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 158-160

The "Red Book" — The "Green Book."

INDICTMENT OF WESTERN FEDERATION BY MINE OWNERS'
ASSOCIATION

INDICTMENT OF MINE OWNERS' ASSOCIATION BY WESTERN FEDERATION

(1.) That a large number of criminals and lawless men have been welcomed, supported and sheltered by the Western Federation of Miners. (1.) That a large number of ex-convicts, gamblers, desperadoes and other criminals have been and now are, knowingly employed and paid by the Colorado Mine Operators' Association and the citizens' alliance in Cripple Creek, Telluride and elsewhere in the state as deputy sheriffs, guards, detectives, etc.
(2.) That the officers of that organization and a large number of the members, while perhaps not committing crimes themselves for which they can be prosecuted, do directly and indirectly advise or encourage the lawless among them to commit crimes. (2.) That the officers of these organizations and a large number of their members have not only committed crimes themselves, for which they could and should be prosecuted and punished, but the organizations as such, have directly and openly aided and abetted tne same, and their members have boasted and approved of such crimes.
(3.) That these officers and this element preach disrespect for the law and contempt for the lawful authorities and openly and publicly, as individuals, approve of and gloat over the slugging, dynamiting and murdering of non-union men by their criminal associates. (3.) That the association and alliance, while shouting hypocritically for "law and order," have openly defied the courts, destroyed the liberty of the press, invaded the sanctity of the home, caused arrests without warrant, imprisoned men without charges of crime, driven men from the county after first robbing them, and while declaring such men to be criminals of the deepest dye, have, without compunction, dumped them on neighboring communities.
(4.) That where this organization has had its members in local public offices, or where It has had the power to influence peace officers and courts in this state, it has paralyzed the hand of justice and made It next to impossible to convict members of the federation caught In the act of committing crimes. (4.) That wherever the association or alliance have not had their members in public office, they have, whenever deemed necessary, compelled by violence and intimidation, the resignation of duly elected public officials and the appointment of their own creatures to the so-called vacancies. Wherever their members or tools are in office, or where they have had the power to influence peace officers and courts in this state, the law, as established since Magna Charta, has been subverted by decisions which have made the state subject of derision to the entire country, the hand of justice has been paralyzed, and it has been futile to attempt conviction of their members, although caught in the act of committing crime and openly confessing and boasting it.
(5.) That this organization, having formally and officially espoused the cause of the so-called Socialist party, is opposed to our present form of government and is aiming at its overthrow, together with the abrogation of the present constitution. (5.) That these organizations h,ave formally and officially espoused the cause of the so-called Republican party, which they pretend to be still the party of Lincoln. That each of them is opposed to our present form of government, and aiming at its overthrow. To this end they have destroyed and confiscated property, destroyed the freedom of the press, defied the courts, nullified the writ of habeas corpus, exercised the right of search without warrant, denied the right of trial by jury, exercised the power of banishment, denied the right of citizens to keep and bear arms, and trampled upon every other guarantee of personal liberty made by the constitution of the state and of the United States.

(6.) That this organization teaches its members to regard the wealth they produce from the property of others as their own, thus encouraging theft (of ore, for instance) and also Inflaming the minds of Its members against their employers, against the law, against organized society and against the peace and safety of the public.

(6.) That the organizations mentioned teach their members that the sole aim and end of existence is to acquire wealth without producing It, and that therefore the methods of trusts, stock watering, stealing ore from neighbors under the guise of trespass, and other similar methods used by predatory wealth, are respectable, when compared to the economic theory that wealth should belong to him who produces it.


NEXT: 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