abstentions) to acquit Haywood, Moyer, and Pettibone.
Haywood personally thanked the court and even the prosecution after it's conclusion. With the court deciding in the WFM men's favor, Eugene Debs call for resistance outside of the political sphere alienated many. Additionally the trial began the rightward swing of some socialists such as Algie Simons.
___________________________________________________________________________________
What if Steve Adams had not been removed as a witness and the WFM men were convicted?