the ludlow massacre-20 april 1914

[niyad]

(ludlow isn't far from here, so I make it a point every year to go in remembrance)


The Ludlow Massacre

After they burned the tent colonyThe date April 20, 1914 will forever be a day of infamy for American workers. On that day, 18 innocent men, women and children were killed in the Ludlow Massacre. The coal miners in Colorado and other western states had been trying to join the UMWA for many years. They were bitterly opposed by the coal operators, led by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

Upon striking, the miners and their families had been evicted from their company-owned houses and had set up a tent colony on public property. The massacre occurred in a carefully planned attack on the tent colony by Colorado militiamen, coal company guards, and thugs hired as private detectives and strike breakers. They shot and burned to death 18 striking miners and their families and one company man. Four women and 11 small children died holding each other under burning tents. Later investigations revealed that kerosine had intentionally been poured on the tents to set them ablaze. The miners had dug foxholes in the tents so the women and children could avoid the bullets that randomly were shot through the tent colony by company thugs. The women and children were found huddled together at the bottoms of their tents.

The Baldwin Felts Detective Agency had been brought in to suppress the Colorado miners. They brought with them an armored car mounted with a machine gun—the Death Special— that roamed the area spraying bullets. The day of the massacre, the miners were celebrating Greek Easter. At 10:00 AM the militia ringed the camp and began firing into the tents upon a signal from the commander, Lt. Karl E. Lindenfelter. Not one of the perpetrators of the slaughter were ever punished, but scores of miners and their leaders were arrested and black-balled from the coal industry.

A monument erected by the UMWA stands today in Ludlow, Colorado in remembrance of the brave and innocent souls who died for freedom and human dignity.

. . . .

http://www.umwa.org/?q=content/ludlow-massacre

[niyad]

1. woody guthrie--the ludlow massacre

[Kolesar]

2. Wow. That's really sad. eom

[freshwest]

3. One wonders how many descendents of the unpunished murderers live in Colorado?

How many are wealthy, own a great deal of the state or sit in positions of power, their names sounding stately and wise?

Are they part of the culture that has threatened Democrats in CO for heeding the will of their constituents on gun control?

I suspect many hidden histories effect the way that people act in ways that seem inexplicable to many who support maintaining a civil society.

Perhaps it is not inevitable that people will evolve or become more civilized, just repeat the same things in different forms.

[niyad]

5. will check with my friends in the local historical society, see if anybody has covered that. made

me think of the sand creek massacre, as well. wonder how the descendents of those murdering bastards turned out. chivington's family finally "apologized" for his actions, a few years ago. one of very few apologies for any of the massacres of the native peoples or striking workers.

[Sherman A1]

4. K&R

Thanks for posting.

[Skeeter Barnes]

6. I did not know about this.

The workers (and their families) that came before us sacrificed so much. They are the reason we have anything today.

Thanks for posting this information, niyad.

[hrmjustin]

7. Welcome to DU Skeeter Barnes!

[niyad]

8. welcome to DU, skeeter. you are most welcome. I am happy to do what I can to support my

union sisters and brothers.