CONTENTS

Preface

PART I — THE STRIKE OF 1894

CHAPTER I — PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
Introduction

Cripple Creek — Location, geology, settlement — General economic conditions in 1894 — Conditions in Colorado and Cripple Creek in 1894

Indirect Causes Of The Strike

Uncertain business conditions — Irregularities in employment of labor

Events Leading Up To The Strike

CHAPTER II - THE TWO CRISES
The First Crisis

Attempts at a compromise — The lockout Feb. 1st, 1894 — The strike Feb. 7th — John Calderwood — Preparation by the unions — The injunction of March 14th — Capture of the deputies — Sheriff Bowers calls for militia — Beginning of friction between state and county — Conference between the generals and union officers — Recall of the militia — Compromise at the Independence

The Second Crisis

Coming of the rough element — The coup of Wm. Rabedeau — The demands and terms of the owners — Formation of the deputy army — "General" Johnson — Preparation of the miners for resistance — First detachment of deputy army — The blowing up of the Strong mine — The miners attack the deputies — Excitement in Colorado Springs — Rapid increase of deputy army — The governor's proclamation

CHAPTER III — THE FORCING OF THE ISSUE
Attempts At Arbitration

Conservative movement in Colorado Springs — The non-partisan committee — The miners propose terms of peace — Failure of the arbitration committee plan — Exchange of prisoners — The mission of Governor Waite — Miners give governor full power to act — The conference at Colorado College — Attempt to lynch Calderwood — The final conference in Denver — Articles of agreement

Militia vs. Deputies

The deputies march on Bull Hill — Call of the state militia — The question of authority — The clash in Grassey Valley — Military finally in control — Movements of the deputies — Conference in Altman — Withdrawal of deputies

The Restoration Of Order

Turbulent conditions in Cripple Creek — Attempts upon life of sheriff — Plan for vengeance in Colorado Springs — The attack upon General Tarsney — Arrests and trials of the strikers

CHAPTER IV-DISCUSSIONS
Peculiarities Of The Strike

The union allows men to work — Exchange of prisoners — Unusual influence of state authority

Arguments Of The Various Parties

The position of the mine owners — The position of the miners — The position of the governor

The Baleful Influence Of Politics

PART II—THE STRIKE OF 1903—1904

CHAPTER I—THE INTERVENING PERIOD
General Development

Increase in population and wealth — Industrial advance — Removal of frontier conditions — Entire dependence upon mining — The working force

The Background For The Strike

Divisioning of El Paso county — Growth of unions in political power — Western Federation becomes socialistic

The Situation Immediately Preceding The Strike

Unions misuse power — Treatment of non-union men — Minority rule — The strike power delegated

CHAPTER II—THE COLORADO CITY STRIKE
The Colorado City Strike

Formation of union — Opposition of Manager MacNeill — Presentation of grievances — The strike deputies and strikers — Manager MacNeill secures call of state militia

Partial Settlement By Arbitration

The Cripple Creek mines requested to cease shipments to Colorado City — The governor visits Colorado City — Conference at Denver — Settlement with Portland and Telluride Mills — Failure of second conference with Manager MacNeill

The Temporary Strike At Cripple Creek

Ore to be shut off from Standard Mill — The strike called — Advisory board — Its sessions — Further conferences — Settlement by verbal agreement

CHAPTER III — THE CRIPPLE CREEK STRIKE
The Call Of The Strike

Dispute over Colorado City agreement — Appeal of the union — Statements submitted by both sides — Decision of advisory board — Second strike at Colorado City — Strike at Cripple Creek

The First Period Of The Strike

Events of the first three weeks — Disorderly acts on September 1st — Release of Minster — Mine owners demand troops

The Militia In The District

The governor holds conferences with mine owners — The special commission — Troops called out — Militia arrest union officers — Other arrests — General partisan activity of the troops

Civil, vs. Military Authority

Habeas corpus proceedings — Militia guard court house — Judge Seeds' decision — The militia defy the court — Prisoners released — Rapid opening of the mines — Strike breakers

CHAPTER IV-TELLER COUNTY UNDER MILITARY RULE
Attempted Train Wrecking And Vindicator Explosion

Attempts to wreck F. & C. C. R. R. trains — McKinney and Foster arrested — McKinney makes conflicting confessions — Trial of Davis, Parker, and Foster — Digest of evidence — Release of McKinney — The Vindicator explosion — Evidence in case

A State Of Insurrection And Rebellion

The governor's proclamation — The power conferred as interpreted by militia officers — Local police deposed — Censorship of Victor Record — Registering of arms — Idle men declared vagrants — More general arrests of union officers — Habeas corpus suspended in case Victor Poole — Rowdyism by certain militiamen — Mine owners' statement — Federation flag posters — Withdrawal of troops

CHAPTER V—THE FINAL CRISIS
The Slxth Day Of June

Independence station explosion — Wrath of the community — Sheriff forced to resign — Bodies taken from undertaker — Mass meeting at Victor — The Victor riot — Militia capture miners'' union hall — Wholesale arrests of union men — Riot in Cripple Creek — Meeting of Mine Owners' Association and Citizens Alliance — The federation to be broken up

The Annihilation Of The Unions

Teller County again under military rule — Plant of Victor Record wrecked — Forced resignation of large number of county and municipal officials — The military commission — Deportations — Militia close the Portland mine — Aid to families forbidden — District entirely non-union — Withdrawal of troops

The Period Immediately Following

Mob deportations — The Interstate Mercantile Company — Second wrecking of the stores — The November elections — The expense of the strike — Summary

CHAPTER VI—DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The Western Federation Of Miners. Its Side Of The Case

History of the federation — Its socialistic tendencies — Sympathetic statement of its position

The Mine Owners' Association. Its Side Of The Case

History of the organization — The card system — Sympathetic view of its position

The Citizens Alliances. Their Side Of The Case

History of the alliances — Sympathetic view of their position

The State Authorities

Statement by Governor Peabody

The Responsibility And Blame — The Western Federation Of Miners

Cause of strike — Crimes of the strike

Mine Owners' Association

Criminal guards — Mob violence

The State Authorities

Use of troops — Perversion of authority

Arraignment Of Each Side By The Other

The "Red Book" — The "Green Book."

Comparison Of The Two Strikes

The first natural, the second artificial — Frontier conditions vs. complete industrial development — Contrasts in the use of state authority — Civil and military authority — Politics — Minority rule

Significance Of The Labor History

Bibliography

The Labor History of the Cripple Creek District;
A Study in Industrial Evolution
by Benjamin McKie Rastall

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pages 50-51

The Restoration Of Order

Next day the deputies returned in a body to Colorado Springs and were there disbanded. In the town hall at Altman, Sheriff Bowers read the names of several hundred men for whom warrants had been issued, and they were asked to present themselves for arrest. A great many did so. Many, however, had left the district to avoid arrest, and were never located by the authorities. The militia remained in camp according to agreement, until the last of July, when they were withdrawn. The mines opened slowly at first, the owners hardly feeling sure of the ground, but as the men showed themselves willing to work, confidence was restored, and operations were taken up again in earnest.

There remained for a long time a certain amount of hostility on both sides. Among the extremely radical, feeling still ran high, and vented itself in various acts of violence. A number of citizens of Colorado Springs found it wise to keep guards at their dwellings. In the same city a scheme was made to tar and feather a number of men who were supposed to have sympathized with the strikers during the trouble. The plan fortunately became known, and steps were promptly taken to frustrate it. A more successful attempt was made later upon Adjutant General Tarsney. General Tarsney had been prominent in the friction between the state troops and deputies, and had become greatly hated by the latter. He was taken from the Alamo Hotel one night, driven several miles north of the city, and there tarred and feathered, and left wandering around in the night to find his way back to civilization as best he could. An attempt was made to blow up the home of Sheriff Bowers one night with a nitroglycerine bomb. The fuse was defective and went out; otherwise the house would have been completely wrecked, and the inmates, who were sleeping almost directly above the bomb, would certainly have been killed.

Cripple Creek was in a turbulent condition for some time. The criminal elements that had come into the city during the strike were not easy to get rid of. Sheriff Bowers spent most of his time in the neighborhood, doing his utmost to restore good order. He arrested over one hundred fifty men, and kept the county jail full to overflowing all the following year. Various attempts were made on his life. One night two men were shot on the road from Victor to Cripple Creek by a band who were after the sheriff, and who mistook the men for the sheriff and his deputy.

It was nearly a year before the men charged with committing overt acts during the strike came to trial. In March, 1895, D. M. McNamara was convicted on the charge of assault with intent to commit robbery, in holding up the stage coach of John Simmons, and taking his guns away from him. He was sentenced to two and one-half years' imprisonment, but the case was appealed, and the supreme court reversed the decision and set him free. Jackson Rhines received a jail sentence on the charge of kidnapping. Robert Dunn was convicted of assault with intent to kill, but broke jail before sentence was passed upon him, and was never retaken. Robert Lyons and Nicholas Tully were sentenced to terms of six and eight years respectively, on the charge of blowing up the Strong mine. They were pardoned by Governor Mclntyre, who succeeded Governor Waite, long before the expiration of their sentences. Some three hundred other informations or indictments were filed, but were dismissed later on, and no other men were brought to trial. Out of all the men arrested not one served a full sentence.12


12vide Records of District Court, Colorado Springs, March to May, 1895.
Cases, People vs. D. M. McNamara.
People vs. Jackson Rhines.
People vs. Robert Dunn.
People vs. Robert Lyons.
People vs. Nicholas Tully.

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