Eugene Engley

Eugene D. Engley (April 5, 1851 – April 18, 1910) was an American attorney and political activist. Engley is best remembered as the 9th attorney general of the state of Colorado, holding that position as the elected candidate of the People's Party from 1893 to 1894. Engley was also a prominent figure in the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903–04 as an advocate for the striking miners affiliated with the Western Federation of Miners.

Biography

Early years Eugene D. Engley was born April 5, 1851, in Attleborough, Massachusetts, the son of James Henry Engley and his wife, the former Mary Kaley.

After attending public school in Massachusetts, Engley came west to Colorado in 1873, setting up residence in the southwestern corner of the state.

Engley married Hilda Jayne Gaines in Colorado Springs on April 4, 1881. His wife would die of uterine cancer in 1898, at the age of 43. In 1893 Engley was elected Colorado Attorney General on the People's Party ticket, defeating both Republican and Democratic opponents. Engley was taken by armed guards to the neighboring town of Florissant and placed on a train to Denver.

Engley refused to submit, however, and returned several days later to Cripple Creek armed with a rifle, with which he marched along the town's streets, making his return known.

Death and legacy

A few years before his death Engley moved from Cripple Creek to Alamosa, Colorado, where he lived in retirement from the legal profession, reading and writing on social and economic issues of the day. He was 59 years old at the time of his death. Engley's body was interred at Alamosa Municipal Cemetery.

Works No Mistake Possible: Attorney Gen. Engley's Opinion on the Ballot Question. Denver, CO: n.p..