Lamont Montgomery Bowers and the Ludlow Massacre: An Investigation into his Knowledge and Culpability
Lamont Montgomery Bowers
by Andrew Gazal
Introduction:
The Ludlow Massacre was one of the most horrifying struggles between labor and capital in American History. For years, the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. had ignored the rights and needs of its workers. Coal mining at this time was incredibly difficult work that claimed hundreds of lives in the years leading up to 1914, and the miners were able to secretly organize with the Union Mine Workers of America to present a list of their demands. Once these demands were rejected, the workers went on strike and were almost immediately relocated to a nearby tent camp. While there were skirmishes between the miners and the National Guard, nothing could prepare the world for the tragedy of April 20 when National Guardsmen began to open fire on the tent camp, killing almost two dozen workers and their family members. Violence and chaos ensued for ten days afterwards, and only stopped when President Woodrow Wilson called in the Army to keep the peace. While John D. Rockefeller Jr., was widely criticized for the events that occurred on his mines, he was not even in Colorado at the time. The director of the chairman of the board, Lamont Montgomery Bowers, was a prominent businessman from Binghamton who was chosen by the Rockefellers to bring the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. into profitability a few years before the massacre. In this position, he was more involved in the day-to-day affairs of the mine and the coal miners, and more intimately aware of their frustrations leading up to the strike. His involvement in this company raises some interesting, challenging questions. Specifically, how much knowledge did Bowers have of the events leading up to the massacre, and what could he have done to prevent this tragedy?
Findings:
The research for this exhibit primarily was conducted by looking at the personal writings of L.M. Bowers, specifically the personal correspondence he had with John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and other powerful figures while he served on the board. By most indications, Bowers was aware of the struggles that his workers were facing, but refused to negotiate with the union workers because of a personal ideology that unions were anarchist in nature. He would write in a letter to President Woodrow Wilson in 1913 that he thought unions represented “…a group of men whose disregard for law and order expresses itself in the use of rifles and dynamite placed in the hands of ignorant bloodthirsty anarchists.” When the Federal Commission on Industrial Relations launched an investigation into the Massacre, Bowers would phrase his reasoning for not negotiating with the unions differently, and stated that unionization “…was an attempt on the part of the leaders outside of the State to come into the state and induce or persuade or possibly force the unionization of the coal miners in Colorado. My ideas of independence, of American independence, where such that I believe in individual independence in respect to labor.” This view was also similarly expressed in an article he would write about the coal strike leading up to the events of Ludlow, in Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, where he argued that "...the American people will not tolerate very long any organization that interferes with the rights of men in the enjoyment of the liberty that is theirs under the Constitution..."
The Great Coal Strike in Colorado
While these public and personal views are mostly incongruous, the reality of the situation was that there wasn’t a single coal company in Colorado at the time that would have negotiated with the Union Mine Workers’ demands. In fact, their list was rejected by every Colorado coal company they approached. It simply wasn’t in these business’ best interests to have their workers unionize, and Bowers acted in line with the prevailing ideology at the time. This of course, does not excuse his actions. It could even be argued that had he decided to negotiate with the unions, the tragedy would have been avoided, although the specific events that led up to the April 20 shootings were heavily debated by witnesses, survivors, and the media alike. What cannot be argued, however, is his ignorance of the conditions that led to the strike in the first place. In his personal writings to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., he would make note of the frustration of his workers and simultaneously complain against the union's various attempts to organize them. He would also issue public statements in newspapers and periodicals about the conditions of his camp, although in these settings he would speak highly of all the opportunities that miner's families were offered.
Report of the U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations
In addition, coverage of the massacre in the media has played a major role in the way scholars have looked at this event. Many newspapers at this time were influenced by a pro-capitalist, pro-business ideology that generally tried to prevent issues between workers and companies as mainly the fault of labor. Moreover, the Rockefeller family and Bowers had powerful connections to many newspapers that would have been able to cover this story and presented the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. in the best possible light. Bowers even admitted this situation to the Federal Commission on Industrial Relations during a testimony. When the Commission pressed Bowers on a letter he wrote to Rockefeller, Jr., about “friendly papers,” Bowers would only say that he had friends in many newspapers that would write about him and his company in a positive way. Analysis of many major and local newspapers has revealed that many publications actually began to turn on this ideology in the wake of the Ludlow Massacre. Because of the unprecedented amount of violence and loss of innocent lives, the media actually was able to raise awareness of this horrific act and force Rockefeller, Jr. to hire a publicist to rehabilitate his family’s image. Bowers did not enjoy this luxury, and had already resigned from the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. by the time of his testimony. His retirement would also mark the end of a decades-long relationship with the Rockefeller family, who began to become aligned with philanthropic and charitable causes under Rockefeller, Jr’s direction. Bowers would return to Binghamton, and his correspondence with Rockefeller, Jr. would decrease and eventually stop altogether; he even refused a letter to resume his business with the Rockefeller family at a salary of $6,000 per year. The personal setbacks Bowers experienced at this time also impacted his decision, he already had to contend with the loss of a first wife, the separation from a second, and a frigid relationship with two sons who were unable and uncommitted to continue his business interests in his hometown. Bowers would pass away in Binghamton at 94 years old in 1941, with the Ludlow Massacre a constant reminder of his personal and professional failings.
Works Cited:
- Andrews, Thomas G. Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010, 197-287.
- Burt, Elizabeth, “Shocking Atrocities in Colorado: Newspapers’ Responses to the Ludlow Massacre,” in American Journalism 28, no. 3 (2011): 61-83. (accessed March 27, 2018).
- Chernow. Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. New York, NY: Warner Books, 1998.
- Lamont Montgomery Bowers to Woodrow Wilson, December 29, 1913, Lamont Montgomery Bowers Papers, Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Binghamton University, State University of New York.
- Lamont Montgomery Bowers, The Great Coal Strike of Colorado, February 5, 1914. Special Colelctions, Binghamton University.
- LaMont M. Bowers, half length, facing slightly left, 1924. Library of Congress.
- Martelle, Scott. Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008, 34-52, 76-146.
- McGovern, George S., and Guttridge, Leonard F. The Great Coalfield War. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1972.
- Pepper, Jerry and Hanscom, Marion. Finding Aid, Lamont Montgomery Bowers Papers, Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 1979.
- Rees, Jonathan, “Beyond Body Counts: A Centennial Rethinking of the Ludlow Massacre,” in Labor 11, no. 3 (2014): 107-115. (accessed March 27, 2018).
- U.S. Congress, Senate, U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations, Industrial Relations: Final Report and testimony submitted to Congress by the Commission on Industrial Relations created by the act of August 23, 1912. Volume 9. 64th Congress, 1st session, 1916. Accessed online through archive.org, https://archive.org/details/industrialrelati08unitrich&autoplay=1&playset=1
- Seattle Star, War in Colorado! Women and Babies Slaughtered! April 28, 1914. Library of Congress.