Grabow Riot - Leather Britches Smith

Leather Britches Smith

The man known as Charles Smith, AKA Leather Britches, wore a pistol on each hip and carried a rifle everywhere he went. A man of dubious character, reportedly brought in as a "hired gun" by Arthur L. Emerson, then president of the Timber Workers. He was considered by some to be a hero and benefactor of timber workers.

The legend of Leather Britches varies. He was thought by some to be a good man, until he drank, when a different side of him would emerge. Rill (Loftin) Grantham stated that Leather Britches saved the man that was to become her husband from hanging shortly after the Grabow Riot. Many just avoided him and some stories tend to portray him in less than nice way.