Bulkeley Wells

Bulkeley Wells. Photo from History of Colorado, edited by Wilbur Fiske Stone. Bulkeley Wells (March 10, 1872 – May 26, 1931),

Union hostility Bulkeley Wells was noted for his hostility to unions. He conducted a campaign of vilification of Vincent Saint John, the head of the Telluride Miners' Union.

Wells, according to writer MaryJoy Martin, was "born to privilege... [and was] convinced laborers were beneath him," was intent upon hanging Vincent St. John, the head of the local miners union. According to Martin, Wells colluded with others, including Pinkerton Agent James McParland, and the Colorado Mine Owners' Association, to accuse St. John of conducting a "reign of terror" — and in particular, of murdering William J. Barney, a mine guard who had disappeared from his post. McParland, who decades earlier had been the special agent assigned to infiltrate the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania, contributed his belief that an "Inner Circle" within the Western Federation of Miners was responsible for widespread assassinations.

Former McParland stenographer Morris Friedman wrote that McParland gained considerable income from Colorado's mining interests for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency by making such unproved accusations.

At the time of his disappearance, the Telluride authorities didn't know any details of Will Barney's age, marital status, family, or where he came from. But they found some remains, and they drew conclusions. Wells placed a skull in a shop window, adorned with a sign decrying the "Grewsome Work" of the Telluride Miners' Union. There was one complicating factor: William Julius Barney wasn't dead.

Later life Wells had an affair with socialite Louise Sneed Hill while both were married.

His wife, Grace Livermore Wells, divorced him in 1918. As a result of the divorce, Wells lost $15 million in mining interests and the financing he received from his wife's family.

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