Tag: Telluride Strike of 1903-1904

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

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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.

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

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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.]

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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.]

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

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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

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

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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.”

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Hellraisers Journal: Colorado Militia Dismisses Case Against John M. Glover, Former Congressman from Missouri

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

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday February 18, 1904
Cripple Creek, Colorado – District Court Dismisses Case Against John M. Glover

From the Moberly Evening Democrat of February 11, 1904
Colorado Militia’s Case Against Rep. John M. Glover Dismissed:

John Glover Arrested by Military, SLTb p1, Jan 16, 1904

SECOND CASE DISMISSED.

The case against John M. Glover, formerly Congressman from Missouri, for having shot at Sergeant Smith, was dismissed at Cripple Creek, Colorado, yesterday in the District Court on the ground that the accused could not be tried twice for the same offense. Glover had already been found guilty of an assault upon Sergeant Dittmore.

Before sentence in the latter case is passed Mr. Glover will appeal to the Supreme Court.

The cases of General Sherman M. Bell and General Chase, charged with unlawfully imprisoning citizens in the bull pen while martial law was in effect, were then taken up.

[Newsclip from Salt Lake Tribune of Jan. 16, 1904, added.]
[Emphasis added.]

—————

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Hellraisers Journal: From American Labor Union Journal: “The Colorado Bull Pen” by Allan W. Ricker, of the Appeal to Reason

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

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday February 4, 1904
“The Story of the Colorado Bull Pen” by Allan W. Ricker

From the Appeal to Reason of January 30, 1904
-The Colorado Bullpen by Cartoonist G. H. Lockwood:

Colorado Bull Pen by GH Lockwood, AtR p1, Jan 30, 1904
Striking Miner’s Wife and Child

From the American Labor Union Journal of February 4, 1904
-“The Colorado Bull Pen” by Allan W. Ricker:

American Labor Union Journal p1, Feb 4, 1904Colorado Bull Pen by AW Ricker, ALUJ p1, Feb 4, 1904Colorado Bull Pen by AW Ricker, ALUJ p1, part 2, Feb 4, 1904

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Hellraisers Journal: The Denver Post: “Siberian Exiling Scenes Re-Enacted at Telluride” and News from Cripple Creek

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

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday January 20, 1904
News from Colorado Strike Zones of Telluride and Cripple Creek

From The Denver Post of January 15, 1904:

CO Siberian Exiling Scenes Deportations Telluride, DP p13, Jan 15, 1904

SIBERIAN EXILING SCENES.

Telluride, Colo., Jan. 15-Tears, curses, maledictions and prayers were heard at the depot this morning when the train pulled out of the station having on board six union miners, who were being deported by the military. The men were given breakfast early, the meal being served from the Sheridan hotel, after which the wife of one of them was reluctantly permitted to visit her husband in jail. At 8 o’clock a bunch of blue-coats, under the command of Captain Scholz, marched to the court house and the prisoners were taken to the county jail and formed into line, ready for the march to the station.

A woman with a small child attempted to fall in line with her husband, but was brutally prevented by the soldiers, who forced her back on the sidewalk. With a face drawn with bitter agony and grief she endeavored to keep up with the soldiers as they marched down the streets, but the prisoners had reached the train long before she had gone a block.

At the depot the men were immediately put aboard the train and two soldiers stationed at the car windows. The relatives of the men were allowed to talk to them, and for a moment the air was filled with tearful good-byes and well wishes.

Fifteen minutes before the signal was given to start three women came running down the track. One of them , a Mabel Marchinado, a mere girl, hardly 17 years old, weeping bitterly, rushed over the icy platform to the window in which one of the men was sitting, and exclaimed: “oh, papa, what are they going to do with you?”

Her father, Tony Marchinado, endeavored to comfort her, but the girl continued sobbing pitifully. The sympathy of the entire crowd at the depot went out to this girl, and some turned away. Then the soldiers ordered her to move on.

The girl suddenly ceased weeping and, turning to those standing, and in a voice loud enough for the military to hear, said: “I think it’s living shame for men living in this country to be treated in such a manner.” She was not arrested.

The woman with the small child in the meantime reached the depot almost exhausted. She purchased a ticket and boarded the train on which her husband was about to be sent into exile. She cried bitterly and her baby was blue with cold. “I am too sick to work and look after our baby alone, and I am going with my husband, if it means the jail.” she moaned. If ever volumes of mute sympathy went out from a crowd, it went out greater as she bent down her head and fondly kissed the lips of her offspring, in vain endeavor to hush its cries from the biting cold. It was by far the saddest incident yet recorded in the military occupation of Telluride and the subsequent deportation of striking miners…

[Emphasis added.]

The names of the six deported men are: Tony Marchinado, Tony Sartoris, Louis Sartoris, F. W. Wells, Matt Lingol and Battiste Monchiando.

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