Tag: March 1904

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones to Governor Peabody: “You don’t own this state-I am right here in the capital-what in Hell are you going to do about it?

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday March 30, 1904
Denver, Colorado – Mother Jones to Governor Peabody: “You Don’t Own This State”

Mother Jones Deported, DP P10, Mar 28, 1904Mother Jones was deported by the military on orders of Governor Peabody on Saturday March 26th. With other organizers of the United Mine Workers of America, she was put aboard a Santa Fe train bound for La Junta, Colorado, some 65 miles north and east of Trinidad. They were all given deportation papers which warned them never to return. Mother sat all night in the station at La Junta, and the next morning, with the assistance of a sympathetic railroad conductor, she was able to board a train to Denver. From her hotel room, near the Governors office, she wrote the following letter:

Mr. Governor,
You notified your dogs of war to put me out of the state. They complied with your instructions. I hold in my hand a letter that was handed to me by one of them, which says “under no circumstances return to this state.” I wish to notify you, governor, that you don’t own the state. When it was admitted to the sisterhood of states, my fathers gave me a share of stock in it; and that is all they gave you. The civil courts are open. If I break a law of state or nation it is the duty of the civil courts to deal with me. That is why my forefathers established those courts to keep dictators and tyrants such as you from interfering with civilians. I am right here in the capital, after being out nine or ten hours, four or five blocks from your office. I want to ask you, governor, what in Hell are you going to do about it?

Mother Jones

[Emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones to Governor Peabody: “You don’t own this state-I am right here in the capital-what in Hell are you going to do about it?” →

Hellraisers Journal: UMW Strike Leaders Mother Jones, William Wardjon, Joseph Poggiani and Adolph Bartolli Deported from Trinidad on Orders of the Governor

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday March 29, 1904
Trinidad, Colorado – Coal Strike Leaders Deported on Orders of Governor Peabody

From The Scranton Republican of March 28, 1904

MOTHER” JONES AND OTHERS DEPORTED
———-
Major Hill Commanding State Militia at Trinidad
Causes Her Arrest on Saturday.

Mother Jones Deported, DP P10, Mar 28, 1904

DENVER, Colo., March 27.-Having received authority from the governor to act upon his judgment, Major Hill, commanding the state militia at Trinidad last night arrested “Mother” Jones, William Wardjon of Iowa, Joseph Pagini [Poggiani] and Adolph Bartolli, placed them on an eastbound train, and ordered them never to return to Trinidad or Las Animas county.

“Mother” Jones has been in Trinidad several months encouraging the strikers and counseling the driving out of non-union workers. Wardjon is an officer of the Iowa United Mine Workers who has been in Las Animas county for some time. He recently addressed a gathering of strikers advising that the non-union miners in the southern district be sent out in coffins. He further said that had such measures been taken here the strike would have been settled long ago. He called the Trinidad miners cowards, and said that if they had not shown cowardice and had done as he advised, the strike would not have lasted three weeks let alone three months.

A stenographic report of the speech was furnished Gov. Peabody before deporting Wardjon and others. Finding it was lawful and had been done in other states under similar circumstances, the government answered Major Hill’s request for authority to deport by placing the matter in the officer’s hands.

Pagini and Bartolli, who were deported with Wardjon and Mother Jones, are editors of the Italian Weekly at Trinidad, which was suppressed yesterday because of its rabid anarchistic editorials. President Moyer of the Western Federation of Miners, arrested yesterday for desecration of the flag, spent last night in jail at Telluride, being unable to secure bail.

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

As can be seen from the above article, the kept press is always quick to accuse leaders of the United Mine Workers of America of inciting violence, yet violence committed against those same leaders by deputized private gun thugs draws no such criticism.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: UMW Strike Leaders Mother Jones, William Wardjon, Joseph Poggiani and Adolph Bartolli Deported from Trinidad on Orders of the Governor” →

Hellraisers Journal: Colorado Officials Plot More Deportations Including Mother Jones; W. F. M. President Charles Moyer Arrested for “Desecration” of the American Flag

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Monday March 28, 1904
Colorado Governor Peabody Plots Further Deportations from Strike Zones

Mother Jones, Drawing, SDH p4, Mar 9, 1901

From the strike zones of Colorado comes news of further actions being taken against strike leaders by Governor Peabody. In Trinidad, where the United Mine Workers are conducting a strike against the coal operators, the military is planning to deport Mother Jones and other leaders from the strike zone.

In the strike zones of Telluride and Cripple Creek, posters and flyers (see below) printed by the Western Federation of Miners and authorized by Charles Moyer, President, and Big Bill Haywood, Secretary-Treasurer, were distributed. As a result, Moyer has been taken into custody for “desecration” of the flag.

WFM Flag Poster CO America, BBH Moyer, Flag 1 n 2, Wiki n World Today p973, Aug 1904

From The New York Times of March 27, 1904:

TO RUN LABOR LEADERS OUT OF COLORADO
———-
“Mother” Jones and Mine Agitators
Among Those to Go.
———-

MINERS’ PRESIDENT ARRESTED
———-
Charged with Desecrating the American Flag
-Italian Paper Seized by Militia and Censorship Established.
———

Special to the New York Times.

DENVER. March 26.-Gov. Peabody and Attorney General Miller held a conference this afternoon at the Capitol, at which a programme of deportation was decided upon for Trinidad. After the meeting the Governor wired Major Hill to prepare to deport all non-resident labor leaders from the district.

A special train will be secured and the leaders referred to will be taken outside the State and left there. The names on the deportation slate include those of Mother Jones of Pennsylvania, W. R. Fairley of Alabama, William Wardjon of Iowa, Chris Evans of Indiana, and Edward [Charles] Demolli of Utah.

The local companies assert that if the miner agitators are taken out of the district two-thirds of the strikers will return to work. The fact that they are non-residents will prevent them from securing injunctions or habeas corpus writs, the privilege granted a citizens of the State.

At Trinidad to-day the office of the Anarchistic weekly paper, Il Trovotore Italiano [Il Lavoratore Italiano], was seized by a squad of soldiers and this week’s issue, which was ready for distribution, was confiscated. It is charge that the paper had incited strikers to violence. Major Hill has established a press censorship.

[Note: Il Lavoratore Italiano is an Italian-language newspaper published since 1902 in Trinidad, Colorado, which serves as the official organ of the United Mines Workers’ District 15.]

———-

OURAY, Col, March 26.-Charles Moyer, President of the Western Federation of Miners, was arrested here to-day on charge of desecrating the American flag, and started overland for Telluride.

President Moyer was arrested on warrant which charge that he used pictures of the flag with inscriptions painted between the bars as poster.

—————

[Emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Colorado Officials Plot More Deportations Including Mother Jones; W. F. M. President Charles Moyer Arrested for “Desecration” of the American Flag” →

Hellraisers Journal: From the American Labor Union Journal: “Climax Reached at Telluride”-Citizen Thugs Deport Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

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

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday March 26, 1904
Telluride, Colorado – Union Men Dragged from Homes and Deported

From the American Labor Union Journal of March 24, 1904:

HdLn Telluride CO Deportations, ALUJ p1, Mar 24, 1904Telluride CO Deportations, ALUJ p1, Mar 24, 1904Telluride CO Deportations, ALUJ p4, Mar 24, 1904

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From the American Labor Union Journal: “Climax Reached at Telluride”-Citizen Thugs Deport Miners” →

Hellraisers Journal: Striking Miners of Telluride Attacked and Deported From Their Homes at Night by Citizens’ Alliance

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

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

Hellraisers Journal – Monday March 21, 1904
Telluride, Colorado – Armed Citizens’ Alliance Mob Deports Striking Miners

From The Denver Post of March 15, 1904:

Telluride Deportations, DP p1, Mar 15, 1904

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Striking Miners of Telluride Attacked and Deported From Their Homes at Night by Citizens’ Alliance” →

Hellraisers Journal: Chris Evans Assaulted Near Trinidad; Letter Received Threatening Mother Jones and U. M. W. A. Officials

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday March 20, 1904
Near Trinidad, Colorado – Chris Evans, U. M. W Official Assaulted, Seriously Injured 

From The Topeka Daily Capital of March 16, 1904:

THE EVANS ASSAULT.
———-
Officials of Mine Workers Express Great Indignation.

Chris Evans 1890, Secretary of AFL
Chris Evans, 1890

Indianapolis, Ind., March 15.-At the national headquarters of the United Mine Workers indignation was expressed over the assault in Colorado of Chris Evans. Evans is nearly 60 years of age and despite his long service in various official capacities with the miners, he has never been before assaulted. He was editor of the United Mine Workers Journal in this city for several years and served as national statistician of the organization. Prior to being sent to Colorado last November by the executive board he had charge of the disbursement of funds in West Virginia to the strikers. He is the third official of the United Mine Workers who recently has been assaulted in Colorado. The other two men who were assaulted and seriously injured were W. R. Fairley, member of the national executive board from Alabama, and James Mooney, member of the national executive board from Missouri.

Pueblo, Col., March 15-Chris Evans, financial agent of the United Mine Workers, who was assaulted yesterday near Trinidad, today gave the authorities a clue which they are investigating in the form of an anonymous letter sent to Wm. Wardon [Wardjon], national organizer, Mr. Evans and others, warning him and the other officials to leave the camp within two days. The letter also referred to “Mother” Jones and was signed “33.”

No attention was paid to it at the time, but Mr. Evans now thinks it a part of a well-formed plot to kill the officials

—————

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Chris Evans Assaulted Near Trinidad; Letter Received Threatening Mother Jones and U. M. W. A. Officials” →

Hellraisers Journal: Telluride, San Miguel County, Colorado – Affidavit of A. A. Pratt Arrested by Militia for Refusing to Scab

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday March 19, 1904
Telluride, Colorado – Arrested by Militia for Refusing to Scab

March 3, 1904, Telluride, Colorado-Affidavit of A. A. Pratt

AFFIDAVIT.
AH Floaten re AA Pratt of Telluride CO No Scab, ALU p1, Mar 10, 1904

State of Colorado, County of San Miguel, ss.
I, the undersigned A. A. Pratt, make the following statement under oath: On or about February 26, 1904, I was in Denver looking for work. A man by the name of Johnson told me I could get work as a miner in Telluride; that the strike was off and there was no martial law; that the soldiers were all withdrawn, and that transportation was furnished free. I concluded to go, and a Mr. Snodgrass gave me a ticket to Telluride.

When I arrived at Telluride, on the evening of the 27th, I was met at the depot and taken to the Victoria hotel to stay all night. The next morning a horse was brought to the hotel for me to ride to the Smuggler-Union mine, about four miles away. On the way to the mine we passed soldiers standing guard. When I got to the mine I made inquires and found out that the strike was on, that the district was under military rule. As the conditions had been misrepresented to me, and I did not want to work under these conditions, I told the boss that I had forgotten something in town and thus obtained a pass to present to the soldiers between the mine and the town.

In Telluride I was arrested on a warrant sworn to by Bulkely Wells, manager of the Smuggler-Union mine and commander of the militia, charging me with obtaining money under false pretenses. He appeared as a witness against me, although there had been no agreement made with him, nor with any one else, that I was to pay anything for fare, hotel or horse hire. These were furnished me without me asking for them, and he admitted that he had no agreement with me. There was no one but myself that knew anything about the matter, so the justice found me not guilty, but it shows to what measures they are willing to resort.

I do solemnly swear that the above statement is true to the best of my knowledge.

A. A. PRATT.

Sworn and subscribed to before me on the 3rd day of March, 1904
ALBERT HOLMES,
Justice of the Peace.

[Paragraphs and emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Telluride, San Miguel County, Colorado – Affidavit of A. A. Pratt Arrested by Militia for Refusing to Scab” →

Hellraisers Journal: Brutality Against Striking Miners of Telluride Continues; Many Arrests and Harry Maki Chained to Telephone Pole in Bitter Wind and Cold

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

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

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday March 8, 1904
Telluride, Colorado – Brutality Against Striking Miners Continues

Guy Miller Reports From Telluride

Telluride CO Harry Maki Chained to Pole, SL Hld p2, Mar 3, 1904

From the Telluride strike zone comes this disturbing report from Guy Miller, President of the local miners’ union (W. F. of M.):

[On Tuesday, March 2nd] thirty-four men were arrested in the justice court on the charge of vagrancy, twenty-seven of them were fined $25 and costs and given until two o’clock [Wednesday] to pay their fines, leave the county or go to work. Sixteen reported for work…they were taken to the jail by Willard Runnels and put to work on the sewers of the town. One of the men, Harry Maki, refused to work. Runnels led him to a telephone pole, compelled him to put his arms around the pole, then fastened handcuffs on his wrists. The wind was blowing a gale and the snow filled the air. He was left standing chained like a beast for several hours. After many protests had been made against this cruel treatment Runnels took him to the jail….

Brother Maki remains in jail at this time and has not been given anything to eat since his ordeal began.

Brother Miller describes the type of men brought in by the mine owners to lead the fight against the Western Federation of Miners:

Runnels and Robert Meldrum were imported from Wyoming by the mine managers for the avowed purpose of discovering the murderer of Arthur Collins. But their only contact with the union was when some man was held up on his way to town and searched for stolen ore, without warrant or any process whatever. Runnels and Meldrum were pals of Tom Horn, the leader of a band of desperadoes who had been hired by the cattle ranchers to fight the sheep ranchers. Horn was hanged at Cheyenne, Wyoming, in November, 1903, for the murder of little Willie Nickell, the twelve-year-old son of a sheep rancher. The evidence indicated that he received $600 for the murder. It is characters like these who lead the “law and order” brigade for the Mine Owners and Citizens’ Alliance—men skilled and reckless in the use of the gun. When a corporation pays fancy prices for skilled labor of any kind—carpenters, electricians, engineers or man-killers—it expects the employe to give value received for the wages paid, and they never pay for anything they do not expect to need.

Striking Miner Harry Maki, Western Federation of Miners:

Henry Maki WFM Telluride, Chained to Pole Mar 2, 1904

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Brutality Against Striking Miners of Telluride Continues; Many Arrests and Harry Maki Chained to Telephone Pole in Bitter Wind and Cold” →

Hellraisers Journal: “The Class War in Colorado” by John Spargo-W. F. of M. on Strike at Telluride and Cripple Creek

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, CFI Owns Colorado, re 1903 Strikes UMW WFM, Ab Chp 13, 1925—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday March 5, 1904
“The Class War in Colorado” by John Spargo-Strikes at Telluride and Cripple Creek

From The Comrade of March 1904:
Western Federation of Miners sends Delegates Reed and Dougan to New York City, will make known the truth about the miners’ strikes in Colorado.

Class War in CO by John Spargo, WFM Delegates Reed and Dougan, Comrade p128, Mar 1904

The article continues for the next two pages and covers the following subjects:
-Military Despotism established by Governor Peabody to crush the striking mines.
-Persecution of Foster, Parker, Davis and Adams.
-Terror inflicted upon Parker’s family.
-The Case of John Glover.
-The Case of Victor Poole.
-Telluride Deportations.
-“The W. F. of M. is one of the most advanced labor organizations in the country.”

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “The Class War in Colorado” by John Spargo-W. F. of M. on Strike at Telluride and Cripple Creek” →