ludlow massacre monument colorado

We kinda stumbled on this historical site. The massacre that occurred here should have more publicity. It was very subdued. Some of the historical structures should be restored. Even with the maps on site it was hard to relate to what really happened here. I was depressed with what I was seeing.

This is a very sad place in Colorado history right up there with the Sand Creek massacre. Money, power and greed destroyed men, women and children. They were just canon fodder. But its good that these place do not forget the great tragedies that befell these hard working folks and the Native people of this country. Everyone should learn and seek out the truth of our history in this country to be more informed.

This monument touched and tugged at my heart. The Ludlow Massacre was an attack by the Colorado National Guard and Colorado Fuel & Iron Company camp guards on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914. Some two dozen people, including women and children, were killed. The chief owner of the mine, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was widely criticized for the incident.The massacre, the culmination of a bloody widespread strike against Colorado coal mines, resulted in the violent deaths of between 19 and 26 people; reported death tolls vary but include two women and eleven children, asphyxiated and burned to death under a single tent. The deaths occurred after a daylong fight between militia and camp guards against striking workers. Ludlow was the deadliest single incident in the southern Colorado Coal Strike, lasting from September 1913 through December 1914. The strike was organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) against coal mining companies in Colorado. The three largest companies involved were the Rockefeller family-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron Company (CF&I), the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company (RMF), and the Victor-American Fuel Company (VAF).In retaliation for Ludlow, the miners armed themselves and attacked dozens of mines over the next ten days, destroying property and engaging in several skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard along a 40-mile front from Trinidad to Walsenburg. The entire strike would cost between 69 and 199 lives. Thomas G. Andrews described it as the "deadliest strike in the history of the United States". The Ludlow Massacre was a watershed moment in American labor relations. Historian Howard Zinn described the Ludlow Massacre as "the culminating act of perhaps the most violent struggle between corporate power and laboring men in American history". Congress responded to public outcry by directing the House Committee on Mines and Mining to investigate the incident. Its report, published in 1915, was influential in promoting child labor laws and an eight-hour work day.

Anyone interested in labor history who is traveling north from Trinidad, Colorado on I-25 must take the time to visit this memorial. It is about half a mile off of the interstate and totally worth stopping.The monument is not maintained by federal or state government, so there is no whitewashing of events. The monument is maintained by labor unions and does not beat around the bush about how the wives and children of the striking miners were murdered when the tent city where the strikers and their families were living were purposely burnt to the ground.What I found just as powerful as the story of the deaths was the story of the lives being lived on this ground during the strike. The miners and their families were of many nationalities and ethnic origins, but they were all working together and living together and helping each other. They were in solidarity with each other, as they demanded a living wage and safer working conditions from the rich mine owners who put profit over people. (If you appreciate the 40 hour work week and minimum wage, these are some of the folks you have to thank for such basic labor practices.)I pretty much started crying the moment I read the first informational sign and continued to cry until I left. This monument is heart wrenching and important.

This is a small monument, but rich in emotion and memory. The Ludlow massacre is something that every American should know about (though few do), since it shows the atrocities that unions fought against. The monument itself (As well as the fox hole...yes, you can lift the door and even go down if you want...I couldn't do it...I had the creeps too much) holds emotion and passes it on to you. The historical plaques are very informative and sensitive. I had a hard time explaining this to my 7 year old son, but even he got some of the gravity. On a less serious note, there are huge fields with very active prairie dogs surrounding the memorial. If you drive up the road past the monument, you can see some amazing natural vistas. We saw elk and antelope!

I stopped here because I wanted to support those who died to pioneer the way for fair labor laws. If we don't visit these monuments and remember they will be lost and the crimes repeated.At the time of this tragedy the workers were completely exploited. At Jim Thorpe, PA, a similar tragedy occurred with the Molly Maguires. Paid in company currency, living in company housing, allowed only to read company approved books, is just some of the civil liberties denied to the immigrants of those times. I hope the monument will someday be more than it currently is.

I didn't realize we were at the monument and drove several miles past it on a gravel road. Interesting bit of history but a shame there currently is a lot of current union propaganda around it. I would not go back.

This monument, commemorating the massacre of miners and their families during a labor dispute in 1914, is a sad and sobering site that is a must for all working men and women. Eighteen men, women, and children from the ages of 3 months to 45 years old were shot and burned to death by Colorado militia , company guards, and 'detectives' hired by the coal company.See this memorial, before history is once again re-written.

The Ludlow Memorial is located north of Trinidad Colorado on Interstate 25 at exit 27. At the exit ramp stop sign, turn west towards the mountains and drive about a half mile to the site of a memorial dedicated to the memory of the children and women who died there tragically during the Ludlow miner’s strike. The site has steadily added improvements through the years and now has permanent signage describing the events as well as designation as a national historic landmark in addition to the original memorial. The History Channel, PBS and the BBC all have webpages detailing Ludlow’s history if you’d like to learn more. The Denver Public Library has historical photographs online of the striking Ludlow miners and their families living in the snow in their tent colony, the militia, and the aftermath of the fire.

The Ludlow Massacre Monument is a very historical place. It is between Trinidad and Walsenburg near the small town of Ludlow. I t is approx 1/2 mile away from I-25 near the railroad tracks. This was a huge mining area and the men, women, and children were living in tents. What a shame that the military had to kill so many innocent women and children. The rest of the history can be found in downtown Trinidad at the Bloom and Baca Museums.

I feel bad giving this place a bad review, but it was depressing and just seemed like somebody paying lip service to horror! I can't justify bad with good or good with bad! Doesn't make any sense!

We had read about the Ludlow Massacre and my husband's History teacher had been there and described it but it is nothing like being there. Reading about the events that happened there brought tears to our eyes. We spent about 30 minutes there and then drove down the road to the town of Ludlow which is now a ghost town. This is well woth the drive off I-25.