Colorado Labor Landmarks

Name Street Address City State Historical Notes Additional information
Columbine Massacre Monument Lafayette Cemetery Lafayette CO On Nov 21 six miners were killed and 60 were injured when state police fired into a 500-person rally during the strike of 1927. Five of the 6 miners are buried here. The IWW strike for better wages and working conditions, which was hurting CO's coal industry, was 5 weeks old at the time of the massacre. At the unveiling, the ashes of IWW hero, Joe Hill, were scattered over the grave site.
Ludlow Massacre Monument located between Walsenburg and Trinidad, 3/4 mile west of I-25 Ludlow CO Pays tribute to the 19 men, women and children killed in their tent colony on April 20, 1914. The National Guard set fire to the colony and shot those who fled. UMW struck John D. Rockefeller's company (CO Fuel & Iron) because of poor conditions and low pay. Rockefeller used the National Guard as his own army.
As of 2001: there is an active archaeological dig at Ludlow.
Miners' Union Hall, WFM Local #32 110 N. 4th St. Victor CO To secure the 8-hour-day and unionize the gold fields, the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) led a strike in the Cripple Creek area from 1903-04. Gov. James H. Peabody worked with corporate mining interests, using the state militia to crush the union. More than 30 people were killed during the mine war.

Architecturally compromised in 2005, the Union Hall is located in a business district on the National Register of Historic Places.
Murphy, John, Memorial Fairmount Cemetery
430 South Quebec St.
Denver CO Murphy (1882-1908), one of the first labor attorneys, successfully fought in the courts for the 8-hour day. Nicknamed "Eight Hour Murphy." His last fight was getting William D. Haywood acquitted from trumped up charges. Murphy died March 3rd. The Locomotive Firemen and the Western Federation of Miners thought Murphy deserved an appropriate monument.

Also see 'Pettibone Memorial'
Barthell, John, Monument Telluride Cemetery Telluride CO John Barthell, a Finnish native and member of the Western Federation of Miners, was one of 3 people (and the only union member) killed during a union attack on strikebreakers at the Smuggler Mine in 1901. Monument shows the role of an immigrant union member in Western mining history.
Pettibone, George, Monument Fairmount Cemetery
430 South Quebec St.
Denver CO Pettibone was blacklisted by the mining industry, so he opened a catering shop for the Western Federation of Miners. He was labeled a "troublemaker" and was framed and jailed by Pinkerton detectives. He was acquitted in 1908. Pettibone suffered from liver cancer while in jail and never received proper medical care. He was buried in Fairmount by donations from the Western Federation of Miners.

See: Murphy Memorial
Columbine Massacre Historical Marker Highway 7 Lafayette CO In 1927, workers struck for better conditions under the IWW banner. Six miners were killed and many wounded in the Nov. 21 Columbine Massacre. Out of this struggle Colorado coal miners gained lasting union contracts. Situated 1-1/2 miles southeast of where the Columbine Massacre took place. Erected by the Colorado Historical Society, local historical societies, labor organizations, and the Colorado Department of Highways.
See: Columbine Massacre Monument.
Waite, Governor Davis H., Monument Red Butte Cemetery Aspen CO During the Cripple Creek strike of 1893-94, Gov. Waite took the unprecedented action of calling out state militia to protect striking workers. The Governor also helped to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the strike. The Governor Waite Monument was erected by Big Bill Haywood and officials of the Western Federation of Miners in honor of the Governor's actions at Cripple Creek.
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