Wheatland Hop Riot

The Wheatland hop riot was a violent confrontation during a strike of agricultural workers at the Durst Ranch in Wheatland, California, on August 3, 1913. The riot, which resulted in four deaths and numerous injuries, was subsequently blamed by authorities upon the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Wheatland hop riot was among the first major farm labor confrontations in California and a harbinger of further battles throughout the 20th century.

Ralph H. Durst (March 28, 1865 – May 4, 1938) was a leading grower of hops in the Central Valley of California. The Durst Ranch, located on 640 acres outside the town of Wheatland in Yuba County, California, was the largest single employer of agricultural labor in the state, requiring each summer the hiring of hundreds of seasonal workers to help bring in the harvest. The farm also dried and packaged the picked hops on site, before transporting them by train to San Francisco for export to England.

In the summer of 1913 Durst advertised for temporary harvest workers as he had always done, promising ample work at high rates of pay. In one flier soliciting laborers, the Durst Ranch promised a job to every white hops picker who arrived on his farm by August 5.

In this year, however, the number of willing workers far outstripped demand, with some 2800 men, women, and children flocking to the Durst Ranch to work as pickers in the fields. Jobs actually existed for only about 1500 workers daily, and pay rates were consequently slashed.

In addition to the lack of employment for many of those arriving at the Durst Ranch, living conditions for the temporary field hands were particularly abysmal. Workers lived in tents in the hot summer sun on a barren hillside, paying Durst 75 cents per week for the privilege as a rental fee. More workers were on hand than could be accommodated in these tents, however, forcing some to make do in the elements under crude structures constructed from poles and burlap sacks.