Company Government National Guard Events Locations Commemorations Louis Tikas (Greek: Λούης Τίκας), born Elias Anastasios Spantidakis (Greek: Ηλίας Αναστάσιος Σπαντιδάκης; 13 March, 1886 – 20 April, 1914), was the main labor union organizer at the Ludlow camp during the 14-month strike known as the Colorado Coalfield War in southern Colorado, between September 1913 and December 1914; described as "the bloodiest civil insurrection in American history since the Civil War".

[3] In 1910, the year Tikas filed his citizenship papers in the United States, he was part owner of a Greek coffeehouse on Market Street in Denver.

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.

On 20 April, 1914, while Tikas was meeting with Major Patrick J. Hamrock, the militia commander in charge of Company B, troopers––as instructed by superiors––located themselves atop Water Tank Hill, just south of Ludlow in response to spotting armed Greek miners milling about.

Many armed colonists spotted the militiamen and moved to key points where they could closely watch activities atop the small hill.

Machine gun and rifle fire forced women and children colonists to take refuge in storage cellars beneath the tents.

The effects of the strike and the violence encouraged state and federal lawmakers to pass legislation that, in the long run, would help hasten improvements in conditions for working miners.

The Ludlow Monument, erected by the United Mine Workers of America a couple years after the massacre, stands near the site to commemorate the dead strikers and their families.