Grabow Riot

The Grabow Riot refers to a violent confrontation that happened on July 7, 1912, near Grabow (Graybow), Louisiana between factions of the timber industry. Primarily these factions included the Galloway Lumber Company and a party of striking unionized mill workers and their supporters. The union workers were known as the Brotherhood of Timber Workers, which is a part of the Industrial Workers of the World's (IWW) branch of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union (LWIU). They tried to get mill workers to join them by staging speeches and conducting meetings at various mills. Although the union organizers had limited luck in Louisiana, the IWW became very successful from 1917 to 1924.

The clash left four men dead, including Asbury Decatur "Kate" Hall, as well as leaving an estimated 50 men wounded. It was a defining event in attempts to organize locals and unionize sawmill workers in Louisiana. The end result of this was not seen until October, 1940, with "The Wages and Hours Act (later Fair Labor Standards Act) being upheld by the Supreme Court on February 3, 1941. This was certainly a culmination from the Graybow Riot and other Labor disputes that also occurred.