Well may the question be asked—What was Reese doing just as the Verona docked in Everett on November 5th? Was Reese merely a "stool pigeon" or was he an "agent provocateur?"
Aiding Reese in the selective process was Charles Smith, the other Pinkerton operative who had been on the boat. One of the men first picked out was I. P. McDowell, alias Charles Adams, and this individual was weak enough to fall for the promise of immunity offered by agents of the lumber trust if he would point out the "leaders" and then take the stand to swear that the men on the boat were armed and the first shot came from one of them. McDowell pointed out some of the men, but lacking the nerve to carry out the last part of the program he was held with the rest for trial. The seventy-four men thus picked were formally charged with murder in the first degree. The first charge carried the names of C. O. Curtis as well as that of Jefferson Beard, but later the name of Curtis was dropped from the information. The men so charged were:
Charles Auspos, alias Austin, age 38, teamster, born in Wisconsin.
James D. Bates, age 29, steam fitter, born in Illinois.
E. M. Beck, age 45, laborer, born in New York.
Charles Berg, age 22, laborer, born in Germany.
J. H. Beyer, age 56, painter, born in Michigan.
J. F. Billings, age 35, cook, born in Nebraska.
Charles Black, age 23, laborer, born in Pennsylvania.
J. J. Black, age 27, longshoreman, born in Massachusetts.
John W. Bowdoin, age 35, laborer, born in Sweden.
Frank Boyd, age 43, laborer, born in Illinois.
Pete Breed, age 26, laborer, born in Holland.
W. H. Brown, age 40, laborer, born in Maryland.
H. T. Cheetman, age 25, carpenter, born in Florida.
Fred Crysler, age 26, laborer, born in Canada.
Charles H. Cody, age 46, painter, born in Montana.
William Coffin, age 34, motorman, born in California.
Clarence Cyphert, age 35, logger, born in Washington.
Roy Davis, age 47, laborer, born in California.
William Davis, age 35, cook, born in Maryland.
Axel Downey, age 17, laborer, born in Iowa.
John Downs, age 28, sailor, born in Colorado.
Adolph Ersson, age 26, laborer and sailor, born in Sweden.
Harry Feinberg, age 25, cleaner and dyer, born in Illinois.
Charles Hawkins, age 28, laborer, born in Indiana.
Charles Haywood, age 46, miner, born in Minnesota.
E. F. Hollingsworth, age 29, fireman, born in North Carolina.
J. E. Houlihan, age 36, miner, born in Ireland.
Alfred Howard, age 28, coal packer, born in New York.
Harvey Hubler, age 21, teamster, born in Illinois.
Oscar Johnson, age 24, laborer, born in Sweden.
Victor Johnson, age 37, laborer, born in Finland.
J. A. Kelly, age 31, logger, born in Ohio.
Theodore Lauer, age 29, laborer, born in New York.
William Lawson, age 32, laborer, born in Washington.
Jack Leonard, age 27, laborer, born in Kentucky.
Pat Lyons, age 48, laborer, born in England.
Jim Mack, age 31, laborer, born in Ireland.
Joseph Manning, age 28, automobile repairer, born in Pennsylvania.
Laurence Manning, age 26, laborer, born in New York.
Ed Miller, age 48, painter, born in New York.
Harold Miller, age 21, gas fitter, born in Kansas.
John Mitchell, age 38, miner, born in Illinois.
George Murphy, age 28, laborer, born in Kentucky.
Louis McCall, age 24, laborer, born in Texas.
I. P. McDowell, alias Charles Adams, age 28, printer, born in Illinois.
C. D. McLennan, age 48, longshoreman, born in Georgia.
Carl Newman, age 30, laborer, born in Sweden.
John Nugent, age 38, laborer, born in New York.
Malachi O'Neill, age 34, blacksmith, born in Ireland.
Earl Osborne, age 33, logger, born in North Carolina.
Jack Paterson, age 24, laborer, born in Illinois.
Harston Peters, age 32, laborer, born in Virginia.
James Powers, age 47, sheet metal worker, born in Massachusetts.
John Rawlings, age 26, laborer, born in Wisconsin.
Michael J. Reilly, age 23, laborer, born in New York.
John Ross, age 36, laborer, born in Massachusetts.
Ed. Roth, age 31, longshoreman, born in New York.
Thomas Savage, age 50, machinist, born in New York.
E. J. Shapeero, age 23, timekeeper, born in Pennsylvania.
William Shay, age 28, laborer, born in Massachusetts.
H. Shebeck, age 24, laborer, born in Wisconsin.
Albert Shreve, age 40, laborer, born in Illinois.
H. Sokol, age 26, laborer, born in Russia.
D. Stevens, age, 21, longshoreman, born in Canada
Robert Struick, age 24, farmer, born in Michigan.
Frank Stewart, age 35, logger, born in Canada.
Tom Tracy, age 30, crane driver, born in Pennsylvania.
Thomas H. Tracy, age 36, teamster, born in Nebraska.
Edwart Truitt, age 28, longshoreman, born in Pennsylvania.
F. O. Watson, age 35, blacksmith, born in Louisiana.
James Whiteford (Kelly), age 36, cook, born in New York.
Abraham B. Wimborne, age 22, buss-boy, born in England.
William Winn, age 44, miner, born in Maryland.
All of these men, with the exception of J. H. Beyer, were heavily handcuffed and secretly transferred to Everett, forty-one being taken in the first contingent and the balance later.
Meanwhile the I. W. W. branches in Seattle had communicated with the General Headquarters of the organization and steps had been taken to secure legal aid. Attempts to enlist the services of Frank P. Walsh, former chairman of the Industrial Relations Commission, were unsuccessful. For various reasons other well known attorneys refused to ally themselves with the defense.
Attorney Fred H. Moore of Los Angeles, responding to the call from Seattle, reached Seattle just one week after the tragedy, on Sunday, November, 12th. Moore acted as chief counsel for the defense. He had first come into prominence thru his connection with the great free speech fight waged in Spokane, Wash., during the fall of 1909 and the spring of 1910. During that fight he handled the legal end of the cases of many hundreds of free speech fighters whose arrests ran into the thousands. He was also connected with various other cases in connection with the Industrial Workers of the World, notably that of Jack Whyte and others arrested in the contest for free speech in San Diego, Cal. and the famous Ettor-Giovannitti case that developed from the great strike of textile workers in Lawrence, Mass., in 1912. His sympathy with the workers and his understanding of the class struggle made him invaluable to the defense.
Of equal importance was attorney George F. Vanderveer, who was called into the case a little later than Moore. Vanderveer was formerly the prosecuting attorney for King county, in which position he won a reputation for clever and merciless cross-examination. One of Seattle's most prominent and brilliant lawyers, his wide acquaintance with all classes of people and his comprehensive knowledge of conditions in King and Snohomish counties, coupled with his keen satire and compelling logic, gave a force to the case that cannot be underestimated.
Attorney E. C. Dailey of Everett, Caroline A. Lowe of Kansas City, Mo., and Harry Sigmond and J. L. Finch, both of Seattle, completed the list of counsel for the defense.
After being held in the Seattle city jail for nine days without any charge having been placed against them, one hundred twenty-eight men who were on the Verona were released, small bodies of them being sent out at different periods in order to avoid demonstrations from the public. Those who were released were: