This story is intended to educate. Please do not infer that I condone bigotry, or oppression based on creed or race. In my youth, the struggles for integration were constantly in the news, often with violence.
When the original “This is What I Remember” interviews were recorded for the local history narratives, one of the assigned interview questions was: “What can you tell me about the KKK in Rio Blanco County?”
This year I was asked: how did something as evil as the KKK get accepted in Meeker? My answer: Edmund Burke is attributed with the quote, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men should do nothing.”
The Ku Klux Klan appeared during the post-Civil War reconstruction period. Former slaves were subject to fear tactics and economic oppression. After WWI, Americans became wary of the waves of immigrants. This was nothing new. Established families have always protested the changes, while industry leaders have encouraged immigration as a source of cheap labor. Chinese railroad track layers, Welsh miners, Irish laborers, and middle European workers were accused of bringing foreign ideas and violent behavior. Some newspapers echoed the sentiment that anyone not conforming to the “American way of life” was a threat. Public debates accused the government of letting undesirable, feeble-minded immigrants into the country.
In the early 1920s the KKK exploited these fears and used pride as “Americans” as a rallying point against anyone who was not Anglo Saxon and Protestant. Irish Catholics were stereotyped as drunken brawlers. I find it interesting that one of the strongest advocates for abolition of slavery came from white Anglo-Saxon pulpits in the New England states. Many of the southern KKK had fought to split America.
Anyway, back to the 1920s. The KKK sought to rebrand themselves as a fraternal organization. The shift in their public face emphasized keeping people safe against lawbreakers, bootleggers, foreigners, and those who would destroy the American values.
In 1921, the KKK came to Colorado, openly naming their Grand Wizard. The attempt to recruit members in Colorado was a sophisticated effort. The KKK bought or found newspapers to disseminate information and stir up fears. You can always win political support by amplifying public fear, naming an enemy and claiming that nationalist values are in danger.
The Rocky Mountain American, published in Boulder County, was one of the KKK-controlled newspapers. It was very effective. In the July 27, 1922, issue, the United Press Atlanta wrote the headline: “K.K.K Plans a Worldwide Organization.”
A well-financed political machine got Benjamin Stapleton elected as mayor of Denver in 1923. Stapleton publicly denied being a KKK member but declared to the Klan that he would work with and for the Klan.
The Klan looked for more political control by supporting select candidates within the Colorado Republican Party in the 1924 campaign. Governor Clarence Morley and many of the legislative branch were KKK members.
Meeker was not immune to the KKK recruitment. Names of the members of the newly formed chapter were published in the Meeker Herald. Mourners at one Methodist Church funeral were surprised when a group of men in white night shirts and caps joined them in mourning a brother’s passing.
The political dominance of the KKK in Colorado began to decline in 1925 when the group had a leadership dispute and the two factions could not reconcile. Denver began to expose the corrupt government and police department who had KKK appointees placed inside.
Not everyone one was fooled by the KKK. Steamboat Springs passed an ordinance banning the wearing of white nightshirts and masks, punishable by a fine of $10-100. Denver Jewish and Black organizations vigorously opposed the KKK, but their voices were weak compared to the majority.
Reference newspaper articles 1923 to 1925. Coloradohistoricnewspaper.org; This Is What I Remember books; Rio Blanco Historical Society; Historycolorado.org
By ED PECK
