n 
 

 BANCROFT 
 
 LIBRARY 
 

 THE 
 
 Military Occupation 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Coal Strike Zone of Colorado < 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Colorado National Guard 
 
 1913-1914 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL TO 
 
 THE GOVERNOR FOR THE USE OF THE 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE 
 
 Exhibiting an Account of the Military Occupation 
 
 to the Time of the First Withdrawal of 
 
 the Troops in April, 1914 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 THE SMITH-BROOKS PRINTING COMPANY 
 DENVER, COLO. 
 
(7 
 
 THE 
 
 Military Occupation 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Coal Strike Zone of Colorado 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Colorado National Guard 
 
 1913-1914 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL TO 
 
 THE GOVERNOR FOR THE USE OF THE 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE 
 
 Exhibiting an Account of the Military Occupation 
 
 to the Time of the First Withdrawal of 
 
 the Troops in April 1914 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 THE SMITH-BROOKS PRINTING COMPANY 
 DENVER, COLO. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 I am directed to prefix to the report that follows 
 a word of explanation. 
 
 A committee of the House of Representatives in 
 the Sixty-third Congress investigated strike condi- 
 tions in Colorado. They were not investigating the 
 National Guard, but a mass of testimony was pre- 
 sented to the committee supporting a very bitter 
 attack upon the state troops. To this attack and this 
 testimony the National Guard paid little or no atten- 
 tion. At the conclusion of the committee's sittings in 
 Colorado, His Excellency, the Governor and Com- 
 mander-in-Chief , directed the Commanding General to 
 review the testimony presented to the Congressional 
 Committee and to investigate and report the truth of 
 all the charges and accusations made against the mili- 
 tary arm of the state. The following report is the 
 result of that order. It was prepared by the Com- 
 manding General after careful investigation, and 
 transmitted to the Congressional Committee by the 
 Governor for the purpose of aiding that body to arrive 
 at a true and just estimate of the military situation. 
 The Governor's letter of transmittal accompanying the 
 report to Washington precedes the report itself. 
 
 Inasmuch as this report exhibits a fairly detailed 
 history of the military occupation almost to the time 
 of the first withdrawal of the troops, and contains 
 matter that cannot fail of interest to all the people, 
 it was directed to be printed in the present form for 
 general public distribution. 
 
 EDWARD J. BOUGHTON, 
 
 Major and Judge Advocate of the 
 Military District of Colorado. 
 
THE GOVERNOR'S LETTER 
 
 To the Chairman of the House Committee on Mines and 
 Mining of the Sixty-third Congress 
 
 April 6, 1914. 
 
 HON. M. D. FOSTER, 
 
 Chairman, Mines and Mining Committee, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 DEAR MR. FOSTER': 
 
 By my direction General John Chase, command- 
 in g the National Guard in the strike zone, has pre- 
 pared a statement of the operations of the Guard, and 
 I herewith enclose it, pursuant to conversation I had 
 with you at the time of your departure for Washing- 
 ton. I have looked over this statement, and believe it 
 to be a very fair and reliable presentation of the facts. 
 I sincerely hope it will be of value to your committee 
 in arriving at a true understanding of the situation in 
 Colorado. 
 
 With best personal regards, I am 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COMMANDING GENERAL 
 
 TO THE GOVERNOR 
 
 FOR THE USE OF 
 
 THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE 
 
 TO THE HONORABLE ELLAS M. AMMONS, ' 
 
 GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF COLORADO. 
 
 Your Excellency : The Committee on Mines and 
 Mining of the House of Representatives in the LXIII 
 Congress, having been authorized to inquire of certain 
 matters connected with the present strike in the coal 
 fields of Colorado, and having in their investigations 
 touched upon certain matters connected with the 
 military occupation and the conduct of the Colorado 
 National Guard, Your Excellency directed me to sub- 
 mit for the use of the Committee a brief report of the 
 peace conditions, military operations, conduct of the 
 troops, and such information in my possession as 
 might aid or interest the Committee in the accomplish- 
 ment of its errand under the House Resolution. 
 
 Accordingly and in obedience to Your Excel- 
 lency's directions, I have made careful, and in most 
 instances personal, investigation along the lines sug- 
 
6 
 
 gested, have accumulated and arranged the great mass 
 of information that has come to me as commander of 
 the state troops in the field, and beg leave to submit 
 the following report. 
 
 For convenience of treatment, the report is 
 divided into the following parts : 
 
 I. The general peace conditions existing in the 
 disturbed region upon the calling out of the state 
 troops. 
 
 II. A very brief outline of the principal incidents 
 of the military occupation. 
 
 III. A succinct statement of certain military poli- 
 cies with respect to some matters inquired of or 
 brought to the attention of the Congressional Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 IV. A report upon some specific incidents in the 
 conduct of the military, brought to the attention of 
 the Congressional Committee. 
 
 An appendix is added to the report, in which are 
 collated and copied certain orders, reports, and other 
 documents referred to herein. 
 
I 
 
 GENERAL CONDITIONS AT THE OUTSET 
 
 In 1910 a strike was declared in Boulder County, 
 Colorado. This strike is still in existence. Deeds of 
 violence have been committed by both sides to the 
 controversy almost from the date of the strike to the 
 present time. The operators in Boulder County 
 repeatedly called upon the then Governor of the state, 
 Hon. John F. Shafroth, for protection of their lives 
 and property. Controversial correspondence was car- 
 ried on between the Governor, the sheriff of the 
 county, and the mayors of the villages involved, with 
 the strike leaders and with the operators in that 
 county. At times the peace officers seemed able to 
 control the violent individuals on both sides of the 
 controversy, and at other times seemed wholly unable 
 to do so. An utter contempt for legal processes and 
 ordinary peace measures has for four years been ex- 
 hibited in this section of the state. At one time a 
 district judge incarcerated for a period of several 
 months sixteen strike leaders whom he adjudged to be 
 in contempt of his court for flagrantly and defiantly 
 violating an injunction against picketing. This judg- 
 ment was made the occasion of a demonstration by the 
 strikers in parading around the courthouse in great 
 force, as an intimidation to the civil authority; and 
 the doctrine was inculcated that allegiance should be 
 paid to the union rather than to the state or country. 
 
 Because of the failure to effect a settlement be- 
 tween the parties to the controversy in the northern 
 coal fields, a strike in the southern zone was precipi- 
 tated in August, 1913. On account of threatened vio- 
 
8 
 
 lence to the properties of the operators and the lives 
 of the workmen about the mines, the sheriffs of Huer- 
 fano and Las Animas Counties, being appealed to by 
 the owners of the mines, placed on duty a large num- 
 ber of deputy sheriffs. The strike leaders selected stra- 
 tegic points for the establishment of the tent colonies 
 which were made necessary by the departure of 
 strikers from their homes on the mine premises. 
 Nearly every one of these tent colonies was so placed 
 that it commanded ingress and egress to and from the 
 mines located in the canon near by. The location of 
 the colonies was not an accident, and, in view of the 
 statute regarding picketing, it would seem that it was 
 a deliberate attempt, on the part of those responsible 
 for the placing of the camps, to bring about a thorough 
 system of picketing without apparently violating the 
 law. The canvas for the tents had hardly been raised 
 before deeds of violence were reported from the 
 vicinity of nearly every one of the colonies. Addi- 
 tional mine guards were placed about the properties 
 to secure the safety of such workmen as were passing 
 the colonies to work. There is no question but that 
 there were instances where the mine guards unneces- 
 sarily provoked the residents of the tent colonies. 
 These latter, in turn, seemed honestly to believe that 
 they and their families were in danger from the mine 
 guards. They, therefore, armed themselves for pro- 
 tection. As instances of violence increased, the op- 
 posing parties to the controversy became violently 
 aroused. For at least ten days prior to the calling 
 out of the National Guard a condition of absolute 
 terror prevailed in the mining camps and in the tent 
 colonies. At least four pitched battles occurred, and 
 
9 
 
 at least nine men were known to have been murdered 
 and a large number wounded. The civil authorities 
 seemed, and, indeed, represented to Your Excellency, 
 that they were wholly unable to do anything for the 
 preservation of peace. A large number of battles had 
 taken place throughout the two counties. Anarchy 
 reigned supreme. No attention was paid to the courts 
 or the civil peace officers whatever. People were 
 arrested and detained in the tent colonies, and the 
 sheriff, armed with civil process, was frankly informed 
 that he would not be permitted to serve it. With all 
 the deputies at his command, the sheriff was unable 
 to discharge his usual duties without battle. This 
 awful state of affairs was represented to Your Excel- 
 lency by all of the civil authorities charged with the 
 preservation of the peace. The sheriffs of both coun- 
 ties, the judge of the District Court, mayors, alder- 
 men, county officers, and numerous citizens sympa- 
 thizers with each side of the industrial conflict im- 
 plored Your Excellency to use the power of the state 
 to end the open defiance of the constitution and laws. 
 Accordingly, Your Excellency directed me by 
 executive order to mobilize the National Guard, and 
 to enforce the constitution and laws, acting either in 
 conjunction with or independently of the civil authori- 
 ties, doing all such things as in my judgment seemed 
 necessary to conserve the peace and vindicate the dig- 
 nity of the state. I proceeded with the National 
 Guard to Huerfano and Las Animas Counties on the 
 28th of October, 1913. I found the conditions even 
 worse than had been described to Your Excellency. 
 I found two bodies of men in large numbers, fully 
 armed, with the intensest hatred of each other in their 
 
10 
 
 hearts, ready to fly at each other's throats. The thirst 
 for blood was unmistakably evident, as were the signs 
 of an habitual and long-continued disregard and con- 
 tempt for all civil government. The mining camps 
 and tent colonies, though very numerous, were de- 
 tached and widely separated over two large counties, 
 the district present ing a front of about 100 miles. The 
 military problem entrusted to me was interesting. 
 With the all too meager force at my command, I was 
 able, without bloodshed, to occupy this territory, re- 
 establish the constitution, and enforce a sullen peace. 
 The problems that developed day by day have been 
 difficult and often delicate, and when the time came 
 that there was added to our other difficulties the 
 burden of deliberate deceit and misrepresentation, 
 widely promulgated through the press bureau of the 
 unions, our cup of tribulation nearly overflowed. In 
 the discharge of our duties to the state as citizens, this 
 volunteer force has had to go on silently in the accom- 
 plishment of the patriotic errand entrusted to it, 
 under abuse and frequent scurrilous attacks, without 
 a press bureau for the dissemination of the truth, 
 often being placed in false light and false position 
 before the public. But, at the end of all, the mission 
 has been accomplished, and the state may well feel 
 proud of its National Guard, whose members, uncom- 
 plainingly and at the cost of great personal sacrifice, 
 have served the state so well in its hour of need. 
 
II 
 
 HISTORY OF OPERATIONS 
 
 Under this head no attempt is made to detail the 
 daily occurrences and the daily and even hourly devel- 
 opments in the peace problem. Only a bare outline 
 of the principal events can be undertaken. 
 
 Having moved the troops into the field and find- 
 ing the situation in the disturbed counties as I have 
 indicated above, my first effort was so to distribute 
 the relatively meager forces at my command as to pro- 
 tect the entire line of one hundred miles front. Bear- 
 ing in mind that my sole and only object was to carry 
 out the orders of Your Excellency, and enforce peace 
 and the observance of the constitution and laws of the 
 State of Colorado, without reference to any incidental 
 effect upon either side of the industrial conflict, my 
 only desire was to accomplish my mission without 
 bloodshed or the clash of arms, if possible. With two 
 regiments of infantry not, however, fully recruited 
 three troops of cavalry, one detachment of the field 
 artillery, the hospital corps and signal corps, we 
 arrived in the disturbed region on the morning of the 
 29th of October, 1913. 
 
 I established one base camp upon the outskirts of 
 the city of Trinidad in Las Animas County, and 
 another base camp at Walsenburg in Huerfano 
 County. 
 
 SOUTHWESTERN MINE AND POST-OFFICE ARSON 
 
 While these necessary routine operations were 
 progressing, and during the night of the 29th of Oc- 
 tober, our first day in the field, a conspiracy was 
 
12 
 
 formed among certain strikers at Aguilar, which re- 
 sulted in a band of men going to the near-by South- 
 western mine, pouring oil upon the tipple and mine 
 buildings, setting fire thereto and destroying that 
 property, and incidentally the adjacent United States 
 post-office, with the mail contained therein. For a 
 long time thereafter it was impossible to discover the 
 perpetrators of this arson, but months later, through 
 the efforts of the Judge Advocate's office and the Mili- 
 tary Commission, the offenders were apprehended and 
 turned over the United States marshal, upon the re- 
 quest of the Department of Justice of the United 
 States. 
 
 DISARMAMENT 
 
 On the 31st day of October, the third day of the 
 occupation, when the establishment of the military 
 camps was well under way, I undertook, pursuant to 
 Your Excellency's express directions, to disarm both 
 sides of the conflict that I found raging upon my 
 arrival. Realizing that in the event of the conceal- 
 ment of their weapons I would have great difficulty 
 in disarming the combatants, I consulted the strike 
 leaders, including John R. Lawson, and obtained 
 from them, and especially from him, an assurance 
 that if I first disarmed the mine guards employed 
 through the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to guard 
 the operators' properties, the strikers would then 
 cheerfully surrender the arms in their possession. It 
 must be remembered that, upon our first coming into 
 the field, the National Guard had at least the osten- 
 sible welcome and apparent cordial co-operation of 
 the striking miners. Relying upon the assurances 
 
13 
 
 given ine by Mr. Lawson and the other strike leaders, 
 I proceeded to disarm the mine guards upon the 
 various properties, against whom the most bitter feel- 
 ing of the strikers prevailed. In the disarmament of 
 these mine guards I had no difficulty whatever. They 
 were assembled by their employers, the operating com- 
 panies, and promptly turned over the high-power 
 rifles with which they had been supplied. This dis- 
 armament I carried on with respect to the mine guards 
 and employes of the operating companies in every 
 camp throughout the entire strike zone, and speedily 
 finished the complete disarmament of that side of the 
 industrial conflict. 
 
 It was arranged, upon the completion of the dis- 
 armament of the operators, that the military receive 
 the arms of the strikers, and accordingly, upon the 1st 
 of November, 1913, by an agreement between myself 
 and the strike leaders, a parade of the troops to the 
 tent colony at Ludlow, by far the largest of the 
 strikers' colonies, was arranged. From all appear- 
 ances the very best feeling prevailed between the 
 troops and the strikers. I paraded detachments of the 
 troops of various arms within Las Animas County at 
 the Ludlow tent colony, upon the suggestion and invi- 
 tation of the strike leaders, including Mr. Lawson. 
 My object was not only to receive the arms of the 
 strikers, as promised, but to occupy peaceably and 
 with good feeling the strategic points in the canons 
 about Ludlow, which the presence of so large a body 
 of armed men might have made difficult of accomplish- 
 ment without bloodshed, had my entrance been dis- 
 puted. 
 
14 
 
 The parade of the troops at the Ludlow tent 
 colony was memorable. The road for a half-mile or 
 more between the point of detraining and the entrance 
 to the colony was lined on either side by men, women, 
 and children. Many of the men were in the strange 
 costume of the Greek, Montenegrin, Servian, and Bul- 
 garian armies ; for the colony numbered among its in- 
 habitants many returned veterans of the Balkan wars. 
 The little children were dressed in white, as for a Sun- 
 day-school picnic. All carried small American Hags 
 and sang continually the Union songs. Through this 
 line of men, women, and children the troops paraded 
 infantry, cavalry, and field artillery. Flags were 
 waved in welcome, and an improvised band of the 
 strikers heralded our approach. 
 
 \Ye passed by Ludlow, occupied the Berwind and 
 Hastings canons, and then returned to the colony to 
 receive the surrender of the hundreds of high-power 
 rifles I knew the strikers to be possessed of. At this 
 point occurred the first instance of bad faith on the 
 part of the striking people. Expecting to receive 
 hundreds, if not thousands, of arms, there were de- 
 livered into my possession some twenty or thirty 
 weapons, many of them of obsolete pattern, the 
 strikers topping oil 1 the humor of the situation by in- 
 cluding in the delivery of arms a child's toy pop-gun. 
 Since that time the recovery of the strikers' arms has 
 been attended with the greatest difficulty; it has been 
 a game of hide-and-seek, and while I have been able 
 to recover, a few at a time, a large number of high- 
 power weapons, belonging to the union, from various 
 hiding places, I will state that there are hundreds of 
 guns still concealed and waiting occasion for use. 
 
15 
 
 CORONADO RIOT 
 
 In the meantime I had upon my hands a large 
 number of the mine guards whom I had disarmed, and 
 who, being defenseless in the presence of enemies 
 thirsting for their blood, had to receive protection. 
 These mine guards I undertook to ship out of the 
 strike zone. For that purpose I assembled a number 
 of them in Trinidad. On the evening of the 31st of 
 October I had in the Coronado Hotel at Trinidad a 
 number of mine guards who had been disarmed and 
 were awaiting a train to take them out of the country. 
 Notwithstanding the representations made to me con- 
 cerning the disarmament of the detested mine guards, 
 and when I had rendered them helpless by disarming 
 them, all of which was known to the striking miners, 
 a great crowd gathered around the Coronado Hotel in 
 which these disarmed men were contained, for the 
 avowed purpose of reeking condign vengeance upon 
 their enemies, thus, as they supposed, delivered into 
 their hands. Some five or six hundred men assembled 
 around the Coronado Hotel with the express design 
 of killing the disarmed and defenseless guards within. 
 This is what is known as the Coronado Hotel riot. 
 Notwithstanding all of the fair promises of Mr. Law- 
 son and other strike leaders that induced me to dis- 
 arm the mine guards first, they then rather gleefully 
 assured me that they could not control their people, 
 and that the feeling among the strikers, thirsting for 
 the blood of the mine guards, was such as could not be 
 stayed by any influence of the leaders. I found it 
 necessary upon this occasion to assemble infantry and 
 cavalry in the streets of Trinidad, and to disperse the 
 
16 
 
 inob thus bent upon wholesale murder, and to protect 
 the disarmed mine guards until they could take the 
 train out of the district. Fortunately, I was able to 
 quell this riot and prevent large loss of life without 
 bloodshed or other serious consequences than a few 
 arrests. 
 
 From this time forward, from the breach of faith 
 concerning the disarmament, until this day, the 
 history of the strike leaders has been a record of bad 
 faith, subterfuge, misrepresentation, and chicanery 
 with tie military forces of the state, who entered the 
 field taking no sides, having no interest in the in- 
 dustrial conflict, intent only upon preserving the 
 peace and guaranteeing the constitution, until by 
 these methods the striking miners have come to look 
 upon the National Guard as a foe, in league with their 
 antagonist, and the Guard has come to know that no 
 faith can be placed, and no honesty or integrity of 
 purpose can be found, in the strikers' camps, as con- 
 ducte<J by their present leaders. And I say this, 
 having no interest whatsoever in the industrial con- 
 flict still raging. 
 
 SHOOTING AT FORBES 
 
 ( >n the 5th of November the camp at Forbes was 
 fired upon by the striking miners, and I found it neces- 
 sary to send a company of infantry to that camp, 
 which lias received military protection ever since. 
 
 ARMIJO MURDER 
 
 On the 8th of November one Pedro Armijo was 
 murdered near the tent colony at Aguilar. Armijo 
 
17 
 
 was a non-union workman, who, upon that day, was 
 visiting relatives in Aguilar. This town, one of the 
 largest in the district, was inhabited almost exclu- 
 sively by union people. It has been the center and 
 hotbed of disorder during the entire campaign. A 
 committee of the Aguilar local union was sent to 
 Armijo to urge him to join the union. This committee, 
 comprising the president and treasurer of the union 
 and one other, frankly told Armijo that it was highly 
 dangerous for him to stay in Aguilar unless he took a 
 union card. Armijo, however, was not to be intimi- 
 dated, and flatly refused to join. While the committee 
 was inside the house, threatening Armijo, a large 
 crowd of men assembled in the street. The town 
 marshal, a very radical union sympathizer, was then 
 sent by the union committee to deport Armijo from 
 the town. The marshal took him out of his relatives' 
 house and, followed by the crowd, escorted him 
 through the streets of Aguilar in the direction of the 
 tent colony on the outskirts of the t wn - Before 
 reaching the colony, the marshal turned Armijo loose 
 and sent him upon his way toward the camp of his 
 enemies. The unfortunate man was thrust into the 
 jaws of death. Passing along by the tent colony, and 
 about an eighth of a mile from where the marshal left 
 him, he was murdered in his tracks by a gunshot. 
 Instantly both the crowd from town and the inhabi- 
 tants of the tent colony surrounded the body. That 
 the killing was planned and advertised there can be 
 no doubt. The tent colony people and the idle men 
 from the town were upon the ground to see the fun. 
 If the murder had been deliberately planned by the 
 town marshal and the union committee, they could 
 
18 
 
 not have acted with greater care to insure its success. 
 Upon the examination of these men before the Mili- 
 tary Commission, they were most reluctant and un- 
 reliable witnesses as to the occurrences of that morn- 
 ing, giving a decided impression that they knew much 
 more than they were willing to tell. 
 
 SMITH ASSAULT 
 
 On the same day, November 8, Herbert Smith, a 
 mine clerk at the McLaughlin mine near Trinidad, 
 was overtaken upon his road home by three or four 
 striking miners, and very brutally and severely beaten, 
 so that at one time there was a question of his 
 recovery. No reason for the assault existed other 
 than that Smith was at work, and was considered a 
 scab. The guilty parties were apprehended, and, 
 upon recommendation of the Military Commission, 
 detained for a while and then turned over to the civil 
 authorities. 
 
 LA VETA KILLING 
 
 Also on November 8 occurred what has since been 
 known as the La Veta killing, when three mine guards 
 and the driver of their car were shot and killed with- 
 out warning. 
 
 One John Flockhart, the local representative of 
 the United Mine Workers at La Veta in Huerfano 
 County, learning that William Gambling, a mine 
 guard, was coming to La Veta to have dental work 
 done, with the assistance of Charles Richards and 
 Peter Rich, assembled a number of the strikers, sup- 
 plied them with guns and ammunition from his pri- 
 vate residence, intercepted Gambling by forcibly 
 
19 
 
 taking him from a hack, and then conducted him to 
 Miners' Union Hall, where they undertook to make 
 him join the union. Gambling was, however, per- 
 mitted to telephone to the other mine guards on duty 
 in the vicinity, who at once came to his rescue 
 in an automobile. The armed party, under the 
 leadership of Charles Richards, a professed expert 
 shot, proceeded to the outskirts of the village and took 
 up their position behind an embankment a few hun- 
 dred yards from the county road, along which the 
 mine guards must pass. 
 
 The guards passed into the village without moles- 
 tation, took Gambling into their car, and quietly 
 drove away within five minutes after their arrival. 
 The party on returning from La Veta was com- 
 posed of three mine guards, Gambling, and the 
 chauffeur. When arrived at a turn in the road, about 
 a half-mile from La Veta, in full view of the detach- 
 ment of strikers stationed behind the crown of the 
 adjacent hill, a fusillade of shots was rained upon 
 them. The guards tried to return the fire, but could 
 see nothing of their assailants. Of those in the auto- 
 mobile four were shot and killed. Gambling, though 
 wounded, was the only one of the party to escape the 
 slaughter. 
 
 I at once sent a detachment to this locality to 
 care for the dead and apprehend the murderers. 
 As a result, Charles Richards, Charles Shepherd, Peter 
 Rich, Sam St. John, and Jose Chavez were arrested. 
 Upon examination they acknowledged the shooting. 
 These men are now held for trial on the charge of 
 murder. Flockhart disappeared immediately after 
 the killing, being given the necessary funds for 
 
20 
 
 transportation by the union at Walsenburg, and is 
 still a fugitive from justice. It may be well to remark 
 that a large number of the inhabitants of La Veta 
 were apprised of the coming killing and witnessed it 
 from points of advantage, their advance information 
 emanating from Flockhart and other leaders. 
 
 PIEDMONT DYNAMITING 
 
 On the 18th of November the house of one 
 I >oinenik Peffello at Piedmont was destroyed by dyna- 
 mite. Peffello had been an active union man, but had 
 deserted the ranks of the strikers and returned to 
 work. 
 
 BELCHER ASSASSINATION 
 
 Two days later, on the evening of November 20, 
 occurred the assassination of George Belcher in the 
 streets of Trinidad. Belcher had been one of the 
 leaders or foremen of the mine guards employed by 
 the operators through the Baldwin-Felts Detective 
 Agency. I have already described the feeling that 
 existed on the part of the strikers toward these mine 
 guards. This feeling was concentrated and centered 
 in a dee]) hatred of their leader, Belcher. Rumors 
 were afloat for many days before his murder 
 that he and Belk, another mine-guard leader, were 
 shortly to be assassinated. About half-past seven 
 in the evening, which in Trinidad is the busiest 
 and most crowded hour of the day, on the main corner 
 of the city, at the intersection of .Main and Commer- 
 cial Streets, beneath an arc light that hangs in the 
 middle of the street, and in the presence of perhaps a 
 
21 
 
 hundred onlookers, Belcher was shot from behind as 
 he was walking across the street, by a Tyrolean Italian 
 named Louis Zancanelli. 
 
 Belcher fell instantly. His blood flooded the 
 pavement, and his brains protruded from the bullet 
 wound through his head. He expired almost at once. 
 It happened that I myself and the Judge Advocate 
 were present in the immediate vicinity at the time of 
 this occurrence, and saw Belcher before he died. 
 Zancanelli was taken on the spot, and within five min- 
 utes of the occurrence was interviewed by myself and 
 the Judge Advocate at the city jail. For five days he 
 shllenly denied any knowledge of the murder, at the 
 end of which time he voluntarily sent for me with the 
 announcement that he had a confession to make. His 
 confession was astounding, and was gratuitously of- 
 fered, not as a result of any third-degree methods of 
 examination or any promise of clemency. He was a 
 psychological study, and he was treated with great 
 kindness ; for it was believed that only by such means 
 could he be induced to tell what he knew. The result 
 proved that to be the case. He stated to me and to the 
 Judge Advocate, and later to the Military Commis- 
 sion, that he had been hired to kill Belcher and Belk 
 by one Anthony B. McGary and one Sam Carter. 
 These two men were, and perhaps are yet, interna- 
 tional organizers of the United Mine Workers of 
 America. Zancanellrs story proceeded as follows: 
 That McGary and Carter had made several trips to 
 Ludlow, where Zancanelli lived, to offer him this em- 
 ployment. They offered the job likewise to one Mario 
 Zeni, his tent-mate. Zancanelli at first declined, but 
 Zeni accepted and came to Trinidad to do the deed. A 
 
22 
 
 week afterwards Zancanelli came likewise, and was 
 told by Zeni that he had not had an opportunity to 
 accomplish the murder. McGary and Carter met 
 Zancanelli in Trinidad and played upon his feelings 
 and pride, telling him that Zeni was no good, had no 
 courage, but that he, Zancanelli, could do the job if 
 he would. Thereupon Zancanelli undertook it. 
 McGary and Carter told him that he would probably 
 be arrested, but that the union was so strong and 
 powerful that it would get him out of jail at once, and 
 protect him from the consequences. They told him 
 also that, if he succeeded, the union would take care 
 of him the rest of his life, so that he would not have tp 
 work. They promised him $1,000 ; that is to say, $500 
 for each murder. The four of them Carter, McGary, 
 Zancanelli, and Zeni went from union headquarters 
 across the street to a saloon, and there McGary cashed 
 a check for $50, receiving the money in gold, and paid 
 $25 each to Zancanelli and Zeni upon account two 
 $10 gold pieces and a $5 piece to each. Zancanelli 
 then had Belcher pointed out to him, and followed 
 him around and lay in wait for him. On the evening 
 of the second day thereafter his opportunity came, 
 and he stole up behind his victim and shot him with 
 a revolver that McGary had furnished him for the 
 purpose. This revolver had certain peculiarities by 
 which it was identified readily by its owner. It had 
 belonged to one Barulich, a chauffeur employed by the 
 union to drive its car. Barulich stated that he car- 
 ried the gun in his automobile when driving McGary 
 and Carter around from camp to camp, and that it 
 had disappeared a short time before, and that he sup- 
 posed either McGary or Carter had taken it. 
 
23 
 
 Upon this confession of Zancanelli's, effort was 
 immediately made to arrest McGary and Carter, and 
 it was then discovered that they had fled the state the 
 day after the murder. This same Barulich stated 
 that he was directed by McGary and Carter to take 
 them in the car to the first railroad station east of 
 Trinidad ; that upon arrival there McGary and Carter 
 had directed him to proceed further eastward, and 
 that upon arriving at each town in their progress he 
 received similar orders to drive further, until they 
 reached Lamar, a town on the Santa Fe railroad near 
 the Kansas border. Upon arrival at Lamar an east- 
 bound train was just pulling in. This train was 
 boarded by McGary and Carter, who directed Baru- 
 lich to return to Trinidad. 
 
 I personally offered a reward of $1,000 for the ar- 
 rest and return of each of these two fugitives ; but, not- 
 withstanding the reward and all my efforts to discover 
 them, their whereabouts are still unknown to any of 
 the authorities. 
 
 Possibly there is no significance in the fact, but I 
 have remarked that in the printed statement of the 
 treasurer of the United Mine Workers, compiled at 
 Indianapolis, in addition to the salary account paid 
 McGary, there appears an item "A. B. McGary ex- 
 pense, $50.00." 
 
 Zancanelli stated that he made this confession be- 
 cause McGary and Carter had not kept their word 
 with him in getting him out of jail, and he felt that 
 they had deserted him, and that they should bear as 
 much of the blame as he. He was told, before he made 
 the confession, that it would be used against him, and 
 that he was under no compulsion to make it. He told 
 
24 
 
 his story circumstantially and minutely to a great 
 many persons, but without feeling of remorse or re- 
 gret. Zeni steadfastly denied all knowledge what- 
 ever. Later the grand jury indicted Zancanelli, 
 Zeni, McGary, and Carter. Zancanelli was turned 
 over to the civil authorities and is now held for mur- 
 der. Zeni was turned over before the grand jury had 
 indicted him, and the civil authorities released him. 
 He stayed around long enough to make a very ridic- 
 ulous affidavit, manifestly prompted by the strike 
 leaders, concerning alleged cruelties to the military 
 prisoners in the city jail, and then departed for parts 
 unknown another instance of the many affidavit men 
 who cannot be found after their affidavits have served 
 their intended purpose. Zeni, like McGary and Car- 
 ter, is now a fugitive from justice. 
 
 ALEXANDER MURDER 
 
 On November 23 I discovered James Bicavuris in 
 a hospital in Denver. I arrested him and took him 
 to Trinidad, where his case was submitted to the Mil- 
 itary Commission. The occasion was as follows: 
 
 During one of the battles between the strikers 
 and mine guards in the Hastings and Berwind canons, 
 one Alexander, a mine guard, was deliberately shot 
 by the strikers. It seems that the mine guards at 
 Hastings were not acquainted with the mine guards 
 in the adjacent canon at Berwind, and so they adopted 
 the device of tying a handkerchief around their arms 
 as a distinguishing mark, whereby they might recog- 
 nize each other. Early one morning, before the troops 
 arrived in the field, a group of mine guards from Hast- 
 ings, expecting an attack from the strikers at Ludlow, 
 
25 
 
 were reconnoitering upon the hills adjacent to their 
 camp. They were expecting to be reinforced by the 
 mine guards from Berwind. In the dim light of 
 breaking dawn the Hastings guards, of whom Alex- 
 ander was one, encountered a tall man, with a heavy 
 shock of red hair, with a handkerchief tied upon his 
 arm. This man called to the party of guards, saying : 
 "We are the Berwind guards; come on!" By this 
 ruse he led the Hastings men up the side of a hill, and, 
 as they approached the crest, concealed strikers rose 
 from their cover a few feet away, and delivered a fusil- 
 lade of shots, killing Alexander. The man who had 
 been used as a decoy was seen to approach and rob the 
 body of Alexander after the latter was killed. In the 
 doing of it, however, he was accidentally shot in the 
 leg by a stray bullet from his own people. The 
 wounded decoy disappeared, and when I found Bicu- 
 varis in Denver, just recovered from a gun-shot wound 
 in the leg, and maintained in the hospital at the ex- 
 pense of the United Mine Workers of America, I 
 caused to be introduced into the hospital w^ard Alex- 
 ander's companions, who instantly picked him out of 
 twenty or thirty patients, and identified him positively 
 as the man who led Alexander to his death. This tes- 
 timony being submitted to the Military Commission, 
 Bicuvaris was detained, and later delivered to the 
 civil authorities, in whose custody he now is, awaiting 
 trial for murder. It appeared from the testimony be- 
 fore the Military Commission that the United Mine 
 Workers had officially taken care of Bicuvaris, con- 
 cealing him from the authorities, conducting him to 
 Denver, and paying his hospital expenses during his 
 recovery from his wound. Bicuvaris is a Greek, speak- 
 ing English but imperfectly. 
 
26 
 MILITARY COMMISSION 
 
 About this time I instituted the Military Commis- 
 sion, whose purpose, functions, and service I have ex- 
 plained elsewhere in this report. 
 
 STRIKEBREAKERS 
 
 About December 1 Your Excellency modified 
 your instructions concerning strikebreakers, and di- 
 rected me to see that the law was strictly enforced; 
 where workmen were desirous of entering the state to 
 secure work in the mines, to give them necessary pro- 
 tection, and see that they knew in advance the con- 
 ditions of employment and that a strike existed. The 
 first workmen arrived about the 17th of December. I 
 was very careful to ascertain whether they knew the 
 conditions of their employment and the pendency of 
 the strike, and in those instances where I was not 
 satisfied that the law had been complied with in that 
 respect, the strikebreakers were held for investigation. 
 In other cases they were given safe conduct and pro- 
 tection to the camps where they had contracted to 
 labor. 
 
 VACCINATION OF LUDLOW TENT COLONY 
 
 On the 29th of December I found it necessary to 
 insist upon the vaccination of the inhabitants of the 
 Ludlow tent colony. This task was accomplished by 
 the medical corps of the National Guard, under the 
 directions of the Surgeon-General of the state, Colonel 
 Lingenfelter. It was not performed without much dis- 
 sent and protest on the part of the strikers in the 
 
27 
 
 colony, but the vaccination was successful and a 
 plague of smallpox, which had started, was success- 
 fully stamped out. 
 
 ROUTT COUNTY EXPEDITION 
 
 1 On the 5th of January Your Excellency directed 
 me to send a company of infantry to Koutt County. 
 Accordingly I sent Company G, First Infantry, Cap- 
 tain Dorn commanding, together with the necessary 
 staff and medical officers. The occasion for the occu- 
 pation of Routt County was that the citizens at Oak 
 Creek rose en masse and announced that the union 
 leaders were a menace to society, and Avould have to 
 leave the county within twenty-four hours, or the 
 citizens, banded together for that purpose, would drive 
 them out. The strikers themselves called upon Your 
 Excellency for protection against the citizens of Routt 
 County, and that protection was promptly afforded. 
 
 MOTHER JONES 
 
 On the llth of January Mary Jones, or Mary 
 Harris, alias "Mother Jones," appeared in Trinidad in 
 defiance of Your Excellency, with the avowed and 
 proclaimed purpose of stirring up trouble. I have 
 discussed this woman elsewhere in this report. By 
 Your Excellency's directions I arrested Mother Jones, 
 placed her in San Rafael Hospital, a church institu- 
 tion, giving her every Qomfort, but depriving her of 
 being at large to carry out her incendiary purposes. 
 
 MOTHER JONES RIOT 
 
 Ten days later there occurred a riot in the streets 
 of Trinidad, known as the "Mother Jones riot." By 
 
28 
 
 this time the military forces had been able ft) enforce 
 a sullen and unwilling peace in the disturbed region, 
 and the strikers had evinced a disposition to cause dis- 
 turbance and disorder through their women folks. 
 They adopted as a device the plan of hiding behind 
 their women's skirts, believing, as was indeed the case, 
 that it would be more embarrassing for the military 
 to deal with women than with men. Accordingly a 
 parade of women was arranged as a demonstration to 
 protest against the incarceration of Mother Jones. 
 The leaders in the movement consulted me, asking per- 
 mission to carry out the parade, and promising that 
 the line of march would be confined to the down-town 
 streets of Trinidad, and particularly that no effort 
 would be made to march upon the hospital where 
 Mother Jones was detained, and which is adjacent to 
 the military camp, about a mile from the center of 
 the city. With that understanding, I freely gave per- 
 mission for the parade to occur. The parade of women 
 was had as planned, but it was noticeable that the 
 men, while not in the parade, were present in the im- 
 mediate vicinity and available to participate in any 
 riot that might occur. Contrary to the promise given 
 me by the leaders, the hundreds of women in the 
 parade, together with the hundreds of men upon the 
 sidewalk, started toward the hospital and the military 
 camp, with loud shouts of their intention to liberate 
 Mother Jones by force. I found it necessary to break 
 up the parade and clear the streets, which was done 
 promptly and effectually. So soon as the disorder 
 commenced, the men, quite evidently waiting for that 
 to transpire, joined the crowd and participated in the 
 melee. The strike leader, Diamond, who was then 
 
29 
 
 in charge of the union people of Trinidad, instead of 
 using his efforts to dissuade his people from their un- 
 lawful intentions, I discovered to be calmly taking 
 photographs, for use doubtless of the union press 
 bureau and the Congressional Committee. I was com- 
 pelled to make numerous arrests upon that occasion 
 of persons who were later released or turned over to 
 the civil authorities. The fact that the parade itself 
 consisted of women has been made the subject of much 
 flamboyant and untruthful comment by the union 
 leaders, but the situation was a dangerous one, and I 
 have to congratulate and commend the National 
 Guard for the patience with which the crisis was 
 handled. It was truly a miracle that no blood was 
 shed, and the miracle is due alone to the self-restraint 
 and patience of the National Guardsmen under the 
 most provoking and trying circumstances. Sticks, 
 stones, and other missiles Avere freely thrown by men 
 and women alike at the soldiers, but the latter disre- 
 garded the blows they received, and bore themselves 
 well and manfully, intent alone upon clearing the 
 streets and dispersing the mob. 
 
 WALSENBURG BOMB 
 
 On the 27th of January a crude bomb was throAvn 
 into the military camp at Walsenburg. It did not 
 explode. Whence it came was a mystery, and no 
 arrests could be made on this account. The* incident, 
 however, shows to what lengths those opposed to the 
 military will go, and what precautions must neces- 
 sarily be taken by the state's troops in sheer self- 
 preservation. Had the bomb exploded, it would have 
 killed a great portion of the soldiers about the head- 
 quarters of the camp. 
 
30 
 HABEAS CORPUS 
 
 On the 29th of January four habeas corpus cases 
 were tried before the District Court of Las Animas 
 County, involving the right of the military authorities 
 to arrest and detain persons without accusations of 
 specific offenses. After a lengthy argument between 
 counsel for the United Mine Workers and the Judge 
 Advocate, the district judge vindicated the right of 
 the military to arrest and imprison, following in that 
 respect the judicial determinations of the same ques- 
 tion by every state court in which the situation has 
 arisen, and by the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. 
 
 FREMONT COUNTY EXPEDITION 
 
 On the 31st of January Your Excellency directed 
 me to send troops into Fremont County, the occasion 
 being an attack by armed strikers upon trains bearing 
 strikebreakers to the mines. Pursuant to those direc- 
 tions, I sent Major Kenned} 7 with a company of in- 
 fantry and a detachment of cavalry to Florence, 
 diminishing by this and the expedition to Routt 
 County the all too meager force at my command 
 wherewith to protect the citizens of Huerfano and Las 
 Animas Counties. 
 
 By Your Excellency's orders, about the middle 
 of February the troops were withdrawn, first from 
 Fremont County and then from Routt County, the 
 necessity for their presence, in Your Excellency's 
 opinion, having passed. 
 
31 
 
 MOTHER JONES' HABEAS CORPUS SUITS 
 
 Early in February counsel for the United Mine 
 Workers made application to the Supreme Court of 
 the State of Colorado for an original writ of habeas 
 corpus in the case of Mother Jones. This application 
 was denied by the Supreme Court. 
 
 On the 6th of March the habeas corpus petition 
 in the case of Mother Jones, addressed to the District 
 Court of Las Anirnas County, was denied, and Mother 
 Jones remanded to my custody. During the argu- 
 ments in court upon all of the habeas corpus cases, 
 the court-room was packed on each occasion with a 
 heterogeneous audience, the major portion of which 
 neither spoke nor understood the English language. 
 The crowd was very unusual and could not have been 
 attracted by any desire to hear the proceedings, which 
 it could not understand. Without any doubt in the 
 Avorld, these men Greeks, Montenegrins, Italians, 
 Servians, and other recent arrivals from the southern 
 countries of Europe were present for the one pur- 
 pose of participating in any riot that might be started. 
 On the last occasion, March 6, I discovered a con- 
 spiracy among certain Italians in the audience to 
 kill myself, the Judge Advocate, who was presenting 
 the argument, and the district judge, who had incurred 
 the hatred of the strikers by his decisions. The con- 
 spiracy was not unusual, since I have had military in- 
 formation of just such plots over and over again ; but, 
 upon a showing of this particular conspiracy, the 
 actual production of Mother Jones in court was 
 waived by counsel for the United Mine Workers. On 
 each of these occasions I found it. necessary to sur- 
 round the courthouse with soldiers. I have always 
 
32 
 
 been able to enforce order mid prevent riot or dis- 
 perse mobs, but with all the forces at my command I 
 could not prevent secret assassination, and assassina- 
 tion was impending that day. 
 
 FORBES MURDER 
 
 An episode has occurred since the visit of the 
 Congressional Committee, which has been given 
 nation-wide publicity through the press bureau of the 
 United Mine Workers of America. The incident is so 
 typical of the falsehoods spread broadcast concerning 
 the National Guard by the union leaders that I beg 
 leave to acquaint Your Excellency and, through you, 
 the Congressional Committee \vith the facts. A non- 
 union miner by the name of Neil Smith, working at 
 Forbes, was murdered on the railroad tracks between 
 Forbes and Suffield. The murder \vas particularly 
 brutal. It was committed with large stones held in 
 the hand, with which the victim was beaten to death. 
 His skull was smashed in, and his whole body so 
 pounded and mutilated as to be almost beyond recog- 
 nition. The blood-deluged stones and clubs used are 
 in the possession of the coroner of Las Animas Coun- 
 ty. After being killed, the victim's body was laid on 
 the railroad track to be run over, as it was, by an ap- 
 proaching train. The train passed over the body at 
 7 :40 in the evening. At six o'clock the deceased was 
 seen walking briskly towards Suffield at a point not 
 a quarter of a mile from where he was discovered 
 dead. In an hour and forty minutes, if the union's 
 theory is correct, he had walked less than a quarter 
 of a mile. The stones and sticks covered with hair 
 imbedded in the dried blood, found beside the rail- 
 
road track, conclusively negative any theory other 
 than murder. Three distinct sets of foot-prints led 
 from the body, where it lay on the railroad track, 
 across country by a devious route into the union tent 
 colony at Forbes. The foot-prints were very dis- 
 tinct and were not lost once. It was known that 
 by an incident of this kind the union people desired to 
 strike terror into the hearts of those at work. There 
 were two tent colonies at Forbes, knoAvn as the upper 
 and the lower colony. In one are men, women, and 
 children. In the other are men only. It Avas to the 
 latter colony that the foot-prints of the murderers 
 led. 
 
 All of the tent colonies in the disturbed region 
 are so established strategically as to guard the mouth 
 of the canon and by their presence terrorize and intim- 
 idate non-union workmen. This was particularly true 
 of the Forbes colony. It is so established that no 
 workmen can leave the camp at Forbes without pass- 
 ing along or through it. Upon discovering these facts, 
 I arrested all of the inhabitants of this lower colony, 
 numbering some sixteen men. I then directed the re- 
 moval of the tents, and they were taken down. In 
 my judgment it was a military necessity. The col- 
 ony was known to harbor the murderers of Smith, 
 and Avas a menace and continuing intimidation. 
 
 So soon as the tent colony was razed the strike 
 leaders besieged Your Excellency Avith protests, and 
 sent to the President of the United States a message 
 to the effect that I had destroyed the homes of the 
 people and turned Avomen and children nay, infants 
 in arms out into a blinding blizzard, homeless and 
 Avith unspeakable suffering. There Avas no blizzard; 
 
34 
 
 there were no women, children, or infants in the col- 
 ony, and every inhabitant deprived of a home by the 
 razing of the tents was furnished shelter in the jails 
 of Trinidad. I have the statement of the president of 
 the Forbes local union, made to the Judge Advocate, 
 that there were no women or children in this colony, 
 and never had been since its inception. Accordingly, 
 by Your Excellency's direction, I telegraphed the true 
 facts to the President of the United States, a copy of 
 which message I attach hereto. In this case it is 
 interesting to note that the president of the local 
 union, in answer to a question of the Judge Advocate, 
 stated that the Forbes local comprised some fifty- 
 three members, mostly English-speaking, being Eng- 
 lishmen, Scotchmen, Irishmen, and Welshmen, and 
 that of the number there were but three American 
 citizens. The examination of the prisoners revealed 
 over and over again English-speaking men who had 
 been in this country between twenty and thirty years, 
 yet had never attempted to become American citizens, 
 but remained still subjects of the British crown. 
 These are the class of men who clamor most loudly 
 about their constitutional rights. 
 
 WILLIAMS' ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION 
 
 As I write this report, another instance of out- 
 lawry has occurred. The other night the business men 
 of Trinidad met and formulated a joint telegram to 
 Your Excellency, endorsing Your Excellency's policy, 
 and pleading for the protection that continuance of 
 the state troops in Trinidad assures. One of the 
 business men so joining in approval of Your Excel- 
 lency and the military, forces of the state was dis- 
 
35 
 
 covered the day before yesterday in a dying condition 
 in his office, having been murderously beaten and left 
 for dead. He was taken to San Eafael Hospital, and, 
 from the latest reports received, has not yet recovered 
 consciousness. 
 
HI 
 GENERAL POLICIES 
 
 USE OF HORSES, MULES, AND AUTOMOBILES 
 
 On entering the field, the National Guard owned 
 only fourteen head of draft-horses a totally inade- 
 quate number for the Quartermaster General's De- 
 partment, which is charged w r ith the supplying of the 
 troops with all manner of stores. Two hundred and 
 seventy-nine head of horses were finally purchased 
 for draft use and mounted troops. The Commanding 
 General very gladly accepted the offer made by ranch- 
 men and some of the operators to take over horses 
 and mules to be used without charge to the state. In 
 this way twenty-one head of saddle horses were in use 
 without expense other than their feed, being drawn 
 from the ranches in the vicinity of the strike zone, and 
 fifteen head of mules were secured from the various 
 coal mines of the district. 
 
 In Huerfano and Las Animas Counties the troops 
 were distributed over about 120 miles of territory, 
 much of which was distant from railroad transporta- 
 tion. It became necessary to provide transportation 
 other than horses, in order that the Commanding 
 General and certain officers of his staff might pay 
 frequent visits to the detached posts. At various times 
 six different automobiles have been used, four of which 
 were private cars and two said to have been owned 
 by the operators. Some complaint was urged by the 
 strike leaders against the use of these cars, and request 
 was promptly made of Mr. Lawson that he also fur- 
 nish one or two cars for the use of the troops. This 
 request he declined. 
 
37 
 ENLISTMENT OF MINE GUARDS 
 
 The enlisted personnel of the National Guard of 
 Colorado is largely made up of small property-owners, 
 clerks, professional men, and farmers. It has always 
 been the custom, upon mobilization of the troops for 
 protracted service, to relieve from duty those soldiers 
 vvnose presence at home is most greatly needed, en- 
 listing in their places men who have served in the 
 regular army, in the marine corps and navy, and the 
 National Guard of this and other states, great num- 
 bers of whom are usually available in the cities and 
 towns of the state. Among the mine guards who were 
 thrown out of employment by the presence of the 
 troops in the field, a few ex-soldiers were found whose 
 discharge papers were of such a character that it 
 seemed desirable to enlist them in the National Guard 
 of Colorado. So far as it has been possible to ascer- 
 tain, no Baldwin-Felts man ever offered himself for 
 enlistment or became enrolled in the service. All men 
 enlisted in the National Guard were given the pay of 
 the rank in which they were serving as soldiers, and 
 were subject to the same orders as other soldiers. A 
 few of the men enlisted among the mine guards were 
 paid for a time additional sums by the operators. This 
 is a matter in which the Commanding General has 
 no interest, as it ( has 'been customary for business 
 houses to continue the pay of employes who are serv- 
 ing the state under orders of the Governor. 
 
 DISARMAMENT 
 
 The Governor in his first letter of instruction 
 directed that all persons should be disarmed unless 
 
38 
 
 authorized to bear anus. In compliance with this 
 order, weapons were taken from tin* peace officers of 
 both counties, from the deputy sheriffs and mine 
 guards found about the properties of the operators, 
 fmm the tent colonies of the strikers, and from such 
 homes and stores as were being used to the disturb- 
 ance of law and order. In all 1,872 guns and pistols 
 have been gathered, about an equal number being 
 taken from the deputies and strikers, and about two 
 tons of explosives. Directions were given, very soon 
 after entering the strike zone, that the importation of 
 arms and ammunition should cease, and that no guns, 
 ammunition, or explosives should be sold without the 
 permission of the Commanding General. Many of the 
 guns which were in transit at j:he time of the mobiliza- 
 tion of troops were returned to the factories and 
 wholesale dealers in the East. Where arms were vol- 
 nntarily turned over to the soldiers, a receipt carrying 
 a description of the gun was given to the owner of the 
 weapon. Where false statements have been made as 
 to the presence of guns, it has been customary to con- 
 fiscate the weapons when found. The first weapons 
 gathered in Huerfano County were taken from the 
 sheriff and his deputies. 
 
 STRIKEBREAKERS AND STRIKE NOTICES 
 
 In the Governor's letter of instruction dated Oc- 
 tober 28, 1913, occurred the following order : 
 
 "To see that all persons desiring to return to 
 work shall be permitted to do so and to go and 
 come when they will without molestation or inter- 
 ference of any kind whatsoever; and during the 
 
restoration of order or until further orders no 
 strikebreakers shall be shipped in. 
 
 With these purposes in view you should have 
 the fullest co-operation of every good citizen." 
 
 Every operator in the strike zone was promptly 
 notified of this ruling, and was directed that any plans 
 under consideration for the introduction of workmen 
 from outside the State of Colorado should be with- 
 drawn until such time as the Governor lifted the pro- 
 hibition for the introduction of workmen from with- 
 out the state. One band of twelve Japanese was per- 
 mitted to come in by a special permit of the Governor, 
 as they had previously worked in the strike zone and 
 were fully cognizant of the fact that the strike was in 
 progress. The Governor directed by telephone that 
 at any time \vhen two or three former workmen de- 
 sired to return to any of the mines, they should be 
 allowed to do it. The strike leaders repeatedly called 
 the attention of the Commanding General to alleged 
 efforts to violate the order concerning the introduc- 
 tion of workmen. Each case was investigated by an 
 officer detailed for the purpose, and in only one in- 
 stance that of the introduction of Mexicans at Gray 
 Creek was there even an appearance of an effort to 
 evade the order of the Governor. 
 
 Prior to the issuance of General Order No. 17, 
 a copy of which is attached, the operators were 
 informed that they would not be permitted to im- 
 port to their mines any workman who had not pre- 
 viously been interrogated by an officer of the National 
 Guard as to his knowledge of the strike and conditions 
 of employment in the State of Colorado. Each officer 
 
40 
 
 of the National Guard was furnished with copies of 
 General Order No. IT, and the order was printed 
 in the local press. The first importation of work- 
 men arrived from the East, passing through La 
 Junta. In order to test the efficacy of the method 
 adopted for interviewing workmen, Captain Nicker- 
 son was sent to La Junta to meet the train bearing the 
 workmen. Upon his recommendation that there was 
 ample time after the arrival of workmen in the district 
 to test their knowledge of the strike and labor condi- 
 tions in Colorado, no other officer was sent out of the 
 strike zone to intercept workmen. Upon several 
 occasions complaints were made that workmen had 
 been brought into the mines without a complete check 
 being made. Officers were detailed to investigate, and 
 tlu'ir reports show that in each instance the check had 
 been thoroughly made. 
 
 Prior to the promulgation of General Order No. 
 17, the operators were invited to a conference with 
 the Commanding General to devise a scheme of 
 notification to the workmen entering the strike zone, 
 which would give evidence of compliance with the law. 
 At this time notices were drafted, and printed in 
 several languages, which were afterwards, as I am 
 informed, supplied to each laborer imported. One of 
 these printed notices is attached hereto. 
 
 UNITED STATES MAILS 
 
 Nearly every mining camp in southern Colorado 
 is located on land which for purposes other than 
 mining is almost worthless. Such population as 
 gathers about the mines is for purely mining pur- 
 poses. This has necessitated the placing of post- 
 
41 
 
 offices, for the convenience of the inhabitants, on 
 mining property privately owned. One of the deli- 
 cate situations requiring wise control on the part of 
 the soldiers on duty in the strike region has been to 
 permit all persons who were accustomed to receive 
 mail at these mining post-offices to proceed to the post- 
 office, and at the same time insure against interfer- 
 ence with persons or property connected with the 
 other side of the industrial conflict. The condition 
 referred to has been aggravated in several of the 
 camps by the fact that county roads pass through 
 the mining camp, and, as Your Excellency well knows, 
 no highways in the strike zone are fenced. As an in- 
 stance of the conditions referred to, of the care exer- 
 cised by the officers and the good judgment exhibited 
 by the enlisted men, the reports of the officers con- 
 nected with the alleged interference of the mail at 
 Rouse are herewith submitted. 
 
 ALLEGED PEONAGE 
 
 Numerous inquiries have been made of the Com- 
 manding General by the committee of the trades as- 
 semblies of Colorado, by strike leaders and individ- 
 uals among the strikers, as to the restraint alleged to 
 have been exercised by soldiers over workmen desir- 
 ing to leave the various mining properties. It seems 
 incredible that such a charge should be made against 
 a soldier; for it is a well-known fact that the mine 
 operators openly assert they want no man on the 
 pay-roll who has become dissatisfied with his work, 
 or who desires to leave. Therefore it is easy to un- 
 derstand that no request has ever been received by any 
 officer or soldier of the National Guard of Colorado to 
 
42 
 
 prevent the departure of any workmen seeking to 
 leave, nor has there been an instance known to the 
 Commanding General where an officer or enlisted man 
 of the National Guard ever prevented the exit of any 
 workman from a mine, unless all egress from a camp 
 had been barred temporarily to investigate some al- 
 leged crime. 
 
 POLICE INFRACTIONS BY TROOPS 
 
 Something over 2,000 different soldiers have been 
 on duty in the strike zone of Colorado. The dis- 
 cipline of the men, the efficiency of the officers, and 
 the quality of service rendered have been a constant 
 surprise to such soldiers as have had the facts to 
 judge from. No instance of disobedience or neglect 
 of orders on the part of an officer has come to the at- 
 tention of the Commanding General. There have been 
 fewer infractions than might have been expected from 
 the nature of the service, which was peculiarly trying 
 to disciplined soldiers. Every case of drunkenness or 
 other irregularity was cared for by the proper mil- 
 itary courts. The summary courts tried 424 cases, 
 and the general court martial considered 30 cases. 
 
 THE MILITARY COMMISSION 
 
 I feel it due to explain the purpose and functions 
 of the Military Commission which was established by 
 my order shortly after the assassination in the streets 
 of Trinidad. I found that military prisoners were ac- 
 cumulating in the jails, whose individual cases needed 
 more thorough investigation than the Commanding 
 General had time or occasion to make. I therefore 
 
43 
 
 detached a board of officers, which I designated the 
 "Military Commission. " This board or commission 
 I constituted of officers of higher rank in the service 
 of the state, known in their local communities as rep- 
 resentative men of high ability, upright character, 
 and irreproachable integrity. While the personnel of 
 the commission was changed slightly from time to 
 time, as the necessities of the service required, still I 
 aimed always to assign to this body officers in whom 
 Your Excellency, the Commanding General, and the 
 people would have the geratest confidence. As orig- 
 inally established, the commission comprised the In- 
 spector-General and Paymaster-General of the State, 
 Colonel C. B. Carlile, who, in civil life, is a banker in 
 Pueblo; the Surgeon-General of the State, Colonel G. 
 P. Lingenfelter, a distinguished Denver physician ; 
 Colonel Edward Verdeckberg, commanding the First 
 Regiment of Infantry and the central camp at Wal- 
 senburg, a manufacturer of Denver; Major A. H. Wil- 
 liams, Adjutant-General of the First Brigade, a Den- 
 ver business man; Major A. F. Reeves, a real-estate 
 man of Montrose, who has since been appointed post- 
 master of that city by the President; Captain A. D. 
 Marshall, the secretary of the Sons of the American 
 Revolution; and Lieutenant W. A. Spangler, a Den- 
 ver attorney. Afterwards, at different times, Major 
 Lester, a Walsenburg physician ; Captain Dailey, clerk 
 of the District Court at Fort Morgan ; Captain Frost, 
 an attorney of Colorado Springs; Captain F. D. Bart- 
 lett, a professional man of Denver, and Captain 
 Downer, a merchant of Ordway, served upon the com- 
 mission. 
 
44 
 
 The purpose in view in establishing the Mili- 
 tary Commission was to prevent the imposition of 
 unnecessary hardship and imprisonment in cases 
 where no reasonable grounds existed for detention, 
 and to insure, by the collective judgment of such 
 a board, wise and discriminating imprisonment of 
 those who should be detained as a military necessity. 
 While the board was advisory purely, I yet sought to 
 substitute for the sole judgment of the Commanding 
 General the collective wisdom and painstaking results 
 of these high-minded and patriotic gentlemen. The 
 Military Commission was in no sense a court. It did 
 not undertake to try anyone for criminal offenses or 
 anything else. It was a kindly and humane device 
 established for the sole purpose of minimizing the 
 possibility of error in judgment attaching to the in- 
 carceration of civilians. 
 
 In the same order I established the office of the 
 Judge Advocate of the Military District, and desig- 
 nated Major Edward J. Boughtpn, an attorney of 
 Denver and Cripple Creek, the Judge Advocate; as- 
 signing to his office as assistants Captain William C. 
 Danks, of Denver; Captain Edward A. Smith, of 
 Denver; Captain Hildreth Frost, of Colorado Springs, 
 and Captain J. R. Charlesworth, of Delta; all prac- 
 ticing attorneys-at-law. 
 
 The purpose of the Military Commission and the 
 Judge Advocate's office was accomplished even beyond 
 my expectations. A very large number of arrests were 
 made for various reasons. All of these cases were in- 
 vestigated, the evidence collected and submitted to 
 the Military Commission by the Judge Advocate, and 
 recommendations either of release or continued deten- 
 
45 
 
 tion were made by the commission to the Commanding 
 General, and acted upon promptly by him. In all 172 
 cases were thus investigated and disposed of. It is 
 interesting to note that 325 witnesses appeared before 
 the commission. Of the prisoners, 141 were foreign- 
 ers, 14 were Greeks, 46 Italians, 43 Mexicans, 
 24 Slavs, 14 other foreign nations. There were 31 
 Americans. The moral effect of the Military Com- 
 mission was tremendous. It was able to ascertain the 
 true facts in cases where the civil authorities had con- 
 fessed themselves wholly unable to do anything. 
 Whenever it was discovered that the prisoners were 
 amenable to the civil law for specific criminal offenses, 
 they were turned over to the civil authorities, to- 
 gether with the evidence collected by the commission. 
 The nature of the cases submitted may be summarized 
 as follows: murder, 29; assault, 42; disturbance, 20; 
 rioting, 19; subverting military discipline, 17; arson, 
 20; drunkenness and disorderly conduct, 15; held as 
 witnesses, 21; insanity, 1; picketing, 1; fugitive from 
 justice, 1. No effort was, of course, made in that di- 
 rection, but it so happened that the political com- 
 plexion both of the Military Commission and the 
 Judge Advocate's office was distributed very evenly 
 among the recognized political parties in the state, 
 even the socialist party being represented thereon. 
 
 "MOTHER JONES" 
 
 The person known as "Mother Jones" has oc- 
 casioned considerable publicity and some embarrass- 
 ment during the occupation. The embarrassment of 
 her presence is not, however, confined to the military 
 authorities by any means. It was at one time stated 
 
to me and the Judge Advocate, by Mr. McLennan, 
 one of the principal strike leaders, that Mother Jones 
 \\ as invaluable as an organizer in the early stages of 
 the strike, because she excited the men, but had al- 
 ways* proved very embarrassing to the union chiefs 
 in the latter stages, particularly when there was 
 possibility of a compromise or adjustment. McLen- 
 nan stated in that conversation that Mother Jones 
 was a very headstrong old woman, who would not sub- 
 mit to guidance or suggestion of any kind, even from 
 her own people, and that they had to suffer her to do 
 as she wanted, oftentimes to the great annoyance of 
 those in charge of the strike. She is an eccentric ami 
 peculiar figure. I make no mention of her personal 
 history, with which we are not concerned. She seems, 
 however, to have in an exceptional degree the faculty 
 of strirring up and inciting the more ignorant and 
 criminally disposed to deeds of violence and crime. 
 Prior to the advent of the state's troops she made a 
 series of speeches in the strike zone, of which I have 
 authentic and verbatim reports. These speeches are 
 couched in course,. vulgar, and profane language, and 
 address themselves to the lowest passions of mankind. 
 I confidently believe that most of the murders and 
 other acts of violent crime committed in the strike 
 region have been inspired by this woman's incendiary 
 utterances. The fact that she is a woman and ad- 
 vanced in years she uses as a shield, as well as a 
 means of invoking popular sympathetic sentiment in 
 case of her incarceration. She is undoubtedly a most 
 dangerous factor in the peace problem. I am informed 
 that she was so found in West Virginia and elsewhere 
 that disturbance and anarchy held sway. She was 
 
47 
 
 held for murder in West Virginia, and I am advised 
 that her police record is in the possession of the Pink- 
 erton Detective Agency. 
 
 As Your Excellency is fully aware, she defied all 
 government and all authority of the Governor to Your 
 Excellency. Every effort was made to induce her to 
 remain away from the troubled district, and the co- 
 operation in that respect of the strike leaders was 
 invited. These latter, however, while evincing a dis- 
 position to keep Mother Jones out of the territory, 
 frankly confessed their inability to do so. She came 
 to Trinidad, after publicly declaring her intention to 
 incite trouble. 
 
 In view of her history in other places and the 
 evident effects of her incendiary utterances in Colo- 
 rado, Your Excellency deemed it wise and even neces- 
 sary, as a military measure, to restrain Mother Jones 
 of her liberty so long as she persisted in remaining in 
 the strike region. Accordingly, upon the day of her 
 arrival in Trinidad I arrested her and placed her in 
 San Rafael Hospital, upon the outskirts of the city, 
 where she was given every attention conducive to her 
 comfort. She was advised that she was always at 
 entire liberty to leave the disturbed parts of the state, 
 but she pertinaciously and with great contumacy in- 
 sisted on remaining in imprisonment. It was avowed- 
 ly present in her mind to excite sympathy for the 
 union cause by submitting to a continued incarcera- 
 tion, and with that in mind she was at first very 
 angry that she had been so nicely restrained at the 
 hospital, instead of being confined in a common jail, of 
 which she felt she would be able to make more capital. 
 After many Aveeks' confinement, however, she sought a 
 
48 
 
 confidential interview with Colonel Davis, commanding 
 the central camp at Trinidad, in which she discussed 
 ways and means of bringing about her departure and 
 at the same time saving her face. Being anxious 
 only to get rid of the incendiary woman, her sugges- 
 tion that she be permitted to go to Denver, ostensibly 
 to see Your Excellency, and that, if liberated at that 
 place, she would depart upon some excuse of her own, 
 was readily adopted. Upon her own suggestion, she 
 was brought to Denver and liberated as suggested, 
 but she promptly repudiated the rest of her proposal, 
 and, after interviewing her attorney and strike leaders, 
 and remaining in Denver for three of four days, she 
 returned to the strike , district, where again, by Your 
 Excellency's directions, I have had the unpleasant 
 duty of detaining her. She was again notified that 
 she was free to leave the district at any time she 
 wished. She returned to the strike district, not for 
 the transaction of any business, or for any other pur- 
 pose than to defy the power of the state, and, as she 
 stated in numerous interviews, "to establish her con- 
 stitutional right to go w r here she pleased," and in 
 open defiance of the power and authority vested in 
 the chief executive. 
 
IV 
 
 SOME SPECIFIC INCIDENTS 
 
 I come now to report upon specific incidents 
 testified to before the Congressional Committee. In 
 this connection it should be remarked that consid- 
 erable testimony was presented of complaints against 
 the conduct of officers or soldiers of the National 
 Guard. In a great many of these instances the wit- 
 ness could not, or at any rate did not, state facts 
 from which either the identity of the men complained 
 of or the incident referred to could be established. 
 Such testimony has been painfully illusive, since it 
 has afforded no means of checking the witness by 
 investigation, and affords no opportunity to combat 
 or refute the testimony. Another large class of testi- 
 mony produced before the Committee and attacking 
 the National Guard does not appear to fall relevantly 
 within any of the enumerated lines of inquiry author- 
 ized by the House resolution. Again, much was 
 stated to the Committee concerning minor police in- 
 fractions by individual soldiers whose offenses were 
 properly disciplined in the usual way, wherever 
 known. In this connection it was very easily dis- 
 cernible that a disposition existed in the witnesses 
 hostile to* the National Guard, and in those indi- 
 viduals conducting the attack upon the Guard, to 
 keep secret from the proper military officers any mis- 
 conduct on the part of soldiers, thus often preventing 
 the disciplining of the offender or proper investiga- 
 tion of the charge at a time when the true facts were 
 ascertainable. It seemed to be a settled purpose to 
 treasure up known charges of alleged misconduct 
 
50 
 
 against soldiers to be used as testimony before the 
 Committee, great care being taken, wherever possible, 
 not to acquaint the military authorities with the 
 grounds of complaint against individual soldiers, so as 
 to afford means of correction. With the large number 
 of soldiers in the field, and scattered among some 
 thirty-six detached posts over a territory one hun- 
 dred and twenty miles in extent, there have doubtless 
 occurred instances of misconduct and disorder on 
 the part of individual soldiers. It would, indeed, be 
 very strange if such was not the case. But I can 
 confidently assert that no very serious offenses have 
 been committed, and that in every instance where 
 infraction of the law or the moral misconduct of men 
 has occurred, and where the military authorities had 
 knowledge, or could by the exercise of the utmost 
 diligence have obtained knowledge, the offenders have 
 been promptly and severely disciplined and punished. 
 Considering the size of the force, the necessity of 
 such discipline and the occasions of such misconduct 
 have been remarkably few; and, indeed, I have to 
 commend the patience and good conduct of the men 
 in the field as truly exceptional under a great strain, 
 and often under almost unbearable provocation. 
 
 So far, then, as I have been able to ascertain 
 from the testimony produced before the Committee 
 what incidents and what men were referred to by the 
 hostile witnesses, I have thoroughly and personally 
 investigated the cases cited and am able to report the 
 true facts of each. 
 
51 
 
 EXCLUSION OF LABOR COMMISSIONERS 
 
 It was testified by the witness Eli Gross that he 
 and certain other representatives of Labor Commis- 
 sioner Brake were sent to Delagua, Hastings, Tobasco, 
 Berwind, and Forbes to discharge certain official 
 duties, and that at the latter place they were pro- 
 hibited from seeing the men in the mines, and es- 
 corted out of camp and excluded therefrom, by Lieu- 
 tenant Olinger of the National Guard. The facts are 
 that Mr. Gross and his party were ostensibly visiting 
 the properties for the purpose of examining the plant 
 and machinery, as provided by the state inspection 
 law. This they were permitted to do, as testified by 
 Mr. Gross himself; but in the party at Delagua and 
 Hastings was a certain Italian by the name of 
 Mancini, likewise a deputy labor commissioner, who 
 stated to Major Hamrock, in command of that dis- 
 trict, that by express directions of Labor Commis- 
 sioner Brake he accompanied the party for the pur- 
 pose of talking to the employed and working non- 
 union miners in Italian, and that he had had express 
 directions from his chief to persuade the workmen 
 to quit work by every means either of argument, 
 cajolery, or intimidation. Colorado has a state law 
 prohibiting such interference with workmen, making 
 it criminal. To have permitted the State Labor Com- 
 missioner to violate the law through his Italian dep- 
 uty would have increased the difficulty of maintain- 
 ing pea^e. Upon this information being furnished by 
 Major Hamrock, and observing that the Labor Com- 
 missioner's party desired, not to inspect the machin- 
 ery, but to talk to and dissuade the workmen from 
 their employment, as a peace measure, Lieutenant 
 
52 
 
 Olinger was directed to exclude them from the camp. 
 These orders were carried out by the lieutenant cour- 
 teously and after entertaining the party at dinner as 
 his guests. 
 
 THE LA JUNTA INCIDENT 
 
 It was testified by some witness that, coming 
 into the state as a strikebreaker with a number of 
 others, the train was boarded by guardsmen at La 
 Junta, the soldiers guarding the front and rear plat- 
 forms of the car and preventing any person from 
 leaving it. The witness stated that a woman and 
 child desired to go from one car to another, and were 
 forcibly detained upon the platform for a long time, 
 exposed to the cold. This incident simply did not 
 occur. The only National Guardsman ever sent out 
 of the district to meet an incoming train of strike- 
 breakers was Captain Mckerson, who testified at the 
 Committee's request that upon one occasion he went 
 alone to La Junta under instructions to ascertain 
 whether the state law requiring knowledge of the 
 strike conditions to be imparted to strikebreakers 
 had been complied with, and that he went through 
 the car and ascertained that in each instance the law 
 had been obeyed, and interfered with nobody. 
 
 THE VALENTI TESTIMONY 
 
 A witness calling himself Salvatore Valenti tes- 
 tified that he was compelled by soldiers to remain at 
 work in Delagua after he wished to quit ; that, being 
 refused permission to leave, he managed to escape by 
 another way, and, being in Trinidad on the day of 
 the Mother Jones riot, heard General Chase say: 
 
53 
 
 "Go ahead and fight; kill all you want; kill all the 
 people right away; chase the people out of the road; 
 go ahead and chase these people out and kill them; 
 kill all the people you want." The latter part of 
 this testimony ought not to be dignified by a denial, 
 and, indeed, I should not have included so ridiculous 
 a statement, were it not for the fact that it affords 
 quite a typical instance of much of the testimony 
 that was offered against the soldiers. This witness, 
 Valenti, during his examination stated that his name 
 was Doininick Bonito; that, in giving the name 
 Salvatore Valenti at first, he had forgotten for a 
 moment what his own name was and so gave his 
 uncle's name. He stated that he had served a full 
 three-years' enlistment in the United States army, 
 being discharged on the 18th of February, 1912, and 
 that he had served in the Philippines in 1910. He 
 could not read or write, nor did he know the differ- 
 ence between a colonel, a captain, and a sergeant. 
 He stated that he belonged to Troop B of the Thirty- 
 sixth Cavalry, and that his colonel was Tom Shaeffer, 
 a German. As a matter of fact, no man who cannot 
 read or write has been admitted to the United States 
 army in the last twenty-five years. There is no 
 Thirty-sixth Regiment of Cavalry, and has not been. 
 The name of Tom Shaeffer does not appear on the 
 Army Register, either as colonel or anything else. 
 The witness insisted he had his discharge papers in 
 a trunk at Delagua. Upon the suggestion of the 
 Committee, it was arranged that the strike leaders 
 should bring this witness to the evening train, and 
 that the General, who happened to be returning to 
 the district that night, should personally give him 
 
54 
 
 safe conduct to Delagua to find his trunk and his 
 discharge papers. The General and the strike leaders 
 were at the train, as agreed upon; but there was no 
 Valenti. He has fled, and the strike leaders profess 
 to the General that they do not know his whereabouts. 
 He has no trunk and no discharge papers at Delagua, 
 and the tale that he tells of enforced work and per- 
 sonal restraint by the soldiers is not true. Yet this 
 is the class of witness that was often introduced to 
 the Committee as w r orthy of credit and belief, to 
 attack the National Guard. 
 
 THE BARBED- WIRE EPISODE 
 
 It was stated by the witness John Lawson and 
 others that Lieutenant Linderfelt had directed that 
 some barbed wire be cut in small pieces and thrown 
 into a well used by the inhabitants of the Ludlow 
 tent colony as a source of water supply, thus polluting 
 the well. The self-constituted Committee of Labor 
 Organizations was at the time of this incident con- 
 ducting what it was pleased to call an investigation 
 of the militia. That committee had announced that 
 it would make no report until it had completed its so- 
 called investigation; but so appalling did this inci- 
 dent appear to it that the committee interrupted its 
 work at once and telegraphed to Your Excellency 
 about the matter, as of serious and immediate im- 
 port. 
 
 The telegram stated that upon the occasion of 
 the occurrence Lieutenant Linderfelt had brutally as- 
 saulted an inoffensive boy, and grossly abused a man 
 in no way connected with the strike, and unjustifiably 
 
55 
 
 arrested Louie Tikas, the head man of the Ludlow 
 tent colony; adding that the lieutenant had a delib- 
 erate purpose to provoke the strikers to bloodshed, 
 and asking for his removal. By Your Excellency's 
 directions, I instigated a searching investigation of 
 this incident at the time of its occurrence, and learned, 
 as I advised Your Excellency, that' the facts were as 
 follows: On the evening of December 30 a patrol of 
 Lieutenant Linderfelt's company was returning from 
 Barnes, and, when opposite the Ludlow tent colony 
 in the county road, Corporal Cuthbertson's horse en- 
 countered a double strand of barbed wire which had 
 been strung across the highway. The horse became 
 entangled in the wire and unmanageable, and severely 
 injured his rider, the horse itself being severely cut 
 by the barbs. Again, on the 7th day of January an- 
 other wire entanglement was discovered in almost the 
 same place, and removed. Upon one occasion, prior to 
 the injury of Corporal Cuthbertson, another wire en- 
 tanglement was discovered across the county road 
 near the tent colony. After the injury to Cuthbert- 
 son, Lieutenant Linderfelt directed his men to cut 
 the wire into pieces, which they did, throwing it into a 
 near-by well which was supposed to be abandoned, 
 and I now find this well was at no time used by the 
 strikers for water for drinking purposes. Lieutenant 
 Linderfelt then arrested Louie Tikas, together with 
 another man who was pointed out to him as the person 
 who had strung the wire. At first Tikas protested 
 that he did not know the other man, but, upon being 
 sent to Major Kennedy for examination, admitted that 
 he had lied in that respect and that he knew him very 
 well, but protested innocence of the wire entangle- 
 
56 
 
 ment. The inoffensive boy referred to in the labor 
 committee's report denied that Lieutenant Linderfelt 
 had struck him, confirming the lieutenant's statement 
 in that respect. This incident is reported in full as 
 showing the lengths of falsehood, bias, and deliberate 
 misconstruction to which those engaged in attacking 
 the National Guard have gone. 
 
 INTERRUPTED FUNERAL 
 
 Witness Hall, an undertaker of Trinidad whom 
 the strikers employ exclusively, stated that a funeral 
 procession conducted by him had been interfered with 
 and broken up by a soldier driving an automobile. 
 In this connection it should be explained that mobs 
 and street processions have been prohibited in the 
 strike zone for the very obvious reason that such 
 demonstrations at a time like the present usually re- 
 sult in disorder and riot. Funeral processions have, 
 however, always been allowed and never interfered 
 with. The result is that the striking miners utilize a 
 funeral for the purpose of making a parade through 
 the streets. On such occasions there is very little 
 funeral sentiment, but often considerable sociological 
 demonstration. It matters not that the deceased was 
 wholly unknown to those taking part in the proces- 
 sion, or whether the deceased had lived in the com- 
 munity one day or ten years, the funeral is always 
 made the occasion of a street parade, in which flags 
 and banners of the striking miners are carried and 
 large numbers of men march to demonstrate strength. 
 I feel this explanation is necessary to an understand- 
 ing of what occurred in the incident referred to by 
 
57 
 
 Undertaker Hall. Private Ward J. Watson was driv- 
 ing an automobile, upon a military errand, between the 
 city of Trinidad and the military camp a mile away, 
 and overtook one of these funeral processions or pa- 
 rades. Reaching the rear of the procession a short way 
 from the military camp, and attempting to pass by 
 without molesting it, he slowed up to turn aside. The 
 men in the procession turned about and began to abuse 
 him, calling vile names, making threatening gestures, 
 and climbing upon and over the sides of the automo- 
 bile. Thereupon Private Watson, guiding his car with 
 one hand, drew his pistol, and struck at one of the 
 men attempting to board the car. In fear of what 
 might follow, he being one against so many, he drove 
 the car at full speed through the mass of men, until 
 he reached the buggies and cabs in the procession, 
 when he swung to the side and went on to the military 
 camp. Private W^atson insists that he felt it neces- 
 sary to act thus as the only means of protecting him- 
 self against the demonstration made. It was really a 
 flight. 
 
 THE PATTRUCCI INCIDENT 
 
 A woman by the name of Pattrucci testified that 
 soldiers arrested her husband, taking him to the 
 guard tent at Ludlow, and then returned and offered 
 her f 2 to prostitute herself. The offer, she stated, was 
 made in the rather ambiguous language : "Where can 
 I spend these $2?" The witness placed her own inter- 
 pretation upon it. I have no means of ascertaining 
 whether such incident ever occurred, since the witness, 
 though pressed, was unable to give any information 
 as to who the men were. She said, however, that she 
 
58 
 
 complained of the incident to Major Kennedy, whom 
 she knew, and that he had punished the men ; and, in 
 an effort to discover who the men were, the Committee 
 itself requested the presence of Major- Kennedy, from 
 whom it was hoped to obtain the names. Major Ken- 
 nedy at the time was in command of the force in Fre- 
 mont County, but upon the Committee's request was 
 brought all the way from Florence to Trinidad, and, 
 being upon the stand, testified that he knew nothing 
 of the incident; that none had been reported to him, 
 nor was anyone punished ; and that on the date of the 
 alleged incident and conversation with him at Lud- 
 low he was, in fact, over one hundred miles away. 
 
 MRS. THOMAS 
 
 Two incidents were testified to before the Com- 
 mittee in connection with the Mother Jones riot- 
 one by Mrs. Thomas, and the other by a young girl, 
 Sarah Slator. Mrs. Thomas testified that she was 
 shoved, pushed, jabbed in the back with a bayonet, 
 arrested, and held in jail eleven days. The arrest 
 and imprisonment are facts, but the rest of her tes- 
 timony is largely fiction. She was a vociferous, bel- 
 ligerent, and abusive leader of the mob. She forcibly 
 resisted orders to move on, responding only with 
 highly abusive and, to say the least, unwomanly lan- 
 guage. She attacked the troops with fists, feet, and 
 umbrella. In her testimony she made much of the 
 awfulness of treating a riotous woman in the same 
 way as a riotous man. This woman has been under 
 surveillance for a long time, and the truth is that not 
 long before, upon the occasion of the arrest of her 
 husband for knocking down a woman an arrest 
 
59 
 
 directed by the union leader, Uhlich this same Mrs. 
 Thomas strenuously defended her spouse at Miners' 
 Union Hall, with the argument that women who act 
 the part of men must be treated as such. The next 
 day she appeared at the newspaper office of the Trini- 
 dad Advertiser and professed her intention to kill the 
 editor for having printed as a news item the incident 
 concerning her husband, and returned a little later 
 with a pistol to carry out her purpose; but, being 
 excluded from the office, she remained for some time 
 upon the sidewalk, attracting a crowd by her loud, 
 vile, and boisterous denunciations. She is altogether 
 a violent and, upon occasions like the Mother Jones 
 riot, a dangerous woman. She claims to have lived 
 in America a little less than a year. It was necessary 
 to arrest her. 
 
 SARAH SLATOR 
 
 This young girl testified that on the same occa- 
 sion the Commanding General dismounted for the pur- 
 pose of kicking her in the breast. The absurdity of this 
 statement will be apparent to all. The young girl, 
 who was playing truant from school on that day, 
 offered considerable resistance to the soldiers, posi- 
 tively refusing to move on or go home, and continually 
 calling names and abetting the troubles occurring 
 within her sight. Before night her father represented 
 to me her age and irresponsibility, and, feeling that 
 a jail was no place for a girl of tender years, she was 
 released and delivered to her father's custody. 
 
60 
 
 OVERWORKED TRAIN CREW 
 
 A Colorado & Southern brakeman testified that 
 on December 25, 1913, Lieuteijant Griffin compelled a 
 train crew to work over the sixteen hours out of 
 twenty-four limited by federal statute. The report 
 of Lieutenant Griffin, who had charge of the detach- 
 ment upon an errand of safe conduct of workmen, as 
 well as the statement of Sergeant Goodell, who was 
 with him at the time, show that the facts were these : 
 A conversation occurred between the military officers 
 and the train crew concerning the attitude of the 
 National Guard toward the railroad trainmen and 
 unions, and in this conversation members of the crew 
 stated that all trainmen "had it in" for the military, 
 as the military was always against the interests of the 
 unions. It was noticed that a great delay in moving 
 the train was occurring, and upon inquiry it was 
 stated that the crew was "stalling," so that the sixteen- 
 hour period would expire, leaving the military detach- 
 ment in the yards. Whereupon the lieutenant told 
 the conductor that he was placed in charge of the 
 train to deliver workmen and return with his com- 
 mand to Trinidad, and that the lieutenant's orders 
 were to see that he did it ; at this the train was moved. 
 If the sixteen-hour limit expired before the time the 
 train reached Trinidad a matter of which the lieu- 
 tenant was in ignorance it was because of the delib- 
 erate plot on the part of the train crew to bring that 
 condition about. 
 
 PEONAGE 
 
 There was some evidence introduced to the effect 
 that men were forcibly prevented from quitting work 
 
61 
 
 and leaving the camps at Hastings and Delagua, and 
 that this sort of peonage was enforced by the soldiers 
 in charge. After a careful examination, I state 
 that this testimony was in every instance false, so 
 far, at least, as the same concerns the troops. The 
 commanding officer in charge of the troops in the 
 Hastings-Delagua canon states positively that all civil- 
 ians who made application to leave the camps were 
 at once given a pass, and that at no time was the mili- 
 tary instrumental in detaining anyone desiring to 
 quit work and leave the camp. That a man was killed 
 in the mine in Delagua during December while trying 
 to leave, and that the soldiers were present and partici- 
 pated, as mentioned in certain affidavits, and that the 
 name of the man killed was Hayes, and that a man 
 by the name of Davis witnessed the killing, is wholly 
 false. No man was killed at this mine during De- 
 cember, and the records show that no man by the 
 name of Hayes was employed at the mine, nor was 
 there a man by the name of Davis employed or present, 
 so far as can be discovered. 
 
 \ 
 INSULTS AT STARKVILLE 
 
 Two women of the lower classes, named Ramponi 
 and Minardi, testified to certain vile and nasty in- 
 sults by soldiers at Starkville. Upon the coming in of 
 this testimony, the individuals accused became highly 
 indignant. They are young men of good families 
 in Colorado Springs, who felt besmirched and humili- 
 ated by such false and scurrilous testimony. Acting 
 through their captain, Hildreth Frost, the accused 
 men submitted to me their sworn statements, together 
 with the affidavits of several civilians who witnessed 
 
62 
 
 the incident referred to by the women, with a request 
 that the same be handed to the Committee as a matter 
 of personal vindication. From these affidavits it ap- 
 pears that these women were continually hanging 
 around the soldiers' camp and baiting them with the 
 vilest kind of talk imaginable. These women, prior 
 to the closing of the saloons in Starkville, used to 
 tend bar at a place frequented by the rougher and 
 lower element among the miners, and it would appear 
 that, instead of the soldiers offering insult to them, 
 they went out of their way daily to shout the most 
 libidinous words at the troops. The language used 
 cannot find space here, but reference is made to the 
 affidavits supplied by Captain Frost's men. 
 
 JASSINSKY INCIDENT 
 
 The incident of an alleged robbery testified to by 
 the family named Jassinsky, of Suffield, was investi- 
 gated by my express direction at the time it was said 
 to have occurred. The report of Captain Smith, 
 who conducted an exhaustive investigation, wholly 
 discredits the statements made. Captain Smith testi- 
 fied before the Committee concerning the matter, and 
 it needs no further attention here. 
 
 GRAVE-DIGGING STORY 
 
 A great deal has been said about a man being 
 compelled to dig his own grave by a detachment of 
 soldiers at Lester. One Andy Colnar has related in 
 affidavits, speeches, and interviews with the press a 
 horrible tale of his being told that a hole he was com- 
 pelled to dig was intended for his own grave; that 
 he was measured for it; that he was told in his own 
 
G3 
 
 language that he was about to be shot and buried; 
 and that he was so frightened that he fell fainting 
 into the hole. His description of the torture is 
 graphic and has been given the widest publicity. The 
 tale is made of whole cloth. The incident never oc- 
 curred. It is perhaps well that the Committee and 
 the public know the facts,, that they may judge of 
 the methods used by the defamers of the National 
 Guard. On or about the 28th of November, 1913, a 
 letter was written by Andy Colnar, addressed to Paul 
 Antovitch, the fire-boss then working at the Prior 
 mine. This letter, written upon the letter-head of 
 the United Mine Workers of America, threatened 
 violence to Antovitch if he did not instantly quit his 
 job and join the union tent colony. The letter was 
 delivered by one "Kink" True, who, as soon as 
 Antovitch had read it, snatched it from Antovitch, 
 saying that it was not necessary for the letter to 
 remain in his hands. True then conducted Antovitch 
 to a cut in the road part way between Prior and the 
 tent colony, where Andy Colnar and others were 
 awaiting him. At this place Colnar threatened and 
 intimidated the working miner, who did not return 
 to work, but felt it necessary to quit the mine. On 
 this information, Captain Drake, in charge of the 
 district, directed Lieutenant Work to arrest and de- 
 tain Colnar and True, and on the evening of Novem- 
 ber 28 both were taken and kept in separate apart- 
 ments. True was placed in the upper part of the 
 building with a sentry, and Colnar was given a bed 
 in the assembly room, and handcuffed with his hands 
 in front of him, from 11 o'clock p. m. until 6 o'clock 
 the next morning. This was done to prevent escape, 
 
as there was not a sufficient number of soldiers to 
 spare a sentry to guard Colnar. The next morning 
 he was given a good breakfast and interviewed by 
 Captain Drake, who demanded of Colnar that he re- 
 compose the letter which he had written to Paul 
 Antovitch. Colnar protested he could not remember 
 it. The captain told him he would remain where he 
 was until he did, and left him pencil and paper. 
 During the day he sat in the assembly room near a 
 comfortable fire. The captain, who had interviewed 
 True, produced the original letter to Colnar. 
 Antovitch was then sent for, and identified the orig- 
 inal letter as the one delivered to him by True. After 
 a warning against carrying threatening letters and 
 against intimidation, True was released, and Colnar 
 was detained for further investigation. True is the 
 president of the local union at Prior. The night of 
 November 29 Colnar was placed in a comfortable bed 
 in the town jail, and the next morning he was taken 
 out under guard and set to digging a new latrine. 
 The lieutenant had been reprimanded for the condi- 
 tion of the old latrine and, as was customary, utilized 
 his prisoners for the purpose of digging a new one. 
 While Colnar was thus engaged, one of the soldiers, 
 who speaks a little Slavish, passed the place and gave 
 Colnar a "good morning" in the Slavish tongue. 
 Colnar asked this soldier if what he was digging was 
 a grave, but before the soldier answered him the drill 
 call sounded, and the soldier replied, "I don't know," 
 and ran hastily to where the detachment was assem- 
 bling. During inspection that morning Colnar was 
 placed in an interval in the center of the detachment, 
 after which he requested to be permitted to telephone 
 to his wife and babies, but the request was denied. 
 
65 
 
 He then said he felt sick, and was asked if he wished 
 to- go to the latrine, but his answer was unintelligible. 
 He was taken out and put to work at the same place. 
 About 11:30, after having his dinner, he was again 
 interviewed by Captain Drake, who stated that he 
 understood that he had a wife and babies out on a 
 ranch north of town, and that, if he would promise 
 to go and take care of them, and abandon attempts 
 to intimidate workmen, he would discharge him and 
 permit him to go home, but would keep him under 
 surveillance. Colnar was exceedingly thankful; 
 dropped to his knees, and invoked the Deity to wit- 
 ness that he would not transgress again. He said 
 that, if anybody at the tent colony wanted him to 
 write threatening letters again, they could murder 
 him before he would do it. The captain told him to 
 get to his feet and go to his wife. Colnar's thanks 
 and expressions of gratitude were profuse, and tears 
 streamed down his cheeks as he mentioned the good 
 meals given him and the kind treatment accorded 
 him while a prisoner. He was never measured for 
 a grave ; he was not told he was digging one ; and he 
 did not fall fainting into a hole, nor anywhere else; 
 neither was he told he was to be shot. Captain Drake 
 has still the letter of intimidation as originally writ- 
 ten by Colnar. Upon Colnar's release, he shortly 
 imagined the weird tale that has earned him so much 
 notoriety. 
 
 This campaign has not been a pleasure trip for 
 the members of the National Guard, but a tour of duty, 
 and the magnified stories circulated concerning al- 
 leged offenses or indiscretions on the part of soldiers 
 
00 
 
 while performing their duty can be assigned for no 
 other reason than that of distracting the attention of 
 the public from the real issues involved. 
 
 In concluding this report, I feel that I would be 
 derelict in my obligations toward the officers and 
 men of my command if I did not emphasize again the 
 splendid conduct of the National Guard as a whole. 
 These men are volunteer soldiers, who receive a mere 
 pittance for their services as compared with their 
 ordinary earning capacity in daily life. They have 
 promptly and cheerfully responded to the state's call 
 in the hour of danger, and their service has been at- 
 tended in almost every instance with great personal 
 sacrifice, and oftentimes downright suffering. The 
 danger of destruction by assassination or otherwise 
 has not been wanting. The errand was a patriotic 
 one, and occasioned by a quarrel w r holly impersonal 
 and void of interest to any one of them. The men of 
 the Guard have discharged their services well, faith- 
 fully, and patiently. For all the task has been a 
 thankless one. The only visible return for the sac- 
 rificing citizenship displaj^ed has been the heaping of 
 reproach and opprobrium, falsehood and scurrility, 
 upon the shoulders of the commonwealth's defenders. 
 It is hoped that a just and discriminating public will 
 in the end corne to realize the disinterested service of 
 these champions of the state's integrity and honor, 
 who for the present have only the consciousness of a 
 stern and unpleasant duty well performed to console 
 them. 
 
 All of which is very respectfully submitted. 
 
 JOHN CHASE, 
 
 Brigadier General Commanding the Military Dis- 
 trict of Colorado. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 EXECUTIVE ORDER 
 
 It having been made to appear to me by the peace 
 officers and numerous other reputable citizens of vari- 
 ous counties in the southern part of the State of Colo- 
 rado that large bodies of men have assembled at points 
 therein, with the apparent purpose of breaking the 
 laws and bringing about a state of disorder beyond 
 the power of the regularly constituted peace officers 
 of such counties to control, and that the due execution 
 of the laws of the State of Colorado requires imme- 
 diate preparations against impending outbreaks, and 
 the Sheriffs of Las Animas and Huerfano Counties 
 having appealed to me for assistance ; 
 
 I, therefore, in pursuance of the authority and 
 power vested by the constitution and laws of the 
 State of Colorado in me as Governor and Commander - 
 in-Chief of the military forces of the State, authorize 
 and direct you to call into service and hold in readi- 
 ness for immediate mobilization and action, and to 
 mobilize, as many of the members of the National 
 Guard of Colorado in and near the Arkansas Valley 
 as you may deem necessary to maintain peace and 
 good order in the various counties. 
 
 Given under my hand and the Executive Seal this 
 26th day of October, A. D. 1913. 
 
 ELIAS M. AMMONS, 
 
 ( SEAL ) Governor. 
 
 To JOHN CHASE, Brigadier-General, 
 
 Adjutant General, State of Colorado. 
 
as 
 B 
 
 EXECUTIVE ORDER 
 
 STATE OF COLORADO 
 
 EXECUTIVE OFFICE 
 
 DENVER 
 
 JOHN CHASE, 
 
 The Adjutant General, 
 State of Colorado. 
 
 It having been made to appear to me by the 
 peace officers of the counties of Las Animas and 
 Huerfano, and other counties of the State of Colorado, 
 by numerous civil officers and other good and repu- 
 table citizens of said counties, that there is a tumult 
 threatened, and that there are bodies of men, acting 
 together, by force and with attempt to commit fel- 
 onies, and to offer violence to persons and property in 
 said counties and districts, and by force and violence 
 to break and resist the laws of this State, and that a 
 number of persons are in possession of deadly weap- 
 ons, and are in open and active opposition to the ex- 
 ecution of the laws of this State in said Districts, and 
 that the civil authorities are wholly unable to cope 
 with the situation in the preservation and mainte- 
 nance of order, and the laws of the State of Colorado ; 
 
 I, therefore, direct you, in pursuance of the au- 
 thority and power vested in me as Governor, by the 
 Constitution and laws of the State of Colorado, to 
 forthwith order out and assume command of such 
 troops of the National Guard of Colorado as in your 
 judgment may be necessary to maintain peace and 
 order in said districts, and that you use such means 
 as you may deem right and proper, acting in conjunc- 
 
tion with, or independently of, the civil authorities of 
 said districts, as in your judgment and discretion are 
 demanded, to restore peace and good order in the 
 communities affected, and to enforce obedience to the 
 Constitution and laws of this State. 
 
 Given under my hand and the Executive Seal this 
 26th day of October, A. D. 1913. 
 
 ELIAS M. AMMONS, 
 Governor and Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 c 
 
 GOVERNOR'S ORDER 
 
 "Denver, October 28, 1913. 
 
 GENERAL JOHN CHASE, 
 
 Adjutant General, 
 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Dear Sir : In order to secure a speedy return to 
 laAv and order in the disturbed districts, you are here- 
 by directed: 
 
 To disarm everybody unless authorized to bear 
 arms. 
 
 To close up saloons wherever there is any dis- 
 turbance. 
 
 To require that all persons employed as guards 
 in the protection of property shall stay on the prop- 
 erty guarded. 
 
 To see that no deputy sheriffs or constables be 
 employed except citizens of the county they serve, and 
 only in such numbers as may be deemed necessary 
 for the conduct of public business. 
 
70 
 
 To see that all persons desiring to return to work 
 shall be permitted to do so, and to go and come when 
 they will, without molestation or interference of any 
 kind whatsoever ; and during the restoration of order, 
 or until further orders, no strikebreakers shall be 
 shipped in. 
 
 With these purposes in view, you should have the 
 fullest co-operation of every good citizen. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 ELIAS M. AMMONS, 
 
 Governor of Colorado. 
 
 D 
 
 ORDER WORKMEN 
 
 HEADQUARTERS 
 
 MILITARY DISTRICT OF COLORADO 
 ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE 
 
 Trinidad, November 28, 1913. 
 
 From : Commanding Officer, Military District of Colo- 
 rado. 
 
 To: All Commanding Officers. 
 
 Subject: Permitting miners to go to work undef the 
 law. 
 
 In a letter under date November 27, 1913, and by 
 telephonic communication, the Governor has directed 
 that after this date the provisions of Chapter 160, Ses- 
 sion Laws 1907, page 486, of the Laws of Colorado, re- 
 garding the entrance of workmen for the purpose of 
 laboring at the mines, must be fully complied with. 
 
71 
 
 Any person seeking employment at the mines, 
 who signifies to your satisfaction that he has com- 
 mitted no violation of the statute quoted, will be per- 
 mitted to labor at the mines in this district and pro- 
 tected while doing so. 
 
 JOHN CHASE, 
 Brigadier General Adjutant General's Department. 
 
 E 
 
 ORDER WORKMEN 
 
 HEADQUARTERS 
 
 MILITARY DISTRICT OF COLORADO 
 TRINIDAD,, COLORADO 
 
 November 28, 1913. 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS 
 
 No. 17 
 
 The following is published for the information 
 and guidance of all concerned : 
 
 Chapter 160, Session Laws 1907, page 486, Laws 
 of Colorado: 
 
 "That it shall be unlawful for any person, 
 persons, company, corporation society, association, 
 or organization of any kind doing business in this 
 state by himself, themselves, his, its or their agents 
 or attorneys, to induce, influence, persuade or en- 
 gage workmen to change from one place to another 
 in this State, or to bring workmen of any class or 
 calling into this State to work in any of the de- 
 partments of labor in this State through, or by 
 means of false or deceptive representations, false 
 
advertising or false pretenses concerning the kind 
 and character of the work to be done, or amount 
 and character of the compensation to be paid 
 for such work, or the sanitary or other conditions 
 of the employment, or as to the existence or non- 
 existence of a strike or lockout pending between 
 employer and employees, or failure to state in 
 any advertisement, proposal, or contract for the 
 employment that there is a strike, lockout, or 
 other labor troubles at the place of the proposed 
 employment, when in fact such strike, lockout, 
 or other labor troubles then actually exist at such 
 place, shall be deemed as false advertisement and 
 misrepresentation for the purpose of this Act." 
 By command of General Chase, 
 
 A. H. WILLIAMS, 
 
 Major, Adjutant General's Department, 
 Adjutant General. 
 
 ORDER ESTABLISHING THE MILITARY COMMIS- 
 SION AND JUDGE ADVOCATE 
 
 Trinidad, November 20, 1913. 
 
 (IKXKRAL ORDERS 
 No. 11 
 
 1. Pursuant to I he authority vested in me by 
 the Governor of the State of Colorado, in his Execu- 
 tive Order dated at Denver, October 28, 1913, whereby 
 I am directed to restore peace and good order, and 
 to enforce obedience to the Constitution and Laws of 
 
73 
 
 this State, acting either in conjunction with or. inde- 
 pendent of the civil authorities, and as a means to 
 the carrying out of these directions, there is hereby 
 constituted and established the Military Commission 
 of the Military District of Colorado. 
 
 2. The Military Commission will consist of seven 
 officers of the National Guard of Colorado detailed 
 to that service by the Commanding General. 
 
 3. The Military Commission will proceed to hear 
 and consider all matters submitted to it from time to 
 time by the constituting authority, and will promptly 
 forward its findings and recommendations for execu- 
 tion or other appropriate action. 
 
 4. The Judge Advocate of the Military District 
 will discharge the usual functions and duties of the 
 Judge Advocate to the Military Commission. 
 
 5. The Military Commission and Judge Advo- 
 cate will conform their procedure to the regulations 
 established for the governance of Courts martial in 
 the United States Army. 
 
 By command of General Chase, 
 
 (Signed) A. H. WILLIAMS, 
 Major, Adjutant General's Department, 
 Adjutant General. 
 
74 
 G 
 
 ORDER THE MILITARY COMMISSION AND JUDGE 
 ADVOCATE 
 
 Trinidad, November 28, 1913. 
 
 (Ji: MORAL ORDERS 
 
 No. 16 
 
 The Military Commission constituted and estab- 
 lished by these headquarters and promulgated in Gen- 
 eral Order No. 11, dated Headquarters Military Dis- 
 trict of Colorado, Trinidad, Colorado, NoVember 29, 
 1913, is hereby directed to convene at Trinidad, Colo- 
 rado, November 29, 1913. 
 
 DETAILS FOR THE COMMISSION 
 
 Colonel C. B. Carlile, Inspector General. 
 
 Colonel Edward Verdeckburg, First Infantry, N.G.C. 
 
 Colonel George P. Lingenfelter, Surgeon General. 
 
 Major A. H. Williams, Adjutant General's Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Captain A. D. Marshall, Commissary, First Infantry, 
 N. G. C. 
 
 First Lieutenant W. A. Spangler, Adjutant, First 
 Squadron Cavalry, N. G. C. 
 
 JUDGE ADVOCATE 
 
 Major E. J. Boughton, Second Infantry, N. G. < 1 . 
 
 The travel enjoined required in compliance with 
 this order is necessary for the public service, and the 
 quartermaster department will furnish the necessary 
 transportation. 
 
 By order of General Chase, 
 
 (Signed) A. H. WILLIAMS, 
 Major, Adjutant General's Department, 
 Adjutant General. 
 
H 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS ALLEGED 
 INTERFERENCE WITH MAILS 
 
 LETTER 
 
 Rugby, Colo., December 20, 1913. 
 
 MR. F. T. FRAWLEY, 
 
 Post-Office Inspector, 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Dear Sir: Wish to write you a few happenings 
 of last few days. The soldiers who are stationed at 
 Primrose Mine held me up at the point of their guns 
 Monday, December 15th, and demanded I open mail 
 pouch for them. On Thursday, December 18th, they 
 stopped me and asked who I was. I told them I was 
 the mail carrier they Politely? informed me to take 
 
 my mail and stick it up my A . I wish to know 
 
 if I have to put up with these doings any longer. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 ANDRO SUTAK. 
 
 2 
 LETTER 
 
 Rugby, Colo., December 26, 1913. 
 
 WILLLIAM McHENRY, 
 
 Inspector in Charge, 
 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Dear Sir: Replying to yours of the 22nd re- 
 garding treatment accorded Mr. Andro Sutak, mail 
 
carrier, while in performance of his duties, will say 
 the National Guard have been guarding the property 
 of the Primrose Coal Co., and the post office being 
 situated on their property, it is necessary for the 
 mail carrier to pass through their property and has 
 been halted several times by the guards at night. 
 Mr. Sutak told me about them demanding him to 
 open mail sack. I investigated and was told by the 
 guardsmen that they had demanded of him to pro- 
 duce the sack as evidence that he was mail carrier. 
 As for second offense on December 18th, the guards- 
 men on duty on that night had been transferred to 
 Lester and as Mr. Sutak does not know who they were, 
 I am unable to get any information on that occur- 
 rence. Would suggest that Major Hamrock at Rouse 
 could supply their names. There was no witnesses 
 as to these occurrences other than mail carrier and 
 guardsman. 
 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 
 JAMES J. SHEELEY, 
 Postmaster, Rugby, Colo. 
 
 3 
 LETTER 
 
 December 31, 1913. 
 
 HON. E. M. AMMONS, Governor, 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Sir : There is transmitted herewith correspond- 
 ence regarding the complaint of Mr. Andro Sutak, 
 mail carrier at Rugby, < 1 nl<>., regarding alleged mis- 
 
treatment of himself while engaged in the perform- 
 ance of his duties, by members of the Colorado Na- 
 tional Guard. 
 
 I shall appreciate the fact if you will kindly have 
 this matter brought to the attention of the guards- 
 men concerned, if possible, advising them of the pro- 
 visions of Section 1712, Postal Laws and Regulations 
 of 1913, being Section 3995, Revised Statutes, U. S., 
 which reads as follows: 
 
 "Whoever shall knowingly and willfully ob- 
 struct or retard the passage of the mail, or any 
 carriage, horse, driver or carrier, or car, steam- 
 boat, or other conveyance or vessel carrying the 
 same, shall be fined not more than one hundred 
 dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months 
 or both." 
 
 Kindly have the papers returned to this office. 
 Respectfully, 
 WILLIAM McHENRY, 
 
 Inspector in Charge. 
 (INCLOSURE) 
 
 4 
 LETTER 
 
 January 3, 1914. 
 
 GENERAL JOHN CHASE, 
 
 Trinidad, Colorado. 
 
 Dear General Chase : I enclose you communica- 
 tion from the Post Office Inspector enclosing letters 
 relating to the same. When you have investigated 
 
this matter, please return to me, as Inspector 
 MrHrnry requested return of the papers, and oblige. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 E. M. AMMOXS. 
 
 REPOKJT 
 
 Rouse, January 11, 1914. 
 
 From : Captain Chas. G. Swope, First Infantry. 
 
 To: Major P. J. Hamrock, First Infantry. 
 
 Subject : Report on stopping U. S. mail-carrier, Andro 
 
 Sutak. 
 
 1. Upon the proper investigation I find the fol- 
 lowing to be the facts: That Andro Sutak, a U. S. 
 Mail Carrier between Rugby R. R. Station and the 
 Primrose Mine P. O., was halted as alleged, upon the 
 two nights of Dec. 15th and 18th, 1913, that at both 
 times of his being halted was during the hours of dark- 
 ness and that in both instances Sutak continued to 
 drive on despite command to halt until the command 
 was repeated three times. 'He would then halt and 
 according to his own statements made to me, hid the 
 Mail sack under the seat of his wagon, so that there 
 was nothing in view to indicate to the soldiers that 
 he was the mail carrier and was not on one of his 
 many trips to and from the mine on the same road 
 when he did not carry the mail. Sutak when ques- 
 tioned by me made his own voluntary statement that 
 it was too dark both nights for any one the distance 
 away the sentries were when he was halted to distin- 
 
71) 
 
 guish what it was he held in his hand. He also stated 
 that the soldiers did not point their guns at him, that 
 all he heard was, Charlie drop a gun on him. Now it 
 may be well to mention that since Dec. 14th, when 
 these troops were posted at this mine that there has 
 never been a soldier here whose first name is Charlie, 
 nor any soldier of that Nickname, and that only one 
 soldier went out to investigate the party and it is a 
 fact as shown by statements that on the night of the 
 18th he had two other persons in the wagon with him, 
 that also following behind his wagon was another 
 wagon so close that conversation was easily heard be- 
 tween the sentry and Sutak by persons in the wagon 
 in the rear of his and the verbal statements of the 
 two ladies that were in the rear wagon made to me 
 were to the effect that at no time during that halt did 
 the sentry use any language to Sutak, that was not 
 proper in the presence of ladies. Thus showing to be 
 false the written statement made by Sutak that the 
 sentry told him what to do with the mail sack. I 
 further find that Sutak on the night of the 15th when 
 told he could drive on, threatened the soldiers and 
 swore at them, and that before the sentry reached him 
 on that night he hid the mail sack under the seat of his 
 wagon, he also said that the soldiers did not open the 
 mail sack and that he carried no sign whatever to 
 show that he was a U. S. Mail carrier. 
 
 2. In the examination of the soldiers on duty at 
 this post on the nights of the 15th and 18th of Dec. 
 1913, I find that the soldiers were obeying the orders 
 issued to them by myself to wit : To allow no one to 
 enter upon the property of the mine unless they had 
 an identification signed by the superintendent or a 
 
80 
 
 pass signed by some Officer of the National Guard 
 and as the mail carrier was accustomed to carry pas- 
 sengers along with the mail, he and the passengers 
 must be identified during the hours of darkness and 
 that anyone coming for their mail from the tent 
 colony by allowed to pass through to the Post Office 
 but not allowed to roam at large upon the company's 
 property, owing to conditions that now and have been 
 existing for some time in this part of Las Animas 
 County. 
 
 3. The investigation points to the fact that Sutak 
 has been trying in every way to make the duty for the 
 soldiers at this point difficult to perform. 
 
 Sutak is of a surly disposition with the sole idea 
 that he is a little tin God and that he has a great 
 many more privileges than any one else. 
 
 He is also laboring under the mistaken idea that 
 
 because he is the mail carrier he can haul people 
 
 into the mining camp that are not desired there and 
 
 while doing so pass the Guard lines without halting. 
 
 (Signed) CHAS. G. SWOPE. 
 
 6 
 STATEMENT 
 
 Primrose, Colo., January 9, 1914. 
 
 From : Lieutenant Ralph E. Waldo. 
 
 To : Major Hainrock. 
 
 Subject: Statement of facts in regard to treatment 
 
 of mail-carrier from Rugby station to Rugby 
 
 post-office. 
 
 We the undersigned, citizens of Colorado, hereby 
 state that we are acquainted with Andro Sutak, the 
 
81 
 
 mail carrier from Rugby Station to the Rugby Post 
 Office, that he does not have a sign upon his wagon 
 indicating his employment as mail carrier. 
 
 S. Mallot, Supt. Primrose Coal Co. 
 
 E. J. Peterson, Cashier Primrose Coal Co. 
 
 Geo. Booher, Blacksmith. 
 
 Art McClellan, Engineer. 
 
 A. J. Willaby, Teamster. 
 
 Pauline Mallot, Teacher. 
 
 Vera Limberg, Teacher. 
 
 John J. Sheeley, Post Master, Rugby, Colorado. 
 
 Dan Bergarno, Saloon. 
 
 Joe Maloney, Marshall. 
 
 Thos. M. Laughlin, Supt. Rugby Mine. 
 
 R. D. Bishard, Engineer Rugby Mine. 
 
 Wm. N. Brown, Pitt Boss Rugby. 
 
 STATEMENT 
 Primrose, Colo., January 9, 1914. 
 
 From : Lieutenant Ralph E. Waldo. 
 
 To : Major Hamrock. 
 
 Subject : Statement of fact in regard to treatment of 
 mail-carrier from Rugby station to Rugby post- 
 office. 
 
 We the undersigned citizens of Colorado, hereby 
 state that we are acquainted with Andro Sutak, the 
 mail carrier from Rugby station to the Rugby Post 
 Office, that he does not have a sign upon his wagon 
 indicating his employment as Mail carrier. 
 
82 
 
 Chas. G. Swope, Captain 1st Infantry, Rouse District. 
 
 Ralph E. Waldo, Lieut 2nd Infantry, Rouse District. 
 
 Frank E. Tinker, Sgt. 1st Infantry, Primrose camp. 
 
 John Kaiser, Corpl. 1st Infantry, Rouse, Camp. 
 
 Leonard Hobbs. 
 
 Harry Shugartt, Co. E 2nd Infantry. 
 
 Floyd M. Stevens, Co. C. 1st Infantry, Primrose camp. 
 
 A. R. Hangley, Pvt. Co. C. 1st Infantry, Primrose 
 
 camp. 
 
 John E. Stevens, Co. E. 2nd Infantry, Primrose camp. 
 Raleigh E. Parnell, Co. C. 1st Infantry, Primrose 
 camp. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT 
 
 STATE OF COLORADO, COUNTY OF LAS ANIMAS, ss. 
 
 J. F. Maloney, being first duly sworn upon his 
 oath, deposes and says : That he is acquainted with 
 Andro Sutak, mail carrier from Rugby station to 
 Rugby Post Office, that on or about Dec. 18th, 1913, 
 he heard said Andro Sutak say in the Rugby Post 
 Office, after he had been halted, by the soldiers that 
 same evening: "I wish that there were only two of 
 them (meaning soldiers) instead of four, I fix them." 
 
 (Signed) J. F. MALONEY. 
 
 Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day 
 of January, 1914. 
 
 (Signed) H. A. MALLOT, 
 
 Justice of Peace. 
 
83 
 
 AFFIDAVIT 
 
 STATE OF COLORADO,, COUNTY OF LAS ANIMAS, ss. 
 
 A. J. Willaby, being first duly sworn upon his 
 oath, deposes and says that he is acquainted with 
 Andro Sutak, mail carrier from Rugby Station to 
 Rugby Post Office. That on or about Dec. 18th, 1913, 
 he heard said Andro Sutak say at the door of the 
 Rugby Post Office to John Sheeley, Postmaster, 
 "Them Son's of Bitches of soldiers held me up and 
 stopped me with Mail." John Sheeley said, "Did they 
 bother the mail?" "God Dam them they had better 
 not or we will make it hot for them." "I told them 
 to look into the mail if they wanted to." "They said 
 NO." "Just wanted to know who I was." 
 
 (Signed) A. J. WILLABY. 
 
 Subscribed and sworn to before the this 10th day 
 of January, 1914. 
 
 H. A. MALLOT, 
 Justice of Peace. 
 
 10 
 STATEMENT 
 
 Private F. Burton Smith, Company E, Second In- 
 fantry, N. G. C., makes the following statement to 
 Captain Charles G. Swope, First Infantry, N. G. C., 
 Rouse District: 
 
 That on the night of Dec. 15th, 1913, I was one of 
 the guards on duty at the Tipple of the Primrose 
 
84 
 
 Mine, that at about 8 P. M., we heard a wagon coming 
 towards the post from the direction of the Rugby 
 tent colony. P. C. Cummings went to the window 
 of the Guard House and halted the wagon. When it 
 was about even with the Tipple, Stevens, Smith, Pazza 
 and myself went down stairs to go out to see what it 
 was, we then heard the fellow say he was the Mail 
 man and held up something in his hand, but it was 
 so dark that we would not see what it was. Stevens 
 then went up to the bridge and crossed the Arroya 
 that was between us and the party and came down 
 to the party, looked at the sack and then hollered to 
 Pat Cummings that it was the mail sack and Pat told 
 him to let him go on. Then as the Mail carrier drove 
 away, he said, "You fellows will get into trouble for 
 stopping the mail," and something else that I did not 
 hear. I was informed by different men at the Prim- 
 rose mine where this carrier lives that the carrier 
 had said he was going to make it hot for us, that he 
 was going to take it up with Washington. 
 
 (Signed) FRANK BURTON SMITH, 
 
 Co. E. 2nd Infantry. 
 Witness: J. H. WITTMEYER. 
 
 11 
 STATEMENT 
 
 To Whom it May Concern : 
 
 A statement of the facts as reported by Corporal 
 John Kaiser, of Company C, First Infantry, on de- 
 tached duty at Primrose mine, Colorado r 
 
 On the night of the 18th of Dec. 1913, I was in 
 charge of the post at the Tipple of the Primrose Mine. 
 
85 
 
 It was a dark night, there was no Moon and the road 
 at this point on my post passes by Hight banks on the 
 opposite side to the sentry post established at this 
 point. It was about 8 P. M. when I heard a team 
 approaching from the direction of Rugby Tent Col- 
 ony. I shouted to the driver to halt and asked w r ho it 
 was and received no answer. The driver kept advanc- 
 ing towards me. I then called the second time. He 
 then said it is the mail. I then asked him why he 
 could not say so at first and he said, Can't you see? 
 I then said no, it is too dark. He then said, you had 
 better come out here and see. I said I can, if neces- 
 sary. I then allowed him to drive on. After this he 
 would sometimes call out the Mail and we would let 
 him pass on without halting him. On this particular, 
 we did not have the flash light as the battery had 
 burned out. After and before this any time we would 
 halt him which we were required to do in the dis- 
 charge of our duties. At this .point he would get 
 angry. Our instructions at this point were to allow 
 no one to pass through to the mine without examining 
 them to see if they had business there. This applied 
 to the tour of duty at this post during hours of 
 darkness. When we w r ere required to be very strict 
 about allowing any one into the mine as it was here 
 the powder magazine had been blown up by some 
 miscreant a short time before we arrived at this post. 
 Thus we were constantly on the alert to prevent a 
 repetition of the same thing again. Sutak had with 
 him in his wagon at this time, two other people. He 
 also runs a livery business here at the mine and quite 
 often goes down to the Rugby station after dark to get 
 
8G 
 
 passengers, thus he has passed our post several times 
 after dark when he was not carrying the mail. 
 
 (Signed) CORPORAL JOHN KAISER. 
 Witness : SERGEANT F. L. TINKER. 
 
 12 
 STATEMENT 
 
 To Whom it May Concern : 
 
 A statement of the facts as reported by John E. 
 Stevens, a private of Company E, Second Infantry, 
 N. G. C., stationed on detached duty at Primrose 
 mine, Colorado: 
 
 I was on duty at the post which is located at the 
 Tipple of the Primrose Mine on the night of Dec. 
 15th, 1913. 
 
 A rig of some kind was coming up the road from 
 the direction of the Rugby Station about 8 P. M. We 
 called Halt and nobody answered and neither did 
 they stop, at the next call to halt, some one threw 
 up his hand with what locked like a sack in it and 
 started to drive on. We called halt again and then 
 I crossed an Arroya that intervened between us, to 
 see what he was holding in his hand. I found it to 
 be a U. S. Mail sack. I then told him he could go 
 ahead, he said Dam you, you had no right to stop 
 the U. S. Mail, as I have more right here than you 
 and by God you had better do it again. When I first 
 called halt, Sutak was about 60 feet down the road 
 from my post. At the second command to halt, he 
 was probably 30 feet from me. At the third command, 
 
87 
 
 he was about 20 feet away. The men on the post that 
 night with me were, C. P. Cummings, Joe Pazza and 
 P. Burton Smith. I heard no remarks like drop your 
 gun on him, Charlie. 
 
 (Signed) JOHN E. STEVENS. 
 Witness: LIEUTENANT RALPH E. WALDO. 
 
 REPORTS ALLEGED OVERWORKING TRAIN 
 CREW 
 
 REPORT OF LIEUTENANT GRIFFIN, COM- 
 PANY I, SECOND INFANTRY 
 
 December 25, 1913. 
 
 Ran down to junction at 7:50 P. M., lay there 
 until passenger train going south passed. I went out 
 and asked conductor what was causing the delay. He 
 said "Oh nothing, only waiting for trains." I told 
 him that I was ordered to report back to camp as soon 
 as possible. He said that they would get out as soon 
 as they could. We laid there probably a half hour 
 after that. The engine and caboose came in and we 
 pulled out for Trinidad. Mr. Fulton came to me be- 
 fore we pulled out and told me that they were stall- 
 ing to leave us in the yards, which they did. I went 
 to the conductor and told him that he was put on the 
 train to deliver those men and return us to Trinidad 
 and I was going to see that he did so, even if I had 
 to put him under arrest. The Engineer in the Cab 
 window said to me "What is your rank, and who are 
 
88 
 
 you?" I said, "It does not make any difference 
 who I am, I was put on this train to look after those 
 men and I intended to do so and see that we are taken 
 back to the depot." I then told him that I was W. W. 
 Griffin. He then remarked, "Do you know that you 
 are up against the United States Government?" I 
 told him that it did not make any difference to me 
 that I was with the State of Colorado and under 
 Gen. Chase and I would report it to him. 
 
 We got off the train and came back to camp. 
 
 ( Signed) WILLIAM W. GRIFFIN. 
 
 REPORT OF SERGEANT GOODELL, COMPANY 
 I, SECOND INFANTRY 
 
 To Whom it May Concern : 
 
 I the undersigned make the following Statements 
 about and concerning a conversation held by myself 
 and a man, name and face unknown to me, who was at 
 the time on the Engineer's side of a locomotive, said 
 Locomotive was a part of a train of which the party 
 that I was with was on. Their man asked questions 
 as to the feeling of the soldiers of the National Guard 
 towards unions. I replied that the soldiers mostly 
 came from small towns and the men were strictly in 
 favor of a square deal to all people. He then stated 
 that the trainmen had it in for the militiamen, that 
 the militia was always used against the interests of 
 the union. 
 
 I asked why we was so slow getting anywhere, 
 why we was waiting so long and he replied that he 
 
thought the trainmen were stalling. I asked him why 
 and he replied that the sixteen hour law would soon 
 he up. I swear this conversation was true. 
 
 SERGEANT GOODELL, 
 
 Co. "I," 2nd Inft. 
 
 K 
 
 REPORTS ALLEGED GRAVE-DIGGING INCIDENT 
 
 HEADQUARTERS 
 
 MILITARY DISTRICT OF COLORADO 
 TRINIDAD, COLORADO 
 
 (COPY) 
 
 Prom : A. C. Drake, Captain First Infantry. 
 To : The Commanding Officer, First Infantry. 
 Subject : Case of Andrew Colnar. 
 
 Upon your request for a more detailed report than 
 was submitted in my daily reports of Nov. 28, 29 and 
 30, 1913: I submit the following: On November 28, 
 1913, Doctor Stanley, resident physician of the Pryor 
 Mine came to me with this information : That one 
 Paul Antovitch, Fire Boss at the Pryor Mine has re- 
 ceived a letter headed the U. M. W. A. and signed by 
 Andy Colnar delivered to him by one "Kink" True, 
 President of the local union of the Pryor tent colony, 
 threatening him with violence if he did not give up 
 his position and job and come to them in the tent city 
 where they would protect him. "Kink" True who 
 delivered the letter grabbed it away from Paul as soon 
 as Paul had read it, stating that he (Paul) did not 
 need to have it in his possession. He then conducted 
 
90 
 
 Paul to a cut on the D. & E. G. tracks part way be- 
 tween Pryor and the tent city where this said man 
 Colnar and another man, whose name I do not know, 
 interviewed said Paul ; stating that he must leave the 
 mine and come to them (Tent City) or leave the 
 Country; Paul did not return to work at the mine. 
 He formally asked for his time the next morning. I 
 immediately ordered Lieut, Work to cause the arrest 
 and detention of Andy Colnar and Kink True in sepa- 
 rate compartments, not allowing them to see each 
 other or any of their friends. That evening (Nov. 
 28th, 1913) Lieut. Work phoned me that he had both 
 parties wanted. I had sent Lieut. Work one pair of 
 hand cuffs to use if necessary to prevent the escape 
 of ither of these men. On the 29th as you will note 
 in your daily report, I went over to Lester and inter- 
 viewed the prisoner. I demanded of Colnar that he 
 recompose the letter which he had written to Paul 
 Antovitch. He told me that he could not remember, 
 I informed him that he would remain with us until 
 he did remember it, either wholly or in part. He 
 was left with pencil and paper in the assembly room 
 while I went to interview True. True contended that 
 while he had been president of the local union at tent 
 city of Pryor for two weeks, he did not know the con- 
 tents of the letter. I demanded the letter of him. 
 He produced it. I then left him to be interviewed 
 again, later. I then returned to Colnar who had -writ- 
 ten what was supposed to be a copy of the letter he 
 wrote to Paul. I then had a detail go up and arrest 
 Paul, who, when brought before me, gave me this 
 information. "I came out of the mine from shift, 
 and went to a neighbors house for some pictures which 
 
91 
 
 I had left there and this "Kink" True came to the 
 house and told me that he had a letter of a notice 
 for me. That the said Andy Colnar and another man 
 wanted to see me down in the cut. I went and on the 
 way I asked True where was the letter.' 7 True gave 
 him the letter to read and as soon as Paul had read 
 it, True took it out of his hands, saying that he did 
 not need to keep it in his possession. They went to 
 the cut where the two men, Colnar and the other man 
 e^lained to him, ( Paul ) why he must not work, that 
 he (Paul) must either quit his job and come to them 
 or leave the country. I showed him (Paul) the letter 
 which Colnar had just written and asked him if that 
 was the letter he had received from Andy Colnar. He 
 said "No, not exactly, there was more in the other 
 letter but some things in the other letter was in this." 
 I then took the original letter out of my pocket and at 
 first sight of it he jumped up exclaiming, "That's the 
 letter. Where did you get him?" I then let him read 
 it to make sure and he claimed it was the identical 
 letter. These foreigners seem to think that the green 
 print on the letter heads of the Union stationery is 
 symbolic of the Powers that be. I then returned to 
 True and after giving him fair warning never to be 
 a carrier or instigator of threatening letters or in- 
 timidation, ordered his release for the time being. 
 
 Colnar was detained for further investigation. 
 The next day, on the 30th, I interviewed Colnar again. 
 He was in our cell at Lester when I reached the post. 
 I had him brought before me and explained to him 
 that I understood he had a wife and four babies out 
 on a ranch north of town and that if he would give 
 me his promise to go home and take care of that wife 
 
92 
 
 and babies and keep away from the tent city at Pryor 
 and all other people who Avere trying to intimidate 
 any one working, or living in our district, I would 
 have him discharged for the time being, but that I 
 would keep track of him and visit him about once a 
 week. He seemed very thankful for the courtesies 
 extended; dropping to his knees, praying to me and 
 his God that if he so much as hurt a fly without my 
 consent "I can take him out and shoot him." "That 
 if anyone at the tent city or the union wanted him 
 to write any more letters to anyone, they can murder 
 him he will not do it." I told him to get up on his feet 
 and go home to his wife. He said he would go to 
 work at the mine the next day. I told him "No." 
 I did not ask him to go to work. He was out on 
 strike and he could stay out just as long a.s he was 
 able, providing he did not attempt to coerce or intim- 
 idate or threaten or use violence toward any other 
 man or woman who wanted to work. He thanked me 
 kindly with tears streaming down his face for the 
 good meals given him and the kindness extended to 
 him in allowing him to go home, wishing to shake 
 hands with me on parting, which I never do. This is 
 all I believe covering the Colnar case. I still have 
 the letters written by Colnar to Paul in my posses- 
 sion. 
 
 (Signed) ALLISON C. DRAKE, 
 
 Capt. 1st Inf. 
 
93 
 
 HEADQUARTERS 
 
 MILITARY DISTRICT OF COLORADO 
 TRINIDAD, COLORADO 
 
 From : Marion D. Work, Second Lieutenant, First 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 To: The Commanding Officer, First Infantry. 
 Subject: Keport on alleged ill-treatment of Andy 
 
 Colnar. 
 
 On the afternoon of Friday, November 28th, 
 1913, I received an order from Capt. A. C. Drake, 
 instructing me to arrest and hold one "Kink" True, 
 and one Andy Colnar. He also sent me a pair of 
 handcuffs and further instructed me to allow no one 
 to talk with these men, keeping them in separate 
 rooms and using the handcuffs on one of the prison- 
 ers in the night time if necessary. That evening, 
 about 5 o'clock, the two soldiers who had been de- 
 tailed to arrest True and Colnar, reported in with 
 the two men. Andy Colnar was placed in the assem- 
 bly room, where there were several soldiers. "Kink" 
 True was taken upstairs and placed in a room with 
 one sentry over him. That night Andy Colnar was 
 given a bed in the assembly room and about 11 P. M. 
 was handcuffed, hands in front of him. About 6 
 o'clock Saturday morning, (the next day) the hand- 
 cuffs were removed. He was handcuffed to prevent his 
 escape, as I did not have the soldiers to spare in order 
 to place a sentry over him. He was given a good break- 
 fast and about 9 :30 that morning was interviewed 
 by Capt. A. C. Drake. During that day he sat in 
 the assembly room near a comfortable fire. That night 
 
94 
 
 he was placed in the jail where there is a comfortable 
 bed. This jail is a concrete place about 7 ft. by 10 ft. 
 and was formerly used as a storehouse. The next day 
 about 8 A. M. he was taken out under guard and set 
 to work digging a hole which I intended to use for a 
 latrine. The old latrine was dirty and in an unde- 
 sirable place. I had been reprimanded the day before 
 by Capt. Drake for having the latrine in such condi- 
 tion. A corporal was sent out to measure the old 
 latrine and also the hole to see if it was large enough. 
 Sometime afterward one of the soldiers, who speaks 
 Slavish a very little, was going by the place where 
 Colnar was working and said "Good Morning" to him 
 in the Slavish language. Colnar asked this soldier if 
 the place he was digging was a grave. The soldier 
 started to answer him when the call for drill was 
 sounded. The soldier said "I don't know" and ran 
 to where the detachment had been falling in. An in- 
 spection of quarters and of the detachment had been 
 ordered for the morning and took place at 10 A. M. 
 During the inspection of the detachment the prisoner 
 was placed in an interval in the center of the detach- 
 ment. Inspection being over Colnar asked to be 
 allowed to telephone to his wife and babies. The re- 
 quest was refused for the reason that Captain Drake 
 had given orders that he be allowed to talk to no one. 
 He then said he felt sick and I asked him if he wished 
 to go to the latrine. His reply was unintelligible. 
 He was then taken out and put to work at the same 
 place. About 11 :30 he was brought in and given a 
 good dinner. After he had eaten dinner he was in- 
 terviewed by Capt. Drake. He was discharged at 
 1 :30 P. M. So far as I have been able to determine, 
 no one told Andy Colnar that he was digging a grave. 
 
95 
 
 No one told him he wa,s to be shot and so far as I 
 have been able to find out no one even said to another 
 that the place resembled a grave. It is possible 
 although not probable that the later thing could have 
 happened without my knowledge. To the best of my 
 knowledge, Andy Colnar was not measured for a 
 grave nor did he fall fainting into the hole. Close 
 questioning of the soldiers comprising the Lester de- 
 tachment affirm the statements that he was not told 
 he was to be shot, he was not told he was digging a 
 grave, he Avas not measured and he did not fall faint- 
 ing in the hole. I did not ask Andy Colnar to what 
 church he belonged but asked him for the reason that 
 I wished to determine his nationality as I knew some 
 Russians belonged to the Greek Catholic while Mon- 
 tenegrins, Hungarians and some others belonged to 
 the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 (Signed) MARION D. WORK, 
 
 2nd Lieut. 1st. Inf. N. G. C. 
 
 L 
 
 REPORT ALLEGED PEONAGE AT HASTINGS AND 
 DELAGUA 
 
 Hastings, Colo., January 24, 1914. 
 
 From : The Commanding Officer of Company L, First 
 
 Infantry. 
 To: The Commanding General, Military District of 
 
 Colorado. 
 Subject : Concerning passes for civilians. 
 
 1. In regard to the manner of handling civilians 
 who desired to leave the mining camps of Hastings 
 and Delagua, I will state that since the 12th day of 
 
96 
 
 November, 1913, on which date I became the com- 
 manding officer of "L" Co., in charge of these two 
 camps, and up to the present time, all civilians who 
 made application to leave the camp were promptly 
 given proper passes and at no time has the military 
 been instrumental in detaining any one who desired 
 to Jeave the camp or quit work, and no 'force or co- 
 ercion used in this direction. 
 
 2. When civilians were found wandering about 
 the hills near the camp they were courteously re- 
 quested and required to return to the camp and ob- 
 tain proper permission from the officer in charge, 
 this was deemed a proper precaution to be taken 
 under the existing circumstances. 
 
 3. It is inferred from a certain report and affi- 
 davits that a man was killed at the mine at Delagua 
 during December 1913, while trying to leave the mine 
 and quit work and that soldiers under my command 
 were presumably present and participated in this de- 
 tention; that the man supposed to have been killed 
 was Hayes and that a man by the name of Davis was 
 present, but upon investigation I am convinced that 
 no such occurrence ever took place, also there has been 
 no man by the name of Hayes working at the mine, 
 neither has there been a man by the name of Davis at 
 the mine nor in the Delagua camp, and no man under 
 my command has ever heard of the death of a man as 
 charged in the affidavits, until the contents of the 
 affidavits were read. My information is that no man 
 has been killed at the mine at all, during the time 
 mentioned. The statements in regard to this matter 
 must be without foundation. 
 
 C. D. DAVIDSON, 
 1st Lieut. 1st Inf. Com'dg., Co. "L." 
 
97 
 
 " M 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS ALLEGED DIS- 
 TURBANCES AT LUDLOW 
 
 1 
 
 TELEGRAM 
 Trinidad, Colo., December 31, 1913. 
 
 HON. ELIAS M. AMMONS, 
 
 Governor of Colorado, 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 We did not expect to report to you until we had 
 completed the taking of testimony at all camps but 
 in our judgment the following serious matter should 
 be reported to you at once. Lieut. E. K. Linderfelt 
 of the cavalry stationed at Berwind last night at 
 Ludlow brutally assaulted an offensive boy in the 
 public railroad station using the vilest language at 
 the same time he also assaulted and tried to provoke 
 to violence Louis Tikas, Headman of Ludlow Strikers 
 Colony and arrested him unjustifiably today in the 
 presence of one of our number he grossly abused a 
 young man in no way connected with the strike say- 
 ing among other things "I am Jesus Christ and my 
 men on horses Jesus Christ and we must be obeyed" 
 also making threats against the strikers in foulest 
 language he rages violently upon little or no provoca- 
 tion and is wholly an unfit man to bear arms and 
 command men as he had no control over himself we 
 reason to believe that it is his deliberate purpose to 
 
98 
 
 provoke the strikers to bloodshed in the interest of 
 peace and justice we ask immediate action in this 
 case. 
 
 JOHN R. LAWSON, 
 FRANK T. MINER, 
 JAMES H. BREWSTER, 
 JAMES KIRWAN, 
 
 ELI M. GROSS, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 2 
 LETTER 
 
 January 17, 1914. 
 
 From: Commanding General, M. D. C. 
 To: Major P. J. Hamrock, Ludlow, Colo. 
 Subject: Investigation of charges. 
 
 I am enclosing herewith a telegram transmitted 
 to me by his Excellency, Elias M. Ammons, Governor 
 of Colorado, with directions that report be rendered 
 thereon. I wish you to investigate this matter at 
 once. You will also investigate and report on the 
 alleged actions of Lieutenant Linderfelt last night in 
 filling the well used by the tent colony at Ludlow 
 with wire. 
 
 (Signed) JOHN CHASE. 
 
99 
 
 3 
 
 REPORT 
 
 Ludlow, Colo., January 1, 1914. 
 
 From : Lieutenant F. S. Doll, 
 To : The Commanding Officer, Ludlow District. 
 Subject: Report on disturbance at Ludlow railroad 
 station, January 1, 1914. 
 
 1. Lieut. Linderfelt entered station at about 7 :15 
 P. M. saw Pvt. Cuthbertson, one of his men who had 
 been thrown from his horse and apparently seriously 
 injured by a barbed wire stretched across the road 
 near Tent Colony. Lieut. Linderfelts men reported 
 that people of colony had stretched wire maliciously. 
 
 Under circumstances Lieut. Linderfelt displayed 
 justifiable temper, went to Louis Tikas who stood in 
 station, swore at him and ordered him outside of sta- 
 tion where the Lieut, forcibly pushed him against 
 wall and ordered Tikas to tell what he knew about 
 wire. Tikas pleaded ignorance and Linderfelt threat- 
 ened to hit him. I told Linderfelt to stop the rough 
 method that if he saw fit we would arrest Tikas and 
 take him before Major Kennedy, this was done. 
 
 Mr. Farver (agent for C. & C. ) called me into 
 station and pointed out boy whose head was cut, 
 Farber complained that Lieut. Linderfelt had hit boy. 
 Investigation proved that the boy did not know who 
 hit him and nobody saw Linderfelt or his men hit boy. 
 Lieut. Linderfelt said he did not hit boy, but arrested 
 him. Boy had scratch on head which our hospital 
 man dressed. 
 
100 
 
 Further investigation brought forth conflicting 
 statements from Lieut. Linderfelt's men concerning 
 wire, and people of colony pleaded innocence. 
 
 (Signed) FREDERICK S. DOLL. 
 
 4 
 REPORT 
 
 Aguilar, Colo., January 18, 1914. 
 
 From: Major P. J. Hamrock, 
 
 To : Commanding General, M. D. C. 
 
 Subject: Investigation of charges. 
 
 1. In compliance with your order of January 
 14th, 1914, I went to Ludlow and found Louis Tikas. I 
 did not find the boy that Lieut. Linderfelt is accused 
 of striking. I questioned a number of men and find that 
 there is a very bad feeling at the tent colony toward 
 Lieut. Linderfelt. They say that he was mine guard 
 before the militia was called out, and John R. Lawson 
 speaking of Lieut. Linderfelt said to Capt. Van Cise 
 and a number of his men at the Ludlow depot, "We 
 will get him yet." 
 
 I find that wire was strung across the road on the 
 night of Dec. 7th, 1913, resulting in the injury of 
 Col. Cuthbertson by being thrown from his horse. 
 Again on the night of Dec. 30th, 1913, wire was strung 
 across the road. Lieut. Linderfelt ordered some of 
 his men that had wire-cutters to cut the wire, they 
 cut the wire in short lengths and dropped it in a well 
 about 100 yards south of the tent colony. 
 
101 
 
 When Lieut. Linderfelt arrived at the Ludlow 
 station, Louis Tikas was there and Linderfelt accused 
 him of knowing w^ho put the wire across the road. 
 Tikas said he did not know, Linderfelt then pushed 
 him out on the platform and told him to tell the 
 truth. Tikas was then confronted with a boy who 
 claimed to be known by him, but he, Tikas denied 
 any knowledge of the boy, thereupon he was placed 
 under arrest and sent to Major Kennedy under guard. 
 Tikas later admitted to me that he knew the boy and 
 that he had been in the tent colony most of that day. 
 Tikas also said the boy is a member of the union but 
 does not live in the colony. 
 
 2. I find that the telegram to Governor Ammons 
 is biased and very much exaggerated. I can find no 
 one who saw Lieut. Linderfelt strike or assault either 
 Mr. Tikas or the boy. I do find that Lieut. Linder- 
 felt upon pushing Tikas from the depot to the plat- 
 form, swore at him. 
 
 (Signed) P. J. HAMROCK, 
 
 Commanding Camp at Aguilar. 
 
102 
 
 5 
 REPORT 
 
 Berwind, Colo. 
 
 From : K. E. Linderfelt, First Lieutenant and Batt'n. 
 Adjutant, Second Infantry, 
 
 To : Major P. J. Hamrock, Commanding Ludlow Dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Subject : Report of telegram sent to the Governor. 
 
 1. Lieut. K. E. Linderfelt of the cavalry sta- 
 tioned at Berwind last night at Ludlow brutally as- 
 saulted an inoffensive boy in the public railroad sta- 
 tion, using the vilest language at the same time. He 
 also assaulted and tried to provoke to violence Louis 
 Tikas, headman at the LudloAv striker's colony, and ar- 
 rested him unjustifiably. Today in the presence of 
 one of our members, he grossly abused a young man 
 in no way connected with the strike, saying among 
 other things, "I am Jesus Christ, and my men on 
 horses are Jesus Christs, and we must be obeyed," 
 also making threats against the strikers in the foulest 
 language. He rages violently on little or no provoca- 
 tion and is wholly an unfit man to bear arms and com- 
 mand men, as he has not control over his men. We 
 have reason to believe that it is his deliberate purpose 
 to provoke the strikers to bloodshed. In the interest 
 of peace and justice, we ask immediate action in his 
 case. Signed. 
 
 2. The telegram sent by John R. Lawson and 
 committee is only a fabrication of their own evil 
 minds. 
 
103 
 
 3. On the evening of the 30th of Dec. a patrol 
 from my company under command of Sgt. Taylor was 
 returning from Barnes and when opposite the Lud- 
 low tent colony in the county road, Cpl. Cuthbertson's 
 horse struck a double strand of barbed wire with his 
 knees and became unmanagable and entangled him- 
 self in the wire in such a mananer that the corporal 
 was thrown and severely injured and the horses was 
 cut in several places by the barbs on the wire. Earlier 
 in the evening I had passed this place accompanied by 
 1st Sgt. Casey, Q. M. Sgt. MacDonald and Sgt. Davis 
 and Sgt. MacDonald who was in front dismounted 
 and tore down what appeared to be a barb wire en- 
 tanglement placed across the county road for the de- 
 liberate purpose of throwing our mounted patrol and 
 killing or wounding our men if possible. Since then, 
 on the 7th of present month, another wire entangle- 
 ment was found almost in the same place by one of my 
 men, which we removed. On the night of the 30th of 
 Dec. 1913 after Corpl. Cuthbertson had been in- 
 jured, I was at the Ludlow depot with a mounted 
 patrol, an enlisted man of Co. "K" 1st Infty. reported 
 to me that he could show me the man who had placed 
 the wire which had been the cause of Corpl. Cuthbert- 
 son's injury and I had him point out the man, who I 
 placed under arrest. 
 
 The man did not resist arrest neither did I or any 
 of my men strike him or in any way injure him or at- 
 tempt to intimidate him, he told me that Louis Tikas, 
 commonly called "Louie the Greek" knew him and 
 could tell where he was during the day. 
 
 I immediately placed Louie the Greek under ar- 
 rest and asked him who this man was and where he 
 
104 
 
 had been during the time the wire had been put in 
 place and removed and he (Louie) denied any knowl- 
 edge of the man, saying that he had never seen him be- 
 fore which he afterwards admitted was a lie. 
 
 I then turned both men over to the Depot Guard, 
 composed of men from Co. K 1st Infty., as prisoners, 
 as I was and am now thoroughly satisfied that Louie 
 the Greek ordered the wire placed across the road, 
 and knows who did put it up. 
 
 Louie the Greek has had the control of the 
 Strikers Ludlow Colony since John R. Lawson admit- 
 ted that he could not control the men in the colony 
 after arming them, he, Louie, has repeatedly sent word 
 indirectly to myself and men of my command that 
 they the Greeks in the strikers colony would kil-1 
 every one of us when we were relieved from duty as 
 members of the National Guard of Colorado. 
 
 4. I know and every person who knows anything 
 regarding military service knows that I have perfect 
 control over my men and in sixteen years service, 
 Regular, Volunteer and National Guard service, under 
 this and other flags, I have always been able to con- 
 trol my men. 
 
 5. My deliberate purpose is not to cause blood- 
 shed but to enforce the law against all outlaws, 
 strikers in the Ludlow colony, Coal Barons murders 
 or anyone else who violates either the law of Colo- 
 rado or the United States as is my sworn duty. 
 
 The sworn duty of either an officer or enlisted 
 man in any army is obedience of orders from his su- 
 perior and to uphold the laws and I have simply done 
 my duty as a soldier. 
 
105 
 
 6. John K. Lawson made the remark to Lt. 
 Fisher Co. "K" 2nd Infty that he would get me yet. 
 This from a member of the committee who signed the 
 telegram to Gov. Ammons. 
 
 (Signed) K. E. LINDERFELT. 
 
 N 
 REPORTS JASSINSKY INCIDENT 
 
 1 
 REPORT 
 
 Trinidad, Colo., February 13th, 1913. 
 
 From : Captain Ed. A. Smith, 
 To : The Commanding General. 
 
 Subject : Investigation of Jassinski complaint against 
 Sergeant Arnold. 
 
 1. Pursuant to your order of February 13th, I 
 proceeded on the nine o'clock C. & C. Train to Forbes 
 Junction, where I was met by Captain Ainsley and 
 orderly and taken to camp at Forbes. I then inter- 
 viewed Captain Ainsely, Sergeant Arnold, Lieutenant 
 Olinger, and several of the enlisted men. They all 
 spoke of the high character of Sergeant Arnold, of 
 the fact that to their knowledge, and they were in a 
 position to have knowledge, that he had not made any 
 showing of having any extra money or had there been 
 anything unusual about his demeanor since the act 
 complained of. Sergeant Arnold told a very straight- 
 forward story, completely at variance with the story 
 told by the young man when in the Judge Advocate's 
 Office. 
 
106 
 
 2. When I had finished interviewing the man at 
 Forbes, I procured horse and accompanied by Ser- 
 geant Arnold rode to the ranch of the people who made 
 the complaint. I looked at the trunks said to have 
 been broken up. There were three thunks in the room, 
 all of which the Sergeant informs me he examined, 
 but of which the young boy says he only examined 
 one and broke that open with a hatchet. The Ser- 
 geant claims the three trunks were unlocked and he 
 examined all of them. The woman and boy showed 
 me the trunk which they claim the Sergeant broke 
 into, using a hatchet, which I examined very closely 
 and was unable to see any evidence whatsoever of 
 the trunk having been broken open there being no 
 marks or scratches such as would have been made^ 
 if the trunk had been broken into, as alleged, with 
 a hatchet. The young boy was considerably mixed in 
 his story that he told at the office of the Judge Advo- 
 cate, when he told it at the house, and seemed to be 
 inclined to answer "Yes" to most any question which 
 was asked that would look bad for the Sergeant. 
 
 3. After finishing my investigation at the com- 
 plainant's house, I rode on to the tent colony about 
 three quarters of a mile nearer town, where the Ser- 
 geant had been just prior to the time that the visit 
 was made to this complainant's house. There I saw 
 the leader of the colony, also the subleader and sev- 
 eral other members of the Suffield Colony. They 
 talked very freely to me and informed me that the 
 Sergeant had been most careful and courteous in his 
 treatment of them when he searched the colony, and 
 when I asked them if he gave any indication of hav- 
 ing been under the influence of liquor, each and every 
 man in the colony that I spoke to informed me that 
 
107 
 
 he was perfectly and strictly sober when he was at 
 the colony. The leaders of the colony gave a great 
 deal of complaint against this family, stating that the 
 boy and on one or two occasions had a knife in his 
 possession, boasted he was a scab and had made threats 
 against the children of the colony people ; that the man 
 Jassinski, who lives at this ranch, had made a great 
 many threats toward the men in the colony, boasting 
 that he is a non-union man and had threatened to kill 
 them ; that on several occasions he had taken a gun 
 in his hands, called them scabs, and told them he would 
 kill them. They also complained about a great deal 
 of shooting going on at this man's house. All of them 
 seemed unanimously of the opinion he still had arms, 
 claiming positively he still has a revolver; and from 
 all I am told I am strongly of the belief that the cart- 
 ridges which they picked up and mentioned in ser- 
 geant's Arnold's report are cartridges for the revolver 
 which is still in his possession. 
 
 4. Captain Insley, when I was at his camp, in- 
 formed me that he had taken up a 22 rifle from these 
 people, and that the boy pointed out a house about a 
 mile and a half from the house occupied by complain- 
 ant in this matter, where he claims there are a con- 
 siderable number of rifles hidden. Captain Insley 
 informed me he had this information from three other 
 sources, and was strongly of the belief he would find 
 rifles there if he was authorized to search the place 
 in a thorough manner. 
 
 5. After finishing my interview with the people 
 at the tent colony, I proceeded on to Trinidad, Ke- 
 porting to the Commanding General in person at 2 :15 
 February 14th, 1913. 
 
108 
 
 6. I am enclosing herewith copy of the statements 
 made to the Judge Advocate's Office, by the woman 
 and boy in this matter; also returning the report of 
 Captain Insley and Sergeant Arnold. 
 
 (Signed) ED. A. SMITH. 
 (Encs. four.) 
 
 STATEMENT 
 
 February 13, 1914. 
 
 Gustav Sninsky 11 years old. Live on ranch on 
 D. & R. G. Tracks, one half mile North of Suffield 
 Colony. On Tuesday, February 3d, 1914, about four 
 o'clock P. M., my brothers and sister and myself were 
 playing in the bed room, and a soldier came to the 
 kitchen door and opened it and walked in and asked 
 if we had any rifles. I answered "No," and he said 
 there was a 22 hanging on the wall and he took it 
 down from the wall, saying have you got any more. 
 I said no, and he then took the hatchet and broke the 
 lock on a trunk in the room. I told him not to open 
 the trunk and he commenced to throw out the clothes 
 and found ten or eleven cartridges (30-40), and he 
 then asked where the rifle was, and I told him I had 
 no rifle, and when I told him not to go into the trunk 
 he chased us out into the kitchen, kicked me and my 
 brother in the back and my sister in the elbow and 
 another sister in the nose. He threw our clothes out 
 of the trunk and mattress on the bed, threw the sew- 
 ing machine over. When he threw the clothes out of 
 
109 
 
 the trunk he took a hand bag put of the sleeve of a coat 
 in the bottom the trunk and took bills, silver and 
 gold out of the hand bag and put it in his pocket, 
 and threw the hand bag under the bed. He then looked 
 all around the room and went into the kitchen and 
 seached there. He opened a cupboard, took some eggs 
 from it and broke and ate some and broke some on 
 the floor. He then went out to a buggy that was close 
 to the house with a man sitting in it and tried to get 
 into it. He fell down twice while trying to get into 
 it, and then got in. The man in the buggy had some 
 beer and was drunk. The man that was in the house 
 had a bottle whiskey in his pocket that he drank from 
 while in the house, and when the man got in the buggy 
 he said to the other man I got a 22 and some bullets. 
 He then started the horse and went down along the 
 D. & K. G. tracks towards Forbes. The man in the 
 buggy had glasses on his eyes, mustache and brown 
 short whiskers on his chin. 
 
 STATEMENT 
 
 Victoria Jasnski. Came home about 4.30. Found 
 children crying, and husband went into the house. 
 I went into the house and found bed mussed, pillow 
 and mattres on floor, trunk open and everything on 
 floor, found hand bag under the bed with 2 little rings 
 and a bracelet in it. The kitchen dishes were broken 
 on the floor, eggs on the floor, and very bad, dirty. 
 
 Mrs. Waldron. Red 382. Bowen. Husband runs 
 a saloon. 
 
110 
 
 4 
 
 REPORT 
 Camp at Forbes, February 11, 1914. 
 
 From : Captain H. E. Insley. 
 To : Commanding Officer, M. D. C. 
 Subject: Conditions at Forbes and surrounding ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 1. The Commanding Officer of this Camp went 
 to Trinidad Monday for the purpose of appearing 
 before a Notary and attend to papers pertaining to 
 a mortgage on his home. He drove in accompanied 
 by duty Sergeant H. A. Arnold. Signed said papers 
 and proceeded to Camp Forbes Tuesday morning Feb- 
 ruary 10. 
 
 2. In line with orders given him by Captain E. 
 A. Smith of the military commission, the colony at 
 Suffield was visited, searched, and inspected. Seventy 
 Three men are in said colony. There was no trouble 
 the strike leaders being most courteous. One revolver 
 and one shot gun was found. Information reaches 
 me there are at one of the near by ranch houses, 50 
 rifles hidden. It was believed these rifles were at the 
 home of a known strike sympathizer near the Tent 
 Colony. Said house was searched by Sergeant Ar- 
 nold, Captain Insley sitting in the buggy. 
 
 3. One 11 year old boy accompanied by his little 
 sisters were with the Sergeant during the search. 
 Three trunks were found the lids lifted and one 22 
 cal. rifle was found also some 38-40 cal. shells were 
 found. The boy suggested where probably the 50 rifles 
 were hidden at a ranch house several miles away. 
 
Ill 
 
 4. It was not deemed wise to attempt to get said 
 rifles when there was but two of us to make the search. 
 
 5. There absolutely was no money found in the 
 house. Sergeant Arnold who searched the premises 
 is one of my oldest and best non-commissioned officers. 
 Under no circumstances would he take money. It is 
 my belief the striker who claimed to have lost $200.00, 
 makes this statement, simply for a supposed effect. 
 
 HARRY E. INSLEY, 
 
 Captain 1st. Infantry, 
 Commanding Co. "B." 
 
 5 
 REPORT 
 
 Camp at Forbes. 
 
 From : Sergeant H. A. Arnold, 
 To : Commanding Officer, M. D. C. 
 Subject: Searching of tent colony and ranch house 
 at Suffield. 
 
 Captain Insley and I, Serg't Arnold went into 
 the town of Trinidad in a one-horse buggy. Captain 
 Insley having some legal papers to attend to. 
 
 The Captain and I started for Forbes on the 
 morning of the tenth at 11:30 o'clock, arrived at 
 Bowen at 12 :15 o'clock, where we asked a civilian who 
 seems to know all about the strikers, to go with us he 
 declined. 
 
 The Captain and I under his, the captain's orders, 
 proceeded to the Tent Colony, driving the horse on 
 
112 
 
 the south side of the Colony where a cut 10 feet deep 
 separated us from the tent colony. I tied the horse 
 to a fence-post and acting under Captain Insley's or- 
 ders, I got over the ditch and into the strikers colony 
 about 20 men were there to meet me when I arrived. I 
 asked for the leader and they told me he was in Lud- 
 low, I then asked for the second leader who proved to 
 be Ben Freeman. I told him the Captain would like 
 to see him and the Captain interviewed him. He 
 turned. I, under the captain's orders went back to 
 camp with him, I told him I wanted all the guns he 
 and his men had they willfully produced 1 shot-gun 
 this was the property of Andy Marsello, and a nickel 
 plated 32 cal. revolver this belonging to Ben Free- 
 man. 
 
 I then asked Ben Freeman to go through every 
 tent with me while I made a search he did. The 
 strikers who are mostly Slavs were very courteous to 
 the Captain and I and we stayed about one and one- 
 half hours with them. 
 
 The Captain and I then proceeded north and went 
 to the ranch house where firearms were said to be by 
 both strikers and saloonkeeper at Bowen, the Captain 
 sat in the buggy while I went into the home, a boy of 
 about 11 to 12 years old was in the house with 3 
 smaller sisters, the boy watched me make the search, 
 3 trunks were looked into by me in one was about 
 10-38-40 cl. revolver shells which I confiscated also a 
 22 cal. rifle. 
 
 The boy pointed out two other houses where 
 many guns are supposed to be either hidden in the 
 house or nearby. 
 
113 
 
 We then continued our journey on to Forbes ar- 
 riving at about 3:45 o'clock that evening, all the 
 searching was in broad day light on the Tenth of 
 February, 1913. 
 
 SGT. H. A. ARNOLD, 
 
 Co. "B," 1st Infantry. 
 
 Bancroft Ubwy 
 O 
 
 REPORT ALLEGED INTERRUPTION OF 
 FUNERAL 
 
 STATEMENT OF WARD J. WATSON MADE IN 
 REGARD TO THE ALLEGED BREAKING- 
 UP OF FUNERAL PROCESSION ON MAIN 
 STREET, TRINIDAD, COLORADO 
 
 On the day of this occurrence I was going to the 
 San Rafael Military Camp, Trinidad, Colorado, act- 
 ing as Chauffeur for General Chase, when I encoun- 
 tered on the way a funeral procession. Right at the 
 foot of the hill as you enter the militarj^ camp I 
 reached the rear end of the aforesaid funeral proces- 
 sion. When arriving at the rear end of the procession I 
 attempted to pass by them without in any way molest- 
 ing or interfering with them, but as I approached 
 some called to me "Baldwin-Feltz Thug" others Scab- 
 Herding Son-of-a-bitch, at the same time attempting 
 to board the automobile. Realizing if they succeeded 
 in getting on the automobile they might do me bodily 
 violence, I pulled my six shooter from my pocket, and 
 as one of these men got on the car I struck at him, 
 knocking him off the car. I did not hit him where I 
 
114 
 
 aimed on account of having to guide the car and strike 
 at him with my unused hand. I then turned the car 
 into the middle of the procession and ran the car 
 through the procession, turning out which I reached 
 the procession of buggies and cabs. I then swung 
 to the side of the buggies, cabs, and the hearse, 
 and went on into the military camp. I would have 
 gone on by the procession without in any manner 
 interfering with them, but when they called me these 
 names, and attempted to get on the automobile, I felt 
 it was necessary for me to protect myself and took 
 this means to accomplish my purpose. I in no other 
 manner than as above described interfered with the 
 procession, and it went on its way after I passed by 
 the men marching in the procession. 
 
 (Signed) WARD J. WATSON. 
 
 P 
 
 TELEGRAM TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
 
 STATES 
 
 I am directed by the Governor of Colorado to in- 
 form the President of thellnited States that one Mary 
 Jones, alias "Mother" Jones, is and always has been 
 at entire liberty to leave the disturbed district, but 
 insists upon remaining, avowedly to make incendiary 
 speeches. She is confined with comfort in a pleasant 
 room in a large church hospital, as a necessary peace 
 precaution, in view of her history elsewhere. March 
 8 a non-union miner was atrociously murdered near 
 the union tent colony at Forbes in the strike zone, to 
 which colony the murderers were easily tracked. This 
 
115 
 
 murder was significant just at this time. At the 
 urgent request of the sheriff, all of the inhabitants of 
 this small colony were arrested sixteen men. There 
 were no women or children. The tents were ordered 
 removed, to forestall further outlawry. 
 
 Colorado has maintained peace and preserved its 
 constitution and laws with its own patriotic volunteer 
 militia, thankless, self-sacrificing, patiently, silent un- 
 der abuse. The silence that military rule and neces- 
 sity enjoin I am directed to break, that the President 
 may be advised. 
 
 (Signed) JOHN CHASE, 
 
 Brigadier General, 
 Commanding the Military District of Colorado. 
 
 Q 
 
 REPORT LABOR COMMISSIONERS 
 
 OFFICE OF COMMANDING OFFICER 
 COMPANY B,, FIRST INFANTRY 
 
 Forbes, Colo., February 9, 1914. 
 
 To : Major Williams, camp at Trinidad, Colorado. 
 Subject: Labor Commissioners. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th of January, two men 
 drove up to the Sentry on post at the Mine Office at 
 Forbes and asked permission to inspect conditions of 
 the camp. 
 
 They told him that they were State Labor Com- 
 missioners giving their names and wanted permission 
 to inspect the camp; the sentry telephoned to head- 
 quarters asking what to do. I told him to send them 
 to headquarters which he did. 
 
in; 
 
 One of them named Gross claimed to be a State 
 Labor Commissioner and with his deputy were in- 
 specting the mining camps. 
 
 After giving them dinner, I telephoned Mr. 
 Nichols the Superintendent of Forbes Camp asking 
 him if he wanted to let them in, he did not know who 
 they were but told me to send them to him first, 
 which I did sending a guard with them. He then 
 telephoned me that he did not know who they were. 
 
 I then telephoned Major Williams asking his 
 orders in regard to them. Major Williams ordered 
 them to be put out of camp instantly and to be kept 
 out; stating at the same time that they had no right 
 to inspect the camp or to interview the men, and ask- 
 ing me if I understood my instructions in regard to 
 handling them. 
 
 I immediately sent a man on horseback to bring 
 them in, he found them waiting near the mine to 
 interview the miners when they came off shift. 
 
 Upon being brought back to headquarters they 
 expressed surprise at being ordered to quit the camp 
 after being let in but would leave under protest. 
 
 I told them that I had orders to that effect and 
 they got into their buggy and drove out, the guard 
 at the gate being instructed to see that they did not 
 return. 
 
 Resp. Yours 
 
 (Signed) H. W. OLINGEE, 
 
 and Lieut. 1st. Infantry. 
 Copy to General Chase. 
 
117 
 
 RECOMMENDATION OF GRAND JURY, CONTAINED 
 IN ITS REPORT TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF 
 LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, FEBRUARY, 1914 
 
 Fifth, That our investigations of the Industrial 
 Disturbances, growing out of the recent labor trou- 
 bles, has led the Grand Jury to believe that it is 
 absolutely necessary to have the State militia sta- 
 tioned in this county, in order to protect life and 
 property. 
 
 We feel that the withdrawal of the militia from 
 this district at this time, would be very unwise. 
 
 It is the opinion of the Grand Jury, that the 
 State troops, should be kept in this district until the 
 present coal miners strike has been settled, or some 
 agreement reached between the striking miners and 
 the coal operators, that would insure the good citi- 
 zens of this county, a speedy return of the conditions 
 that prevailed before the calling of the present strike. 
 
 s 
 
 RESOLUTION 
 HOUSE RESOLUTION 387 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES^, U. S. 
 
 January 27, 1914. 
 
 Resolved, That the House Committee on Mines 
 and Mining is hereby authorized and directed to make 
 a thorough and complete investigation of the condi- 
 tions existing in the coal fields in the counties of 
 La.s Animas, Huerfano, Fremont, Grand, Routt, 
 
118 
 
 Boulder, Weld, and other counties in the State of 
 Colorado; and in and about the copper mines in the 
 counties of Houghton, Kewaanew, and Ontonagon, in 
 the State of Michigan, for the purpose of ascertain- 
 ing 
 
 First. Whether or not any system of peonage 
 has been or is being maintained in said coal or cop- 
 per fields. 
 
 Second. Whether or not postal services and 
 facilities have been or are being interfered with or 
 obstructed in said coal or copper fields; and if so, 
 by whom. 
 
 Third. Whether or not the immigration laws 
 of this country have been or are being violated in said 
 coal or copper fields; and if so, by whom. 
 
 Fourth. Investigate and report all facts and cir- 
 cumstances relating to the charge that citizens of the 
 United States have been arrested, tried, or convicted 
 contrary to or in violation of the Constitution or the 
 laws of the United States. 
 
 Fifth. Investigate and report whether the con- 
 ditions existing in said coal fields in Colorado and in 
 said copper fields in Michigan have been caused by 
 agreements and combinations entered into contrary 
 to the laws of the United States for the purpose of 
 controlling the production, sale, and transportation 
 of the coal and copper of these fields. 
 
 Sixth. Investigate and report whether or not 
 firearms, ammunition, and explosives have been 
 shipped into the saici coal and copper fields, with the 
 purpose to exclude the products of the said fields 
 from competitive markets in interstate trade; and if 
 so, by whom and by whom paid for. 
 
119 
 
 Seventh. If any or all of these conditions exist/ 
 the causes leading up to said conditions. 
 
 Said committee or any subcommittee thereof is 
 hereby empowered to sit and act during the session or 
 recess of Congress, or either House thereof, at such 
 time and place* as it may deem necessary ; to require 
 by subpoena or otherwise the attendance of witnesses, 
 and the production of papers, books, and documents; 
 to employ stenographers and such other clerical as- 
 sistance as may be necessary. The chairman of the 
 committee or any member thereof may administer 
 oaths to witnesses. 
 
 Attest : 
 
 SOUTH TEIMBLE, 
 
 Clerk.