The Herrin Massacre occurred in June of 1922 when a local "strip" coal mine went on strike. The owner of the mine, W.J. Lester, brought in strikebreakers, known as scabs. These men were recruited from employment agencies in Chicago. The union miners of Herrin and the surrounding area and their sympathizers mounted an attack on the Lester mine. When the scabs surrendered, the striking miners took them hostage and led them first down the railroad tracks which fed the mine, then a dusty road through a residential area of Herrin and then on to the Herrin Cemetery where they killed many of them. One reporter tried to give one of the strikebreakers some water and was told that if he gave the man water, "he wouldn't live to see the next day". No one was ever convicted of any killings in the Herrin Massacre. The most authoritative account of the Herrin Massacre can be found in "Bloody Williamson: A Chapter in American Lawlessness" (Prairie State Books) (Paperback) by Paul M. Angle, John Y. Simon (Introduction).