At the time dozens of unions had popped up to replace the declining Knights of Labor.
Forty-one delegates met at the Odd Fellows Hall in Lawton, Oklahoma in December 1903.
Senator from Oklahoma Thomas Gore; Pete Hanraty was elected as president of the convention and Lynch served as secretary.
At the time of its formation it claimed to represent 12,000 workers and collected five cents monthly dues per member.
[1] On February 15, 1904, the union was officially chartered by American Federation of Labor president Samuel Gompers.