May 1, 1886: Worker unrest was growing in the Milwaukee area due in part to the wide-spread eight hour day movement. By May 3 nearly 14,000 workers were on strike in Milwaukee causing Gov. Rusk to dispatch 17 companies of militia. On May 5 rioting broke out at the Illinois Steel Co. in Bayview where the nervous militia fired into the mob, killing five. Rusk answered his critics by saying, "I seen my duty and I done it."