The Dollop Episode 705 - Bisbee Deportation (Live)

Podcast: The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds
Date: October 14, 2025
Location: (Live Show)
Theme: Dave Anthony tells comedian Gareth Reynolds the wild, tragic, and darkly comedic story of the 1917 Bisbee Deportation, a notorious episode in American labor and mining history, with their signature irreverent banter and running bits.

Overview

In this live episode, Dave Anthony recounts the Bisbee Deportation of 1917, when over 1,000 striking miners and supporters—mostly immigrants—were illegally rounded up in Bisbee, Arizona, and forcibly deported to New Mexico in cattle cars. The story is a blend of labor struggle, corporate overreach, vigilante violence, racism, anti-union fervor, and darkly absurd Americana. Through it all, Dave and Gareth maintain their satirical, rapidly riffing style, finding moments of both horror and humor in an American incident that echoes into today.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Wobblies and the IWW

• The IWW (International Workers of the World), aka “Wobblies,” organize miners in the West in 1916–17, particularly Mexican American miners, as violence and property destruction are common in labor fights.
• AFL’s Inaction: The mainstream American Federation of Labor (AFL) is portrayed as conservative and unsupportive, eventually revoking the local charter for being “too radical.” The more militant IWW fills the gap ([06:21]).
• Labor Demands: Bisbee Wobblies push for: $6/day wage, six-hour shifts, basic safety, and “No discrimination”—met with scorn and seen as outrageous by mine management ([12:43]).

“No discrimination. That one’s hilarious. Like, why don’t you ask me not to be a human?”
— Dave Anthony, [12:45]

2. Tensions Skyrocket: Corporate Power & Anti-Union Paranoia

• Phelps Dodge: The mega-corporation runs everything in Bisbee—mines, hospital, hotel, newspaper—and responds with fury to any strike or sympathy toward strikers ([12:20]).
• Mining leaders and local press conflate labor activism with sedition, treason, and “German influence” (reflecting WWI hysteria, [19:20]).
• Citizen “Leagues”: Businessmen form vigilante “Citizens Protective League” and “Workers Loyalty League” to deputize themselves against the Wobblies ([20:27]).

“There will be no compromise because you cannot compromise with a rattlesnake. I believe the government will be able to show there is German influence behind this.”
— Phelps Dodge President Walter Douglas, [19:08]

3. The Deportation: July 12, 1917

• The Sheriff’s “Posse”: Sheriff Wheeler forms a 2,000-strong, armed, white armband-wearing vigilante force “to arrest vagrants, traitors, and disturbers of the peace” ([23:00]).
• Rounding Up the Suspects:
  • Before dawn, the posse raids homes, businesses, boarding houses—arresting anyone sympathetic to labor, even non-union townsfolk, contractors, and storekeepers ([30:28], [34:12]).
  • Violence: Some resist; James Brew shoots through his door, killing a vigilante; he’s then killed ([38:15]).
• The Stockade: Thousands are marched in rows under guard, denied basic needs (water tub kicked over by guards, [40:37]), lined up in the summer desert sun, and told to recant union ties for a chance at release. Jeering, singing, and catcalling ensue ([52:19]).

"The sons of bitches don’t get a drink."
— Vigilante guard, [40:37]

4. Boxcars to Exile

• The Train: At 11am, 23 manure-filled cattle cars arrive. Over 1,000 men are packed on board. They endure dehydration and stifling heat, standing or sitting in filth for hours as the train is guarded by machine-gun-toting men ([53:46], [54:36], [56:23]).
• Destination: First to Columbus, then Hermanas, New Mexico. The deportees—many with no food, water, or belongings—are dumped for weeks in makeshift tent camps meant for Mexican refugees ([66:09]).

"You can buy, like, a wagon."
— Gareth Reynolds on the meager financial settlements eventually offered, [76:32]

5. Aftermath: Legal, Social, & National Consequences

• Press Reaction: Most national newspapers side with the deportation, viewing Wobblies as traitors and “vagrants,” with The New York Times minimizing the atrocity ([58:23]).
• Zero Justice: Investigations find the deportations wholly illegal; commissions criticize, but courts dodge responsibility (Supreme Court rules it a “state matter”; those responsible are acquitted or settle for pennies, [75:10]).
• Permanent Change: Bisbee bars deportees from returning, institutes a passport system, and kangaroo courts decide who may stay, cementing anti-union and anti-immigrant practices ([70:14]).
• Precedent: The event strengthens use of deportation/removal as a tool against “undesirables,” contributing directly to later mass deportations of Mexican workers.

"Who knew you couldn’t just take half a town and put it on a train?"
— Dave Anthony, [73:22]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Union Symbol Mashup:

  • "The cat, like, shows hole. Do it where the cat shows hole... Now, THAT says union."
    — Dave & Gareth riffing on union symbolism, [03:16]

• Media/Government Satire:

  • "Anytime there’s a rich guy talking, just go—would Elon Musk be saying the truth?"
    — Dave Anthony, [22:20]
  • "If you just deported that one piece of fucking shit... He is going to Mars in 2026. It's happening in pieces."
    — Gareth Reynolds (re: Elon Musk), [81:11]

• Nightgown Bit:
  Gareth becomes obsessed with the idea of bringing back nightgowns and sleeping caps, inserting comic relief into intense moments ([31:34], [39:39], [69:40]).

• On American Hypocrisy:

  • "It is crazy that the solution is always to deport or vilify or blame..."
    — Gareth Reynolds, [81:38]
  • "It’s the never-changing kaleidoscope of bullshit that we just keep getting fed, where you’re just like, oh, thank God that’s over. Never over."
    — Gareth Reynolds, [79:41]

Important Timestamps

• [06:21] – WFM president declares mainstream union “died of conservatism.”
• [12:43] – Wobblies’ basic list of demands and superintendent’s response.
• [19:08] – Phelps Dodge President invokes “rattlesnakes” and “German influence.”
• [23:00] – Sheriff Wheeler’s 2,000-man posse announcement and arrest proclamation.
• [30:28–34:12] – The mass roundups, home raids, inclusion of random townsfolk and business owners.
• [38:15] – Exchange of gunfire, with deaths on both sides.
• [40:37] – Prisoners denied water in the plaza.
• [53:46] – Forced into manure-filled boxcars, vigilante intimidation continues.
• [66:09] – Federal tent camps, report on the deportees’ disheveled state.
• [73:22] – Federal investigation finds the deportation “wholly illegal,” but no justice is served.
• [77:59] – Bisbee sets a national deportation precedent, especially for Mexican workers.

Tone and Style

• The tone is raucously comedic and satirical even as it details grim events, highlighting the hypocrisy, brutality, and absurdity of American labor suppression.
• Dave delivers historical research with dry wit; Gareth improvises with surreal and irreverent riffs, keeping even the darkest moments buoyant with humor.
• Running bits (e.g., “nightgowns,” fake German paranoia, riffing on American flag culture, berets/Subway tangent) add comic relief while underscoring recurring themes: scapegoating, double standards, and the American tendency to side with wealth and power.

Conclusion

This live Dollop episode dissects the Bisbee Deportation as a microcosm of power, prejudice, and performative patriotism in American history, drawing uncomfortable but timely parallels to today. The hosts' mix of dark humor and sharp historical commentary invites listeners to question not only the past but also contemporary attitudes toward labor, immigration, and authority.