The events began as a workers strike by the union employees of the Indianapolis Traction & Terminal Company and their allies on Halloween night, October 31, 1913.

The unionization effort was being organized by the Amalgamated Street Railway Employees of America who had successfully enforced strikes in other major United States cities.

Company management suppressed the initial attempt by some of its employees to unionize and rejected an offer of mediation by the United States Department of Labor, which led to a rapid rise in tensions, and ultimately the strike.

At its height, eight to ten thousand rioters flooded downtown Indianapolis and vandalized the city's main business district.

[1] After a series of successful AASEREA supported strikes, the latest in Cincinnati, Ohio, during May 1913, the union leaders turned their attention back to Indianapolis.

[2][3] John J. Thorpe, vice president of AASEREA, led the renewed unionization effort, and he and a group of men traveled to Indianapolis.

[4] After the failure of their initial attempt to have the union recognized by the company, the committee petitioned the United States Department of Labor to mediate discussions between them and the management of the business.

[3] The company leadership thought the AASEREA's demands were unreasonable, and believed it to be unfair for the employees' wages to exceed the income the business provided its shareholders.

In the letter he made a series of demands, including wage increases, reduced work hours, and the reinstatement of men fired for joining the union.

[2] On the night of Halloween, October 31, pro-union men called a mass meeting at Labor Hall and those in attendance resolved to support the strike.

[7] Some company employees were forcibly taken multiple times to Labor Hall to repeat their oaths of loyalty to the union before they were convinced or intimidated to join the strike.

[2] As the vandalism had shut down service at the central hub, a police squad was organized and dispatched to protect repairmen while they fixed the overhead cables at the main terminal building.

[7] By the afternoon of November 1, the strikers were able to force a complete shut down of the urban central hub and halt all city streetcar operations.

The shut down also stopped most of Indiana's inter-city light rail transportation, but regional routes outside of Indianapolis continued to operate.

[7] After the events of November 1, the Terminal and Traction Company hired 300 professional strikebreakers from the Pinkerton Agency in Chicago to operate the streetcars.

[4] Todd wrote an open letter to the city leadership alleging that illegitimate forces from outside the state were behind the events, and that his workers did not truly desire to unionize.

Organized labor leaders held two mass meetings and unions across the city agreed to send additional men to support the strikers against the strikebreakers.

The refusal by the city police to battle the strikers was met with approval by Mayor of Indianapolis, Republican Samuel Shank.

A lawsuit was brought by a pro-union citizen of the city, A. C. Pearson, against the company to revoke its contract or to force it into receivership so a receiver could negotiate with the strikers.

[7] A group of about 1,500 men began marching towards the electric distribution center used to power the entire streetcar system, several blocks away from the terminal building.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 rioters flooded Illinois Street, the main business district of the city, lighting fires, destroying property, and attacking people.

[11] After the violence of November 4, the Indianapolis Merchant's Association and other business leaders petitioned Governor Ralston to call out the Indiana National Guard.

[9] Ralston, however, finally heeded the calls for action and declared martial law to protect the city and to force an end to the strike.

Companies of troops were armed and set up to protect the important areas of the city while patrols began to enforce a curfew on the night of November 5.

[9] They wanted him to order the guard to leave the city, and call a special session of the Indiana General Assembly to have their grievances addressed by legislation.

With the support of Mayor Shank and a petition that received several thousand signatures, the police were permitted to retain their jobs.

[15] Indianapolis Mayor Shank resigned from office after the city council threatened impeachment because of his encouragement of the police mutiny.

[3][7][8] When the General Assembly convened in January, Ralston proposed several acts aimed to improve work conditions.

Among the laws he promoted, and the Assembly passed, were acts that banned the sale of narcotic drugs for the first time, a minimum wage, and free vaccinations for several prevalent diseases.

Ralston successfully lobbied for other improvements to the living conditions of the urban poor that included funding to provide clean running water and children's playgrounds.