This museum is the only reason to stop in Walsenburg on the way to or from the Spanish Peaks. Set in the old jailhouse (built in 1896), it’s a monument to the struggle for labor laws in the Colorado mining industry, in the days leading up to the 1913 Ludlow Massacre.
It was at this time that Mother Jones was held for civil disobedience in the basement of the county courthouse next door. She was held there for 20 days when she was 82 years old. There’s a great picture of her leading a march through Trinidad. There is also an interesting display on the 1927 strike by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW; also known as Wobblies), and it has old mining equipment such as bellows and trip hammers and old lanterns. The docent will lead you through the museum.
