Biography
Financial secretary of the Burke Miners' Union (Western Federation of Miners) in the Coeur d'Alene mining district of Idaho. After the April 29, 1899 dynamiting of the Bunker Hill mill by union miners, President McKinley invoked the Insurrection Act, sent federal troops, and the state established a notorious "bullpen" prison camp in which roughly 1,000 miners were held without charge for months. Corcoran was charged with the second-degree murder of non-union miner James Cheyne despite not being at the scene of the explosion; convicted by a packed jury and sentenced to 17 years at hard labor. Released on appeal.
Cases
Idaho State Penitentiary
