The Archaeology of Class War: The Colorado Coalfield Strike of 1913-1914

401 Pages·2009·4.52 MB·English

by  Randall H. McGuire

ArchAeology
the
clAss WAr
of

ArchAeology

the
clAss WAr
of
the colorAdo coAlfield strike of 1913–1914
edited by karin larkin and
randall h. Mcguire
University Press of colorAdo
© 2009 by the University Press of Colorado
Published by the University Press of Colorado
5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C
Boulder, Colorado 80303
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of
the Association of American University Presses.
The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part,
by Adams State College, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College,
Metropolitan State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado,
and Western State College of Colorado.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials.
ANSI Z39.48-1992
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The archaeology of class war : the Colorado Coalfield Strike of 1913–1914 / edited by Karin
Larkin and Randall H. McGuire.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87081-955-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Coal Strike, Colo., 1913–1914. 2. Coal
Strike, Colo., 1913–1914—Sources. 3. Ludlow (Colo.)—Social conditions—20th century. 4. Coal
miners—Colorado—Ludlow—History—20th century. 5. Working class—Colorado—Ludlow—
History—20th century. 6. Social conflict—Colorado—Ludlow—History—20th century. 7.
Ludlow (Colo.)—Antiquities. 8. Excavations (Archaeology)—Colorado—Ludlow. 9. Material
culture—Colorado—Ludlow—History—20th century. 10. Ludlow (Colo.)—Social life and
customs—20th century. I. Larkin, Karin. II. McGuire, Randall H.
HD5325.M61521913 A73 2009
331.892'8223340978809041—dc22
2009028791
Design by Daniel Pratt
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
contents
vii List of figures
xi List of tabLes
xiii Preface and acknowLedgments
1 chaPter one—Randall H. McGuire and Karin Larkin
Unearthing Class War
29 chaPter two—Randall H. McGuire
A Terrible Unrest: Class War in Colorado
69 chaPter three—Karin Larkin
Archaeology and the Colorado Coalfield War
123 chaPter four—Margaret Wood
Building the Corporate Family: Constructing Homes, Families, and
the Nation
161 chaPter five—Sarah J. Chicone
From Shacks to Shanties: Working-Class Poverty and the 1913–1914
Southern Colorado Coalfield Strike

contents
187 chaPter six—Michael Jacobson
Landscapes of Hope and Fear: A Study of Space in the Ludlow
Strikers’ Colony
219 chaPter seven—Amie Gray
Material Culture of the Marginalized
251 chaPter eight—Claire H. Horn
“Thou Shalt Not Dose Thyself”: Proprietary Medicine Use at the
Ludlow Tent Colony
285 chaPter nine—Summer Moore
Working Parents and the Material Culture of Victorianism: Children’s
Toys at the Ludlow Tent Colony
311 chaPter ten—Mark Walker
Archaeology and Workers’ Memory
331 chaPter eLeven—Bonnie J. Clark and Eleanor Conlin Casella
Teaching Class Conflict: A Trans-Atlantic Comparison Using the
Colorado Coalfield War Archaeology Project in Undergraduate
Curricula
351 chaPter tweLve—Philip Duke and Dean Saitta
Why We Dig: Archaeology, Ludlow, and the Public
363 index
i
figures
2 1.1 Monument to the Ludlow dead, before the vandalism
3 1.2 Monument to the Ludlow dead, after the vandalism
6 1.3 Map of the southern Colorado coalfields, 1913
23 1.4 Restored monument to the Ludlow dead
31 2.1 Aftermath of Primero Mine explosion, January 31, 1910
37 2.2 Morley, Colorado, 1907–1915, a company town
41 2.3 Miner-built housing in southern Colorado, 1900–1920
43 2.4 Miner’s family, southern Colorado, 1913–1914
48 2.5 Map of strike zone, 1913–1914
51 2.6 Women’s march, Trinidad, Colorado, 1914
53 2.7 Oberosler family and friends in front of tent at Forbes Tent
Colony, 1914
54 2.8 Machine gun at Water Tank Hill, 1914
ii
figUres
56 2.9 Ludlow Tent Colony after the massacre, 1914
57 2.10 Death Pit at Ludlow, 1914
58 2.11 Dead company men at Forbes Mine, 1914
61 2.12 UMWA is here to stay, Somerton, Colorado, 2009
78 3.1 Dog-leash density map
80 3.2 Site map showing all features tested and excavated at Ludlow,
1998–2002
82 3.3– Series of maps for Berwind, Colorado, including Stock and
3.7 School canyons and Tollerburg
89 3.8 Bird’s-eye view of Ludlow Colony used in photo overlay project
98 3.9 Map of Locus 1, Ludlow
100 3.10 Plan view of Features 99 and 100 in Locus 13, Ludlow
101 3.11 Feature 70, west profile, Ludlow
102 3.12 Feature 73 in Locus 11 stratigraphic, Ludlow
104 3.13 Feature 74 in Locus 12 stratigraphic, Ludlow
108 3.14 Locus 13 glass counts by function
108 3.15 Locus 11 food group frequencies
109 3.16 Locus 11 glass by function
124 4.1 John D. Rockefeller talking with women, 1918
132 4.2 Italian mining family, southern Colorado, 1890–1910
133 4.3 Vernacular housing, Rugby, 1890–1910
134 4.4 Company housing, Rugby, 1902
137 4.5 Map showing footprint of vernacular structures and duplex
structures, 1911
139 4.6 Plan of four-room square house, 1904
140 4.7 Row of four-room square homes in Berwind, Colorado, 1915
141 4.8 Bar chart showing household composition at Berwind, 1910 and
1920
142 4.9 Four-room square home with fence and yard, 1920s
iii
Figures
145 4.10 YMCA featuring similarities to domestic architecture, 1920s
147 4.11 Berwind baseball team near the clubhouse, 1922
153 4.12 Home canning–related items
164 5.1 View of abandoned residential buildings, Berwind, Colorado,
2006
166 5.2 Early cabin at Berwind, published in Camp and Plant with the
caption “the sort men build for themselves,” 1904
169 5.3 Cement block housing exhibiting the popular four-room plan,
Berwind, Colorado
173 5.4 Open sewage system at the former CF&I company town of
Sopris, Colorado
175 5.5 Berwind house #249 first-prize winner, 1924
177 5.6 Interior (a) and exterior (b) views of a boardinghouse at the
CF&I company town of Rouse, circa 1915
179 5.7 The only tent not destroyed in the Ludlow Tent Colony
181 5.8 Looking east down a residential street in the Ludlow Tent
Colony, circa 1913–1914
194 6.1 Striking family standing in front of tent
195 6.2 Map of Ludlow Colony with approximate location of streets
198 6.3 Baseball game near Ludlow Colony
199 6.4 Celluloid film frame from Ludlow strikers’ colony midden
209 6.5 Death Pit after the Ludlow Massacre with evidence of construc-
tion methods
211 6.6 East-west cross-section, Feature 74
212 6.7 National Guard cross-section of Death Pit
231 7.1 Percentage of persons with two native-born parents, residents of
Berwind, Tabasco, and Tollerburg, 1910
236 7.2 Production ranges of back stamps
240 7.3 Relative frequency of tableware vessel forms
243 7.4 Hand-painted Japanese porcelain
259 8.1 “Hints on Health,” August 8, 1920, Industrial Bulletin
ix