Biography
James Gossard, from Urbana, Illinois, was arrested and scheduled for trial at the mass IWW trial in Wichita. He was held in the Newton County (Kansas) Jail, where he died while awaiting trial, reportedly because of "improperly treated influenza." 12 Joseph and Michael Hofer (the Hofer brothers) were members of the Hutterite religious order. Their religion forbade cooperation with the military. Sent to Alcatraz, the Hofer brothers refused to obey prison officials and were placed in "the hole." The "hole" was a lightless, rat-infested basement cell. The Hofers were stripped of all their clothing, except underwear, and chained to the walls of this dungeon for eight hours a day. Fed only bread and water and denied proper toilet facilities, their health was broken. They were released from "the hole" and transferred to Fort Leavenworth. Again they refused to work, and although still sick, they were remanded to the Leavenworth solitaiy cell. Within a few days the brothers' condition further deteriorated into pneumonia. They were sent to the prison hospital, where they died.
