It’s the murder trial of Morrie Preston and Joe Smith—the two union organizers who were convicted for the death of Goldfield restaurant owner Anton Silva in 1907. But this story is more than just a tragedy; it’s a tale of manipulation, power, and corruption, where a wealthy mine owner pulled the strings behind the scenes to shape public opinion and rig the course of justice. And the realization: The Truth is Often Buried Beneath the Weight of Power and Influence.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Goldfield, Nevada, in the early 1900s was a town flush with riches. Gold had been discovered in the hills, drawing thousands of miners and businessmen to the area. At the heart of this new wealth was George Wingfield—an influential banker and mine owner, who, with his vast fortune, controlled not just the gold in the ground, but much of the town’s economy.

But the rising tide of prosperity came at a cost for the working class. Tensions between laborers and mine owners were growing, and at the forefront of this struggle was the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, a radical union seeking to organize miners and other workers into a collective force to challenge the mine owners.

When Anton Silva, a local restaurant owner, refused to honor a boycott called by the IWW, tensions boiled over. The Industrial Workers of the World sent picketers to stand outside Silva’s restaurant. In retaliation, Silva confronted a union member, Morrie Preston. The encounter ended with Silva dead—a tragedy that would become a flashpoint in the town’s class war. Another man, Joe Smith, was said to be a conspirator.

Preston and Smith were arrested for the murder of Silva, and the trial quickly became a national spectacle. But beneath the courtroom drama, a darker story unfolded—one where powerful forces worked behind the scenes to shape the outcome. The prosecution, armed with testimony that seemed to favor the mine owners, painted Morrie Preston as a cold-blooded killer.

But here’s the twist: much of this testimony was false. It was later revealed that George Wingfield, the powerful mine owner, had indirectly manipulated the entire case. He had used his wealth and influence to sway the trial, purchasing perjured testimony from dubious witnesses who were willing to lie under oath.

So it’s possible that Preston and Smith didn’t do what they were accused of.

Wingfield didn’t need to get his hands dirty. Instead, he paid $9,500 to secure the perjured testimonies of two notorious gunmen—“Diamondfield Jack” Davis and Thomas Bliss, also known as “Gunplay” Maxwell—along with a con artist named William Claiborne. These men were bribed to fabricate stories that portrayed Preston and Smith as key players in a supposed, premeditated labor conspiracy. Wingfield’s influence extended far beyond the courtroom, shaping the trial's outcome through bribes, intimidation, and political maneuvering. He made sure the jury only heard the version of events that served his interests, ensuring a conviction regardless of the truth.

The town of Goldfield was in turmoil, and public opinion was firmly swayed by the narrative that Wingfield and his allies had crafted. The mining elite painted the IWW as a dangerous, violent force that needed to be crushed. With the jury now primed by months of manipulation, the trial became little more than a formality.

Morrie Preston was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Joe Smith, though not present at the scene, was convicted of conspiracy.

What really happened? Was it murder, or was it a desperate act of self-defense in the heat of a labor dispute? For Morrie Preston, it didn’t matter. The legal system, shaped by Wingfield’s influence, had already decided his fate.

But the story didn’t end with the trial. Even behind bars, Preston’s case became a symbol of the injustice done to labor movements across the country. In a twist that shocked many, Preston was even nominated for president of the United States by the Socialist Labor Party in 1908—while still imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Preston refused the nomination

Seven years after the trial, the Nevada Pardons Board would finally acknowledge what many had suspected: that much of the testimony used in the trial had been fabricated. The board concluded that there was no conspiracy to murder Silva, and that the prosecution’s case had been built on lies. But despite this, the governor—under pressure from Wingfield and other mining interests—refused to grant a pardon.

It took nearly 80 years for true justice to be done. In 1987, following the release of "The Ignoble Conspiracy: Radicalism on Trial in Nevada," by Sally Zanjani and Guy Rocha—a book that uncovered the full scope of Wingfield’s manipulation—the Nevada Pardons Board granted posthumous pardons to Morrie Preston and Joe Smith.

It was a long-overdue recognition that the trial had been corrupted from the start, driven by political and economic interests far more than by any pursuit of truth. Wingfield’s indirect manipulation of the jury and his influence over public opinion had poisoned the entire judicial process, ensuring that the powerful would remain in control, while the workers who dared challenge them were punished.

In the end, Morrie Preston and Joe Smith became symbols of the struggle against a system that had been rigged against them from the start. The trial, the false testimonies, the manipulation—all served to crush the growing labor movement in Goldfield. But despite the injustice they endured, their legacy lives on as a reminder of how the powerful can sometimes control not just the facts, but the very narrative of history itself.

Remember, the truth is often buried beneath the weight of power and influence.

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Also Check Out:

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Goldfield, Nevada, labor troubles of 1906–1907. Retrieved January 1, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfield,_Nevada,_labor_troubles_of_1906%E2%80%931907#The_death_of_Anton_Silva

Botkin, B. (2014, March 18). Nevada history: The only Nevadan nominated for president. Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved from https://www.rgj.com/story/life/2014/03/18/nevada-history-the-only-nevadan-nominated-for-president/6542915/

Botkin, B. (2017, December 26). Stories behind Northern Nevada's notorious crimes and disasters. Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved from https://www.rgj.com/story/life/2017/12/26/stories-behind-northern-nevadas-notorious-crimes-and-disasters/975573001/

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