Ludwig Erwin Alfred Katterfeld ran as the Socialist candidate for Washington State Governor in 1916 on his journey to becoming an international Communist figure and a man who had views so dangerous he became a guest of Uncle Sam's Crowbar Hotel during the first Red Scare. He was in the Evergreen State for only a brief time. But what a time it was.

He was born July 15, 1881 in Strasbourg, when that city was under German rule. His Katterfeld ancestors had served as pastors for several generations, but his father was a high school teacher. His parents, Traugott Heinrich Karl Alfred Katterfeld (1850-1891) and Adelheide Wilhelmina (Karpinsky) Katterfeld (1850-1884) both died at a young age.

According to the 1920 U.S. census, Ludwig came to the United States in 1893, two years following the death of his father. The orphan was small, with dark hair and eyes, and he was very bright. When he graduated from high school in 1898 in Cloud County, Kansas, he was first in his class of 23 students.