The Goldfield, Nevada labor troubles of 1906–1907 were a series of strikes and a lockout which pitted gold miners and other laborers, represented by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), against mine owners and businessmen. The troubles are significant because in Goldfield the IWW gained its greatest degree of power in a labor market, and came closest to its ideal of "the one big union."p.191–192 The power of the IWW was ended by the controversial occupation by federal troops in December 1907. Background Goldfield was organized as a town in October 1903 near recently discovered gold deposits in a remote spot of the southern Nevada desert.p.24 The population of the town rose to between 15,000 and 18,000 during the boom of 1904-1905, with another 2,000 in the suburbs. This briefly made Goldfield the most populous town in Nevada. Numerous new mining companies were established to mine at Goldfield, and shares found a ready market of investors. Demand for labor outstripped supply, giving labor unions the advantage. Rise to power of the IWW Soon after mining on an extensive scale began at Goldfield, the miners organized themselves as a local branch of the Western Federation of Miners. The Industrial Workers of the World was founded in 1905 in Chicago. Soon after, the Western Federation of Miners affiliated with the IWW, as its mining department. The description of the IWW as "one big union" summarized their negotiating tactics: a wrong done to any worker was seen as the concern of all workers, and was likely to be met with a general strike. The IWW also espoused radical socialism, and eschewed political action in favor of "direct action," with the goal of eliminating private ownership of businesses. One of the forms of direct action favored by the IWW was sabotage, which the union, officially at least, defined as working inefficiently or stupidly, so as to reduce profits of business owners, and thus hasten the end of capitalism. American Federation of Labor president Samuel Gompers observed that, as used by the IWW, "In actual practice it is hard to distinguish direct action, sabotage, and violence." After the affiliation of the WFM with the IWW in 1905, the IWW organized nearly all the other workers in town, including bartenders, newsboys, and faro dealers. The numerous mining companies were under pressure from shareholders to show gold production without