Company
84-524: Strike leaders: Louis Tikas X John R. Lawson [REDACTED] Mother Jones Gov. Elias Ammons John D. Rockefeller Jr. Adjutant Gen. John Chase Lt. Karl Linderfelt John C. Osgood Company Government National Guard Events Locations Commemorations The Colorado Coalfield War was a major labor uprising in the southern and central Colorado Front Range between September 1913 and December 1914. Striking began in late summer 1913, organized by
168-762: A run on guns in Trinidad. A mine in Dawson , New Mexico collapsed on 22 October, killing 263 miners. The disaster was at the time the worst mining disaster in the Western United States. It served to further raise ire amongst the miners and added perceived legitimacy to the UMWA strike just north of the Colorado–New Mexico border. On 24 October, a day after Governor Ammons left the strike zone, Walsenburg Sheriff Jeff Farr recruited 55 deputies. Later that day, while escorting
252-540: A "molly" or "Molly mule", although the term is sometimes used to refer to female mules in general. A male mule is properly called a "horse mule", although it is often called a "john mule", which is the correct term for a gelded mule. A young male mule is called a "mule colt", and a young female is called a "mule filly". Breeding of mules became possible only when the range of the domestic horse, which originated in Central Asia in about 3500 BC , extended into that of
336-522: A Huerfano County jail. At 76 years old, she was held for 26 days in the subterranean cell. Pro-union publications used this detention as a rallying call, exaggerating the squalid qualities of the cell and claiming she was an even older, more fragile woman than she was. Louis Tikas Government National Guard Events Locations Commemorations Louis Tikas ( Greek : Λούης Τίκας ), born Elias Anastasios Spantidakis (Greek: Ηλίας Αναστάσιος Σπαντιδάκης ; 13 March, 1886 – 20 April, 1914),
420-538: A cellar. Five strikers, two other youngsters, and at least four men associated with the militia also died. Though the Ludlow battle ended on the night of 20 April, 1914, sporadic violence continued for days after. Battles that took place at various coal camps claimed many more lives. In late April, federal troops moved into southern Colorado, almost immediately restoring peace. The strike, however, continued through early December, finally coming to an end without resolution. Despite
504-593: A clerk working at the McLaughlin Mine. The Military Commission held three or four men in relation to the Smith attack before releasing them to civil authorities. The National Guard reported that on 18 November the Piedmont home of Domenik Peffello, a miner who had quit the strike, was dynamited . Peffello likely lost his home after returning to it upon abandoning the Piedmont tent colony. Baldwin-Felts detective George Belcher
588-466: A machine gun. The spray from the gun drove armed strikers back toward the tents, and provided excellent coverage for guardsmen advancing toward the tents. Meanwhile, Company A reinforcements, along with Lt. Karl Linderfelt , arrived with another machine gun to offer support to Company B. The colonists now faced two automatic weapons and about 150 guardsmen. Machine gun and rifle fire forced women and children colonists to take refuge in storage cellars beneath
672-432: A manner. In Southern Colorado, an expanded strike began on 23 September 1913 during a rainstorm. That day, the strike peaked with up to 20,000 miners and family members being evicted from company housing. Prior to the eviction, there had been plans to move them all into union supplied tents. Eight tent colonies were supposed to have been constructed with materials from the UMWA in anticipation such an eventuality, but most of
756-507: A mule foal cloned by nuclear transfer of cells from foetal material, was born at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho . Neither an equid nor a hybrid animal had been cloned before. In general terms, in both the mule and the hinny, the foreparts and head of the animal are similar to those of the father sire , while the hindparts and tail tend to resemble those of the dam . A mule
840-407: A mule's giving birth was a frequently recorded portent in antiquity, although scientific writers also doubted whether it was really possible (see e.g. Aristotle , Historia animalium , 6.24; Varro , De re rustica , 2.1.28). Between 1527 and 2002, approximately sixty such births were reported. In Morocco in early 2002 and Colorado in 2007, mare mules produced colts. Blood and hair samples from
924-472: A pile of repeating rifles . Also that morning, strikebreaker Pedro Armijo was being escorted through a crowd of strike-supporters when he was shot in the head. The bullet wounded striker Michele Guerriero, who lost an eye and was arrested by the militia, who held him for three months on suspicion of knowing who fired the bullet. Later that day, the National Guard reported that strikers assaulted Herbert Smith,
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#17328443710211008-460: A set of wagons belonging to a non-striking family on Seventh Street, the deputies fired into a hostile crowd, killing three foreign miners. Fearing a military response, an armed group of Greek strikers were sent by John Lawson to prevent troops from arriving in the area by the C&;S train, and they fired with little effect on it as it passed through. Lieutenant Linderfelt, one of the first deputized into
1092-469: A stallion, was bred to several mares, which gave birth to live foals that showed no characteristics of the donkey. In 1995, a group from the Federal University of Minas Gerais described a female mule that was pregnant for a seventh time, having previously produced two donkey sires, two foals with the typical 63 chromosomes of mules, and several horse stallions that had produced four foals. The three of
1176-399: A striking miner who had been hired as a rancher, Mark Powell, was herding cattle near patrolling CF&I mine guards. The guards were passing near a C&S train bridge. A sudden burst of gunfire erupted, sending the guards to cover and killing Powell. His death came the same day four pieces of artillery arrived in the strike zone with a National Guard company. News of the incident resulted in
1260-408: A telegram to Ammons that Linderfelt had used the "vilest of language" towards the boy in question and had said to the strikers "I am Jesus Christ , and my men on horses are Jesus Christs, and we must be obeyed." Lawson also suggested Linderfelt had acted with the intention of provoking the strikers to violence. On 8 March 1914 the body of a strikebreaker, Neil Smith, was found on the train tracks near
1344-522: Is generally larger than a hinny, with longer ears and a heavier head; the tail is usually covered with long hair like that of its mare mother. A mule has the thin limbs, small narrow hooves and short mane of the donkey, while its height, the shape of the neck and body, and the uniformity of its coat and teeth are more similar to those of the horse. Mules vary widely in size, from small miniature mules under 125 cm (50 in) to large and powerful draught mules standing up to 180 cm (70 in) at
1428-527: Is on par with scabbery ." In its aftermath, the National Guard prepared for additional violence by constructing fortifications, including the large cobblestone Golden Armory in June 1913. Since the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903–1904, CF&I had spent $ 20,000 annually (equivalent to $ 678,222 in 2023) on private detectives and security to monitor and infiltrate unions . Baldwin-Felts spy Charles Lively
1512-444: Is rare, but can occasionally occur naturally, as well as through embryo transfer . A few mare mules have produced offspring when mated with a horse or donkey stallion. Herodotus gives an account of such an event as an ill omen of Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC: "There happened also a portent of another kind while he was still at Sardis—a mule brought forth young and gave birth to a mule" (Herodotus The Histories 7:57), and
1596-654: The Colorado and Southern railroad passed through Trinidad and Walsenburg . It followed the 1912 Northern Colorado Coalfield Strikes. Tensions climaxed at the Ludlow Colony , a tent city occupied by about 1,200 striking coal miners and their families, in the Ludlow Massacre on 20 April 1914 when the Colorado National Guard attacked. In retaliation, armed miners attacked dozens of mines and other targets over
1680-454: The La Veta Pass and near the pro-union town of the same name , pro-union men began harassing " scabs "–non-striking and strikebreaking miners. William Gambling rejected offers to join the union on his way to the local dentist and, returning in a mail carrier 's car with three CF&I company men, was ambushed. Gambling was the only survivor. The militia rounded up several men after finding
1764-513: The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) against the Rockefeller -owned Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) after years of deadly working conditions and low pay. The strike was marred by targeted and indiscriminate attacks from both strikers and individuals hired by CF&I to defend its property. Fighting was focused in the southern coal-mining counties of Las Animas and Huerfano , where
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#17328443710211848-406: The hinny , which is the offspring of a male horse (a stallion ) and a female donkey (a jenny ). Mules vary widely in size, and may be of any color seen in horses or donkeys. They are more patient, hardier and longer-lived than horses, and are perceived as less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys. A female mule that has oestrus cycles, and so could, in theory, carry a fetus, is called
1932-430: The withers . The median weight range is between about 370 and 460 kg (820 and 1000 lb). The coat may be of any color seen in the horse or in the donkey. Mules usually display the light points commonly seen in donkeys: pale or mealy areas on the belly and the insides of the thighs, on the muzzle, and around the eyes. They often have primitive markings such as dorsal stripe, shoulder stripe or zebra stripes on
2016-713: The 31 January 1910 explosion that killed 75 at the Primero Mine and the Starkville Mine explosion that killed 56 on 8 October of that year. Both of these accidents took place in Las Animas County , part of what became the strike zone and where the Ludlow Colony was established. These incidents raised the fatality rate in Colorado to above 10 deaths per 1,000 workers, three times the national average. Due to jury tampering by
2100-787: The Baldwin-Felts and UMWA, is considered the largest labor uprising in the U.S. by number of combatants. Contemporaneous accounts suggest the Blair Mountain strikers feared Baldwin-Felts would utilize a gun-equipped truck on their number, erroneously believing that the Death Special had been present at the Ludlow Massacre. Like the Colorado National Guard in 1913–1914, the West Virginia National Guard were drawn into
2184-499: The Black Hills. Meanwhile, a deserted tent burst into flames and, within a short time, more tents began to burn. At the same time, the militiamen overran and took command of the colony site. By early morning, 21 April, 1914, the colony site––previously covered by hundreds of tents––revealed nothing more than charred rubble remains of the tents. The bodies of two women and eleven children––victims of asphyxiation––were found huddled within
2268-653: The Calumet strike. The report pertaining to the Southern Colorado strike was released on 2 March 1915. The UMWA would legally challenge the National Guard imprisonment of four strikers in Las Animas County on habeas corpus grounds, while the National Guard stated the imprisonments were permitted by previous court rulings and the Posse Comitatus Act . The court sided with the National Guard on 29 January. Due to
2352-534: The Colorado birth verified that the mother was indeed a mule and the foal was indeed her offspring. A 1939 article in the Journal of Heredity describes two offspring of a fertile mare mule named "Old Bec," which was owned at the time by Texas A&M University in the late 1920s. One of the foals was a female, sired by a jack. Unlike her mother, she was sterile. The other, sired by a five-gaited Saddlebred stallion, exhibited no characteristics of any donkey. That horse,
2436-556: The Forbes tent colony, located near the then-emptied Rocky Mountain Fuel Company town of the same name, an incident that occurred as a congressional committee was touring the area. The National Guard claimed that the colony harbored the murderers and was "so established that no workmen [could] leave the camp at Forbes without passing along or through" the colony. In retaliation, the Guard destroyed
2520-460: The National Guard marched between the mines and tent colonies to effect a disarmament on both sides. The military report of the incident records a warm reception by the strikers, especially those at Ludlow who created a band to herald the arrival of soldiers, though the National Guard only received a reported 20–30 weapons, including a toy gun . On the morning of 8 November, at the Oakview Mine, in
2604-584: The National Guard reported discovering an unexploded bomb near their camp at Walsenburg, estimating that it could have killed many of the troops stationed there. The Guard used this incident, which resulted in new arrests, as evidence of striker aggression towards the military in the region. The same day, the United States House Committee on Mines and Mining opened an investigation on both the Northern and Southern Colorado Coalfield strikes, as well as
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2688-678: The New World. George Washington bred mules at his Mount Vernon home. At the time, they were not common in the United States, but Washington understood their value, as they were "more docile than donkeys and cheap to maintain." In the nineteenth century, they were used in various capacities as draught animals – on farms, especially where clay made the soil slippery and sticky; pulling canal boats; and famously for pulling, often in teams of 20 or more animals, wagonloads of borax out of Death Valley , California from 1883 to 1889. The wagons were among
2772-434: The area were affiliated in some fashion with CF&I and the other major mining companies and acted as an initial force against the strikers. Their numbers were bolstered as the strike began by recruiting of new sheriffs and deputies, including Karl Linderfelt , who later led the militia. Many of those deputized, and at least 66 in two days, were from Texas , while others were from New Mexico . General John Chase had been
2856-461: The colony on 10 March, burning it to the ground while most inhabitants were away and arresting all 16 men living in the tents, an action that indirectly resulted in the deaths of two newborn children. Mother Jones, who had already been arrested twice by the militia, again traveled south on 22 March in an effort to reach Trinidad. Arriving in Walsenburg by train, the militia arrested her and held her in
2940-518: The companies, very few accident lawsuits were launched; between 1895 and 1915, no personal injury lawsuits were launched against coal mining companies in Huerfano County. In the case of the 1910 Primero accident, a coroner's report issued after five days absolved CF&I of any civil or criminal responsibility. Additionally, a high rate of disease afflicted the minefields, with at least 151 inhabitants of CF&I company towns contracting typhoid in
3024-572: The company to his son John D. Rockefeller Jr. as a birthday gift. The company already had a history of buying political figures and banking "graft", but Lamont Montgomery Bowers, who was hired to "untangle the mess", caused additional issues. Bowers, made chairman of the CF&;I board in 1907, admitted that the company had "mighty power in the entire state." Under his leadership, every employee—regardless of citizenship status—as well as company mules were registered to vote. The workers were coerced to vote for
3108-561: The company's interests. He cut the Sociological Department and embraced the idea of a hands-off approach to employee management. This caused rampant dishonesty in middle management , to the detriment of the mine workers. Despite the reduction of the Sociological Department's involvement in some aspects employees' lives, there was still enforcement of certain societal regulations. A later federal report would claim CF&I
3192-603: The conflict, though how these weapons were sourced is uncertain. Death Special was constructed at a CF&I shop in Pueblo for company use against their striking workers and passed on to the militia later in the conflict. Prior to being distributed to the militia, company-employed detectives were accused of firing randomly into and above the miners' colonies from Death Special . The strikers also armed themselves through private sales, primarily through local private dealers. Colorado gun dealers are recorded as having sold to both sides in
3276-411: The day of the massacre in response to allegations of a man being held against his will in the camp. The militia placed machine guns on the hills and Tikas, anticipating trouble, ran back to camp. But fighting broke out lasting all day. By 7:00 pm, the camp was aflame. Tikas remained in the camp the entire day and was there when the fire started. Lieutenant Karl Linderfelt , a rival of Tikas' during much of
3360-649: The domestic ass, which originated in north-eastern Africa. This overlap probably occurred in Anatolia and Mesopotamia in Western Asia, and mules were bred there before 1000 BC . A painting in the Tomb of Nebamun at Thebes , dating from approximately 1350 BC , shows a chariot drawn by a pair of animals which have been variously identified as onagers , as mules or as hinnies. Mules were present in Israel and Judah in
3444-399: The first mines to go on strike, on 2 December. On 17 December, the National Guard, under orders from Gov. Ammons from 1 December, allowed for the strikebreakers to resume entering the strike zone following a brief moratorium on any workers other than those already present in Southern Colorado working. The return of Mother Jones to Trinidad on 11 January resulted in considerable response. She
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3528-406: The heavy loss of lives and property, the strikers' efforts and losses weren't entirely in vain. The effects of the strike and the violence encouraged state and federal lawmakers to pass legislation that, in the long run, would help hasten improvements in conditions for working miners. The Ludlow Monument , erected by the United Mine Workers of America a couple years after the massacre, stands near
3612-405: The horse it inherits speed, conformation, and agility. Mules are reputed to exhibit a higher cognitive intelligence than their parent species, but robust scientific evidence to back up these claims is lacking. Preliminary data exist from at least two evidence-based studies, but they rely on a limited set of specialized cognitive tests and a small number of subjects . Mules are generally taller at
3696-506: The influence of the Colorado National Guard and Greek Union leaders, such as Louis Tikas in Ludlow Colony, the strike had become relatively peaceful by the beginning of 1914. The strikers and the Guardsmen sat opposite each other at Ludlow, with brown tents for the soldiers appearing on the opposite side of the track from the white ones belonging to the colonists starting in November 1913. There
3780-766: The largest ever pulled by draught animals, designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at a time. Mules were used by armies to transport supplies, occasionally as mobile firing platforms for smaller cannons, and to pull heavier field guns with wheels over mountainous trails such as in Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War . In the second half of the twentieth century, widespread use of mules declined in industrialised countries. The use of mules for farming and for transportation of agricultural products largely gave way to steam-, then diesel-powered, tractors and lorries. On 5 May 2003, Idaho Gem ,
3864-421: The late summer of 1913 when the United Mine Workers of America organized its regional District 15, led by John McLennan, to represent Southern Coloradan coal field workers and put forward demands to Colorado Fuel and Iron. Demands that emphasized enforcement of new regulatory laws were not met. Among the demands unheeded was the enforcement of a mine-safety bill passed in 1913 which required better ventilation in
3948-452: The latter available for testing each bore 64 horse-like chromosomes. These foals phenotypically resembled horses, though they bore markings absent from the sire's known lineages, and one had ears noticeably longer than those typical of her sire's breed. The elder two horse-like foals had proved fertile at the time of publication, with their progeny being typical of horses. While a few mules can carry live weight up to 160 kg (353 lb),
4032-629: The law" in the "persecution of organizers and union members," as among the primary reasons for strikers taking arms against CF&I. The Copper County Strike of copper workers in Calumet , Michigan , for nine months from 1913 to 1914, ran concurrently with the Colorado strike, and both strikers and Guardsmen were aware of the events in Michigan through coverage in Collier's and other nationally circulating publications. The Coalfield Strikes of 1913–1914 began in
4116-443: The leader of the National Guard units charged with the suppression of the 1903–1904 Cripple Creek Strike and was disposed positively towards the mine guards and hired detectives that would eventually supplement his ranks. CF&I vehicles and other infrastructure were regularly employed by the Guard for the duration of the strike. Chase, in his position at the head of the Colorado National Guard, embraced an aggressive stance against
4200-487: The legs. The mule exhibits hybrid vigor . Charles Darwin wrote: "The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. That a hybrid should possess more reason, memory, obstinacy, social affection, powers of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature". The mule inherits from the donkey the traits of intelligence, sure-footedness, toughness, endurance, disposition, and natural cautiousness. From
4284-417: The militia, then led a group of 20 militiamen to hold a section house along the railway a half-mile south of Ludlow when at 3 pm they came under fire from strikers in elevated positions on the ridges. John Nimmo, a mine guard and National Guardsman from Denver , was killed early in the engagement. A relief force of 40 militia and Baldwin-Felts arrived with a machine gun after the fighting had shifted to
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#17328443710214368-421: The miners and another who would find employment with the local management. Working in tandem, each pairing would locate miners who were opposed to unionization and report them to the company as union sympathizers—an offense that generally resulted in contract termination—in order to covertly replace them with genuine union members. It is possible that up to 3,000 UMWA members were introduced to the coalfields in such
4452-421: The mines, but which had no enforcement provision. On 16 September 1913, miners with and union members with District 15 adopted demands for a seven-step improvement to the wage scale of miners and company recognition of the UMWA. In December 1912, the UMWA had sent 21 "recruiting teams" to the Southern Colorado coalfields. These recruiting teams generally consisted of two union men: one who would embed himself among
4536-537: The multiple camps in nearby Berwind Canyon . This, coupled with a snowstorm , broke up the battle. The National Guard was mobilized on 28 October and began field operations the next day. The next day, several buildings were set on fire in Aguilar , including a post office and a mine. The Guard later arrested several strikers in relation to this arson and handed them over to the U.S. Marshal Service . After an agreement between General Chase and John Lawson, on 1 November
4620-428: The next ten days, killing strikebreakers , destroying property, and engaging in several skirmishes with the National Guard along a 225-mile (362 km) front from Trinidad to Louisville , north of Denver . Violence largely ended following the arrival of federal soldiers in late April 1914, but the strike did not end until December 1914. No concessions were made to the strikers. An estimated 69 to 199 people died during
4704-427: The president of CF&I, announced he would not meet with the strikers and that the confrontation “would be a strike to the finish.” The day the strike was declared, Mother Jones led a march on the Trinidad town hall, giving a brief speech outside and inside: "Rise up and strike! If you are too cowardly, there are enough women in this country to come in here and beat the hell out of you." During this initial stage of
4788-458: The recruitment of mine guards meant for service directly under CF&I. The Baldwin-Felts and CF&I had an armored car nicknamed the Death Special , which was equipped with a machine gun, as well as eight machine guns purchased by CF&I from the Coal Operators' Association of West Virginia—a mining company association. Three additional machine guns reached the strike zone by the end of
4872-448: The shoulder than donkeys and have better endurance than horses, although a lower top speed. In the early twentieth century the mule was preferred to the horse as a pack animal – its skin is harder and less sensitive than that of a horse, and it is better able to bear heavy weights. A mule has 63 chromosomes , intermediate between the 64 of the horse and the 62 of the donkey. Mules are usually infertile for this reason. Pregnancy
4956-438: The site to commemorate the dead strikers and their families. Mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse . It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare ). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes ; of the two possible first-generation hybrids between them, the mule is easier to obtain and more common than
5040-518: The strike, Governor Ammons met several times with Welborn, Osgood, and David W. Brown—representing CF&I, Victor-American, and the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company respectively. Ammons intended to facilitate a summit between these corporate leaders to several of the union heads so that the strike might end quickly. However, following belligerent statements on both sides, such a conference never transpired. Most sheriffs and deputy sheriffs in
5124-493: The strike, broke the butt of his gun over Tikas' head. Tikas was later found shot to death, one bullet through his back, another in his hip, a third glancing off his hip and traveling vertically through his body; it was determined that he bled to death. The film "Palikari" honours his death. A statue of Louis Tikas was dedicated at the Miner's Memorial on Mani Street in Trinidad, Colorado on June 23, 2018. On 20 April, 1914, while Tikas
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#17328443710215208-694: The strike, though the total dead counted in official local government records and contemporary news reports is far lower. The labor dispute was the bloodiest in the United States and Colorado historian William J. Convery called it the "bloodiest civil insurrection in American history since the Civil War ," the Colorado Coalfield War is notable for the number of company-aligned dead in a period when strikebreaking violence typically saw fatalities exclusively among strikers. The Battle of Blair Mountain , also involving
5292-521: The strikers. Though there were strikes in places such as Walsenburg and Trinidad, the largest of the strike colonies was in Ludlow. It had around 200 tents with 1,200 miners. The escalating situation caused Governor Elias Ammons to call in the Colorado National Guard in October 1913, but after six months all but two companies were withdrawn for financial reasons. However, during this six-month period, guardsmen were allowed to leave if their primary livelihood
5376-404: The strikes began. The widely-reported public killing of Liappiat in what was deemed by a coroner's jury a "justifiable homicide" during a two-sided gunfight had helped inflame tensions in the region. Further detectives were brought into the state once the strike commenced. Upon arrival, these between 40 and 75 detectives were deputized as county sheriffs. The Baldwin-Felts were also responsible for
5460-545: The superiority of the mule becomes apparent in their additional endurance. In general, a mule can be packed with dead weight up to 20% of its body weight, or around 90 kg (198 lb). Although it depends on the individual animal, mules trained by the Army of Pakistan are reported to be able to carry up to 72 kg (159 lb) and walk 26 km (16.2 mi) without resting. The average equine in general can carry up to roughly 30% of its body weight in live weight, such as
5544-609: The suppression of the strike at Blair Mountain. In 1903, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company was taken over from its founder, John C. Osgood , by a group of Colorado-based board members and investors with the support of John D. Rockefeller . Osgood was the wealthiest Coloradan at the time, and founded the Victor-American Fuel Company later that year. Colorado Fuel and Iron's treatment of its workers degraded after its sale to John D. Rockefeller, who gave his portion of
5628-408: The tents arrived late, leading some families to resort to using furniture as improvised shelters. Despite internal statistics at CF&I that suggested only 10 percent of miners were union-members, Rockefeller was informed soon after the strike began that between 40 and 60 percent of the miners in the strike zone had left work, which became roughly 80.5 percent—7,660 men—by the 24th. Jesse F. Welborn,
5712-413: The tents. This offered some protection but advancing guardsmen eventually forced the cellars' occupants to abandon the underground shelters and to evacuate to the east of the colony site to some hills locally called the "Black Hills" for protection. By late afternoon, it was clear that the militia would overrun the colony site, and everyone would have to abandon the site and join those who had already fled to
5796-693: The time of King David . There are many representations of them in Mesopotamian works of art dating from the first millennium BC. Among the bas-reliefs depicting the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal from the North Palace of Nineveh is a clear and detailed image of two mules loaded with nets for hunting. Homer noted their arrival in Asia Minor in the Iliad in 800 BC. Christopher Columbus allegedly brought mules to
5880-418: The various calibers that were commercially popular at the time—especially .45-70 and .22 Long Rifle . Dealers in Walsenburg and Pueblo also sold explosives to both sides of the conflict, though the investigating congressional committee noted they did "not believe a majority of the people of Colorado indorse [ sic ] such actions." On 24 September, a marshal employed by CF&I named Robert Lee
5964-507: The year Tikas filed his citizenship papers in the United States, he was part owner of a Greek coffeehouse on Market Street in Denver . By the end of 1912 he was an organizer for the United Mine Workers of America . In between he worked as a miner- strikebreaker in Colorado's Northern (Coal) Field but ended up leading a walkout by sixty-three fellow Greeks at the Frederick, Colorado mine. Tikas
6048-663: The year preceding the 1913–1914 strike. In April 1912, the Northern Colorado Coalfield Strikes slowly ended following several years of striking and negotiations. This strike had seen internal tensions between different districts of UMWA miners, as some members of neighboring districts were recruited as strikebreakers, leading some members of the Industrial Workers of the World , through their publication Industrial Worker , to claim "autonomous district organization
6132-481: Was accused by both miners and federal investigators of occasionally not assigning checkweighmen "in order that the miners might be cheated of part of their earnings." Between 1884 and 1912, Colorado's fatality rate among miners was more than double the national average, with 6.81 miners killed for every 1,000 workers (against a national average of 3.12). In the decade preceding the 1913–1914 Strike, CF&I mines had been involved in several major accidents. These included
6216-506: Was among the most successful in his infiltration, rising to the position of vice-president of the UMWA local . Bowers viewed these private investigators as “grafters” and sought to cut ties with them. However, local CF&I fuel manager E. H. Weitzel retained Pinkerton detectives in the Southern Colorado coalfields to monitor the collective organizing of miners in the region. Federal investigators would later cite these armed guards and spies, as well at their utilization of "the whole machine of
6300-473: Was arrested shortly thereafter by the National Guard on the orders of Ammons and taken to Mt. San Rafael Hospital . She was held repeatedly over the next nine months. Strikers attempted to liberate Jones from her first detention on the 21st by marching on the hospital but failed to secure her release after being repulsed by mounted National Guardsmen. She would remain held in Mt. San Rafael for nine weeks. On 27 January,
6384-548: Was attempting the arrest of four strikers accused of vandalism when he was ambushed and killed at Segundo . Another lawman later testified that Lee had been particularly hated by the strikers for his insults against their wives. A Colorado and Southern (C&S) route that connected the Front Range and passed near the Ludlow Colony began to be used as a firing position to harass strikers on 8 October 1913, resulting in no immediate casualties. At roughly 1:30 pm on 9 October 1913,
6468-401: Was awry and scurried about for cover. Suddenly the sound of rifle fire echoed through the nearby hills. Neither the militia nor the colonists knew who fired these shots, but an exchange of gunfire began, as both confused colonists and militiamen believed they were coming under attack. The militia were badly outnumbered by the colonists, but had certain advantages, including a choice location and
6552-601: Was censoring literature in the company towns, prohibiting " socialist " texts as well as books described by a CF&I spokesman as containing "erroneous ideas," including Charles Darwin 's On the Origin of Species . Miners were generally paid according to tonnage of coal produced, while so-called "dead work", such as shoring up unstable roofs, was often unpaid. The tonnage system drove many poor and ambitious colliers to gamble with their lives by neglecting precautions and taking on risk, with consequences that were often fatal. CF&I
6636-584: Was chased from the northern field, shot and wounded by Baldwin-Felts detectives as he escaped through the back door of a boarding house in Lafayette, Colorado in January 1910. He was shot and killed during the Ludlow Massacre , the bloodiest event of the strike, on April 20, 1914, the day after (Greek Orthodox) Easter. Nineteen people were killed during the massacre, including two women and eleven children and one National Guardsman. Tikas met with Major Pat Hamrock on
6720-494: Was killed by Italian striker Louis Zancanelli in Trinidad on 22 November in what the National Guard's official report deemed an assassination. Zancanelli was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, though this conviction was overturned in 1917 when the trial was determined to have been improperly judged. Mine guard Robert McMillen was shot and killed at Delagua , a mine owned by Colorado's second-largest coal company, Victor-American Fuel Company, and which had been one of
6804-412: Was meeting with Major Patrick J. Hamrock , the militia commander in charge of Company B, troopers––as instructed by superiors––located themselves atop Water Tank Hill, just south of Ludlow in response to spotting armed Greek miners milling about. Many armed colonists spotted the militiamen and moved to key points where they could closely watch activities atop the small hill. Other colonists feared something
6888-477: Was still tension, though, and on 14 January Linderfelt was accused of hitting Tikas while at Ludlow in retaliation for Tikas not divulging the whereabouts of a boy related to an incident in which Linderfelt and his men ran into barbed wire on a path. The official report by the National Guard detachment commander at Aguilar to General Chase on 18 January denied the claim, as did a telegram to Governor Ammons sent personally from Linderfelt. Lawson, however, asserted in
6972-645: Was the main labor union organizer at the Ludlow camp during the 14-month strike known as the Colorado Coalfield War in southern Colorado , between September 1913 and December 1914; described as "the bloodiest civil insurrection in American history since the Civil War ". He was shot and killed during the Ludlow Massacre , the bloodiest event of the strike, on 20 April, 1914. Tikas was born Elias Anastasios Spantidakis in Loutra , Crete , on 13 March, 1886. In 1910,
7056-509: Was threatened and many of the guardsmen were "new recruits"—mine guards and strikebreakers in National Guard uniforms. As was common in mine strikes of the time, the company also brought in strikebreakers and Baldwin-Felts detectives . These detectives had experience from West Virginia strikes in which they had defended themselves from violent strikers. Balwin-Felts detectives George Belcher and Walker Belk had killed UMWA organizer Gerald Liappiat in Trinidad on 16 August 1913, five weeks before
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