From the cradle to the grave, the lives of most coal miners in West Virginia were tightly controlled by mine owners in company towns. Workers sent their children to study in company schools. They prayed at company churches and shopped for groceries at company stores. They paid for everything with company-issued scrip-which was only good in the company store, where prices were set at whatever the company wanted to charge. Despite all this, in West Virginia, where mine owners colluded with one another to keep wages low, costs down, and profit margins as high as they could get them-and employed mine guards to keep their workers in line-the reality was still that a miner could either take the job that was offered or not work at all. It was no wonder the mine workers were increasingly willing to fight for the right to form a union. It was the only hope they had.