Massacre at Ludlow: Prelude

Thus read the New York Times headline about the Ludlow Massacre--the shooting, burning, and killing that took place in the coal fields of Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914.

In southern Colorado, early in the twentieth century, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I), and the smaller mining companies that followed its lead, dominated the economic, political, and social life of miners they employed. In 1915, after the tragedy at Ludlow, the United States Commission on Industrial Relations reported that "two entire counties of southern Colorado for years have been deprived of popular government, while large groups of their citizens have been stripped of their liberties, robbed of portions of their earnings, subjected to ruthless persecution and abuse, and reduced to a state of economic and political serfdom." The companies determined who could sell food and drink, who would teach in the schools, minister in the churches, sit as election judges, and serve as town and county officials. They suppressed free speech, free press, and free assembly.

The miners wanted (1) union recognition; (2) a 10 percent pay increase; (3) an eight-hour workday; (4) pay for work that did not immediately result in mined coal; (5) the right to elect check weighman to verify the weight of mined coal; (6) the right to trade and board anywhere and go to any doctor; (7) abolition of armed mine guards; and (8)enforcement of Colorado mining laws. Although the law entitled the miners to items 3, 5, and 7 and parts of item 6, the critical issue was union recognition

In the summer of 1913 the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) began to organize the southern Colorado miners. Late in August, union representatives invited coal operators to meet and talk about the miners' grievances; the operators ignored the invitation. Colorado's Governor Elias Ammons negotiated with both parties, but company spokesmen stubbornly refused to meet.

September 15, 1913, southern Colorado coal miners--including those at CF&I--went on strike. More than eight thousand miners and their families left the company-owned and controlled towns and settled in open tent colonies provided by the union. The Ludlow colony, by far the largest, housed close to a thousand men, women, and children.

While Ammons continued his efforts, the scene was set for violence to erupt. Law enforcement officers were allied with the coal companies. The companies imported mercenaries as sheriff's deputies, and they hired armed guards from the notorious Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. Under their direction, an armored car, known as "The Death Special," was built at the CF&I shops. The car, fitted with a machine gun, was used by company guards and, later, by militia officers.

Go To Page: 1 2 3