Hellraisers Journal: The women answered: they had to take a part in the strike; their husbands’ fight was their fight, and side by side they would struggle with the men.

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Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday September 16, 1914
Women on Picket Duty at Ludlow, Colorado, Face Federal Soldiers

Helen Schloss tells a stirring story of the courageous women of the Southern Colorado Coalfield Strike who have now taken up picket duty and are meeting the scabs as they arrive at the Trinidad depot. Bearing the insignia of the “Women’s Union Picket Squad,” the women face arrest by federal soldiers. When they were advised by Major Rockwell to cease picketing:

The women answered that they had to take a part in the strike, that their husbands’ fight was their fight, and that side by side they would struggle with the men.

From The Labor World of September 12, 1914:

WOMEN ON PICKET DUTY IN COLORADO

———-
Wear Sashes Bearing Insignia That all
May See When Leaving Trains.
———-
FEDERAL SOLDIERS IGNORE INSTRUCTIONS
———-
Charged That Outsiders Are Permitted
to Take Jobs of Striking Miners.
———-
BY HELEN SCHLOSS.

LUDLOW, Colo., Sept 11.-Women in the strikers’ colony have become pickets. They are already doing valuable work. One Sunday evening recently as the train was pulling in, a group of women appeared at the station to meet it. They had sashes across their chests bearing the insignia, “Women’s Union Pickett Squad.”The soldiers at the station were dumbfounded, and did not know what to make of us. We were not molested that evening, and we called a scab a scab. We pleaded with the scabs not to go into the mines, and take their brothers’ jobs. We informed them of the danger in the mines with unskilled hands.

We kept up our arrogant picketing for two trains but when the third train arrived, we were informed that we would not be allowed at the depot.

Major Cable, of the federal troops, who is a southern gentleman, told us that he hated to see women in the capacity of pickets, and that perhaps the scabs might insult us, and that he as a soldier would hate to see us insulted. The gentleman pleaded with us, but we stood on our grounds of constitutional rights.

We informed the major that we would return to the depot. He then informed us that we would be arrested and taken before the justice of the peace. After much argument and after we tried to show him what picketing meant, he said that we might return to the depot providing we did not call any names, such as scabs, which seemed to be very offensive to the gentleman.

One Saturday evening after the train pulled out and the scabs were waiting in the hacks for the soldiers to take their names, and while the pickets were standing near to listen, we were told to move.

We did move, but not enough to suit the major. “Soldiers,” he shouted, “remove the women.” The soldiers surrounded us like a pack of hounds, and tried to remove us from the platform. But alas, they were mistaken, they thought perhaps we would be so frightened that we would run back to the tent colony. But we did not move. One husky soldier grabbed me and dragged me from the plat form, and I had a toss and tumble with him. Mrs Dominiske took hold of a post and stuck to it with all her strength. Mrs Bartolotti had her face slapped.

For a few minutes the shrill voices of women were penetrating the air. All the excited women talked at once, and the soldiers used more brute force. The men of the wives were standing opposite, and it is a wonder to me, that the men had presence of mind enough not to interfere. We would have had blood shed perhaps if it were not for the good behavior of our men. It was a tactless move on the part of the federals and it looked as if they were favoring the mine owners.

The federals have allowed the mines to be filled with scabs. Quietly, and in small groups, thy allow the scabs to come in. If a scab gives a convincing story they allow them to come in. Most of the scabs learn their stories before they come in.

The federal soldiers stand for the same thing as the militia did, namely to protect private property and to break the backbone of the strike. The federal soldiers have done this in a more gentlemanly way, which is perhaps more deadly. The federals maintain that they are impartial, that they are not here to help the strikers of the mine owners but any one with a grain of common sense will see where the federal soldiers stand, and whose interests they represent.

A delegation of women went to Trinidad from Ludlow, to have an interview with Colonel Lockett. The Colonel refused to see us but we had an interview with his spokesman, Major Rockwell and another major.

The gentleman advised us not to go picketing, and if we did not follow his advise, we would have to take the consequences. The women answered that they had to take a part in the strike, that their husbands’ fight was their fight, and that side by side they would struggle with the men.

The militia is being reorganized under the direction of the federals and Major Rockwell informed me that they will be glad to be released.

They have performed their duty by allowing all the scabs into the mines, and now they are ready to go, to allow the militia to do more dirty work.

The strikers stand pat, and say they will never return to work, until the strike is settled. They are ready to remain out of the mines another year if necessary.

While all the countries in Europe are at each others throats, civil war is pending in the state of Colorado. We must never lose sight of the main issue.

The Socialists here are having a hard fight to make ends meet. We have no money and not many workers, and we appeal to the Socialists of this country, to aid this weak district. The Socialists are a pack of undesirables here. The laws have been in favor of the mine owners and the men who tried to organize, had the choice of going down the canyon or leave. The reader will understand that if the Unionists had such a hard struggle for life, how the Socialists fare in such a community.

[Emphasis added.]