History of the American West, 1860-1920: Photographs from the Collection of the Denver Public Library

Go directly to the collection, History of the American West, 1860-1920, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection. History topics include:

Agriculture | Mining | The Railroad | Native American Cultures | The Navajo and Apache Wars | The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Wars | Labor Strikes and Violence | The World Wars

Labor Strikes and Violence

Western miners worked ten- or twelve-hour shifts in mines and mills where premature dynamite blasts, fatal gas, underground fires, avalanches, falls, and cave-ins were constant threats. In the early twentieth century, western miners battled with management over working conditions, wages, and the right to unionize.

Funeral, Telluride

In Telluride, Cripple Creek, and Victor, Colorado these workers organized as the Western Miners Federation and went on strike, demanding shorter workdays, among other things. To keep their operations running and to undermine the strikers, management brought in other workers from neighboring communities, called strikebreakers. In Telluride, a gun battle broke out between strikers and strikebreakers on July 3, 1901, killing three men, including the mine superintendent, Charles M. Baker. The following year, the manager of the Telluride union was assassinated in his living room.

C.C. Hamlin addressing crowd

On June 6, 1904, in the Cripple Creek area, fourteen men were killed and others were wounded by a bomb placed under the train platform at the Independence railroad station. While evidence indicates that the bombing may have been the work of the Federation, controversy remains over who was actually responsible. Later that day, C. C. Hamlin of the Mine Owner's Association spoke to a crowd in Victor, decrying the violence at the Independence station and suggesting that Federation members should be killed. The speech incited a riot and the governor sent in the National Guard.

After nearly two years, the Colorado legislature passed a law providing an eight-hour day for some workers, and the strike ended with only a small percentage of workers actually gaining a shorter workday. Search on Cripple Creek strike, Victor strike, and WFM for pertinent images.

• Why do you think there was so much tension between strikers and strikebreakers?
• Why do you think that strikebreakers were willing to work for companies that other workers were protesting?

Federal troops at Ludlow

An even larger and more violent strike took place in Ludlow, Colorado in 1914. Coal miners working for the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company demanded improved safety, a higher wage, better living conditions, and union recognition. When the Rockefeller-owned company refused to agree to their demands, miners walked off the job.

Ludlow tent colony

These strikers and their families established a tent colony near the mine, and on April 20, the governor called in the National Guard to disperse them. When the strikers refused to leave, soldiers opened fire on the colony. A number of women and children were killed, some in underground pits where they had sought refuge. Search on Ludlow tent colony for related images.

Women's march for Mother Jones

The Ludlow Massacre aroused public protest throughout the nation. Mother Mary Jones, a noted union organizer, was arrested when she arrived in Ludlow. Women organized a protest and marched through the streets demanding her release. Marchers were dispersed by members of the Colorado National Guard on horseback. As the tensions and protests continued, President Woodrow Wilson ordered federal troops to Ludlow to maintain order.

• What caused tensions between the workers and the management of the gold and coal mines of Colorado in the early twentieth century?
• How did management respond to union organization? Why?
• What role did the Colorado National Guard play in the strikes at Cripple Creek and Ludlow? Was the state militia sent to maintain order or break strikes?
• Why do you think that these Colorado strikes resulted in so much violence?
• How did the Ludlow Massacre compare to the Haymarket Massacre of 1886 or the Homestead Massacre of 1892?

Agriculture | Mining | The Railroad | Native American Cultures | The Navajo and Apache Wars | The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Wars | Labor Strikes and Violence | The World Wars