Murder Or Suicide In Colorado Springs? 1876

On September 12, 1876, The Colorado Daily Chieftain newspaper reported the following:

Singular Occurrence at Colorado Springs 

Body of A. L. Soblessinger found near a Deseerted Cabin 

Yesterday afternoon a rumor reached this city that Mr. Schlessinger, the private secretary to Gen. Palmer, had been killed in a duel at Colorado Springs.  During the afternoon, a telegram was received here directing the arrest of "a person of good address apparently in good circumstances, either a Frenchman or  German, who might take passage on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe train for the East." It is needless to say that upon this description, no arrest was made. 

The finding of the body of A. L. Schlessinger in a ravine some two hundred yards from a deserted cabin, upon the ranch of Mr. Lawson, about sixteen miles East of Colorado Springs, is associated with a mystery that a coroner's jury is now endeavoring to unravel. 

Schlessinger is a young man about nineteen years old and came to Colorado Springs last April. He is an Englishman by birth, but of German descent. His uncle is said to be of the firm of Schlesslnger & Nailor, iron dealers, in John Street, New York. _

Schlessinger, the deceased, was the private secretary of Gen. Palmer, president of the Denver and Rio Grande railroad, at the time of his death, which is believed to have taken place yesterday, Sunday, September 10th, after twelve o’clock, noon. 

He was seen leaving town between ten and eleven in the forenoon, and his body was found between four and five o’clock the next morning. It appears that two letters were taken from the post office by Dr. S. E. Solly at about four o’clock on Sunday afternoon. 

These letters, which purport to have been written by Schlessinger, informed the doctor that he was going out to fight a duel near Lawson’s Cabin; that he would be killed as he did not intend to fire at his opponent, and wished him to come or send for his body if he did not return to town by half past four p.m.; and further, they request the doctor to never let any person see or read the letters, but to inform his uncle that he had been killed in a duel. 

A little further on, in one of the letters. he informs the doctor that he can use the letters to show that he came to his death in a fair and honorable way. 

There is a rumor upon the street that this boy- had a personal difficulty with his tutor in England, a few years ago and that his tutor had crossed the Atlantic, came to Colorado Springs, and called him out to fight a duel. Englishmen say that no such person could have come to Colorado Springs without being known as a stranger to some of them. The boy was well known here to be a quiet, harmless person, never known to have had any difficulty with any person. He was not known among the young men of the town, as an associate — being of a reticent turn of mind — with a habit of making remarks that would seem to indicate a disturbed mind.

The story of a duel is strongly suspected to have been gotten up to arrest inquiry and conceal the cause of his death. The evidence as far as brought before the coroner’s jury goes to show that there could not have been suicide committed, but that all the appearances and indications in the vicinity of the body appear to have been made after the death occurred, and with the view to leave the impression that a duel had been fought. 

Two lines had been drawn in the sand about twenty yards apart, the dead body was found 1ying upon its face, stretched out along one of these lines, so that the line was concealed from view. The two marks in the sand appeared to have been made with a boot heel, his pistol lay about six feet from the body, and a white handkerchief lay about where he stood, as though it had been dropped as a signal to fire, which if placed there by design, was intended to leave the impression that there was no third person present. 

On the line in point, twenty yards distant from the body, were two footprints standing side by side, upon the line, with the toes pointed towards the dead man. There was a depth of their impression that would go to show that they were made by design, and not in accordance with the position of the duelist. 

There was a buggy track, with no indications of there being but one person besides the deceased. The murder was evidently not for money, as a valuable watch and pistol were not taken. 

The coroner’s jury is composed of six of our most intelligent citizens and it is believed that they will give the matter a careful and thorough investigation.

In an extra edition of The Gazette, the editor reported the following statement by a first-hand witness Mr. H. A. Risley:

When found, the dead body of Mr. Schlesinger was lying face downward, stretched at full length, with a pistol by his side and a white pocket handkerchief. On examination, a wound was found in his breast, and evidently, a ball had passed into his body in the direction of the heart. From the stiffened appearance of the body, the doctor said he must have been dead for several hours. 

A line was made in the sand across the gulch where his body lay, as if by the heel, and twenty paces Westerly in the gulch was a like line found across it with steps upon it, and the heel sunk in the ground, where it was very evident that a man had stood.

Our supposition was that the parties had paced the distance and marked the line where each was to stand, that Schlesinger had dropped the handkerchief as a signal for firing, and that after the fatal shot, the survivor fled. No horse could be found, and nothing more was found to throw further light on the subject. 

After consultation, we concluded that it was our duty to leave everything exactly as we found it, and give immediate information to the coroner. We drove into town at a rapid pace, Coronor Taylor was summoned, and together with Dr. Solly and Mr. R. F. Weitbree, treasurer of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, returned to take possession of the body, over which an inquest will be held this morning, either on the ground or in this city, where all obtainable evidence in regard to the transaction will be disclosed. 

Mr. Schlesinger was a young man of intelligence and promise, who is understood to have relatives of high character and standing in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and he came here in April last from Philadelphia with Gen. Wm. Palmer, president of the Denver and Rio Grande railway company, and has since that time acted as his private secretary. 

It is believed, and some evidence will be disclosed, that the transaction grew out of an old quarrel and that he was killed by some stranger, perhaps from Europe, who came here for that purpose. No clue has yet been obtained in regard to him.  

-- As reported on September 12, 1876, The Colorado Daily Chieftain newspaper.

This is a great example of the sort of information that would be gathered while investigating a crime scene in 1876. Frankly, it is pretty thorough. 

As for the mystery of who killed Schlesinger, what reason was there for their duel, and the bigger question of why did he leave a letter saying that he would not defend himself in a duel? From my research, it appears his killer was never found. As for the reason for it taking place and the reasons for him saying in his letter that he "would be killed as he did not intend to fire at his opponent"? 

We will never know the answers to those questions.

Tom Correa