Junius J. Johnson

Junius James Johnson (died 1898) was a West Point cadet who became a miner, and later played a significant role in the Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894.

Junius J. Johnson was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He attended West Point for three years, but was dismissed in his fourth year for engaging in hazing. Moving west, he was a miner in Aspen and Cripple Creek.

Johnson played a key role in the Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894. Local union president John Calderwood had left the region as the strike began, touring the state of Colorado to raise money for the striking workers. He left Johnson in charge. Thinking like a military tactician, Johnson immediately seized the high ground and ordered the miners to move to the top of Bull Hill, which overlooked the town of Altman. He ordered that fortifications be built, a commissary stocked and the miners be drilled in maneuvers.

The mine owners had resolved to break the strike through force. They met secretly with the local sheriff and offered to subsidize a force of a hundred or so men to be deputized. The sheriff agreed to raise the required number of recruits, and immediately began contacting ex-police and ex-firefighters in Denver.

Violence broke out on May 25, 1894. At about 9 a.m., 125 deputies arrived in the town of Altman and started to march toward the miner's camp. At that moment, the miners blew up the shafthouse and steam boiler of the Strong mine. The deputies fled to the rail station and left town.

A celebration broke out among the miners. Liquor warehouses and saloons were broken into, and a drunken revel began. Some miners wanted to blow up every mine in the region, but Johnson quickly discouraged them:

Johnson even went so far as to imprison some of the men who had been most vocal in encouraging violence, and had the miners drive non-union troublemakers from the region. Calderwood returned late in the evening of May 25 and helped Johnson restored calm.

Johnson continued to prep the strikers for action. 'Courts' were established to try and punish miners who were drunk or advocated violence. Pickets were set up throughout the region, and Johnson received regular reports every hour of the day regarding traffic in and out of the towns in the valley. Huts were built and food served to care for the miners encamped on Bull Hill and throughout the region.

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