de Ludlow, Colorado, EUA
«Après
plusieurs mois de grève sur ce site du Colorado appartenant
à
Rockefeller, la garde nationale et des nervis payés par les patrons de
la mine attaquent le camp retranché des mineurs. Une des plus violentes
luttes entre les travailleurs et le capital dans l’histoire des
États-Unis.
C’était
un matin d’avril, un lendemain de Pâques, cette fête que célébraient
nombre des immigrés grecs de Ludlow (Colorado). Trois membres de la
garde nationale étaient venus ordonner la libération d’un homme
prétendument retenu contre son gré. Louis Tikas, le responsable du camp,
s’était alors rendu à la gare, distante d’un kilomètre, afin de
rencontrer le commandant du détachement. Pendant leur rencontre, deux
compagnies installèrent des canons sur une crête dominant le camp de
mineurs. Tikas sentit le coup fourré et retourna auprès des siens. Le
feu fut déclenché peu après.
La bataille dura toute la journée. Des gardes sans uniforme, payés
par les patrons de la mine, vinrent renforcer les miliciens du
lieutenant Karl Linderfelt. Alors que le soleil se couchait, le passage
d’un train permit à un certain nombre de mineurs de prendre la fuite.
Quelques minutes plus tard, la soldatesque s’empara du camp. Louis Tikas
fut arrêté en compagnie de deux autres mineurs. Son corps fut retrouvé
le long de la ligne de chemin de fer. Il avait été abattu dans le dos.
Sa dépouille resta trois jours de suite à la vue de tous, passagers des
trains qui circulaient et résidents. Il fallait faire un exemple. Avec
le leader syndicaliste, deux femmes, douze enfants, cinq mineurs et
syndicalistes et un garde furent tués ce 20 avril 1914 à Ludlow, terme,
selon Howard Zinn, de l’une
des « plus amères et violentes luttes entre
les travailleurs et le capital dans l’histoire de ce pays ».
Ludlow Massacre
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
It was early springtime when the strike was on,
They drove us miners out of doors,
Out from the houses that the Company owned,
We moved into tents up at old Ludlow.
They drove us miners out of doors,
Out from the houses that the Company owned,
We moved into tents up at old Ludlow.
I was worried bad about my children,
Soldiers guarding the railroad bridge,
Every once in a while a bullet would fly,
Kick up gravel under my feet.
Soldiers guarding the railroad bridge,
Every once in a while a bullet would fly,
Kick up gravel under my feet.
We were so afraid you would kill our children,
We dug us a cave that was seven foot deep,
Carried our young ones and pregnant women
Down inside the cave to sleep.
We dug us a cave that was seven foot deep,
Carried our young ones and pregnant women
Down inside the cave to sleep.
That very night your soldiers waited,
Until all us miners were asleep,
You snuck around our little tent town,
Soaked our tents with your kerosene.
Until all us miners were asleep,
You snuck around our little tent town,
Soaked our tents with your kerosene.
You struck a match and in the blaze that started,
You pulled the triggers of your gatling guns,
I made a run for the children but the fire wall stopped me.
Thirteen children died from your guns.
You pulled the triggers of your gatling guns,
I made a run for the children but the fire wall stopped me.
Thirteen children died from your guns.
I carried my blanket to a wire fence corner,
Watched the fire till the blaze died down,
I helped some people drag their belongings,
While your bullets killed us all around.
Watched the fire till the blaze died down,
I helped some people drag their belongings,
While your bullets killed us all around.
I never will forget the look on the faces
Of the men and women that awful day,
When we stood around to preach their funerals,
And lay the corpses of the dead away.
Of the men and women that awful day,
When we stood around to preach their funerals,
And lay the corpses of the dead away.
We told the Colorado Governor to call the President,
Tell him to call off his National Guard,
But the National Guard belonged to the Governor,
So he didn't try so very hard.
Tell him to call off his National Guard,
But the National Guard belonged to the Governor,
So he didn't try so very hard.
Our women from Trinidad they hauled some potatoes,
Up to Walsenburg in a little cart,
They sold their potatoes and brought some guns back,
And they put a gun in every hand.
Up to Walsenburg in a little cart,
They sold their potatoes and brought some guns back,
And they put a gun in every hand.
The state soldiers jumped us in a wire fence corners,
They did not know we had these guns,
And the Red-neck Miners mowed down these troopers,
You should have seen those poor boys run.
They did not know we had these guns,
And the Red-neck Miners mowed down these troopers,
You should have seen those poor boys run.
We took some cement and walled that cave up,
Where you killed these thirteen children inside,
I said, "God bless the Mine Workers' Union,"
And then I hung my head and cried.
Where you killed these thirteen children inside,
I said, "God bless the Mine Workers' Union,"
And then I hung my head and cried.
Links
- Ludlow Massacre from the Library of Congress at Flickr Commons
- The World Socialist Web Site A four part series on the history of the massacre and its place in the history of the American working class.
- The Colorado Coal Field War Project An account of the strike and the assault by the Colorado State National Guard, published by University of Denver's Anthropology department.
- Phelps-Dodge Mine explosion, 1913. During the time of the Colorado Coalfields Strike (which included Ludlow) this mine in New Mexico exploded, killing 263 men, the 2nd deadliest mine disaster in US history. It was owned by Rockefeller-in-law M. Hartley-Dodge, owner of Remington Arms.[1]
- Ludlow Massacre – Historical Background Background material prepared by the Colorado Bar for the 2003 Colorado Mock Trial program
- The Ludlow Massacre on libcom.org/history
- The lyrics to Woodie Guthrie's Ludlow Massacre are here [2] and the lyrics to Guthrie's closely related song about copper miners in Calumet, Michigan, 1913 Massacre, are here. [3]
- The Virtual Oral/Aural History Archive Audio of an interview with Ludlow survivor Mary Thomas O'Neal in 1974.
- Historian Howard Zinn on the ludlow Massacre
- Caleb Crain, "There Was Blood: The Ludlow Massacre Revisited," The New Yorker January 19, 2009.
- Caleb Crain, "Notebook: The Ludlow Massacre Revisited," an annotated bibliography to the preceding article
- Interview with David Hawkins, nephew of Ludlow Massacre miners' lawyer, Horace Hawkins
- Hundredth Anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre, historian Jonathan Rees and author Jeff Biggers, The Real News, 2014.04.20
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