coal shoveled out of the stove.” This would have a profound impact upon the young Bill Blizzard and he later became an outspoken asset to the UMWA. In 1912-1913 the Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike broke out. The UMWA came to support the miners during the strike. The coal operators sent armed mine guards, who were their own private police force, to break the striking miners. This led Blizzard's mother, Sarah Blizzard, to try to pry up the railroad tracks to prevent the armed mine guards from committing more shootings. Douglas Estep draws this conclusion about West Virginia, “it is an industrial police state where all roads and train depots were patrolled by armed guards…to defy the guards or to even hint at union sympathy was to invite a beating, exile, or even death." During the Paint Creek/Cabin Creek Strike armed mine guards were sent to West Virginia with the main objective of getting the UMWA out of the state and to keep them out. The guards would evict miners that were loyal to the union or that were striking, literally throwing their belongings out on to the street and sometimes beating them and in some instances, killing the miners. Their main objective was to intimidate union sympathizers. The UMWA during this time started to be plagued by corruption, especially the union officials. The miners became discontented with the corruption, seeing it as damaging to the fight for miners' rights. Eventually in elections held by the UMWA they would vote out the corrupt officials and would elect Frank Keeney, Bill Mooney, and Bill Blizzard. Blizzard was 19 years old when he got elected. Bill Blizzard was very persuasive and at times created a lot of controversy. With the leadership of Bill Blizzard, along with Frank Keeney and Bill Mooney, and the intercession of Governor Hatfield, the miners and the UMWA temporarily prevailed to the extent that the coal operators at least acknowledged the union and listened to the UMWA's demands. While Blizzard was one of the key members of the UMWA district 17 in Charleston, WV, he was not an advocate of peaceful agreements. Miners liked his enthusiasm and many became strong supporters of Blizzard. Battle of Blair Mountain Before the Battle of Blair Mountain tensions between coal operators and coal miners were at a boiling point. The Paint Creek/Cabin Creek strike and the Battle of Matewan are two examples of