“We Never Sleep” -Company slogan of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
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This is some cool history that I wanted to put out there. The Pinkertons were a major part of the history of the US, and certainly contributed greatly to the security of this nation. These guys were private investigators, but they were also security providers that actually protected President Lincoln. They were also Lincoln’s ‘goto’ guys for intelligence. Not to mention that they also protected stage coaches and wagon trains during the days of the wild west and participated in many significant labor disputes as striker breakers. They are very much a part of American history.
Matter of fact, I look at these guys the same way I look at today’s security contractors in the war. The best visual example of what I am talking about was the modern film version of 3:10 to Yuma, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Peter Fonda stars in this movie as well, and he plays a crusty old Pinkerton ‘convoy leader’. I call him a convoy leader, because that is what he was doing in this fight scene. Even the Gatling gun mounted on the back of the stage coach reminded me of today’s ‘trunk monkey‘ in a convoy or PSD operation.
The history of the Pinkertons is a reminder to all Americans that security contractors are and will always be a necessary component of the security of this great nation. And the controversies surrounding this industry are nothing new either.
I put up the Homestead Strike story, along with the Anti-Pinkerton Act (APA) story as a reminder of some hard core American history. The Pinkertons were contracted to do some tough strike breaking, and I can only imagine how crazy that must have been for those agents back then. I am sure the Pinkertons were also pretty miffed that they got sucked into the politics of the incident, and eventually paid a price with the APA.
Going from being the President’s personal body guards and intelligence service, to being singled out with a law that made it illegal for the government to contract with the Pinkertons for strike work, must have been a hard pill to swallow. As crappy as that must have been, the Pinkertons drove on and are still in existence today.
I will end this with another quote. President Obama said after his trip to Afghanistan during his campaign trail and obligations as a Senator, that “Blackwater is getting a bad rap”. He said this, because this was the company contracted to protect him at the time. Hmmm. I think the same statement could be said about the entire security contracting industry, both in the past and present. –Matt
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Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and Major General
John A. McClernand, 1862, photo by Alexander Gardner.
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The Pinkerton Detective Agency -Operating For 150 Years
From the Legends of America Website
Founded by Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant in 1850, the Pinkerton Agency quickly became one of the most important crime detection and law enforcement groups in the United States. Born in Scotland on August 25, 1819, Allan Pinkerton worked as a barrel maker before immigrating to the United States in 1842. Settling near Chicago, Illinois, he went to work at Lill’s Brewery as a barrel maker. However, Pinkerton soon determined that working for himself would be more profitable for his family and they moved to a small town called Dundee, some forty miles from Chicago.
Making barrels once again, he quickly gained control of the market due to the superior quality and low prices of his product.