Researching family revolver: Colorado Coal field wars.

[.45Guy]

Well, that "Carry in the old west thread" has gotten me going. I suppose it is the curse of the history buff...

Anyway, are there any history buffs that specialize in the coal field wars here on THR? Here is what I have found thus far:

This is my great grandfather's H&R, with pictures taken in Tollerburg, CO in 1974. The foundation is of the store across from my great grandfathers hotel.


The bottom left photo had "Hotel" written under it, but I am assuming it was the photo underneath that was missing in the album. Any Colorado history buffs have any idea of the establishment across the street? I have found mention of a saloon, but no hotel. The photo above it is my grandfather's school in 1921. He was born in Tollerburg in 1911, so I know the family was there for the coal war.


Here is the owner of the H&R. From what I know he was an Austro-Hungarian cavalryman in the 1890's, moving to Colorado by way of Cleveland shortly after.

 

[.45Guy]

Found a picture online that shows the company boarding house across the street. Interesting.

 

[Beagle-zebub]

Cool stuff!


And just think, used to be a man could practice his god-given write to pay his employees in scrip!

 

[.45Guy]

And just think, used to be a man could practice his god-given write to pay his employees in scrip!

And protests didn't consist of hippy drum circles "occupying."

 

[Baba Louie]

Them boys look all kindsa serious.

Guns, ammo, overalls, vests w/ watch chain, hats, ties. Some serious firepower for negotiation purposes (I gather) shown there.

WOW. Just looked it up online. Ludlow Massacre w/ 69 dead?!? Holy shiznits. I did not know. Thanks for the history lesson .45Guy.

http://www.sangres.com/history/coalfieldwar01.htm

 

[.45Guy]

Now I'm really confused. My grandpa would have been 9 at the time, so I don't doubt his memories. But I just checked out the 1920 Census, and it had them living in Tercio and employed as a miner. Family history records great grandpa as kind of an a$$ that liked to fight. Keeps getting more interesting by the minute.

 

[galena]

Very interesting pictures. The labor wars/trouble in early Colorado were bad times. While I am not a present day union guy the unions were necessary in those days and did much to improve the lives of the coal field and steel workers in Colorado. A lot of the steel and coal workers were from Eastern and Southern Europe. Colorado Fuel and Iron in Pueblo, CO ran company towns all over Southern Colorado to supply the mills with coal. The infamous Ludlow Massacre where company thugs and National Guard troops killed worker's families during a stike in Ludlow, CO is a classic example of the trouble. I am a Colorado native and have never heard of Tollerburg, CO but I will be researching it because I am a history nut. There are probably more old coal mining ghost towns in Colorado than there are the more famous silver and gold towns.

.45Guy, thanks for an interesting post. Your Great-grand Father lived in interesting times and probably was not a man you wanted to mess with........a proud family history. Thanks for posting. Keep shootin' and check 6

 

[MutinousDoug]

And Everyone in the picture wore a hat.

And don't point that G--Th--- thing at me, kid.
Looks like maybe two of them fellers may have been veterans.

 

[.45Guy]

I am a Colorado native and have never heard of Tollerburg, CO but I will be researching it because I am a history nut.

It was on the same spur as Ludlow, along with Tobasco, and Berwind.

 

[bikerdoc]

Im doing the same thing only about the West Virginia coal wars, especially Blair Mountain, where the Govt actually dropped bombs on the strikers.

Good luck in your search.

 

[sixgunner455]

Fascinating stuff, guys.

 

[Shimitup]

I'm interested in Colorado history too, I've wandered around that area between Walsenburg and the Spanish Peaks a few times, and north along hwy 69. Here's a link to Wikipedia's account of the Ludlow massacre where you may well be able to link yourself to death and find something

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre

another interesting one

http://cogenweb.com/photos/LasAnimas/index.htm

 

[Sport45]

When you look at the last picture it is readily apparent that back in the day firearms were tools to be used. It doesn't look like any of the gentlemen pictured babied theirs.

They's probably be laughed off a forum like this one today for not taking proper care of them.

 

[.45Guy]

This is sad. We literally have my mom's family traced back to 1590, but my dad's starts and stops there in Colorado. There is literally no info, and what I have doesn't really mesh. Found a neat picture of the hotel workers though, looked like bartenders right out of a John Wayne movie, complete with handlebar mostaches and shirt garters.

 

[ljnowell]

This is sad. We literally have my mom's family traced back to 1590, but my dad's starts and stops there in Colorado. There is literally no info, and what I have doesn't really mesh. Found a neat picture of the hotel workers though, looked like bartenders right out of a John Wayne movie, complete with handlebar mostaches and shirt garters.

Dont feel bad. Both sides of my family come from the South. In the rush to burn courthouses and public buildings we cant trace my familly back past the civil war, except in the few family items to survive. It is what it is.