The Iowa Guard in the Inter-War Period (Part II)
The 1930s: Times of Unrest
History of The Iowa National Guard
1LT Stephen N. Kallestad
The stock market
crash in October 1929 marked the beginning of the Great
Depression, a time of dramatic change for the United States. The
Iowa National Guard, as well as the active Army, was impacted as
well.
A decrease in
funding for the Guard was the first noticeable change at the
beginning of the ‘30s. Vast unemployment and falling tax
receipts caused the federal government to drastically reduce the
Army’s budget. New equipment acquisition for the Guard was
virtually halted, and money for training was very scarce.
But the Iowa
Guard’s role was not diminished, and units were mobilized
many times during the decade, mostly because of civil unrest. In
1932 and 1933, the Guard was called out to quell farm protests.
In 1938, the Guard provided security during violent union strikes
in Newton and Sioux City.
The first farm
protest occurred in 1932. It is often referred to as the "Cow
War." Officials testing cattle for bovine tuberculosis
sparked the Cow War. Farmers, hard pressed by the Great
Depression, found the testing and subsequent condemnation of
their cattle increasingly alarming. They began massing at testing
sites, hoping their presence would discourage veterinarians from
proceeding with their work.
In September 1932,
two state veterinarians, backed by 65 law enforcement agents,
arrived at a farm near Tipton, intent on testing the cattle.
According to long-time political reporter George Mills, the 400
farmers who gathered at the farm "wee in an ugly mood."
They turned their wrath on the veterinarians’ car, filling
it with mud, breaking the gas line, slashing the tires and
smashing the windows. The veterinarians retreated and the next
day Gov. Dan Turner declared martial law in Cedar County and
called out the National Guard.
For all practical
purposes, the incident at the farm ended the Cow War.
A second farm
protest occurred in 1933. A group calling itself the Farm Holiday
Association was formed in response to farm foreclosures. Its aim
was to resist and disrupt the forced sales of farms. Matters came
to a head in Iowa in April 1933 when members of the group dragged
District Judge Bradley from the Plymouth County Courthouse and
beat him. When a large crowd then attacked a group of sheriff’s
deputies and state agents at a farm sale in Crawford County, Gov.
Herring declared martial law in both counties and called out the
Guard.
Twenty officers
and 202 men from the 133rd Infantry were sent to
LeMars in Plymouth County, and 26 officers and 256 men from the
168th Infantry were sent to Denison in Crawford County.
Maj. Gen. Matthew A. Tinley, commander of the 34th
Division, was appointed Military Commander of the District. To
administer his proclamations, a commission of seven guardsmen (who
were also lawyers) was appointed. The Guard quickly re-established
order by tracking down the instigators and by enforcing a curfew
and restrictions on travel. By May 17, the Governor lifted
martial law and sent the Guard home.
Things began to
look up for the Guard in 1934 because of Pres. Roosevelt’s
New Deal. While military budgets still were minimal, the Works
Project Administration (WPA) was created to build up the country’s
infrastructure and to provide jobs. Many improvements were made
to Camp Dodge, including the stone gate on NW Beaver Drive. Many
armories were built across the state.
By the late 1930s,
a sense of prosperity was returning to the country. This was
spurred on by massive amounts of government spending. Industrial
output was still low, profit margins were slim but improving, and
wages were still stagnating near their pre-depression levels.
Workers in the private sector had not yet shared much from the
increasing prosperity and their patience was growing short.
Organized labor began increasing the pressure on financially
strapped industries for higher wages. Confrontation was
inevitable and, in 1938, labor strikes occurred across the
country, including Iowa.
The two strikes
in 1938 that required the assistance of the Iowa Guard were the
Maytag plant strike in Newton and the Swift packing plant strike
in Sioux City. While both strikes were very contentious, they
were resolved shortly after troops arrived.
Many of the
guardsmen who were called up in the ‘30s would be mobilized
again in the ‘40s…for World War II.
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