Storming Heaven

As the union members approach Blair Mountain, which stands between them and Logan, they receive word from the union organizers in Charleston that the march is called off, and that a meeting is being held at the baseball field in Danville, back in the direction of Charleston. Rondal is furious that they have to turn back instead of continuing on over Blair Mountain, into Logan and into Justice County. He feels that the union leaders spend too much time talking: “[They] always wanted to talk strategy. I admit that strategy is important. But they had lived in Charleston too long and couldn’t understand that things had gone beyond strategy” (258). At the meeting, they learn that President Harding is sending in the U.S. Army to break up the strike, calling it an armed rebellion. They soon hear that state police have crossed Blair Mountain and shot up a mining camp. This infuriates Rondal, Talcott, and many other union members, who decide to return to Blair Mountain and continue the march. Rondal and Carrie spend the night together in a barn, where Rondal admits that he might die tomorrow.