Andrew Knudson (Sedition)
Sedition was a major part of United States history, specifically during the Great War. It was one of two times that sedition laws were passed, the other time being The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The Sedition Act of 1918 became effective on May 16. Looking at the basis of this law, it was heavily based on the Montana Sedition Act, which was passed a few months before The Sedition Act of 1918, circa February 22, 1918.
Sedition had deep roots within the state of Montana. Fallon County did not have a problem with so-called ‘traitors’. There was only one incident of a person being charged with sedition. On March 30th, 1918, Andrew H. Knudson of Plevna was arrested for sedition. Knudson was born in Denmark in 1866 and he and his family came to America in 1878, when he was 12. He became a citizen when his father was naturalized in Dakota City, Nebraska in the year of 1883. The newspaper called his indictment a “Grave Charge” five days later in a short article, the only newspaper evidence of a Fallon sedition.
In Knudson’s court case, he was accused by 3 men, Fred M. Perry, Christian Feifer, and Jack Bullard of multiple unpatriotic things. “Well after awhile he said something about the Government bonds he said that he would’nt wipe his *ss with it.” was a quote from Fred M. Perry, and one of the things Knudson supposedly said. Other offenses include calling the government rotten, saying Kaiser Wilhelm was right and Wilson was wrong, and threatening to go to Perkins County, become sheriff, and teach men not to join the war. Knudson plead guilty and paid a fine of $250.
The only other sedition related part of Fallon history would have to be the different article of the Fallon County Times. One article written in early August of 1917 called out Bowman for its abundance of disloyal citizens, yet a month later in late September of the same year, an article titled “STOP THE SEDITIONISTS!” was written, that shamed the government for their raids on the Industrial Workers of the World, and ended with this paragraph, “Such voices must be stilled. Nothing else will suffice. Free speech and free assembly have their limitations, when the life of a nation and the lives of its defenders are at stake. They were never meant to legalize treason or permit sedition.” After the passing of Montana’s Sedition Act, they had a different tone. Whilst it still seemed to disagree slightly with the government’s actions, they never directly said it. A warning article about government cards and disloyal people losing citizenship was posted on June 13th. 1918. When explaining the reasoning of the government cards, which are cards that people fill out with their address, the paper said it was so, as quoted, “the government, in it’s far-reaching plan of keeping track of its citizens in war time, may know where to find anyone who might be of assistance in some way or another and also for the purpose of making it easy for postal authorities to locate them for any reason.” Sedition is a red stain on the white shirt of Montana history, yet Fallon’s seems more faded than that of other counties, such as neighboring Custer. Hopefully the only example we will ever have to see in this county is that of these newspapers and Andrew H. Knudson.
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Sedition had deep roots within the state of Montana. Fallon County did not have a problem with so-called ‘traitors’. There was only one incident of a person being charged with sedition. On March 30th, 1918, Andrew H. Knudson of Plevna was arrested for sedition. Knudson was born in Denmark in 1866 and he and his family came to America in 1878, when he was 12. He became a citizen when his father was naturalized in Dakota City, Nebraska in the year of 1883. The newspaper called his indictment a “Grave Charge” five days later in a short article, the only newspaper evidence of a Fallon sedition.
In Knudson’s court case, he was accused by 3 men, Fred M. Perry, Christian Feifer, and Jack Bullard of multiple unpatriotic things. “Well after awhile he said something about the Government bonds he said that he would’nt wipe his *ss with it.” was a quote from Fred M. Perry, and one of the things Knudson supposedly said. Other offenses include calling the government rotten, saying Kaiser Wilhelm was right and Wilson was wrong, and threatening to go to Perkins County, become sheriff, and teach men not to join the war. Knudson plead guilty and paid a fine of $250.
The only other sedition related part of Fallon history would have to be the different article of the Fallon County Times. One article written in early August of 1917 called out Bowman for its abundance of disloyal citizens, yet a month later in late September of the same year, an article titled “STOP THE SEDITIONISTS!” was written, that shamed the government for their raids on the Industrial Workers of the World, and ended with this paragraph, “Such voices must be stilled. Nothing else will suffice. Free speech and free assembly have their limitations, when the life of a nation and the lives of its defenders are at stake. They were never meant to legalize treason or permit sedition.” After the passing of Montana’s Sedition Act, they had a different tone. Whilst it still seemed to disagree slightly with the government’s actions, they never directly said it. A warning article about government cards and disloyal people losing citizenship was posted on June 13th. 1918. When explaining the reasoning of the government cards, which are cards that people fill out with their address, the paper said it was so, as quoted, “the government, in it’s far-reaching plan of keeping track of its citizens in war time, may know where to find anyone who might be of assistance in some way or another and also for the purpose of making it easy for postal authorities to locate them for any reason.” Sedition is a red stain on the white shirt of Montana history, yet Fallon’s seems more faded than that of other counties, such as neighboring Custer. Hopefully the only example we will ever have to see in this county is that of these newspapers and Andrew H. Knudson.
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Credits: Zachery Craig
Citations:“Sedition Don't Go at Bowman." Fallon County Times [Baker], 2 Aug. 1917,
montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn84036037/1917-08-02/ed-1/seq-1/
#date1=1909&city=Baker&rows=20&words=SEDITION&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=1
6&date2=1921&proxtext=sedition&dateFilterType=year&page=2. Accessed 21 May
2018.
“Stop the Seditionists!" Fallon County Times [Baker], 13 Sept. 1917,
montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn84036037/1917-09-13/ed-1/seq-4/
#date1=1909&city=Baker&rows=20&words=sedition&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=2
&date2=1921&proxtext=sedition&dateFilterType=year&page=1. Accessed 21 May
2018.
"Disloyal Talk Lands Man in County Jail." Fallon County Times [Baker], 4 Apr.
1918, montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn84036037/1918-04-04/ed-1/seq-1/
#date1=1883&city=Baker&rows=20&words=Andrew+Knudson&searchType=basic&sequence=0&i
ndex=0&date2=2015&proxtext=Andrew+Knudson&page=1. Accessed 21 May 2018.
State of MT vs. Knudson. 16th District Court of Montana. 21 Apr. 1918.
Citations:“Sedition Don't Go at Bowman." Fallon County Times [Baker], 2 Aug. 1917,
montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn84036037/1917-08-02/ed-1/seq-1/
#date1=1909&city=Baker&rows=20&words=SEDITION&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=1
6&date2=1921&proxtext=sedition&dateFilterType=year&page=2. Accessed 21 May
2018.
“Stop the Seditionists!" Fallon County Times [Baker], 13 Sept. 1917,
montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn84036037/1917-09-13/ed-1/seq-4/
#date1=1909&city=Baker&rows=20&words=sedition&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=2
&date2=1921&proxtext=sedition&dateFilterType=year&page=1. Accessed 21 May
2018.
"Disloyal Talk Lands Man in County Jail." Fallon County Times [Baker], 4 Apr.
1918, montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn84036037/1918-04-04/ed-1/seq-1/
#date1=1883&city=Baker&rows=20&words=Andrew+Knudson&searchType=basic&sequence=0&i
ndex=0&date2=2015&proxtext=Andrew+Knudson&page=1. Accessed 21 May 2018.
State of MT vs. Knudson. 16th District Court of Montana. 21 Apr. 1918.