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RARA-AVIS: QUERY: D. Hammett and the Pinkertons 

FYI--aj wright//meds002@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu

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Sender:       Archives & Archivists <ARCHIVES@MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU>
Poster:       Alison Moore <Alison.Moore@PACTEL.COM>
Subject:      QUERY:  D. Hammett and the Pinkertons
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     I am forwarding this from H-California. Can anyone on this list be of
     help? If possible, please reply to: cherny@SFSU.EDU.

     Thanks!

     Alison Moore
     Pacific Bell Museum
     San Francisco
     alison.moore@pactel.com


______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________
Subject: QUERY:  D. Hammett and the Pinkertons
Author:  Robert Cherny <cherny@SFSU.EDU> at Internet
Date:    2/17/97 9:14 AM


[This inquiry appeared initially on H-Labor.  Since it involves a famous
California author, I am cross-posting it here.]


I have been researching the labor conflicts in Butte and Anaconda that
involved hired Pinkertons against labor organizers from about 1905 until
1922.  A climax of this struggle was the murder of Frank Litttle, an
organizer for the I.W.W. who was beaten and hanged on August 1, 1917 in
Butte, Montana.

Before Dashiell Hammett began writing novels, he worked as a Pinkerton
detective out of their Spokane, Washington office and worked in Butte or
Anaconda during this time.

I have read four biographies of Hammett's life and there is scant and
contradictory information about his service as a Pinkerton in Montana.
Hammett later claimed that he was offered $5,000 to kill Frank Little, but
he refused the offer.  Hammett supposedly received a brick to the head
that left a permanent dent in his skull and had to shoot a man trying to
break into a powder magazine.  All of this, too, before he wrote his first
novel, Red Harvest, which reflects the profound effect on Hammett of
working to protect corporate interests during this major labor struggle.

In fact, some critics claim that the novels that followed -- The Glass
Key, Maltese Falcon, The Dain Curse -- were written to assuage his guilt
in being on the wrong side of the fence during these years.

Is there anyone out there with advice on how to locate records of
Pinkertons that would reveal their assignments during this era or how one
might find accurate information about Hammett's assignments during his
days as a Pinkerton detective?

Thanks in advance for any pointers you can provide.

George Everett

From: geverett@montana.com (George Everett)
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