Hellraisers Journal: Emma F. Langdon Reports on Military Despotism in the Cripple Creek Strike District of Colorado

28th September 202329th September 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III —————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday September 28, 1903
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – Military Despotism Dominates Strike Zone

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

Military Despotism in the Cripple Creek District

September 13 found the military in complete control of the entire district. The troops dominated everything. A “bull pen’’ was established. Men were taken from home and families at dead of night, made to get out of bed and go with the militia and placed in the “bull pen” without explanation. They were not allowed defense and there were no charges preferred against them. Union meetings were, from the date given, broken into and obstructed without apparent cause.

One among the first shocks dealt the people of the district was Sept. 12, when it was announced that the leaders of the military had ordered the arrest of Sherman Parker. It was learned that the order had been executed shortly after midnight, when Mr. Parker was at home asleep. At 12:20 [a. m. Saturday], Sept. 12, Mr. Parker was awakened by a knock at the door. He went to the door and answered the call. He was told that the gentleman calling had a note from a man by the name of Jack Minor to present to him in the way of introduction. Mr. Parker stepped nearer the door and was immediately placed under arrest and taken from his family without further explanation and lodged in the ‘‘bull pen,” which was established near the Strong mine.

Sherman Parker is and has always been a peaceable citizen. There is probably none better in the county, but he was a member of the strike committee, and after the troops were here at the instigation and for the assistance of the mine owners, they were to arrest anyone that stood in their way of running affairs with an unlimited high hand. He was forbidden consultation, it is stated, with an attorney, and was simply told to “lie there and take what he was given.”

The executive committee of District Union No. 1, Sept. 13, ran the following statement in its official organ in regard to Minford and Sherman Parker:

W.H. Minford, the man who was supposed to have been beaten by strikers at Goldfield, was in reality beaten up in a bawdy house fight at Cripple Creek. He is now under arrest for giving false information and is detained in the county jail.

Sherman Parker, secretary of Free Coinage Miners’ Union No. 19, was dragged from his bed at his home in Independence by a squad of soldiers at 12:20 yesterday morning. No charges have been preferred against him and he is a prisoner without warrant of law. We want all union men over the country to know how the military are treating our members. Several have been arrested and in no case have charges been preferred against them.

DISTRICT UNION NO. 1, W. F. M., EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

One of the most ridiculous things that occurred during the strike was the operating of a searchlight. The light was moved from one mountain to another and turned on the various little cities of the district. Another ridiculous thing was that the citizens of the law-abiding community was given the opportunity of seeing a gatling gun. One was taken from Camp Goldfield to Beacon hill in the afternoon of Sept. 11. It was probably the one that was borrowed from Wyoming to help out Colorado in the great war of the Cripple Creek district. At any rate the gatling gun was here and was hauled from place to place as the great “rebellion’’ went on.

Sept. 15 the militia aroused the people of the district when a company of cavalry marched to the residence of Patrick J. Lynch of Victor, and who is chairman of the board of county commissioners of Teller county, and, without doubt, as peaceable a citizen as lives in the state of Colorado, arrested and marched him to appear before Generals Bell and Chase. Nothing since the strike started so thoroughly aroused the people of the county as this outrage of September 15. Mr. Lynch was presented with no papers. He was given no reason for arrest. He was simply taken from his table while dining, and marched at command to Camp Goldfield.

A troop of about twenty men marched down Fourth street across Portland, where Patrick J. Lynch resides. They immediately surrounded his residence, going into the back yard and into the alley, then an officer approached the house and arrested Mr. Lynch. He was rudely seized and taken out forthwith. He was not allowed to return to his residence, but soldiers were sent back for some purpose.

Mr. Lynch was ordered to mount one of the horses and was surrounded by troopers. Two were kept on foot also to guard him. As the procession marched along the street to the camp hundreds of people lined both sides of thoroughfare and the expressions that were uttered were possibly the strongest that had been heard. Others laughed at the folly and the absurdity of the action was ridiculed from every source.

Mr. Lynch was immediately ordered before Generals Bell and Chase when he reached the camp. He was told that it had been reported to them that he had criticized the soldiers and exercised the privilege of every American citizen in urging men not to return to work. This Mr. Lynch denied emphatically, and, turning to General Bell and pointing his finger at him, said: “There is a man who has known me for ten years, and he knows that I am as peaceable a citizen as lives in the state of Colorado.” After a few other remarks Mr. Lynch was released and allowed to return to his home and partake of another meal by his own fireside, though the military bravos were still in the district.

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Hellraisers Journal: Convention of the Colorado Federation of Labor Condemns Militarism in Cripple Creek Strike Zone

27th September 202320th October 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

MJ Quote Solidarity —————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday September 27, 1903
Colorado State Federation of Labor Supports Striking Miners of Cripple Creek

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

STATE FEDERATION OF LABOR AROUSED.

During the week of September 14-19, the Colorado State Federation of Labor was in session at Canon City and realizing the oppressing domination of Colorado militarism and understanding that all organized labor was in imminent danger of military suppression by the determined and lawless methods used to crush the Western Federation of Miners, passed unanimously the following resolutions:

Whereas, A gatling gun, the property of the state of Colorado, supposed to be used by the Colorado militia to uphold the laws of the state of Colorado, without class distinction, has been loaned and for the past six months has been in the Standard mill at Colorado City; and,

Whereas, Such loaning of the property of the state of Colorado is not only not good public policy, but is a detriment to the interests of the state and is without doubt at the behests of certain citizens for the purpose of intimidating other residents of Colorado City and is distinctly a case of arming one class of citizens against another, which is absolutely against the constitution, wherein equal privileges are guaranteed to all; therefore be it

Resolved, By the Colorado State Federation of Labor, in convention assembled, that the action of the officers of the Colorado National guard, and especially of Governor Peabody as commander-in-chief, be denounced as absolutely without warrant or precedent and as against the best interests of the state and dictates of good government.

Whereas, On the 28th day of July, 1903, the Sun and Moon transformer at Idaho Springs, Colo., was blown up by means and persons as yet unknown; and,

Whereas, There is a certain organization in Idaho Springs known as the Citizens’ Protective league, composed of all classes except organized labor and organized for the purpose of antagonizing labor in their efforts to better their conditions; and,

Whereas, Said Citizens’ league without warrant of law, aided and abetted by the sworn peace officers of the county, did take from their homes and imprison certain members of organized labor for certain affiliations and did after said imprisonment as an organized mob under the direction of the said Citizens’ Protective league (did) expel said members of organized labor from Idaho Springs with a warning to never return on pain of death and did banish said members of organized labor from their homes and families; and

Whereas, The district judge of Clear Creek county, presided over by Judge Frank W. Owers, has in the trial of the cases instituted by the banished members of organized labor against the members of the mob shown a spirit of fairness, as refreshing as it is rare in cases where a clash has arisen between labor and the capitalistic class; and ,

Whereas, The said Judge Owers has publicly declared from the bench that it is his purpose to administer the laws of the state of Colorado regardless of class or caste; therefore be it

Resolved, By the Colorado State Federation of Labor, in convention assembled, that we do strongly commend the action of Judge Owers in meeting out exact justice to all violators of the law; and that a copy of these resolutions be furnished Judge Owers under the seal of the Colorado State Federation of Labor.

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Hellraisers Journal: Strikebreakers Shipped Into Cripple Creek Strike District, Guarded by Troops, Escape to Union Hall Under Fire

26th September 202328th September 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Frank Gould Poem Scab, IW p3, Aug 6, 1910 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday September 26, 1903
Cripple Creek District, Colorado – Imported Strikebreakers Escape to Union Hall

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

51 STRIKE BREAKERS ARRIVE IN THE DISTRICT.

On Sept. 18 the much heralded strike breaking miners from the “east’’ arrived in Denver on their way to the district under heavy guard.

When the train carrying these men reached Cripple Creek the soldiers abandoned them, but the mine owners had places provided for their comfort. The newsboys followed them down the street and cried, “scab!” after them. This frightened the mine owners and a detachment of troops was immediately sent from Camp Goldfield to Cripple Creek, going over on the 9 o’clock electric low line from Victor. These soldiers were soon joined by two other companies of infantry and they lined Bennett avenue from First to Third streets and guarded the alleys more particularly. The soldiers’ headquarters were made at the Mining Exchange building, from where they received their orders. Citizens walking along the streets were told to move on and not to loiter.

The Finns and Norwegians, which constituted most of the men brought in—in fact, there was only two Americans among them—and very few who could speak English. The ones who could speak English stated that conditions had been misrepresented to them. They had just finished their work in the harvest fields of northern Michigan and were told that a new gold field had been opened here and that the mine owners wanted men badly. They were informed that in order to get men at once they would pay $3 for eight hours work and that the first men who responded would get the jobs. They were told further that if they did not like the work they would pay their expenses back to their homes and that it would not cost them a cent to get to the district.

There was eighty-seven in the crowd when they reached Denver, but twenty-six of the number pulled away in that city and about nine quit at Colorado Springs, leaving fifty or fifty-one to arrive in the gold camp.

STRIKE BREAKERS CONVERTED TO UNIONISM.

Eighteen of the men shipped into the district from Michigan were at union headquarters Friday night, Sept. 18, and stated that they would not go to work under the conditions here; that matters here had been grossly misrepresented to them. The balance of the fifty-one were taken to the Independence mine in the morning under heavy guard, but when they got to the mine they refused to go below. They were kept there all day and fed at Camp Goldfield.

On Saturday morning, Sept. 19, while the remaining twenty-three imported laborers were being escorted along Bennett avenue, Cripple Creek, by the military, the first shot of the “Cripple Creek District War” occurred when Lieutenant Hartung, of company B, took a shot at one of the imported Finns, Emil Peterson, who had been drawn off by the unions.

The strike breakers were being escorted from Miners’ Exchange hall to the depot by a detachment of company B. At the corner of Second and Bennett avenue Peterson broke through the lines and tried to talk to the strike breakers. He was ordered out by Capt. Frazier. As the man turned away he shouted in an excited manner, in his own tongue, to the others, and the captain called on Lieut. Hartung, “Arrest that man.” Peterson ran up the avenue, and Lieut. Hartung called, “Halt!” three times. The man increased his speed. The officer then sent a bullet after the man, who was now running like a frightened rabbit, his hat falling off in his mad rush for freedom and perhaps unionism.

Saturday morning unionists persuaded eighteen of the imported Finns to desert the mine owners, one of them being the man who was shot at by the lieutenant and whom the private sharp shooter offered to kill if the order was given. Peterson claimed that all of the strikebreakers were induced to come to Colorado by false representation, and the promise of high wages, from $4 to $5 a day being offered.

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Hellraisers Journal: Don MacGregor of the Denver Express Describes the Great Exodus of Striking Miners and Their Families from the Coal Camps of Southern Colorado

25th September 202326th September 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

The Exodus from Coal Camps to Ludlow, Don MacGregor, Dnv Exp Sept 24, 1913 per Beshoar p —————

Hellraisers Journal- Thursday September 25, 1913
The Great Exodus of Striking Miners from Company Towns

Southern Colorado, September 23, 1913
-Evicted Families Arrive at Ludlow and Trinidad as Rain Turns to Snow.

So Colorado Miners Evicted, Dy Bk p22, Sept 24, 1913 — Chicago *Day* *Book*
**September 24, 1913**

As the miners and their families were evicted from the company towns, Don MacGregor, a reporter from the Denver Express, was a witness and filed this report which was published September 24th:

No one who did not see that exodus can imagine its pathos. The exodus from Egypt was a triumph, the going forth of a people set free. The exodus of the Boers from Cape Colony was the trek of a united people seeking freedom.

But this yesterday, that wound its bowed, weary way between the coal hills on the one side and the far-stretching prairie on the other, through the rain and the mud, was an exodus of woe, of a people leaving known fears for new terrors, a hopeless people seeking new hope, a people born to suffering going forth to new suffering.

And they struggled along the roads interminably, in an hour’s drive between Tinidad and Ludlow, 57 wagons were passed, and others seemed to be streaming down to the main road from every by-path.

Every wagon was the same, with its high piled furniture, and its bewildered woebegone family perched atop, and the furniture! What a mockery to the state’s boasted riches. Little piles of miserable looking straw bedding! Little piles of kitchen utensils! And all so worn and badly used they would have been the scorn of any second-hand dealer on Larimer Street.

Prosperity! With never a single article even approaching luxury, save once in a score of wagons a cheap gaily painted gramophone! With never a bookcase! With never a book! With never a single article that even the owners thought worth while trying to protect from the rain!

[Emphasis added]

John Lawson, International Organizer for the United Mine Workers of America, was on hand through-out the day. When a superintendent taunted him by shouting, “A good day for a strike,” Lawson replied:

Any strike-day would look good to the people from your mines.

At Ludlow, Lawson helped to set up the canteen and greeted arriving families with milk and hot coffee as the rain turned into a snow.

One thousand tents being shipped from West Virginia by the U. M. W. have been delayed. At the Ludlow Tent Colony, many miners and their families spent the night in the big central tent. Some were taken to local union halls, and others were given shelter in the homes of nearby union sympathizers. The Greek miners, many of whom are single men, spent the night camped out in the snowstorm.

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Hellraisers Journal: Coal Strike is On in Southern Colorado Coalfields; Mass Exodus from Company Towns into Tent Colonies

24th September 202324th September 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Rise Up and Strike, UMW D15 Conv Sept 16 Trinidad CO, Dnv Exp Sept 17, 1913 —————

Hellraisers Journal- Wednesday September 24, 1913
Southern Colorado-Thousands of Striking Miners and Families Exit Company Towns

From the Trinidad Chronicle-News of September 23, 1913:

A meeting was held at Sopris this morning and talks were made by Frank J. Hayes and “Mother” Jones. A meeting will be held at Ludlow this afternoon. These meetings will continue from day to day at differenct camps to “keep the enthusiasm going”, as Vice President Hayes intimated last night.

Mother Jones worked up to a high pitch bordering on frenzey deliverd an impassioned address to more than three hundred coal miners at Sopris this morning. The meeting was held under canvass and the venerable labor leader sought to stir up the fires of revolet in the breast of every miner. While the speaking was going on scores of miners were receiving union cards. International vice president Frank J. Hayes also spoke. There was a good deal of enthusiasm manifested.

[Statement of Vice-President Frank Hayes to C-N reporter:]

We have conducted a quiet, dignified campaign. We feel confident the operators will accede to our demands in the near future. The miners by their action today have proved that they desire to enjoy better working conditions and work as union men and enjoy the same rights and privileges as the miners of Wyoming and neighboring states.

This is an age of co-operation and we demand the same right as the mine owners assert to band ourselves together for the purpose of promoting social and economic welfare. The statutes of Colorado concede us this right and the right to sell our labor collectively. We cannot surrender this legal right.

In view of the prosperity of this particular company [C. F. & I.] which also reflects the prosperity of other big corporations, we see no good reason why the miners should not enjoy more of the comforts and refinements of modern civilization. We have repeatedly sought to secure a joint conference but without success. We are still waiting for a conference to adjust the present controversy. If working conditions are as good as the operators say they are, then the operators ought not to fear to meet the miners in joint conference.

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Exodus of Miners from Company Towns Increases on Eve of Strike in the Southern Colorado Coalfields

23rd September 202324th September 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Rise Up and Strike, UMW D15 Conv Sept 16 Trinidad CO, Dnv Exp Sept 17, 1913

—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday September 23, 1913
Southern Colorado – Exodus of Miners and Families from Company Towns Increasing

From the Trinidad Chronicle News of September 22, 1913:

[…..]

At Segundo yesterday a meeting was held, attended by about two hundred…“Mother” Jones addressed a meeting at Walsenburg and returned to this city on the C. & S. train last evening.

Vice President Hayes and International Board Member John R. Lawson will arrive here tonight and will speak at meetings Sopris and Ludlow tomorrow. [Lawson’s] last official utterance before the strike was made in Denver last night when discussing the situation he said:

There will be a complete tie-up of coal mines all over the state on Tuesday. Statements of conditions made by the operators are ridiculous. The operators are only trying to deceive themselves and the public. This contest of the coal miners of Colorado is one largely for improvement of conditions. The operators have laid stress on the demand for recognition of the union. I see the Denver Chamber of Commerce also says that that is the cause of the strike. They are wrong. Recognition of the union is only a minor question.

The miners are fighting for improved conditions, for rights granted them by the state law, and they are eager for a strike. Why, the organization has been preventing a strike for the last three years.

The United Mine Workers are prepared to fight ten years, if necessary, to make conditions in the Colorado mines as good as they are in those of Wyomng and other states. They are prepared to fight indefinitely. They have the money necessary and they can get more.

The Colorado coal miners are poverty stricken. The union has to take care of them, to feed and clothe them, the minute they go on strike. They would not be willing to strike under such conditions if they did not have rights to fight for.

[…..]

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Denver United Labor Bulletin: Miners’ Strike in the Colorado Coal Fields Will Begin on Tuesday

22nd September 202322nd September 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote re Mother Jones, Fighting Angel, Denver CO ULB p1, Sept 20, 1913 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday September 22, 1913
Southern Colorado Coalfields – Miners Will Begin Strike on Tuesday

From the Denver United Labor Bulletin of September 20, 1913:

U. M. W. District 15 of Colorado Issues Strike Resolution, Makes Demands:

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Hellraisers Journal: From Miners Magazine: “Mother Jones of the Revolution-She Will Die Fighting” by Kate Richards O’Hare

21st September 202322nd September 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote re Mother Jones per Kate Richards OHare, Mnrs Mag p7, Sept 18, 1913 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday September 21, 1913
“Mother Jones of the Revolution” by Kate Richards O’Hare

From the Miners Magazine of September 18, 1913:

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Hellraisers Journal: Poetry from the Miners Magazine by Agnes Thecla Fair, Hobo Poet, and Mike Gallagher, Slatepicker Poet

20th September 202329th November 2023 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Agnes Thecla Fair, Revolutionary Women, Stt Sc Wkgmn p4, Nov 20, 1909 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday September 20, 1913
Poetry by Agnes Thecla Fair, Hobo Poet, and Mike Gallagher, Slatepicker Poet

From the Miners Magazine of September 18, 1913:

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Hellraisers Journal: Convention of District 15 of the United Mine Workers of America Issues Strike Call for Southern Colorado

19th September 202326th September 2024 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Strike Call, UMW District 15 for Sept 23, 1913 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday September 19, 1913
Trinidad, Colorado – U. M. W. District 15 Convention Issues Strike Call
-Strike to begin Tuesday September 23rd. Demands put forth.

The Demands of District 15
United Mine Workers of America

The demands agreed upon during the Special Convention which voted to strike on Tuesday, September 16th, are seven in number:

1. Union recognition
2. A wage scale for various types of mine work
3. The eight-hour work day
4. Pay for all narrow work and dead work
(The coal companies have historically expected the men to work without pay when brushing, timbering, removing falls, handling impurities, etc.)
5. A checkweighman at every mine, elected by the miners
6. The right of the miners to shop where they please, board where they please, and to choose their own doctors.
7. Enforcement of the Colorado Mining Laws and:
abolition of the the notorious and criminal guard system which has prevailed in the mining camps of Colorado for many years.

As the convention ended, Vice President Hayes told the cheering delegates that most of the demands were simply a demand for compliance by the coal companies with mining laws which were on the law books of the state of Colorado, and had been for many years.

Hayes continued:

I was never more hopeful for success than I am in this strike. I do not think it will last long. The operators cannot fight an organization of 450,000 men for long. I think we shall realize in Colorado the greatest victory in the history of our organization. I know we cannot lose because our demands are just, and, having made every honorable effort to adjust the differences, the responsibility rest not on us, but on the operators. I hope that when next Tuesday comes every miner will lay down his tools and never take them up again until they take them up as United Mine Workers, recognized by the operators.

[Emphasis added.]

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Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

Military Despotism in the Cripple Creek District

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

Report of Emma F. Langdon of Victor, Colorado:

51 STRIKE BREAKERS ARRIVE IN THE DISTRICT.

The Demands of District 15 United Mine Workers of America

The Demands of District 15
United Mine Workers of America