Ludlow, Colorado

Ludlow, Colorado

I recently visited Ludlow, Colorado, the site of the violent coal mining strike of 1913-1914, which I believe had more violence and misconduct by government officials than any other strike in labor history; violence in addition to the usual violence of corporate management. No one lives there now and the buildings of the period are gone, although some rubble remains. For those like me who have studied what happened there it felt important to see the site and be physically oriented having previously seen only archival maps and pictures. For those familiar with this history I hope the pictures below may help orient you as they have for me. I have put my own history of the strike underneath the pictures at the bottom of this post and included footnotes for those who might like to read further.

 

 

Picture 1 - The sign on County Road 44 about 13 miles north of Trinidad, Colorado and about a mile west of Interstate 27

 

 Picture 2 – The Ludlow Memorial that has the inscription “In Memory of the Men, Women and Children who lost their lives in Freedom’s Cause at Ludlow, Colorado April 20, 1914. Erected by the United Mine Workers of America.” It sits at the corner of the Ludlow Tent Colony and one of the underground pits remains just in front of the Memorial.

 

 

Picture 3 – The right side of the memorial has a plaque that designates the Ludlow Tent Colony site as a National Historic Landmark. It reads this site possesses national historical significance in illustrating the history of the United States of America. The plaque was placed on the monument in 2009 by the National Park Service, although the site is part of land purchased by the UMW in 1917.

 Picture 4 – The present railroad looking south from County Road 44 as it intersects with County Road 61.5. The railroad that went through Ludlow in 1914 was known as the Colorado and Southern. What remains today sits on the same right of way as part of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad. Sidings and a passing track are gone. To the left of the tracks in the picture there was the depot, a Post Office, a saloon and a few other residences and stores, which are obviously gone. Across from the memorial and former tent colony is the site of a baseball field used by the striking miners and families. In the distance to the south a slight rise is the site of a former public water tank known as water tank hill where Militia machine gunned the camp.

 

Picture 5 - The present railroad looking north from County Road 44 as it intersects with County Road 61.5. To the right of the tracks there was railroad well and water tank, essential for locomotives in the steam era of 1913-1914. There was a house and barn as well, but all are gone now. A small distance farther down the track comes to a deep gully, or arroyo that remains. It was a place of defense and refuge during the day long attack.

 

Picture 6 – Is a picture of County Road 44 at a point in the Canyons east of Ludlow that have the remains of the Hastings and Delagua mines. The rail lines that served these mines are gone. The mines no longer operate and the valley areas have become grazing land for cattle ranching. Every arroyo crossing has a cattle guard.

 

Picture 7 – Nearby Trinidad, Colorado played a violent role in the Ludlow strike as the headquarters of National Guard troops, the Los Animas County sheriff and his deputies, managers of the coal mines, and the Baldwin-Felts mine guards.  The picture shows the S. Commercial Street of 2024 going up hill from where the train depot and tracks of the Colorado and Southern Railroad were in 1913-1914. The tracks remain as part of the BN-SF Railroad and even though the depot is long gone the Southwest Chief stops in Trinidad as part of Amtrak’s western routes. Interstate 27 runs on stilts to the right of the tracks.

 Picture 8 – Further up S. Commercial Street the Toltec Hotel remains looking much like it did in the pictures of 1913 when Colorado Deputy Labor Commissioner, Edwin Brake, got off a train to walk up the hill from the depot to the Toltec Hotel. As he approached shots rang out that killed union organizer, Gerald Lippiatt, in a confrontation with George Belcher and Walter Belk, both detectives of the Baldwin-Felts agency. In an often quoted passage Brake wrote to Governor Elias Ammons that “Trinidad was filled full of armed men, guards and detectives; that the killing of Lippiatt had created an intense feeling among miners and I apprehended if something was not done and done quickly, that there would be an outbreak there that would be disastrous.”

 

Picture 9 – Is a picture of the Southern Colorado Coal Miners Memorial of 1996 on E. Main Street in Trinidad.

 

Picture 10 – Is a picture to the left of the Miners Memorial of the statue of Greek miner and tent camp leader Louis Tikas, assassinated by National Guard troops toward the end of the Ludlow Massacre. All those who died are listed on the back of the monument at Ludlow. I list them in order from top to bottom: Louis Tikas, Age 30 Yrs; James Fyler, Age 43 Yrs; John Bartolotti, Age 45 Yrs; Charlie Costa, Age 31Yrs; Fedelina Costa, Age 27 Yrs; Onafrio Costa, Age 6 Yrs; Lucy Costa, Age 4 Yrs; Frank Rubino, Age 23 Yrs; Patria Valdez, Age 37 Yrs; Eulala Valdez, Age 8 Yrs; Mary Valdez, Age 7 Yrs; Elvira Valdez, Age 3 Mo; Joe Petrucci Age 4 ½ Yrs; Lucy Petrucci, Age 2 ½Yrs; Frank Petrucci, Age 6 Mo; William Snyder Jr, Age 11 Yrs; Rodgerlo Pedregone, Age 6 Yrs; Cloriva Pedregone, Age 4 Yrs.