Many had spikes driven through them. Others were guarded limbs of trees with sharpened branches. Some were just plain boards and billiard cues.
The detail was ordered to fix bayonets, and with much grumbling and muttering the depot and grounds were cleared. But when the road was reached trouble began. The crowd refused to move farther arid violence was imminent. The detail had a front of from 100 to 150 feet to cover, and opposed to the 10 sentries was a solid mass of strikers, with their club-swinging women in the front rank, giving vent to all manner of profanity, and a sullen bunch of men in the rear urging the women to violence. If trouble had started aothing on earth could have prevented some women being bayoneted and others shot, and then Company K, called on to protect the peace, and impartial as to the merits of the strike, would have been branded to the world as murderers of defenseless women and men protecting their homes from gunmen. And among these women were two who have since gone to President Wilson to represent the strikers' side of the battle of Ludlow.
Luck was all that saved the day. Three leaders of the strikers, Bernardo, Weinberger, and Jones, were picked out of the crowd and turned over to the sergeants with instructions to shoot them on the first sign of trouble. They protested that they were not responsible, but admitted they were the leaders of the colony. When they saw that the orders would be enforced they managed to signal the crowd and before the train arrived a large number had gone back to the colony. No strike breakers arriving, the incident was closed. But it illustrates the violent character of the Ludlow strikers.
The next step was the raising of the embargo by the governor, and importation of strike breakers. The military authorities made every effort to enforce the State law. At Ludlow, and elsewhere, commanding officers were instructed to and did examine every man who entered the district looking for work. Each had to be asked if he knew that a strike was in progress, had been so told before he signed up, and was willing to go to work under those conditions. Further, the strikers' colony was pointed out to them and they were instructed that the men in the "tents were out on strike.
Again the agitators shouted "To arms!" The terrible Colorado blizzard alone prevented an outbreak at this time and proved the most effective settlement of violence that the State has yet seen. For six weeks the district was under 4 feet of snow, the strikers were effectually penned in their colonies, strike breakers filled the camps, and mines operated to capacity.
The snow disappearing, the hatred of the strikers for all troops grew apace. Strike breakers were protected and the term "scab herders" was applied to the soldiers. The dislike of the strikers for the soldiers was caused by the fact that the presence of troops made the nonunion miners feel secure, and hence made the success of the strike very doubtful.
The militia in the main made a splendid record. During a service in the field of nearly six months and until the Battle of Ludlow, only two men were killed by the troops, one accidently and the other a fugitive from justice. A district of several hundred square miles was policed and absolute order prevailed.
The Colorado troops, according to the annual reports of United States Army inspectors, have as fine a body in the rank and file as can be found in the country. The majority of the companies come from the small towns of the State and number in their ranks some of the best young manhood in Colorado. One of the Denver companies was composed entirely of former college men. The only interest any of these men had in the strike was to wish for a speedy settlement and all were disinterested as to the merits of the controversy. Their one desire was to get back to their homes.
A soldier can not be made in a few days. Discipline is the habit of obedience. The militia had many men who committed abuses, but this was to be expected among 1,400 men, many of them recruits unused to restraint and military training. The military game was a hobby with many, but the permanent pursuit of none. The wonder is, with a constantly growing hostility among the strikers, the abuses were not greater. As the officers learned the game better and got their men used to team work these conditions became less frequent.
The Colorado militia has long been cursed by factionalism. Many chair warmers and sycophants have been retained by various adjutant generals. The result has been that a real esprit de corps has been prevented, and many inferior officers have been allowed to creep in. To these few, the enlistment of mine guards, and the hostility of the strikers can be traced the troubles between troops and union.
