There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Monday March 4, 1907
Telluride, Colorado – The Strike of 1903-1904 Remembered
Yesterday’s Hellraisers Journal featured an article by Comrade Debs from the Appeal to Reason in which was recounted the reign of terror perpetrated upon the members and supporters of the Western Federation of Miners by the Mine Owners, through the powers acting on their behalf, during the bitter strike of three years ago. Today we remember the striking miner who was chained to a telegraph pole on a cold winter day, which incident, along with many like it, left the miners wondering: “Is Colorado in America?”
From the Albuquerque Morning Journal of March 3, 1904:
FRESH TROUBLE BREAKS OUT IN
TELLURIDE STRIKE
—–
Striker Chained to a Telegraph Pole
—–
BY VINDICTIVE DEPUTY
—–
The Thermometer Was Near Zero and
the Western Federation of Miners
Is on Its Ear.
—–
Denver, Colo., March 2.-The headquarters of the Western Federation of Miners in this city was thrown into a fever of excitement late this afternoon by a report of ill-treatment of a striking member of the Miners’ union under arrest on a charge of vagrancy at Telluride, by the civil authorities there. The information came in a telegram from Secretary Forbes of the Telluride union to Secretary Haywood of the Western Federation of Miners, as follows:
See Peabody. One of our men shackled to a telegraph pole. Are we going to stand this any longer? All arrests by civil authorities.
Secretary Haywood immediately replied he had instructed E. E. Richardson, attorney of the Western Federation of Miners to go to Telluride at once and institute legal proceedings in the name of the union for the protection of the strikers under arrest. He also advised the officials of the Telluride union to insist upon their rights and use every means at their command to protect themselves.
He said he would make no appeal to Governor Peabody. Mr. Richardson left for Telluride tonight. The local papers have been unable to get any news of conditions in Telluride tonight because of the rigorous censorship prevailing. However, the following version of the affair today was sent out by Captain Bulkeley Wells who is in charge of the local military.
“Five of the men convicted under a vagrancy charge by the civil authorities yesterday, were put to work this morning by order of the sheriff, filling in an excavation. One of the men, Harry Maki, refused to work and was handcuffed to a telegraph pole by the deputy sheriff in charge. This action on the part of the civil authorities has caused great indignation among the strikers.”
[Note: Many of the miners were convicted as vagrants because they had committed the crime of going out on strike.]
Both Captain Wells and Sheriff Rutan disclaimed any responsibility for the action of the deputy sheriff in his treatment of Maki. As the weather at Telluride just now is very cold, the barometer being in the neighborhood of zero, the officials of the Western Federation of Miners in this city feel certain the chaining of Maki to a telegraph pole was an unnecessary hardship. It is understood that Maki was finally released from his uncomfortable position and returned to prison.
[Drawing of Brother Maki added.]
Note: the drawing of Brother Maki was taken from the Cook County Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois) of June 3, 1904. This drawing was published in several newspapers during the month of June 1904.
Photograph of Brother Maki Chained to Telegraph Pole
———-
One of the famous posters, published by the Western Federation of Miners which landed President Moyer in the military bullpen, charged with desecration of the flag.
———-
“Is Colorado in America?”
SOURCES
Hellraisers Journal: From the Appeal to Reason: Eugene V Debs on Government by Gunthug-Mob in Service of Colorado Mine Owners
https://weneverforget.org/hellraisers-journal-from-the-appeal-to-reason-eugene-v-debs-on-government-by-gunthug-mob-in-service-of-colorado-mine-owners/
Albuquerque Morning Journal
(Albuquerque, New Mexico)
-Mar 3, 1904
https://www.newspapers.com/image/156240214
Hellraisers Journal: Charles Moyer Arrested for Flag “Desecration” Asking: IS COLORADO IN AMERICA?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/3/27/1287701/-Hellraisers-Journal-Charles-Moyer-Arrested-for-Flag-Desecration-Asking-IS-COLORADO-IN-AMERICA
IMAGES
WFM Telluride, Maki chained to pole, Cook Co Hld, Jun 3, 1904
https://www.newspapers.com/image/81742374/
WFM Telluride Strike, Maki chained to pole March 2, 1904
http://holcombs.net/peabodyism.htm
Poster with Maki: Is Colorado in America?
http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/84101/rec/3
Poster: Is Colorado in America?
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lbc2ic/x-sclp0512/sclp_0512
See also:
The Pinkerton Labor Spy
-by Morris Friedman
New York, 1907
http://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/pinkertonlaborspy00.html
CHAPTERS XV-XVIII: Reign of Terror.
http://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/pinkertonlaborspy15.html
The Cripple Creek Strike: a History of Industrial Wars
in Colorado, 1903-4-5
-by Emma Florence Langdon
Moyer Habeas Corpus Case
http://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/langdon19.html
Haywood-Moyer-Pettibone Case
http://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/langdon29.html#dedication
Colorado Labor Wars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Labor_Wars
The Moyer Decision
Moyer v. Peabody, 212 U.S. 78 (1909),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyer_v._Peabody
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