Accused of "fiendish deviltry" and "dastardly schemes," about 40 people were rounded up and jailed in Klamath Falls during the summer of 1917. Suspicious fires had burned a flour mill and dairy barn to the ground and dead livestock littered the ranchlands.
Against the backdrop of World War I, the suspects were all accused of association with the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, fierce opponents of the war.
The arrests resulted from the revelations of a man who attended a local IWW meeting, where he said he saw liquor and German spies. Klamath officials suspected the IWW was trying to undermine the war effort by burning the mills and sabotaging food supplies.
The jailed suspects called for an IWW attorney, but deputized citizens caught him and took him to a bridge where they threatened to throw him into the river if he didn’t leave.
The judge found no evidence linking the suspects to their alleged crimes, but found them guilty of vagrancy and sentenced them to six months in jail and road work.
Sources: "Midnight Fire Stuns City; Citizens of Klamath Have Taken Stand to Wipe Out Menace; Martin Brothers Big Flour Mill Plant is Destroyed by Fire." The Evening Herald 17 July 1917 [Klamath Falls Oregon] : 1+. Oregon Historic Newspapers Project. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn99063812/1917-07-16/ed-1/seq 1/#date1=1846&index=0&date2=2013&words=i+I+iW.w+W+w&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&lccn=sn99063812&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&pro; see also “Straw Dairy Barn Burned Down is the Latest Move." The Evening Herald 18 July 1917; "I.W.W. Attorney Makes a Brief Visit." Ibid. 9 July 1917; "Vagrancy Charge is Filed Here Against I.W.W." Ibid. 21 July 1917; "County Court Puts I.W.W.'s At Road Work." Ibid. 8 Aug. 1917
