The Christmas Presence by Eva Pohler

Author:Eva Pohler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eva Pohler/Green Press

Back at Robin’s house, the three friends decided to do a little more work on their timeline before heading to bed. Tanya added Canun Siti and Evania Glavo’s names to the whiteboard as the gunman and mastermind of Arthur Collins’s assassination. She also made a note that sometime in 1906, Glavo confessed to Wells, who then had him killed and his bones defiled. She put a big question mark and wrote, “Where are Glavo’s bones?”

Sue lifted another newspaper clipping into the air. “This article from the Telluride Daily Journal dated February 21, 1904, says that Major Hill turned over command of martial law to Captain Buck Wells.”

“It astounds me,” Tanya said as she made a note, “that such a thing could happen in the first place.”

“Captain Wells didn’t waste any time putting his power to use,” Ellen remarked. “An article from San Miguel Examiner dated February 24, 1904, says that Wells ordered a restaurant that catered to union men to shut down. It was called the Cosmopolitan, and when its owner, Baldwin, protested, Wells had him arrested and deported.”

“Martial law at its finest,” Sue said with a snort. Then leaning over another article, she added, “Actually, it gets worse. Wells ordered his men to build a stone structure he dubbed ‘Fort Peabody’ on the peak overlooking Imogene Pass—the only way back into town back then. He ordered his men to shoot any of the deported men trying to return to Telluride to their families.”

“How awful,” Tanya said as she added it to the whiteboard. “Unbelievable.”

Ellen lifted a finger. “It gets even worse. According to this article, Wells had 34 strikers arrested for vagrancy.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Sue wondered.

“Yes,” Tanya confirmed. “I don’t know how he got away with it.”

“Well, at first he didn’t,” Ellen said, holding up another article. “This one from March 11, 1904, says that 52 plaintiffs filed a restraining order against Wells and that Governor Peabody relieved him of his duties.”

“Thank God,” Tanya said, making the note.

“Hold on,” Sue said, sitting up straight. “That didn’t last long. Buck and his cohorts held a meeting, assembling a mob of 50 men who broke into homes in the middle of night, holding union men at gunpoint barefoot in the snow and ice—”

“Our dreams,” Tanya interrupted.

“Yes,” Sue confirmed. “He forced 65 men to leave or be hanged. And then—get this—Governor Peabody reinstated martial law and Adjutant General Sherman Bell authorized Wells to resume with his troops! Bell even brought a Gatling gun to show he meant business.”

“But Wells was the troublemaker,” Tanya objected. “This makes no sense.”

Sue added, “Here’s a statement from Wells issued on April 5, 1904. He writes: ‘We do not propose to enter into negotiations with the Western Federation of Miners. We do not recognize a union in Telluride. There is no strike in Telluride. All our mines are working with a full force of men, and we do not know what kind of settlement can be made. With us, there is absolutely nothing to settle.’”

Ellen and Tanya exchanged looks of astonishment.

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