The Ludlow Massacre

It was early springtime and the strike was on

They drove us miners out of our homes

Out of the houses that the company owned

Into the tents of the little Ludlow

We were worried bad about our children

State troopers guarded the railway bridge

Every once in a while a bullet would fly

Kick up gravel around our feet

We were so afraid that you'd kill our children

That we dug a cave that was seven foot deep

Took the children and the pregnant women

Down inside the cave to sleep

It was late that night the soldiers waited

Till all us miners were asleep

They crept around one little camp town

And soaked our tents in kerosene

They struck a match and the blaze it started

They pulled the triggers of their Gatling guns

I made a run for the children but the firewall stopped me

Thirteen children died from their guns

I never will forget the looks on the faces

Of the men and women that awful day

As they stood around to preach the funeral

And lay the corpses of the dead away

The women from Trinidad took some potatoes

Up to Wallensburg in a little cart

They sold the potatoes and brought some guns back

Put a gun in every hand

We asked the governor to phone up the president

Ask him call off the National Guard

But the National Guard belonged to the governor

I guess he didn't try very hard

Late one night the troopers charged us

They didn't know that we had guns

The red necked miners shot them troops down

You should have seen those poor boys run

We took some cement and walled the cave up

Where the thirteen little children died

I thanked God for the Mine Workers Union

And then I hung my head and cried