In the middle of May 1901, the Telluride "Daily Journal", a local newspaper hostile to the union, reprinted a story from a neighboring community, the "Ouray Herald". It was an inflammatory story attributed to 27-year-old John Barthell, one of the striking miners. In the report, Barthell stated that the striking miners were highgraders, or ore thieves, and that they had called the strike in revenge after they had been caught. But Barthell was a faithful union man and the story was untrue.