Lt. K. E. Linderfelt of the Colorado National Guard went to Ludlow to determine whether the Guard needed to intervene. He became a deputy sheriff and took charge of a force of mine guards, escorting strike breakers to the mines. The United States Industrial Commission reported that he was "belligerent, hot tempered, domineering and brutal."
On October 26, the county sheriff; A. C. Felts of the Baldwin-Felts agency; and a force of mine guards and local militiamen, armed with machine guns, traveled by train to Ludlow. The miners, who heard of their plan, hid on a hill about a mile south of Ludlow, determined to stop the train. They killed the engineer and forced the train, with all aboard, to retreat. The following morning, strikers attacked the mine buildings where the guards were stationed; two children were killed.
Governor Ammons mobilized the National Guard on October 28. The troops were to be impartial. They were ordered to protect property and workers. They were not to help bring strikebreakers to Ludlow. Strikers and mine guards alike were to surrender their arms. The strikers did so reluctantly, and that reluctance was justified: Deprived of their weapons, many mine guards enlisted in the National Guard. Although occasional acts of violence occurred, the area remained relatively quiet. But then, political and economic realities forced Governor Ammons to establish martial law. Strikers were arrested, merely on suspicion, and kept incommunicado. In February 1914, after numerous complaints, the United States House of Representatives directed its Committee on Mines and Mining to investigate conditions in Colorado. A subcommittee visited the area.
No serious confrontations occurred during the hearing, but frequent petty clashes intensified the bitterness and hatred. After the committee returned to Washington, the governor withdrew most of the National Guard troops. Company B, a force of thirty-five guardsmen, remained and camped just above Ludlow Station. Originally made up of clerks and business and professional men, Company B had changed radically. On April 20, 1914, the day of the massacre, it comprised mine guards, professional soldiers, and adventurers. The troop was commanded by Lt. Linderfelt. The strikers hated him intensely, and he returned the feeling in full.
