Columbine Mine massacre

The Columbine Mine massacre, sometimes called the Columbine massacre, occurred in 1927, in the town of Serene, Colorado. A fight broke out between Colorado state police and a group of striking coal miners, during which the unarmed miners were attacked with firearms. The miners testified that machine guns were fired at them, but the state police disputed that. Six strikers were killed, and dozens were injured.

The company town of Serene, Colorado, nestled on a rolling hillside, was the home of the Columbine mine. The strike was five weeks old and strikers had been conducting morning rallies at Serene for two weeks, for the Columbine was one of the few coal mines in the state to remain in operation. On November 21, 1927, five hundred miners, some accompanied by their wives and children, arrived at the north gate just before dawn. They carried three US flags. At the direction of Josephine Roche, daughter of the recently deceased owner of Rocky Mountain Fuel Company, the picketers had been served coffee and doughnuts on previous mornings.

That morning the recently disbanded state police, also known as the Colorado Rangers, were recalled to duty and would meet them and bar their path. The miners were surprised to see men dressed in civilian clothes but armed with automatic pistols, rifles, riot guns and tear gas grenades. The Rangers were backed up by rifle-toting mine guards stationed on the mine dump. Head of the Rangers, Louis Scherf shouted to the strikers, "Who are your leaders?" "We're all leaders!" came the reply. Scherf announced the strikers would not be allowed into the town, and for a few moments they hesitated outside the fence. There was discussion, with many of the strikers asserting their right to proceed. Serene had a public post office, they argued, and some of their children were enrolled in the school in Serene. One of the Rangers was reported to have taunted, "If you want to come in here, come ahead, but we'll carry you out."