Ludlow Massacre (1914)

Mon Apr 20, 1914

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Image: Ruins of the Ludlow Colony near Trinidad, Colorado, following an attack by the Colorado National Guard. Forms part of the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress. [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1914, the Ludlow Massacre occurred when the Colorado National Guard and a private security force attacked 1,200 striking coal miners, killing 21 people, including women and children. The event took place during the Colorado Coalfield War, a period of violent labor unrest in Colorado from 1913-1914.

The massacre was the culmination of months of labor strife in Ludlow, Colorado. The massacre began with a meeting between an anti-union militia and the labor leader (and former strikebreaker) Louis Tikas. Although Tikas discouraged violence, the strikers, who had noticed machine guns placed above the Ludlow colony, took cover in ad hoc fire positions.

Accounts differ as to who shot first, but a battle commenced between the armed factions, leading to nearly a dozen deaths, including one twelve-year old boy who was shot in the head. After the violence subdued, Tikas and other strikers were also found shot in the back.

The chief owner of the mine, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was widely condemned for having orchestrated the massacre. In retaliation, armed miners attacked dozens of anti-union establishments over the next ten days, destroying property and engaging in several skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard in a 40-mile front from Trinidad to Walsenburg.

An estimated 69 to 199 deaths occurred total during the strike. Historian Thomas G. Andrews has called it the “deadliest strike in the history of the United States”.

Although the strikers’ demands were not met, the event electrified national discussions of labor and had a positive impact on labor rights in the long run.