APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE MINERS' PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION, DATED AT CRIPPLE CREEK, COLORADO, JUNE 30, 1915, COMPLETED BY ERNEST GEORGE AHL, AGE 19

[Colorado, 1915. 5-1/2" x 8-3/4". Printed form on pink paper, completed in ink manuscript, two holes punched at top. Very Good.

Ernest George Ahl, age 19, born in Sweden and residing at 214 No. 4 St., V[ictor], lists his occupation as trammer, and claims eleven months' experience at Stratton's Independence Mine. He recites that he has never been a member of the Western Federation of Miners, or a member of any labor organization. He states that he is "in sympathy with the objects and purposes of the Miners' Protective Association. . . [and] will abide by and observe the Constitution and By-Laws as may be prescribed by its Executive Committee." (truncated) He signs the document. On the verso are additional notes regarding his application.
The Stratton Independence Mine & Mill was located in the Cripple Creek Mining District in Victor, Colorado, on the south slope of Battle Mountain. Named after Winfield Scott Stratton, who discovered the mine on July 4, 1891, it was site of the first major strike in the Cripple Creek/Victor area. The disputes led to the formation of the Western Federation of Miners in 1893. Tensions between management and workers escalated into the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903. The Miners' Protective Association, formed in Virginia City in May, 1863, opposed pending wage cuts and created a benefit fund for sick and injured miners and their families. By 1912, it had established an office in Cripple Creek which was made up of both employers and employees. [Mining American, Volume 65, 1912, p.197].
Ernest George Ahl was born in Malmere Shana, Sweden, on June 28, 1896, and died in San Diego, California on June 21, 1923. Not much is known about him; Swedish emigration records show him leaving for New York on June 11, 1914. His Declaration of Naturalization occurred March 1917 at San Diego, California; he registered for the World War I draft on June 8, 1917, and listed his employer at the time as Portland Gold Mining Company; he is listed in the Roster of Men and Women Who Served in The World War From Colorado 1917-1918 Teller County as a private in the Infantry. (Inventory #: 36550)