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N0KFQ > TODAY 23.11.12 17:06l 51 Lines 2170 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Nov 23
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...
Nov 23, 1903:
Colorado governor sends militia to Cripple Creek
Determined to crush the union of the Western Federation of Miners
(WFM), Colorado Governor James Peabody sends the state militia
into the mining town of Cripple Creek.
The strike in the gold mines of Cripple Creek began that summer.
William "Big Bill" Haywood's Western Federation of Miners called
for a sympathy strike among the underground miners to support a
smelter workers' strike for an eight-hour day. The WFM, which was
founded in 1893 in Montana, had already been involved in several
violent strikes in Colorado and Idaho. By the end of October, the
call for action at Cripple Creek had worked, and a majority of
mine and smelter workers were idle; Cripple Creek operations
ground to a halt. Eager to resume mining and break the union, the
mine owners turned to Governor Peabody, who agreed to provide
state militia protection for replacement workers.
Outraged, the miners barricaded roads and railways, but by the
end of September more than a thousand armed men were in Cripple
Creek to undermine the strike. Soldiers began to round up union
members and their sympathizers-including the entire staff of a
pro-union newspaper-and imprison them without any charges or
evidence of wrongdoing. When miners complained that the
imprisonment was a violation of their constitutional rights, one
anti-union judge replied, "To hell with the Constitution; we're
not following the Constitution!"
Such tyrannical tactics swung control of the strike to the more
radical elements in the WFM, and in June 1904, Harry Orchard, a
professional terrorist employed by the union, blew up a railroad
station, which killed 13 strikebreakers. This recourse to
terrorism proved a serious tactical mistake. The bombing turned
public opinion against the union, and the mine owners were able
to freely arrest and deport the majority of the WFM leaders. By
midsummer, the strike was over and the WFM never again regained
the power it had previously enjoyed in the Colorado mining
districts.
73, K.O. and Billie
"On the Road Again... "
E-Mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
HomeBBS: KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
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