The Ghosts Of Ludlow

I stand before the Death Pit.

What seems like an oddly placed metal door in the ground is actually one of the nation’s ugliest scars.

Here, the door leads six feet down into the earth; conveniently, the same depth of a grave. The stairway and the cellar have been lined with cement for over a century.

Once the door opens, a distinct roar wells from within. As a seashell reflects the ambience of the sea, so does the Death Pit with the winds of the prairie.

Knowing the full story, the roar becomes something more sinister. That of thirteen innocent spirits howling in righteous indignation.

This is the story of the Ludlow Massacre (1914).

The Rise of an Industry.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Colorado enjoyed a mining boom.

As the nation’s eighth-largest producer of coal — yielding 11 million tons per year (1)— the state became vital to fueling the nation’s network of railways and factories.