, 1889-02-08
THE MANVILLE MYSTERY
John A. Shelter Indicted for the
Murder of O. B. Selden.
The Assassination Which Startled
Wyoming Last August.
How O. B. SeIden was Most FoulIy
Murdered.
The Many Theories of the Worst
Wyoming Homicide.

August 16, 1887, THE LEADER pub
lished a special dispatch from Lusk Civ
ing all obtainable details of the first as
sassination occurring in Wyoming. The
victim was o. B. Selden, of the firm of
Selden & Shelter, owners of the TOWNSHIP
of ManviIle. seven miles from Lusk and
the man was blotted out while sitting in
his Office in the settlement which he pro-
posed to develop into a city. In his brief
occount of the affair this papers cores
pendent said: ''Selden was sitting at his
desk at $50 o'clock in the evening when
some unknown person fired q shot at him
through the window. The ball entered
his breast and he expired almost instant
ly. Mrs. Selden was soon at her hus.
bands side and he died with his head in
her arms.
"As Mrs. Selden rose from the floor to
summon assistance a shot was fired at
her. Providentially the cowardly assas-
sins bullet missed its victim, and passing
through a partition fell to the floor. 1t
was from a weapon Of large calibre."
This assassination followed in the wake
of a series of murders and public feeling
ran high, and a suspicion with any found
alton whatever would have speedily re-
suited in a lynching. The people had al
lowed the law to take its course in several
provoking instances, but firmly drew the
line at assassination-preferring to draw
the halter.
Every clue was followed, every sus-
pect placed under strict surveillance, but
the mystery could not be solved. The
coward had most effectually covered his
tracks.
Coroner Chaffin held an inquest over
the remains of Selden three days after the
murder. OF the inquiry he said:
The inquiry lasted two days and a
portion of two nights. One session was
held at Manville and another at Lusk.
Twenty witnesses were examined and not
n heard the testimony of another. A
verdict was rendered to the effect that
Selden came to his death by a gunshot
wound inflicted by an unknown person.
There are absolutely no new developments
in the case. Every clue that gave prom
Use of revealing unknown facts or unearth-
ing new theories was followed to the end,
but invariably with the same result. The
evidence was insufficient to warrant the
arrest Of anyone. Two men have been
suspected of the crime, but there is no
tangible foundation for the accusations,
which are merely whispered or intimated.
The shooting was doubtlessly done with a
shotgun, which was lightly charged for
the occasion. The ball extracted from
Selden's body was a veIy large one-52
calibre, | think. The bullet which is
presumed to have been intended for Mrs.
Selden was not found, though the dent it
made upon the floor was plainly visible.
and the ball should have been in the
ROOM"
The verdict of the coroner's Jury was
unsatisfactory to the brave pioneers about
Manville and Lusk. They did not criti-
cize the official, but being unfamiliar with
the methods of assassins could not come
to a realization OF the fact that a murder
could be committed and the apprehension
OF the criminal fail to follow. Under the
leadership of Deputy Sheriff John Owens
every attempt was made to fathom the
terrible mystery.
A well known cattle man was over
Swallowed with the cloud of suspicion for
a time, but his innocence was established
beyond doubt.
Selden u Shelter had doomed Manville
In lively style, and some settlers who were
induced to leave homes in the East found,
that the place was not what it had been
represented to be, and left in'bad humor.
1t was thought that some of the deluded
killed the man for revenge. Several
b~rlcklayers and a few carpenters visited
1 IHn NlaAA rN