Ludlow massacre

It was early springtime 
when the strike was on,
They drove us miners out of doors,
Out from the houses 
that the Company owned,
We moved into tents up at old Ludlow.

I was worried bad about my children,
Soldiers guarding the railroad bridge,
Every once in a while a bullet would fly,
Kick up gravel under my feet.

We were so afraid 
you would kill our children,
We dug us a cave that was seven foot deep,
Carried our young ones and pregnant women
Down inside the cave to sleep.

That very night your soldiers waited,
Until all us miners were asleep,
You snuck around our little tent town,
Soaked our tents with your kerosene.

You struck a match 
and in the blaze that started,
You pulled the triggers 
of your gatling guns,
I made a run for the children 
but the fire wall stopped me
Thirteen children died 
from your guns.

I carried my blanket 
to a wire fence corner,
Watched the fire till 
the blaze died down,
I helped some people 
drag their belongings,
While your bullets 
killed us all around.

I never will forget t
he look on the faces
Of the men and women t
hat awful day,
When we stood around 
to preach their funerals,
And lay the corpses 
of the dead away.

We told the Colorado Governor 
to call the President,
Tell him to call off 
his National Guard,
But the National Guard 
belonged to the Governor,
So he didn't try so very hard.

Our women from Trinidad 
they hauled some potatoes,
Up to Walsenburg in a little cart,
They sold their potatoes a
nd brought some guns back,
And they put a gun in every hand.

The state soldiers jumped us 
in a wire fence corners,
They did not know we had these guns,
And the Red-neck Miners 
mowed down these troopers,
You should have seen those poor boys run.

We took some cement 
and walled that cave up,
Where you killed 
these thirteen children inside,
I said, "God bless the Mine Workers' Union"
And then I hung my head and cried.