The day the strike was called, picketers began blocking roads to mines in the area, including the Anaconda Road. These picketers turned non-striking miners away from the mines. By the second day of the strike, the picketers had succeeded in shutting down nearly all mining in Butte. The same day, a local newspaper called the Butte Daily Bulletin reported that the head of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company had suggested killings and hangings to help end the strike. On the 21st, the local sheriff deputized the Anaconda mine guards in an attempt to contain the strike.