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

book image

pages 1-11

BY

BENJAMIN McKIE RASTALL

Economic Expert, New York State Department of Labor

A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE Of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
1906
(REPRINTED FROM THE BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE SERIES, VOL. 3, PP. 1-166)
MADISON, WISCONSIN
1908
BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
NO. 198
Economics And Political Science Series, Vol. 3, No. 1, PP. 1-166
Published bi-monthly by authority of law with the approval of the Regents of the University and entered at the post office at Madison as second-class matter
MADISON, WISCONSIN
February, 1908

PREFACE

The Labor History of Cripple Creek is the result of investigations carried out upon the ground, and covering a period of several years. The material for the narrative of the strike of 1894 was secured in 1902 and early in 1903, shortly before the opening of the second strike. This was fortunate in that, a considerable period having elapsed and the most friendly conditions prevailing, the second strike being no more than a faint suggestion upon the horizon, the men concerned could be induced to speak more frankly and with less conscious partisanship than would have been possible at any other time. It also gave the author knowledge of the exact situation and conditions under which the second strike had its formation, and enabled him to follow the course of events with more accuracy than would have been possible under any other circumstances.

During the strike of 1903-04 the author was a resident of Colorado, part of the time of Colorado Springs, and the summer season of 1905 was spent in Teller County, largely in completing the investigations for this monograph. The most important material for the work has been gained through interviews, over 300 in number, with men in a position to have an intimate knowledge of various phases of the difficulties. Information has been sought from most of the union officers and many prominent union men; from nearly all the county and state officers in any way directly concerned; and from many others who from close personal experience could speak with authority of various incidents of the strike. It was originally intended to publish a list of the interviews with the bibliography, and to make free use of them in footnotes showing authority. Owing, however, to the recentness and intensity of the last strike, the resulting tension is in some cases strong. It has seemed wise to preclude the possibility of embarrassment or injury resulting from the very frankness and courtesy which has made the accuracy of the study possible, and for that reason names are withheld. It should be understood that frequently where only documentary evidence is cited, and always where no authority is given, reliable testimony has come from authentic personal sources.

The manuscript of the narrative part of the work (Part II, Chap. VI, and all footnotes, excepted) has been submitted to residents of Colorado selected so as to include both political parties, both county and state authorities, and both those whose general sympathies were with the mine owners and those who sympathized with the unions. They were those who seemed to the author to combine the largest actual knowledge of the disturbances with the most conservative and unbiased judgment. Their criticism and suggestion has proved of very great value. The same reasons as given above prompt the withholding of the names.

To Professor Thomas K. Urdahl of Colorado College, at whose suggestion the work was originally undertaken, and whose advice and suggestion have been of the greatest value throughout, the author is deeply indebted.

The history of the Cripple Creek District is one of rapid and spectacular growth. The sudden rise of a complete social fabric in a mountain wilderness, and the transformation of a barren area to a center producing $2,000,000 a month, form the background of an equally rapid industrial development which finds its chief exponent in the mining labor movements. The district forms a small but distinct physiographical and political area. Within this area the stages of a complete industrial evolution have been passed through in a little more than a decade. Starting with primitive, frontier labor conditions, there was a rapid succession of stages ending in extreme capitalization and extraordinary organization. Gathering the strength of forces shut in unto themselves, and keeping pace with the other rapid developments, the labor-capital issues finally broke forth in a conflict worthy the name revolution. The very momentum of the movement carried it through the entire known gamut and on beyond the experiences of its time, and with almost the entire section arrayed on one side or the other, and to the accompaniment of boundless political turmoil, it fought itself out to the finish. A working model is ever of great importance, and this intense miniature of great present day forces and issues has a content of valuable suggestion.

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