Narrator: When union support wavered, local miners took over control of the strike.

"We don't propose to get out of the way when a lot of capitalists come down and tell us to get off the earth. They played that game on the American Indian. They gave them the end of a log to sit on and then pushed him off. We don't propose to be pushed off." —Frank Keeney

Narrator: Soft spoken, yet explosively temperamental, Frank Keeney had been fired, evicted from his house, witnessed beatings by mine guards, and seen hell turned loose, he said. Now, there was no turning back, he told miners, and began handing out rifles.

"Keeney is a true leader of his people. He has the hypnotic influence of power. Even the passing of a union car brings a cry of 'Frank Keeney' from the streets and the camps." —Edmond Wilson