Those on strike, members of United Mine Workers, were called “rednecks” because they wore red handkerchiefs around their necks. After asking Boulder County Sheriff M.P. Capp to deputize up to 75 company men to help guard the mines, which he refused, Northern Coal and Coke Co. hired West Virginia-based Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency guards to protect the company's assets. The Baldwin-Felts guards, known in southern coal states for protecting coal trains and payroll shipments, were hired to prevent trespassing on company property.