The Horrors of the Ludlow Massacre

The Ludlow Massacre highlights the violent oppression faced by striking miners in 1914, particularly those involved in the Colorado Coalfield War. Tensions escalated when the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency used brutal tactics, including an armored car equipped with a machine gun, to intimidate and attack miners and their families living in tent colonies. The situation turned deadly when the National Guard intervened, initially appearing calm but ultimately compromised by corporate interests, leading to a siege on the Ludlow tent colony. This orchestrated violence resulted in numerous deaths, including women and children, and marked a grim chapter in labor history due to its indiscriminate brutality, which seldom made it into mainstream historical narratives.