John D. Rockefeller Sent the National Guard to Kill American Families

In 1914, Rockefeller’s company dispatched the National Guard to put down a strike. A massacre of innocent civilians would follow…

Children at the Ludlow, CO, mining camp. Eleven of them were shot or burned to death by government troops.

The Ludlow Massacre is a dark stain on the fabric of American history. In April 1914, members of Colorado’s National Guard mobilized by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. attacked and set fire to the town of Ludlow. Their intention — to brutally disperse a labor strike for better conditions. The ensuing chaos would claim the lives of over 50 miners and 13 women and children.

The death rate in Colorado mines was the highest in the nation in 1914.

The Fight for Representation

In 1910s Colorado, mining was the largest industry, employing 10% of the entire workforce. But, like most industries at the time, conditions were horrid. Miners died on the job, received little compensation and lacked representation by a union.

Miners in the company town of Ludlow decided to go on strike in September 1913. Their demands were: an eight-hour day, recognition of the United Mine Workers of America, higher wages, and enforcement of safety laws.

Their employers, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company were enraged by this prospect. Owner John D. Rockefeller, Jr. immediately sent his own mercenaries to encircle the strikers’ camp. He also lobbied the government to send the National Guard, and they more than happily obliged.

Rockefeller’s mercenaries used an armored car with a machine-gun, nicknamed the “Death Special”.

The Violence Begins

State troops did not immediately move in to harm the miners, but private mercenaries committed atrocities. From September 1913 until April 1914, strikers and company forces were at a standstill. Company agents sniped people as they walked around camp, and they had an armored car to patrol the perimeter. The “Death Special”, as it was called, fired its machine gun directly at the miners. If a miner fired back in self-defence, the mercenaries would double their response.

“Machine guns which played in the darkness upon the homes of humble men and women, whose only crime was an effort to earn an honest living, were bought and paid for by agents of the mine owners. Explosive bullets have been used on children. Does the bloodiest page in the French revolution approach this in hideousness?”

Rocky Mountain News editorial, 1914

At one point, the National Guard decided to join in and raid the tent colony. They rode in just as miners were holding a funeral for two infants who died earlier.

But the cruelty was just starting.

The ruins of the Ludlow camp smoulder days after destruction by the government.

A Heartbreaking Tale

On April 20th, 1914, the National Guard determined the miners had been on strike long enough. Rockefeller’s men had by then merged with state troops, and the combined force positioned around the camp.

The company deceived the miners’ leader, Louis Tikas, offering to bargain. But it was a trap to draw him out — a National Guard lieutenant cornered him and beat him to death.

Guardsmen then moved in on the camp, battling with lightly armed miners. The worst came when the guardsmen decided to light the tents on fire — all of the women and children were trapped inside. Forced to make a choice between burning to death and being gunned down outside, they stood no chance. The imagery, provided by journalist Julia May Courtney, is horrific.

“Into the cellars — the pits of hell under their blazing tents — crept the women and children, less fearful of the smoke and flames than of the nameless horror of the spitting bullets. One man counted the bodies of nine little children, taken from one ashy pit, their tiny fingers burned away as they held to the edge in their struggle to escape … thugs in State uniform hacked at the lifeless forms, in some instances nearly cutting off heads and limbs to show their contempt for the strikers.”

The Ludlow Massacre shocked the nation at the time, but it is often overlooked in history books.

Aftermath

In the end, 11 children and 2 women were shot or burned to death as a result of the Ludlow Massacre. The National Guard also killed over 50 miners. When federal troops were sent in to disarm both sides, 332 strikers were indicted for murder. Some guardsmen were charged, but all were acquitted.

It is difficult to fathom that the US government and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. actually murdered civilians on American soil — and got away with it. But such is the nature of labor history. These robber barons would go to any degree of barbarity to maintain a high profit.

Sources:

Mauk, B. (2014, April 18). The Ludlow Massacre Still Matters. Retrieved August 25, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-ludlow-massacre-still-matters

Neumann, Caryn E. “Ludlow Massacre.” St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide, edited by Neil Schlager, vol. 1, St. James Press, 2004, pp. 572–576. Gale eBooks, https://link-gale-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/apps/doc/CX3408900171/GVRL?u=umuser&sid=GVRL&xid=4e2bdc47. Accessed 25 Aug. 2020.

Ronning, Gerald. “Ludlow Massacre (1914).” Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia, edited by Steven L. Danver, vol. 2, ABC-CLIO, 2011, pp. 707–711. Gale eBooks, https://link-gale-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/apps/doc/CX1766600267/GVRL?u=umuser&sid=GVRL&xid=90a92c49. Accessed 25 Aug. 2020.

Slevin, C. (2014, April 18). Ludlow massacre spurred New Deal labor reforms. Retrieved August 25, 2020, from https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-ludlow-massacre-spurred-new-deal-labor-reforms-2014apr18-story.html