NE North Dakota News

Known as “The Northwest Whirlwind” or “The Tall Pine,” William Wallis Erwin (1842–1908) was an accomplished defense attorney. Even though he was respected throughout the country as a champion of underdogs, he is little known in the city where he lived. Erwin came to St. Paul in 1870 from New York. He was a splendid orator, often quoting classical writers, and became a favorite speaker at local labor events. He gained national recognition when he successfully defended the strikers who were arrested during the 1893 Homestead Strike in Pittsburgh by using a “justification defense.” One of his greatest moments was as the lead defense council for Eugene V. Debs and the members of the American Railway Union after the turbulent 1894 Pullman strike. Although he ably defended Debs, the case was lost. Nevertheless, Erwin became a hero of the labor movement. He moved to Florida in 1900 and died in 1908. You can learn more about William Wallis Erwin from David Riehle, who wrote “Labor Found a Friend: W.W. Erwin for the Defense.” Link to the Ramsey County History article will be in the comments. 

Photo from Ramsey County History magazine, possibly from the 1880s or 1890s. Credited to “Fort Frick, or the Siege of Homestead” by Myron Stowell, 1893.

own as “The Northwest Whirlwind” or “The Tall Pine,” William Wallis Erwin (1842–1908) was an accomplished defense attorney. Even though he was respected throughout the country as a champion of underdogs, he is little known in the city where he lived. Erwin came to St. Paul in 1870 from New York. He was a splendid orator, often quoting classical writers, and became a favorite speaker at local labor events. He gained national recognition when he successfully defended the strikers who were arrested during the 1893 Homestead Strike in Pittsburgh by using a “justification defense.” One of his greatest moments was as the lead defense council for Eugene V. Debs and the members of the American Railway Union after the turbulent 1894 Pullman strike. Although he ably defended Debs, the case was lost. Nevertheless, Erwin became a hero of the labor movement. He moved to Florida in 1900 and died in 1908. You can learn more about William Wallis Erwin from David Riehle, who wrote “Labor Found a Friend: W.W. Erwin for the Defense.” Link to the Ramsey County History article will be in the comments. 

Photo from Ramsey County History magazine, possibly from the 1880s or 1890s. Credited to “Fort Frick, or the Siege of Homestead” by Myron Stowell, 1893.

Original source can be found here.