November 21, 1927: The Columbine Mine Massacre

November 21, 1927: The Colorado State Police open fire on 500 rowdy but unarmed miners during a strike in Serene, killing 6 of them. It becomes known as the Columbine Mine Massacre.

This should not be confused with the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado in 1914, or with the Columbine High School Massacre in Littleton in 1999.

A Statewide coal miners' strike began on August 8, called for by the leftist International Workers of the World (IWW), looking for a $1.00 per day wage increase. The company town of Serene was the home of the Columbine mine. The strikers had been conducting morning rallies at Serene for 2 weeks, since the Columbine was one of the few coal mines in the State to remain in operation.

On November 21, 500 miners, some accompanied by their wives and children, arrived at the north gate just before dawn, carrying 3 U.S. flags. The recently disbanded State Police known as the Colorado Rangers were recalled to duty, and barred the picketers' path.

The miners were surprised to see men dressed in civilian clothes but armed with pistols, rifles, riot guns and tear gas. The Rangers were backed up by rifle-toting mine guards stationed on the mine dump. The Head of the Rangers, Louis Scherf, shouted to the strikers, "Who are your leaders?" "We're all leaders!" came the reply.

Scherf announced that the strikers would not be allowed into the town, and for a few moments, the strikers hesitated outside the fence. There was discussion, with many strikers asserting their right to proceed. They argued that Serene had a public post office, and some of their children were enrolled in the school in Serene. One of the Rangers reportedly taunted, "If you want to come in here, come ahead, but we'll carry you out."

Strike leader Adam Bell stepped forward and asked for the gate to be unlocked. As he put his hand on the gate, one of the Rangers struck him with a club. A sixteen-year-old boy stood nearby and was holding one of the flags. The banner was snatched from him, and in the tug of war that followed, the flagpole broke over the fence.

The miners rushed toward the gate, and suddenly the air was filled with tear gas launched by the police. Enraged, the strikers forced their way through the wooden gate. At least two, and possibly three, machine guns were available at the mine. Miners later claimed that their ranks were decimated by a withering crossfire from the mine tipple – a structure where coal was loaded onto railroad cars – and from a gun on a truck near the water tank. Five died initially on the day of the massacre.

No one was ever charged with any crimes as a result of the deaths. On January 12, 1928, two more people were killed by police raiding the IWW's hall in Walsenburg, Colorado while strikers were rallying there. In May, the strikers got their extra dollars a day.

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November 21, 1927 was a Monday. Georgia Frontiere, eventually to be the owner of the Los Angeles Rams, who moved them first down the Freeway to Anaheim, and then halfway across the country to her hometown of St. Louis, was born.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And there were no games scheduled in the NHL. So there were no game on this historic day.

November 11, 1919: The Centralia Massacre

November 11, 1919: An incident breaks out between U.S. Army veterans and labor union members in Centralia, Washington, about halfway between Seattle and Portland. It becomes known as the Centralia Tragedy, or the Centralia Massacre.

Note: There was an earlier event known as the Centralia Massacre, in Centralia, Missouri, about halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, on September 27, 1864, a terrorist attack led by Confederate soldiers including Jesse James.

The American Legion was a brand-new organization, having been founded by U.S. Army officers still in Paris on March 15, 1919. They patterned themselves after the advocacy group for veterans of the American Civil War, the Grand Army of the Republic.

On November 11, the 1st Anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I, they held a parade in Centralia. But the Pacific Northwest had also been a successful venue for the Industrial Workers of the World, a leftist labor union nicknamed the "Wobblies."

As the Legion tended to be conservative (in spite of their former commander-in-chief, President Woodrow Wilson, being a Democrat, and liberal on most issues except race), this sometimes brought the two groups into conflict. This included Warren Grimm, commander of the Legion's Centralia post and a former All-American football player at the University of Washington; and Elmer Smith, a lawyer for the IWW, and a pacifist who was known for antiwar activities.

The Legionnaires marched through Centralia, with loaded rifles, and fears of a repeat of the 1916 massacre in Everett, Washington, gripped the Wobblies. Grimm was at the head of the march, and he was shot in the head by Eugene Barnett. Whether the Legionnaires had charged the gathered Wobblies first has been disputed. Shooting and fighting broke out. When it ended, 4 Legionnaires, a Wobbly and a Deputy Sheriff were dead.

Smith was arrested, but, once it was determined that he did not participate, he was released. He lived until 1932. Wesley Everest was misidentified as Grimm's killer, arrested, and lynched before the night was up. Barnett was imprisoned, but released in 1931 before evidence was later found that he was the man who fired the shot that killed Grimm. He lived until 1973.

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November 11, 1919 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. Professional basketball barely existed. And the NHL season didn't start for over a month. So there were no scores on this historic day.

February 11, 1919: The Seattle General Strike Ends

February 11, 1919: The Seattle General Strike, led by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), ends after 5 days, when Mayor Ole Hanson summons federal troops to break it up. There were 39 arrests, but no deaths. It is regarded as America's 1st "Red Scare."

A "general strike" is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organized by large coalitions of political, social, and labor organizations, and may also include rallies, marches, boycotts, civil disobedience, non-payment of taxes, and other forms of direct or indirect action. Additionally, general strikes might exclude care workers, such as teachers, doctors, and nurses.

The goal of the Seattle General Strike was to support shipyard workers in several unions who were locked out of their jobs when they tried to strike for higher wages. Most other local unions joined the walk-out, including members of the AFL and the IWW. The national offices of the AFL unions were opposed to the shutdown. Local, State and federal government officials, the press, and much of the public viewed the strike as a radical attempt to subvert American institutions.

The strike's demand for higher wages came within months of the end of World War I, the original justification for the wage controls. From 1915 to 1918, Seattle had seen a big increase in union membership, and some union leaders were inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917. Some commentators blamed the strike on Bolsheviks and other radicals, inspired by "un-American" ideologies, making it the first expression of the anti-left sentiment that characterized the Red Scare of 1919 and 1920.

Later in the year, in Canada, the Winnipeg General Strike lasted from May 15 to June 26, and, as with Seattle, won little in the short term, but led to later achievements. In light of the events of Seattle and Winnipeg, the AFL's subsequent convention passed resolutions opposed to general strikes.

As a result, the Seattle General Strike remains the only major general strike in American history. There was one in Britain from May 4 to 12, 1926. An attempt was made in Oakland, California on December 3, 1946, but it lasted only 2 days. The next year, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, whose provisions included the prohibition of one union going on strike in support of another.

Ole Hanson, a son of Norwegian immigrants, only served as Mayor for a year and a half. He resigned on August 28, 1919, saying, "I am tired out, and am going fishing." He didn't fish for long, if at all: He wrote a book titled Americanism versus Bolshevism, and spent much of 1920 on the lecture circuit. He earned $38,000 in 7 months, 5 times his annual salary as Mayor.

He moved to Southern California. In 1925, he founded the City of San Clemente, later to be the post-Presidential home of Richard Nixon. He died in 1940.

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February 11, 1919 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. There was 1 game played in the NHL: The Toronto Arenas beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-4 at the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto. The Arenas became the Toronto St. Patricks the next season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927, moving to Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931.