The story of Harry Orchard is of great significance to the Copper Country and the 1913 Strike, even though Harry Orchard himself never set foot in the area. Misinformation about the 1913 Strike is widely shared and with great conviction, usually revolving around the evil, tyrannical mine companies oppressing the benevolent and well-respected Western Federation of Miners. In reality, while certainly the mines were looking out for their own interests, the WFM had already long established itself as a violent organization who used murder and terrorism to accomplish its goals – goals which only obliquely included improving conditions for the members. Long before the issues of 1913 – issues which, in the hands of a legitimate union, would have been quickly and easily resolved – the Western federation of Miners began their efforts to force a strike on workers who by-and-large didn't want one, and to destroy what was at the time the best working relationship between mine owners and workers which existed in the entire country. If the reader of Copper Country history is wondering why the mine owners refused to negotiate with the WFM, why the WFM tried unsuccessfully for years to create a large membership in the copper district of Michigan, and why they ultimately forced a strike on the workers, what is revealed by the WFM's terrorist and hit-man will answer those questions. It has been suggested by some historians that the confession of Harry Orchard (alias of Albert E. Horsely) was coerced and is not true. It is true that at the time of this writing Orchard was awaiting sentencing for a series of crimes, including murder. It has been suggested that this confession was either written for him or coerced from him, in exchange for a reduced sentence. There is no evidence for this claim, and when you read the words, the details which are borne out by investigation, and the self-incrimination contained in the book, it seems highly unlikely that this is anything other than the genuine confession of Harry Orchard.