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WE NEVER FORGET |
Mack Powell-35 |
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October 9, 1913
Colorado Coalfield Strike of 1913
On the morning of October 9th gunthugs from Hastings fired upon the baseball field at the edge of the Ludlow Tent Colony. Striking miners had been enjoying a friendly game, but, as bullets hit the dirt around them, they quickly ran for their rifles. They were able to drive the guards away from the camp. Fighting continued on and off during the day.
Mack Powell was a union miner who had taken a job as a cowpuncher at the Green Ranch to support himself and his family during the strike. He was shot off his horse during the battle. Guards later told his wife and his wife's grandmother that they "got one of Green's cowpunchers." They offered no condolences when they learned that the cowpuncher was the husband of the woman they were talking to.
Mack had been living with his wife and his wife's grandmother in a small house near to the striker's tent colony at Ludlow at the time of his death.
From The Pueblo Chieftain
The funeral of cowherder Mack Powell, who was a member of the United Mine Workers of America, according to the paper, was attended by hundreds of miners and their families. Miners, 250 strong, walked from Segundo to Trinidad to pay their respects to Powell, who was killed by gunfire in a fight between strikers and mine guards. He was buried in Mason Cemetery in Trinidad.
From Beshoar:
Early the next morning [October 9th], a shot was fired from Hastings Hill at a number of miners who were playing baseball at the edge of the colony. The bullets kicked up dirt in the middle of the diamond. Once more the miners roared with anger and ran for their weapons. In the ensuing fight, the guards were driven back into the hills. Mack Powell a former union miner who was working as a cowboy on a near by ranch, was killed as he sat on his horse watching the battle.
From Zeese Papanikolas:
About for or four-thirty that afternoon [October 9th] Mrs. Powell and her grandmother were sitting in the yard of their little house south of Ludlow when a group of guards came down from Berwind Canyon. The women had heard shooting and were concerned. Mrs. Powell's husband was a striker, but he had gotten a job herding cattle for the Green ranch and was out with the animals that day. The guards crossed over the steel bridge and got a drink at the cistern. They had white rags tied around their arms. "Was there anybody killed or hurt?" the grandmother asked. "None of our men were killed," one of the guards said, "but we got one of Mr. Green's cowpunchers." Mrs. Powell thought of her husband. "Was he riding a bay hourse," she asked. And the man said yes. "well, if he was riding a bay horse," she said, "I'm afraid it was my husband."
The Testimony of Mrs. Mack Powell:
Mrs. Mack Powell, a witness called before the committee, on oath, testified as follows: Examination by Mr. Brewster [for the Miners]:
Q. Mrs. Powell, what is your full name? — A. Mrs. Mack Powell.
Q. Where do you live? — A. Ludlow.
Q. At the tent colony, or in the village?- — A. No, sir; in Ludlow.
Q. Near the post office? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Are you the widow of the late Mack Powell ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. When did he die?— A. The 9th of October, 1913.
Q. Where were you living then ? — A. We were living down near the C. & S. bridge.
Q. Was Mr. Powell on the day of his death employed by anyone? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. By whom was he employed ? — A. By Mr. Green, a cattleman.
Q. Did you see him die ? — A. No, sir.
Q. During that day did you see any guards or armed men near your house? — A. Yes,
sir; I seen some riding down the road.
Q. Did you hear a conversation between them and anyone else? — A. No, sir.
Q. You didn't understand my question. Did you hear a conversation? Did you have a
conversation with the guards ? — A. Yes, sir; yes, sir.
Q. Well, state now what the conversation was. — A. Well, it was
Q. State what the conversation was with the guard? — A. Well, they said there hadn't
been any of them killed
Q. Did it begin that way? — A. No, sir.
Q. Tell it in your own way — how it began ? —A. We were standing out in the yard
when they came up through the yard, and my
grand mother said to them — she says, "Was there anybody killed or hurt ?" And he
said,
"None of our men were killed, but we got one of Mr. Green's cowpunchers."
Q. What further was said ? — A. And he said, "He was riding a bay horse and he lived in
that little brown house down there," and when he said that, why, I knew my
husband was out in the field herding some cattle, or had been, and that he was
riding a bay horse; so I was afraid possibly it was him; and I says to him, "Was he
riding a bay horse?" And he says, "Yes." "Well," I says, "if he was riding a bay horse,
I am afraid it was my husband." And that was all he said, only
Q. Did you say anything just after that — you were afraid it was your husband? — A.
And I said, "I wonder who shot him."
Q. Yes. About what time of day was this conversation between your grandmother and
yourself and the guard ? — A. About 4 or 4.30
Q. You didn't know at that time positively that Mack had been killed? — A. No, sir; I
didn't know.
Q. It was the day he was killed? — A. Yes, sir; it was the day he was killed.
Q. Then, did anything further happen relating to the death of Mack Powell at that time?
— A. No, sir.
Q. Did you see his body ? Where did you first see it, if you saw his body? — A. Lying in
the field where he was killed — where he was shot.
Mr. Brewster. That is all.
Chairman Foster. Any questions?
By Mr. Northcutt [for the Mine Operators]:
Q. Mrs. Powell, there was a coroner's inquest held over the body of your husband ? —
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You testified there, didn't you? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. When you testified there, you didn't say anything about the expression that "We got
one of Green's cowboys," did you ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Didn't you testify there that the statement was that "They got one of Green's
cowboys" ? — A. No, sir.
Q. You feel quite clear upon that subject ? — -A. That is what I said.
Q. You don't know the names of those guards, do you ? — A. No, sir.
Q. How do you know they were guards? — A. Because they had a rag tied around their
arms — a white cloth — and they came from up the canyon.
Q. And do you know that the guards at that time were wearing white rags on their
arms? — A. I understood they were.
Q. How did you understand that? Who told you? — A. I just supposed they were up
there; they came from up the canyon. I didn't suppose anybody else would be in the
canyon but them.
Q. About the white rags — who told you about that? — A. There was nobody told me. Q. How did you know that that was the sign of the guards? — A. I just supposed.
Q. You saw them come from up the canyon? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you mean from toward -A. Berwind.
Q. Berwind?— A. Tabasco and those other places.
Q. They were riding from Berwind down A. Some of them were riding and some of them
were afoot.
Q. They were coming from Berwind down toward the railroad, were they?— A. Yes, sir. Q. And stopped at your place to get a drink of water? — A. They came up through;
yes, sir.
Q. That was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon? — A. About 4 or 4.30.
Q. And they said, "We got one" A. "Of Green's cow- punchers."
Q. How many were there ? — A. I couldn't tell you. I didn't count them. There were
several.
Q. You don't know whether they had been in the battle or not? — A. Only just by what
they said.
Q. What did they say? — A. They said there hadn't any of them got killed, only they
got one of Green's cowpunchers.
Q. That was in response to a remark that you made? — A. My grandmother had made.
Q. Why — what was the first word she said? — A. She says, "Was there anybody killed
or hurt?"
Q. To what was she referring? — A. I don't know. That is just what she asked. I
suppose she meant whether anybody was killed or hurt.
Q. Were you in the house when the guards rode up ? — A. No, sir. They were afoot,
came up through the yard — I was standing there in the yard with her.
Q. When did you first see them ? — A. Down at the bridge.
Q. At the bridge? — A. Yes, sir; at the steel bridge.
Q. I thought you said they came from the bridge down ? — A. They came down to the bridge first.
Q. Oh, down to the steel bridge?— A. Yes, sir.
Q. This overhead bridge ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. You saw them go down there ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Then you saw them come back afoot? — A. Yes, sir; up along the track.
Q. Along the C. & S. E. track?— A. Not the C. & S. E. track; the C. & S. main line.
Q. The main line ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. They came from the steel bridge up to your house? — A. Yes, sir; up through the
yard.
Q. And were getting a drink of water? — A. They got a drink at the cistern, and they
went on up through the field.
Q. Where did you first see them ? — A. I first seen them when they came to the bridge. Q. And you watched them coming on up toward your house? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. You and your mother were in the door ? — A. We were standing in the yard — my
grandmother and I.
Q. Yes. When they got up there she asked them if anybody had been hurt? — A. Yes,
sir.
Q. Then they made the response to which you have testified? — A. Yes, sir.
By Mr. Brewster:
Q. You and your grandmother — had you and your grandmother heard shooting which
made you or her ask the question? — A. When we were in the cellar we heard
shooting; yes, sir.
Q. You knew there had been some sort of a fight ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Your grandmother asked about it? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. How old is your grandmother? — A. She is 79 — will be in a few days.
Q. Is she in good health or sick? — A. She is not in very good health; no, sir.
Mr. Northcutt: I want to be certain I am correct; these men were afoot that came up? The Witness: Yes, sir.
Mr. Brewster: Let us fix the time when they were afoot — in the yard?
The Witness:Yes, sir.
Mr. Brewster: When they were getting a drink?
The Witness: Yes.
Mr. Brewster: Did you see them on horses at any time?
The Witness: Before the battle occurred I seen some horseback, but afterwards I didn't
see them.
[emphasis added]
SOURCES
Out of the Depths
The Story of John R. Lawson, a Labor Leader
-by Barron B. Beshoar
(1st ed 1942)
CO, 1980
Buried Unsung
Louis Tikas and the Ludlow Massacre
-by Zeese Papanikolas
U of Utah Press, 1982
Blood Passion
The Ludlow Massacre and Class War
in the American West
-by Scott Martelle
Rutgers U Press, 2008
The Pueblo Chieftain
(Pueblo, Colorado)
-Oct 14, 2013
"Centennial Link"
-Oct 13, 1913
http://www.chieftain.com/...
Conditions in the coal mines of Colorado: Hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on mines and mining, House of Representatives, Sixty-third Congress, second session, pursuant to H. res. 387, a resolution authorizing and directing the Committee on Mines and Mining to make an investigation of conditions in the coal mines of Colorado, Volume 2
Testimony of Mrs. Powell
-page 276, using scroll bar at bottom of document
http://books.google.com/...
Photo: Oklahoma Cowpuncher, early 1900s
used here to represent Mack Powell
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/...
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Fire in the Hole-Hazel Dickens
Daddy died a miner and grandpa he did too,
I'll bet this coal will kill me before my working days is through
And a hole this dark and dirty an early grave I find
And I plan to make a union for the ones I leave behind
Stand up, Boys, let the bosses know
Turn your buckets over, turn your lanterns low.
There's fire in our hearts and fire in our souls
But there ain't gonna be no fire in the hole,
There ain't gonna be no fire in the hole.
-Hazel Dickens
It was repeated many times by striking miners that they might just as well die fighting since, in any case, they died so often in the mines or from the effects of the mines. We owe these striking miners and their families a debt that we can never repay. The sacrifices that they made established the mighty United Mine Workers of America as a union to be reckoned with. The UMWA went on to play a major role in organizing the United Steel Workers. Fannie Sellins, for example, was on loan to the SWOC from the UMW when she died a Labor Martyr. The UMWA also assisted the United Auto Workers in their organizing campaigns, and helped to support other unions as well during their struggles. The UMWA also gets most of the credit for the birth of the CIO.