—————
Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 10, 1913
Mother Jones Speaks at Meeting of Washington, D. C., Central Labor Union
From The Washington Herald of November 6, 1913:
Tag: Huerfano County CO
Hellraisers Journal: “Miners Go Out…Mother Jones Lecturing Miners for More Complete Organization”-Speaks at Sopris
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 9, 1903
Mother Jones Speaks to Miners at Sopris and Starkville, Colorado
From The Rocky Mountain News of November 8, 1903:
[Mother Jones at Sopris and Starkville]…..The meeting held at Sopris last night [November 6th], where the speaker was Mother Jones, was crowded. To-night she speaks at Starkville. Both these towns are incorporated, and the coal companies do not own the town sites, so no interference with the meeting can be brought about, even if it was the desire of the operators…..It is stated that all the miners are out at Berwind, and that all at Sopris and Starkville will refuse to go to work Monday. In the two latter towns, Mother Jones has made hurricane appeals to the miners to strike. She is a speaker of the strongest type, and the fact that she is a white haired woman carried weight with her talks, all of which recited the condition in the Eastern fields, and none of which referred to the conditions prevailing in Colorado or how to improve them…..[Emphasis added.]
Hellraisers Journal: UMWA Declares Strike of District 15’s Coal Miners Will Begin November 9th. Order Signed by President Mitchell So Instructs President Howells.
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday November 1, 1903
Indianapolis, Indiana – United Mine Workers Issues Strike Call for District 15
From The Rocky Mountain News of October 30, 1903:
Note error above: District 15 coal miners are members of the United Mine Workers of America, not the Western Federation of Miners (metal miners).
Hellraisers Journal: Governor Ammons Orders Troops Out Against Strikers in the Coalfields of Southern Colorado
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday October 29, 1913
Denver, Colorado – Governor Declares Martial Law in Southern Coalfields
From The Denver Post of October 27, 1913:
Officers of the United Mine Workers of America in conference with Governor Ammons regarding the strike situation in the Southern coal fields. Left to right are Governor Ammons, John McLennan, district president of the United Mine Workers of America and president of the Colorado State Federation of Labor; Vice President Frank J. Hayes and President John P. White of the United Mine Workers of America.
From The Rocky Mountain News of October 28, 1913:
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
—————
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.
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.
Hellraisers Journal: Coal Strike is On in Southern Colorado Coalfields; Mass Exodus from Company Towns into Tent Colonies
—————
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.]
Hellraisers Journal: “Rise Up and Strike”-Mother Jones Speaks at UMW District 15 Special Convention; Miners Vote to Strike
—————-
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 18, 1913
Trinidad, Colorado – U. M. W. District 15 Holds Special Convention
-Mother Jones Speaks; Miners Vote to Strike
From The Rocky Mountain News of September 17, 1913:
Monday September 15, 1913
Trinidad, Colorado – District 15 of U. M. W. of A. Meeting in Special Convention
The Special Convention of District 15 of the United Mine Workers of America begins today in Trinidad, Colorado. All efforts to negotiate with the mine owners has been exhausted, and it is expected that a strike call will be issued which could shut down the coal mines of the entire state of Colorado. Delegates from Huerfano County have made their way into Trinidad despite the declaration by Sheriff Jefferson Farr that not a single miner from his district would make it to the convention. Apparently, Farr and his 326 deputies were no match for the determined union coal miners.
Mother Jones is in Trinidad and will address the Convention tomorrow.
—————-
Tuesday September 16, 1913
Trinidad, Colorado – Special Convention Opens with “Battle Cry of Union.”
The Special Convention of the United Mine Workers of America’s District 15 opened yesterday with 250 delegates singing the “Battle Cry of Union:”
We will win the fight today, boys,
We’ll win the fight today,
Shouting the battle cry of union;
We’ll rally from the coal mines,
We’ll rally from the hills,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union.
The union forever, hurrah boys, hurrah!
Down with the gunthugs and up with the law;
For we’re coming, Colorado,
We’re coming all the way,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union
While general business was being conducted in the hall, the Scale and Policy Committee, led by John Lawson, took testimony from the coal miners of the southern fields. The grievances of the miners are many and include: being paid in script worth only 90 cents on the dollar at the company stores or saloons which they are forced to patronize, being robbed in the weighing of coal at the rate of 400 to 800 pounds per ton, being forced to vote according to the views of the company superintendent, being discharged for union membership, being discharged for voicing any complaint whatsoever about short weights, safety conditions or camp conditions.
But mostly the coal miners hate the company guard system. These gunthugs who lord it over them in the company towns, have become increasingly intolerable as the union organizing drive in the southern coalfield has progressed.
Mother Jones will speak at the convention today, a strike vote will be taken, and demands will be issued. The miners know full well that a strike will lead to to eviction from their homes. They will be homeless along with their families, creating 20,000 refugees in all. The U.M.W. has been shipping tents, food, blankets, and clothing into the area. Locations are being rented by the Union where strikers’ tent colonies can be established.
—————
Hellraisers Journal: UMW Organizer Mike Livoda Warned to Leave Colorado, Beaten and Terrorized at Huerfano County
—————
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday July 4, 1912
Mike Livoda, Organizer for U. M. W. A., Beaten in Huerfano County, Colorado
Affidavit of Mike Livoda
-Sworn to on June 20, 1912, at Las Animas County:
From the Denver Post of June 27, 1912:
ATTORNEY GENERAL ASKED TO
ASSUME PROSECUTOR
———-
Other Authorities Fail to File in
Assault and Robbery Case.
———-Governor Shafroth has been reminded that when a county prosecuting officer fails to do his duty when facts are presented sufficient to make a prima facie case the attorney general of the state can step in and personally take charge of the prosecution. When Attorney General Benjamin Griffith returns Friday he will be instructed by the governor to proceed against the five men who dragged Michael Livoda, organizer for the United Mine Workers of America, from his bed, robbed him of his union papers and ordered him to leave Walsenburg and Colorado.
John McLennan and John R. Lawson, in charge of the organization of miners, made the request that the state executive take action after District Attorney McHenry of Las Animas county failed to act. Deputy District Attorney Undershot, at Walsenburg, also refused to cause the arrest of the accused men.
McLennan and Lawson gave the names of these men to Governor Shafroth to turn over to the attorney general for prosecution: Charles A Kaiser, assistant superintendent of the Walsen mine; Deputy Sheriff Carr, stationed at the Walsen mine; James Farr, deputy sheriff, stationed at the Ravenwood mine, where Livoda was beaten, and a nephew of Sheriff Jefferson Farr; John Neish, superintendent of the Ravenwood mine, and Joseph Watson, guard at the Ravenwood mine. They claim to have witnesses to prove the five men guilty of the assault and robbery
Livoda was asleep in the house of a friend on the night of June 13 when five men entered the place, went through his clothes, took all union documents, marched him through the camp with mouth bound so he could not cry out, and when he reached the open country turned him loose after firing four shots and threatening to kill him if he came back.
—————
[Emphasis added.]
WE NEVER FORGET: Alexander Obremski Who Gave His Life in Freedom’s Cause at Rugby, Colorado on May 18, 1907
Link up in one socialist company;
Evil must perish!
Only together and united!
Long live the Western Federation of Miners!
-Alex Obremski
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexander Obremski
Union Organizer for the Western Federation of Miners
In 1907, Alexander Obremski was a union organizer for the Western Federation of Miners, working in the very dangerous field of the Trinidad area of southern Colorado. The field was considered to be so dangerous that organizers took the precaution of traveling in pairs.
On the evening of May 18, 1907, Brother Obremski was shot down in a saloon in Rugby, Colorado, near Trinidad, by Juan Espinosa, “a Mexican allegedly hired by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) for this purpose.” [See below.]
A large funeral was held in Trinidad on May 22nd to honor the intrepid union organizer. He was survived by two brothers who lived in Starkville, Colorado.
According to M. E. White who had charge of WFM headquarters in Trinidad:
Much credit is due for the three hundred members initiated here in the last five months, and at Pueblo, to the faithful and diligent work of your organizer, Brother James Peretto, and the late Brother Obremsky who took their lives in their hands in the work of educating the slaves of this district.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCE I
Essays in Colorado History, Issues 5-10
Colorado Historical Society, 1987
(Search with “alex obremski” reveals signature: “Alex. Obremski.”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=_ngjAQAAIAAJ
Note: not available online except in snippet view. By using various search-words, I was able to bring up some relevant information. I will be attempting to track down this source in a library.
Page 55-
Alexander Obremski (1876-1907)
Correspondence from Trinidad, Colorado
Published as “Korespondencje. Trinidad, Colo.” in Robotnik Polski
Hellraisers Journal: W. F. of M. Convention Demands Investigation Into Murder of Organizer Alex Obremski
He knew he was taking his life in his hands
in going to Trinidad, but as he was ordered there
he would not shirk his duty.
-Henry Morris of Pueblo on murder of
WFM Organizer Alex Obremski
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellraisers Journal, Saturday June 29, 1907
Denver, Colorado – W. F. of M. Convention Wants Investigation
From the Albuquerque Evening Citizen of June 15, 1907:
WILL INVESTIGATE THE SHOOTING
OF A MINER
—–
Murdered Western Federation Organizer
May Have Been Victim of Conspiracy.
—–LETTER CONTAINS STRONG ALLEGATION
—–
Denver, Colo., June 15.-The Western Federation of Miners’ convention today received a communication from a member in Las Animas county, suggesting an investigation of the killing of Alexander Obrenski [Obremski], a Federation organizer, by Juan Eskinas [Espinosa], at Rugby, Colo., about one month ago [May 18th].
The killing was alleged, at the time, to have occurred in a barroom row, but the writer of the communication suggested that it was the result of a conspiracy to injure the Federation.
Strong Statement.
He makes the statement that the row was not participated in by the organizer, but that the belligerents managed to gather around Obrenski, and before he could get away a shot was fired, and he fell to the floor, [..and..?] The fighters melted into obscurity immediately.
