In the spring of 1931, the hills of Harlan County, Kentucky, were fraught with tension. A bitter miners' strike at the Black Mountain Coal Company had set the stage for a series of violent confrontations. Among the lawmen tasked with keeping the peace was Special Deputy Sheriff Arthur Lee, a male officer of the Harland County Sheriff's Department. On May 5th of that year, he and other deputies were dispatched to the area to handle a clash between striking miners and non-union workers.
The atmosphere was volatile, and what precisely triggered the ensuing chaos remains unknown. In the haze of gunfire that erupted, Special Deputy Lee and his partner, Special Deputy Jim Daniels, were fatally shot. The gun battle also claimed the lives of a miner and another man, with an unknown number of other miners being killed or wounded and carried away by their comrades.
In the aftermath of the deadly shootout, Governor Flem D. Sampson called in 370 National Guardsmen to restore order in the tumultuous region. The heavy presence of the guardsmen ultimately led to the collapse of the strike by the middle of June. The investigation into the deputies' deaths resulted in the arrest of six men who were subsequently charged with the murders of both Deputy Lee and Deputy Daniels. All six suspects were later found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
