A.O. Brown, mayor of Parsons, Kansas, telegrams Kansas Governor john Martin, of Topeka, requesting immediate help from the "troops" over a labor dispute. Strikers had driven a freight train off the tracks near Parsons. In February 1885, railroad shop workers walked off the job because of a cut in pay and reduced hours of work. Governor Martin was able to negotiate a settlement to the strike but problems continued throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.