Former Blackjewel miner Darrell Raleigh has been on the protest line at Sandhill Bottom since day one. While he wasn’t one of the original five who initially stopped the roaring locomotive in its tracks because it was hauling out coal, he and his fellow miners had mined and for which they had not been paid, Raleigh and his wife, Donna, were soon on site. He was even the one who rallied the miners to head up to Sandhill Bottom to block the train after they were asked by law enforcement to leave the tracks near the Cloverlick mine.

Now, over a month later, Raleigh and his wife, of Cumberland, are still on the tracks at Sandhill Bottom, sleeping in their vehicle at night and going home only long enough to shower. Their resolve is just as strong as the first day of the blockade, and while the effort to keep the millions of dollars-worth of coal stayed put until they get their money is challenging, Raleigh said there is a momentum that’s felt among the protesters that keeps them going. He said one of the biggest motivating factors is their wives.

“It takes a good wife to be a good coal miner,” Raleigh said. “These women are tough — they have to be. They endure a lot because we’re at work more than we’re at home, and they know while we’re at work, we may not be coming back home. So they learn to be strong, and that same strength from these women can be seen right here on the railroad tracks. I don’t know what we’d do without them.”

When Raleigh and his wife joined with the protest at Sandhill Bottom, he said the news spread like wildfire, and while the miners were simply standing up for their rights, a rallying cry was also beginning to echo from the railroad tracks along the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River and out to the rest of the world. Raleigh said the protest grew unbelievably quickly, and before they knew it, help started coming in from the community.

“And my wife was right there in the middle of it all,” he said. “We were not leaving the tracks, but down below on the wide spot near the tracks, our wives started organizing everything. People started bringing tents, picnic tables, food and water, and our wives immediately got to work setting up the protest camp. I’m proud of my wife. This whole camp, here, got started with her and a case of water, two bags of ice and a few styrofoam cups.”

Donna said she was nervous at first, because she did not know during the first few hours of the protest how it was going to end, but that she soon realized that the miners’ efforts were non-violent. She described the miners, as well as her husband, as “good men who were just done wrong.”

“And they want their money. It’s as simple as that,” Donna said. “It’s been a peaceful protest since day one, and as long as our husbands are here, so will the wives be. It’s gotten terribly hot on us during some of the days, and there were times we had to huddle under the big tent together because we thought the storms were going to blow us away. But we’re still here. We’re not going anywhere. We’re staying on these tracks and we’re staying right by our husbands’ sides.”

While at work this past July, Blackjewel miners were told to go home when announcements were made that the operation would be filing for bankruptcy. The miners had no notice of the action, and despite being told that work would resume as normal after bankruptcy proceedings, the mine operation did, in fact, shut down. The next blow occurred when the miners soon discovered the company had stopped payment on their last paychecks.

The weeks that followed in July saw intense efforts instigated by Harlan County government and local non-profits to offer the miners assistance. However, when a train loaded down with millions of dollars-worth of coal in July attempted to leave the Blackjewel mine at Cloverlick, miners ran to the railroad tracks and the historic protest began. Raleigh said in his 46 years of mining, he had never seen anything like what he referred to as the “Blackjewel mess.” Raleigh said he had worked for several mining companies throughout the years such as U.S. Steel, Arch Mineral and Harlan-Cumberland Coal, and that he had long been a proud coal miner.

“The work has been good, and we raised two daughters on coal mining,” he said. “One daughter is living in California, and the other in Knoxville. Coal mining has made our family what it is today, but when someone comes along like (former Blackjewel CEO) Jeff Hoops and totally destroys the lives of thousands of families, well, it’s just devastating and hurtful.”

Donna added that while their daughters are concerned for them, they are proud of them as well. Donna said money was tight, and as days passed she and her husband become more worried about making ends meet. But that is the biggest reason Donna said she is committed to staying on the tracks with her husband. She said it was setting a precedent so that this kind of wrongdoing cannot happen to future generations of the coal fields.

“Our daughters call and check on us, and I tell them we’re holding on,” Raleigh said. “But I also tell them how proud I am of their mother. She’s been here every day taking in food, preparing food, making sure we have something cold to drink, and just being a source of encouragement. It’s our wives and our families who are keeping us strong.”

During the early hours of the blockade while Donna was organizing the protest camp, another former Blackjewel coal miner’s wife did the only thing she knew to do at the time — pull out her smartphone. While the fervid scene played out, Rowe began documenting the historic occurrence while going Facebook live. She and her husband, Chris, who has become the spokesperson for the protesting miners, had been four-wheeling up on Slope Hollow with their son when Chris started receiving messages about the blockade. The family, who resides in Rio Vista, rode down the mountain to Sandhill Bottom with Chris joining his fellow miners on the railroad tracks and Stacy going live on social media. Since then, both Chris and Stacy have become leaders in the protest. Stacy’s Facebook live feeds have gone viral, and she has become the voice of the protest.

“I had never done a live feed before this,” Stacy said. “And I was kind of backward to start doing it, but I just could not sit around and let this injustice be done. I wanted the world to see what was going on, so I pulled out my phone and started showing everybody. I guess I found my own voice in the process. It has blown me away how many people are following my live feeds. People from all over the nation and in different countries watch my live feeds and have started messaging me, saying they support us one hundred percent.”

Truck driver James Toller, of Lexington, heard about the protest through Rowe’s Facebook live feeds and became instantly attentive to the scene playing out on the stretch of Harlan County railroad tracks. He continued to watch Rowe’s live feeds and convinced several of his fellow truckers to form a convoy and head to the protest site to show their support. The truckers, who came from all over the nation, helped the miners and their families protest a few weeks ago, and plan to return in September. Toller not only commended the dedication of the miners holding down the protest line, but the wives, daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers who were also helping.

“These women at the protest are remarkable,” Toller said. “There’s a strength within them that’s just unmatched. When I first saw Stacy go live, I was inspired by her passion. She inspired me to get the American trucking community involved to help the miners, so I would say that the women on the protest line are definitely making a difference.”

The coal miners’ wives are so strong in their intent, that they have agreed to continue the protest after their husbands have gone back to work. Wanda Pratt, wife of former Blackjewel mine foreman David Pratt of Evarts, said the wives had a meeting and decided they would carry out the mission until their husbands are paid in full. Pratt also said the women agreed to meet at least once a year after the protest is over.”

“We have become like family,” Pratt said. “My husband would always refer to the other miners with nicknames they had given each other. They all call my husband ‘Old Man’ because he’s been mining coal for so long. Now that we’ve come together in this protest, I can finally put the faces with the nicknames my husband always told me about. The one thing I have come to appreciate while on the protest line is what a fine bunch of men these coal miners are. They are kind, respectful, always kidding around, but they are serious when it comes to taking a stand and doing what is best for their families. My husband has said time and time again that he’s not taking this stand for himself, but for his children and grandchildren, and for their children and their grandchildren. There comes a time when all the wrongdoing here in the mountains has got to stop, and I believe that time is now.”

Much of Pratt’s family has been impacted by the Blackjewel bankruptcy. Besides her husband, her son, David Pratt Jr., was also displaced. She has a brother who lost his job and wages, but is unable to join in on the protest because he has to find work doing odd jobs since he did not qualify for unemployment. Her son, David Jr., and his wife, Wendy, however, have been active participants of the protest since it began. Pratt brings her cross stitching to the protest line and spends her days encouraging her family, as well as the new family she is making. She can’t do much at the protest camp because she is on constant oxygen from chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease, but she helps when she can, and she never stops encouraging the men.

“I’m here for my husband, my son, and my brother,” Pratt said. “I want them to know that I stand with them no matter what. I’m here for all these men and their families. Sometimes it’s hard when it gets hot and the humidity just bears down on you, but I’m not a quitter, and I’m sure not going to quit supporting these men.”

Days can be quite the challenge for the women at the protest camp site. All of them can attest how hard it is to maintain a kitchen on a narrow strip of land by the railroad tracks. There are clothes and other supplies to organize that have been dropped off as donations, then there is food to prepare and to make sure items are not lost in the heat. Daycare is organized at the protest camp, and lots of paperwork have to be filled out by the miners and collected for hardship cases and relief programs.

“People have no clue how hard this had been,” Rowe said. “We cook on a small, propane stove, which is challenging considering how many people we cook for. Cleaning is so frustrating because we are outside, so obviously everything is going to be dirty. We have to organize and make sure all the cold food has ice at all times. We lay solar lights out every day so we can have lights in the kitchen at night. Really the list never ends.”

All of the tedious chores are performed outdoors while battling the elements on top of the worry they try to hide from their husbands. Kim Stanton, who has been a coal miner’s wife for 17 years, said it had been trying times because she hates to see her husband, Will, feel apprehensive about the future. She knows he is worried, but he tries to stay strong for his family.

“It’s hard on us, but it’s extremely hard on the men,” said Stanton, of Cloverlick. “Our men have gone from working five to six days a week to nothing. My husband has been a coal miner for 22 years, so it’s been hard watching him not knowing what to do. Us wives know our men better than anybody, so we can tell when they get discouraged. That’s why we are working hard to offer the best support that we possibly can here at the protest camp to keep their spirits up.”

The biggest thing that is keeping both the miners’ and their wives’ spirits up is the continued outpouring of community support. While not as plentiful as the first couple of weeks of the protest, donations ranging from food to personal care items are dropped off almost on a daily basis at the protest site. Donna and her husband laugh at the number of times the local Pizza Hut has had to make deliveries to the protest camp from supporters throughout the nation. Even presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders had several pizzas delivered. The women agree, however, that there have been plenty of touching moments at the protest camp with unexpected gifts. They say plenty of tears have been shed together — both tears of sadness and tears of joy. Pratt’s daughter-in-law, Wendy, said while the challenges seem overwhelming at times, she and her husband thought it important to not only be a part of the protest, but for their three children to be a part of it, as well. She said she kept busy during the last month of the protest helping with protest camp daycare, washing, and keeping dishes cleaned. The hard work, she said, was worth it.

“We wanted our family to experience history in the making,” Wendy Pratt said. “These are historic times, and I’m proud that we as a family are experiencing this together. We are a part of this protest because we as a Blackjewel family stand together, and we’ll continue standing together until the money that is owed us is given back to us.”

As the weeks since the protest began have turned into a month, changes are also occurring at the protest camp. Several have had to abandon their protest posts because of new jobs. Former Blackjewel coal miner Dalton Lewis, who was the first man on the railroad tracks to stop the locomotive, left for Alabama for another mining job. Some of the miners have even decided to leave coal mining for good and to enroll in college classes, seeking new careers.

Wendy Pratt, and her husband, David Jr., both decided to enroll in nursing school and attended their first classes together last week. Even though homework is keeping them busy, they both continue to take part in the protest as time permits.

The miners remaining at the protest site continue to be resolute, saying they are not going to budge. With some leaving for work, others leaving for higher education opportunities, and buy-out negotiations and hearings continuing, it’s easy for the remaining protesters to get discouraged. Stanton said that is where the wives come in.

“We have to be strong,” Stanton said. “Our men are a special breed. They do a job every day not knowing if they will see us again. It’s our turn to be strong, now. It’s important for us to show our men and to show the rest of the community that we are not going to lay back and let this company walk all over us, and we are also teaching our kids to stand up for what is right, to

Wanda Pratt said she had always heard from her husband how working closely with other coal miners forms a brotherhood. Because of the Blackjewel protest, she said she now understood that kind of closeness.

“We were brought together for one common purpose, and that is to support our husbands,” Pratt said. “And what has happened in the process is that we have found our individual strength together. We’re now a sisterhood.”