The 1914 Ludlow massacre, when militiamen hired by Colorado Fuel & Iron shot down and burned to death 20 people, mostly women and children, in cold blood, has long been commemorated by the Mine Workers with a monument to those labor martyrs. Now, it’ll be commemorated by the country.
That’s because, on June 28, the massacre site becomes a National Historic Landmark, covered by the National Park Service.
“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 CF&I,” the Mine Workers’ history of Ludlow notes.
“Upon striking, 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,” it adds. Their prime weapon: An armored car mounted with a machine gun.
"Later investigation revealed kerosene was intentionally poured on the tents to set them ablaze. The miners dug foxholes in the tents so the women and children could avoid the bullets randomly shot through the colony. Women and children were found huddled together at the bottoms of their tents.” No perpetrators were ever arrested.