Ludlow massacre

The Ludlow massacre of April 20, 1914 was one of the bloodiest assaults on organized labor in American history. It took place in Ludlow, Colorado (today a ghost town) northwest of Trinidad, Colorado and was the climax of an effort to suppress a strike by twelve thousand Colorado coal miners.

Background

Labor unrest in the United States in the years preceding World War I was particularly tense in the West. When a union activist was killed in the fall of 1913, workers at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation's (CF&I) coal operations and other Colorado coal mines went on strike. The miners evacuated the coal mining camps on September 23 to protest low wages ($1.68 a day) and poor working conditions.

Related Topics:
United States - World War I - 1913 - Coal - Coal mine - September 23

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Contrary to state law, miners were paid in scrip, which was redeemable only at the company store, where prices were high. Miners were cheated at the scales where the coal they dug was weighed. Many mines maintained two separate systems of weights: one for the miners' transactions, and another for the coal buyers.

Related Topics:
Scrip - Company store

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Colorado mines, "dead work" was not paid. Dead work included timbering the mine for safety. The death rate of Colorado miners was approximately twice the national average.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Miners frequently complained that company mules were treated far better than their human counterparts. Years after cave-ins or mine explosions, miners' anecdotes recount the first words of the coal operators when a mine collapsed: did the mules get out?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Colorado miners had attempted to unionize periodically since the first strike in 1883. First it was with the Western Federation of Miners. Later (in 1927) they would join the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1913 they were attempting to organize into the United Mine Workers of America.

Related Topics:
1883 - Western Federation of Miners - 1927 - Industrial Workers of the World - 1913 - United Mine Workers of America

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The UMWA had demanded:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"...recognition of the United Mine Workers of America as the bargaining agent for workers in coal mines throughout Colorado and northern New Mexico; an effective system of checkweighmen in all mines; compensation for digging coal at a ton-rate based on 2,000 pounds; semi-monthly payment of wages in lawful money; the abolition of scrip and the truck system; an end to discrimination against union members; and strict enforcement of state laws pertaining to operators' obligations in supplying miners with timbers, rails, and other materials in underground working places."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The strike provoked a harsh response from the Rockefeller family, which controlled Colorado Fuel & Iron and effectively ruled the region. Since the companies owned the towns where the workers lived, they were able to evict strikers from their homes, leaving women and children, mostly from immigrant families, without shelter as the harsh Rocky Mountain winter approached. Helped by UMWA groups across the country, the strikers were able to organize tent cities and carried on their strike. The union selected locations near the mouths of the canyons which led to the coal camps. Their purpose was monitoring traffic to the coal camps and discouraging replacement workers from breaking the strike.

Related Topics:
Rockefeller family - Colorado Fuel & Iron - Rocky Mountain - UMWA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The company hired the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to harass strikers and union organizers. Baldwin-Felts had a reputation for aggressive strike breaking. They supplied armed guards, gunmen, spies, and agents provocateurs to intimidate the miners.

Related Topics:
Baldwin-Felts - Strike breaking - Agents provocateurs

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CF&I built an armored car mounted with a machine gun. The company guards called it the "Death Special."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

a photo of the death car can be found here: http://www.du.edu/anthro/ludlow/gallery2.html.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Because of occasional sniping on the tent colonies, miners dug protective pits beneath the tents where they and their families could seek shelter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On October 17 Baldwin-Felts agents used the armored car to attack the Forbes tent colony. One miner was killed. A young girl was shot in the face, and a boy was hit in the legs by nine machine gun bullets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Confrontations between striking miners and "scab" replacement workers often got out of control, resulting in additional deaths.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Despite widespread violence, the workers refused to give in. On October 28 Colorado governor Elias M. Ammons called in the National Guard. Even though the campaign of harassment increased and many of the organizers were beaten and arrested, the miners persevered through the winter.

Related Topics:
October 28 - Colorado governor - Elias M. Ammons - National Guard

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It had been a difficult time for the strikers. Harassing rifle shots were randomly fired into the camps. Union organizers were kidnapped and intimidated. One tactic was telling the union men that they were about to be executed and forcing them to "dig their own graves" before beating them and, finally, ordering them out of the territory.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After months of stalemate, Governor Ammons was growing concerned about the cost of keeping the National Guard in the field. He accepted an offer by the coal companies to put their men into National Guard uniforms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Under the leadership of Lieutenant Karl Linderfelt, Company B of the Colorado National Guard stuffed barbed wire into the water wells of the tent colonies. They threatened miners and their families. Linderfelt told one immigrant miner that he was "Jesus Christ on horseback" and he must be obeyed.

Related Topics:
Barbed wire - Jesus - Christ

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On March 10, 1914, the body of a strike breaker was found on the railroad tracks near Forbes. The National Guard's General Chase ordered the Forbes tent colony destroyed in retaliation. Tension was growing, and the stage was set for all-out war.

Related Topics:
March 10 - 1914

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~