Louis Tikas
| Louis Tikas | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Ηλίας Α. Σπαντιδάκης 1886 Loutra, Rethymno |
| Died | 20 April 1914 Ludlow |
| Nationality | American, Greek |
| Occupation | Miner, union leader |
| Known for | Involvement in Ludlow mine strike |
Louis Tikas (born 1886 in Loutra, Crete as Ηλίας Αναστασίου Σπαντιδάκης, Elias Anastasiou Spantidakis – April 20, 1914) was the main labor union organizer at the Ludlow camp during a 14-month coal strike in southern Colorado from 1913–1914. He was shot and killed during the Ludlow Massacre, the bloodiest event of the strike, on April 20, 1914.
In 1910, the year Louis Tikas filed his citizenship papers, he was part owner of a Greek coffee house on Market Street in Denver. By the end of 1912 he was an organizer for the United Mine Workers of America. In between he worked as a miner-strikebreaker in Colorado’s Northern (Coal) Field but ended up leading a walkout by sixty-three fellow Greeks at the Frederick, Colorado mine. Tikas was chased from the northern field, shot and wounded by Baldwin-Felts detectives as he escaped through the back door of a boarding house in Lafayette, Colorado in January 1910.
He was shot and killed during the Ludlow Massacre, the bloodiest event of the strike, on April 20, 1914, the day after (Greek Orthodox) Easter. 19 people were killed during the massacre including 2 women and 11 children and one National Guardsman.
Tikas met with Major Pat Hamrock on the day of the massacre in response to allegations of a man being held against his will in the camp. The militia placed machine guns on the hills and Tikas, anticipating trouble, ran back to camp. But fighting broke out lasting all day. By 7:00 pm, the camp was aflame. Tikas remained in the camp the entire day and was there when the fire started. Lieutenant Karl Linderfelt, a rival of Tikas' during much of the strike, broke the butt of his gun over Tikas' head. Tikas was later found shot to death, one bullet through his back, another in his hip, a third glancing off his hip and traveling vertically through his body; it was determined that he bled to death.
On April 20, 1914, while the militia officer in charge of Company B and Tikas were meeting, a number of Company B troopers — as instructed by superiors — located themselves atop Water Tank Hill, just south of Ludlow. Many colonists spotted the militiamen, and, being quite concerned, armed themselves and moved to key points where they could closely watch activities atop the small hill. Other colonists feared something was awry and scurried about for cover. Suddenly the sound of rifle fire echoed through the nearby hills. Neither the militia nor the colonists knew who fired these shots, but an exchange of gunfire began, as both confused colonists and militiamen believed they were coming under attack.
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