by Enss, Chris
Political leaders with an eye toward putting an end to major offenses driven by gambling went as far as shutting down gambling operations throughout communities to curtail the activity. In early June 1908 the town of Rock Springs, Wyoming, was ordered “closed” by law enforcement. According to the June 13, 1908, edition of the Rock Springs newspaper The Journal, “not only are all of the regular gambling places closed, but all slot machines, merchandise and other wise, have been stopped.” Gaming establishments in other Wyoming locales such as Hulette were raided by state officials and the gambling tables burned. Roulette tables, faro layouts, twenty-one tables, and other gambling paraphernalia were used as fuel to start the bonfire.18 Nothing seemed to stop the spread of the activity.
Seng had more on his mind than gambling as he established his new life in Evanston. When he arrived for his first day at work for the Union Pacific Railroad, “the first thing he noticed was a crude baseball field just beyond the massive building that housed several engines in various stages of repair. . . . The four acres of ball field was like an oasis in the midst of scraps of metal and tools, and locomotives belching smoke. The turf was a mixture of dust and weeds and the path from one base to the next was well traveled.”19
Seng walked through an organized maze of railroad track and cars until he reached the main office, where the duties of his job as watchman were explained to him by his supervisor William Lloyd. Lloyd, a twenty-seven-year-old man from Davenport, Iowa, was a detective for the Union Pacific Railroad.20 According to Christopher Blue, a historian at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, Seng’s job entailed “patrolling railroad yards, cars, and stations or other facilities to protect the company property or shipments and to maintain order.” He was also responsible for “apprehending or removing trespassers or thieves from railroad property or coordinating with law enforcement agencies in the apprehension or removal of trespassers or thieves.”21
The Union Pacific Roundhouse in Evanston, Wyoming, where Joseph Seng and William Lloyd were employed. Courtesy of the Evanston Urban Renewed Agency
Six months prior to Seng’s move to Wyoming, a series of cargo thefts had been perpetrated on the Union Pacific line that ran from Carbon County, Wyoming, to Weber County, Utah.22 Lloyd, whose job was to investigate any crimes committed on railroad property, had been working on the case and his investigation had led him to a man named Toy Smith. Smith had a long list of previous offenses to his credit, and Lloyd was certain he was guilty of stealing from the railroad. Seng’s arrival and hiring on as night watchman freed Lloyd to pursue Smith, a reported opium addict who had attempted to shoot Union Pacific Railroad agents on his trail. After quickly training Seng on all that his job entailed, Lloyd left Evanston to join in the search for Smith.23 The agents eventually caught the crook outside Ogden, Utah, and arrested him.24
Lloyd’s role as investigator for the Union Pacific meant quite a lot of time spent away from his wife, Alta, a twenty-four-year-old born and raised in South Dakota. His absences had taken a toll on their marriage. The couple had wed in Rapid City, South Dakota, in June 1908 and had moved to Evanston late that same year. They had no children, and Alta felt that her husband was too preoccupied with his job and had lost interest in her. Seng met the lonely Mrs. Lloyd when she visited the Union Pacific Railroad roundhouse to inquire after her husband. She worried about him when he was gone from home because of work. At some point after their meeting, Seng and Alta became romantically involved.25
According to Alta’s great-great-niece, Olive Phelps, Alta often visited Emma Ewer, wife of Moroni Ewer, an employee of the Union Pacific Railroad and the innkeeper who rented a room to Joseph Seng. It was during these visits that Seng and Alta had a chance to pursue their feelings for one another.26 William Lloyd remained seemingly unaware of his wife’s relationship with Seng. Occasionally, the Ewers, their two children, Alta, Seng, and an unsuspecting William would travel the three hours to Rawlins to watch the Rawlins baseball team play. The last game they all attended together was on Sunday, July 17, 1910, and the Rawlins ball club demonstrated its superiority over a team from Saratoga, winning the game by a score of eleven to four.27
Alta’s family suspects that William became aware of his wife’s infidelity not long after the outing to Rawlins in July 1910. “I only know what my mother had to say about the situation,” Olive Phelps noted. “Alta and William were fighting a lot, and given everything the newspapers reported after the fact, we just figured he found out that Joseph Seng was the other man.”28
The August 6, 1910, edition of the Laramie Republican reported that on August 4, 1910, witnesses overheard William Lloyd, Alta Lloyd, and Joseph Seng arguing loudly around seven o’clock at night near a park in Evanston. Witnesses saw the two men squaring off for a fight. Lloyd appeared to be the aggressor, and Seng was standing his ground. Alta stood next to her husband and was apparently interjecting her own thoughts into the heated discussion when Seng suddenly stepped to one side, reached into the breast pocket of his jacket, and removed a gun.
The Republican reported that Joseph then fired a shot, and William fell to the ground. “Mrs. Lloyd stumbled over her husband’s prostrate form and while she was leaning over his body Joseph fired two shots,” the article continued.
Immediately following the shooting of his former employer, Joseph emptied the remaining three shots of his .41 Colt revolver into the ground, and a throng gathered on the scene. Joseph did not appear excited and told a bystander to inform an officer, warning others to keep away from him. Special city officer James Downs was soon on the grounds and Joseph immediately gave himself up to that officer. His only explanation of the tragedy was “I beat him to it,” meaning that Lloyd had attempted to pull his gun first. In this statement it is said that the prisoner is both corroborated and contradicted by witnesses. Joseph was placed in jail and is said to have been cool and collected at all times.
Detective Lloyd had just returned from Ogden, where he was summoned as a witness in the Toy Smith case. He was on his way to attend a street carnival with his wife when Joseph joined the pair and together they walked down the fatal path. When Lloyd’s body was picked up his revolver was found by his side. Joseph is in jail.
Mrs. Lloyd’s screams were pathetic at the sound of the first shot, and she became hysterical at the sight of her wounded husband as she lay at his feet. The wounded man was carried to his private [railroad] car, where he survived for thirty minutes after being shot.
News of the murder spread quickly. An article in the August 6, 1910, edition of the Atlantic Evening News noted that “while walking along a street with his wife, William Lloyd, traveling detective for the Union Pacific, was shot instantly and killed by Joseph Seng. Seng had been discharged by Lloyd and investigators on the case say that was the reason he was murdered. Seng denies the allegation insisting that his actions were in self-defense.” The August 26, 1910, edition of the Casper Press reported that “William Lloyd, assistant special agent for the Union Pacific, was shot and killed last Thursday night by Joseph Seng.”
According to the September 14, 1910, edition of the Cheyenne State Leader, Seng was arraigned in the district court in Evanston on a charge of murder in the first degree, to which he entered a plea of not guilty. His attorneys had the case continued to April 1911. “The state had also succeeded in getting an unusual order from the court,” the article elaborated. “Twenty-four state’s witnesses on motion of the prosecuting attorney have been placed under heavy bond to appear for the trial.”
Seng was held at the Uinta County jail throughout the winter of 1910–11. His case went to trial in April 1911. Public opinion and the press seemed to be against him. According to the April 8, 1911, edition of the Wyoming Press, “the prosecution had more than a dozen witnesses, all of them leading to the supposition that Joseph would be convicted and hanged for the most atrocious murder to happen in Evanston, Wyoming, in years. . . . One shot
pierced William Lloyd’s right ear and came out at the side of the nose,” the newspaper reported. “The second entered in front of the left ear and came out the corner of the eye.”
Alta Lloyd’s relatives believe she must have been in a state of shock over the violent incident. “We have no information that she spoke of the killing until after Joseph Seng was convicted,” Olive Phelps stated. “It’s assumed that she felt incredibly guilty over the crime.”29 Seng never denied firing on William Lloyd but insisted he acted in self-defense. The only defense he gave at his hearing, however, was “I beat him to it.” A witness by the name of H. R. McGee testified that he saw the gun Lloyd was carrying fall out his pocket when he dropped to his knees after being shot.30
At the conclusion of the highly publicized proceedings, on April 13, 1911, Seng was convicted of murder in first degree and his sentence was set down by Judge D. H. Craig. “It is therefore considered, ordered and decreed by the court,” the Wyoming Press quoted Judge Craig as saying, “that Joseph Seng be transported to the state penitentiary and that before sunrise on the 22nd of August be hanged by the neck until dead.”31
Inside the Wyoming State Penitentiary. Courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives Department #26033
Chapter Four
Home at the Crossbar Hotel
The sheriff of Uinta County delivered Joseph Seng to the state penitentiary on April 18, 1911.1 An endless blue sky was the backdrop for the massive, three-story structure that day. High, barbed wire fence lined the building on all sides, and a plaque on the structure read Welcome to the Crossbar Hotel. Felix Alston, who had taken over the duties of prison warden the day before, watched Seng arrive. A pair of guards helped the shackled and handcuffed prisoner out of the vehicle in which he was transferred. The iron-barred door in front was opened, and Seng was escorted inside the penitentiary. The doors were then closed and locked behind him.2
According to Joseph Seng’s family, his father, Anthony, had cried when he read an article about his son in the April 22, 1911, edition of the Wyoming Press. “On last Monday morning Sheriff Ward and Special Deputy Sam Rider took Joseph Seng, the convicted murderer of William Lloyd, to the penitentiary where the man will be confined until he is executed,” the report announced. “Seng was handcuffed to Sheriff Ward . . . he passed through the streets of Evanston thus manacled; he was smoking a cigar, and was accompanied by his customary indifference as to the gravity of the situation.”
Inmate #1612 Joseph Seng, right fielder. Wyoming State Archives, Dept. of State Parks & Cultural Resources
There was a standard routine for admitting an inmate into a state facility. The guards would lead a prisoner into an intake room and remove his shackles and chains. They would remove all items from the prisoner’s pockets and set them aside on a table to be inventoried. The prisoner was then ordered to remove his clothes. A guard carrying a fire hose would enter the intake room and point the hose at the prisoner. When the water was flipped on, the force generally slammed the prisoner back against the stone wall. After a few moments the water was shut off, and the guards would pull the prisoner to his feet. A huge scoop of delousing powder was then tossed on him. Gasping and coughing, blinking powder from his eyes, the prisoner was then shoved toward a trustee cage, a small, defined area where the “trustee,” an inmate who had proven himself trustworthy and had been given a job within the prison, was separated from the prisoner by a thick wall of wire rope with a small slot in it.3
The trustee would slide a short stack of items through the slot—prison clothes and a Bible. A doctor would be called in to give the prisoner a cursory examination. He would inspect every part of the prisoner’s body, making note of every scar, tattoo, and birthmark. Joseph Seng had a tattoo on his left forearm of an American shield and eagle and a banner with the word Union written inside it; a tattoo of a butterfly, four aces, and a pair of dice on his right forearm; and a large spot scar above his left wrist and on his right knee. After the doctor completed the exam, the guards would lead the prisoner out of the room clutching his belongings against his bare chest.4
All prisoners were asked a series of standard questions, including their religion, how much schooling they’d had, habits of life, and special skills. Seng was asked about his occupation during the intake process, and the guard on duty listed him as a ribbon weaver on the convict form.5 Somehow it was also noted that Seng was particularly skilled at baseball. Warden Alston and George Saban would be made aware of the new inmate’s ability.
Otto Gramm ran the controversial lessee program at the penitentiary for more than seven years. Wyoming State Archives, Dept. of State Parks & Cultural Resources
It was coincidence that Seng’s tenure at the facility started at roughly the same time as Alston’s. Alston’s ascendance to the role of warden (and Otto Gramm’s ouster) was front-page news across the state. Governor Carey, along with several state newspapers, referred to Alston as “the most remarkable criminal catcher of Wyoming.”6 Readers were reminded of Alston’s storied career in law enforcement, including his 1908 capture of a notorious horse thief named R. L. Stratton. “Sheriff Felix Alston has a reputation among peace officers and criminals of never quitting a trail. No man he ever undertook to run down has escaped,” read a contemporary account in the Big Horn County Rustler. “His detective operations led him into every state of the Rocky Mountains and to many outside that area. He seems to possess a psychic instinct for locating criminals.”7
The April 19, 1911, edition of the Cheyenne State Leader not only echoed previous praise for the lawman, but also applauded Governor Carey’s decision to oust Gramm from his role in the prison. “Speaking of contrast,” the article began, “think of the difference in caliber of Otto Gramm, retiring manager of the state penitentiary, and Felix Alston, the incoming manager.”
Gramm was, to all appearances, still a very influential member of the Wyoming community. He was a member of the public school board, president of the Board of Trustees for the University of Wyoming, a probate judge, and Albany County treasurer.8 However, not long after terminating his contract with the penitentiary, Governor Carey demanded Gramm’s resignation from the university board.9 According to the April 21, 1911, edition of the Nevada State Journal, Gramm initially refused the directive and challenged the governor to issue charges to remove him. “Gramm was an issue in the last political campaign being the Albany County member of the Republican state convention and vice-chairman of the convention,” the article explained. “He has been a member of the board of trustees of the university for sixteen years, being first appointed in 1895.”
Senator Francis E. Warren was a staunch opponent of Governor Joseph Carey and critic of Warden Alston. Wyoming State Archives, Dept. of State Parks & Cultural Resources
In spite of his conflict with the governor, Gramm still had very powerful friends—and he had decided to make Alston his enemy. Gramm and a few members of the State Board of Charities and Reform believed Governor Carey had taken a big gamble when he appointed Alston as superintendent of the state penitentiary at Rawlins.10 Senator Francis Warren was one of Gramm’s most powerful allies.11 They shared a common enemy in Governor Carey and in his close associate, Alston. Any progress Governor Carey and Warden Alston hoped to make at the state penitentiary was met with opposition from Gramm and subsequently his champion, Senator Warren.
Warden Alston and Governor Carey agreed that the transition from the old guard to the new would be a struggle, but Alston was determined to overcome the initial setbacks that went along with the job. He would earn $2,500 a year to run the institution, secure the public safety, and manage the replacement of the lessee system with a state-run operation.12 “The manner in which this institution has been conducted has been a disgrace to the state,” Governor Carey announced to his constituents in early 1911. “I believe that where practicable, the convicts, who are sufficiently reliable
, should be given work on public highways in the open air and that others should be given work inside the penitentiary, there should be definitive rules for the inmates, that includes steady work for which they need palatable and healthful food.”13
Governor Joseph Carey denied a stay of execution for convicted murderer and baseball player Joseph Seng. Wyoming State Archives, Dept. of State Parks & Cultural Resources
In less than two months of Alston being on the job, however, problems at the prison were mounting. A guard had been killed and three convicts had escaped. The June 2, 1911, edition of the Carbon County Journal reported that inmates kidnapped a guard and made a clean getaway. “Yesterday afternoon occurred one of the most unlooked and unique escapes from the penitentiary that ever occurred in the state,” the article read. “Three prisoners and a guard left for Coal Gulch with a load of coal and shale. When they had not returned by one o’clock in the afternoon the warden investigated and found no trace of the team, the men or the guard.” One of the convicts with the guard in tow eventually gave himself up to the authorities. The other two escaped prisoners were never found.
The incident generated a lot of publicity and left the community worried about the possibility of repeat episodes. Historian and author Lewis Gould and Duane Shillinger suspects the problems were exacerbated by disgruntled public officials such as Gramm.14 Undermining prison operations would have strengthened the argument that his lessee program was necessary to maintain order. Gramm was convinced that inmates, by nature of the fact that they were convicted felons, needed a stern hand to guide them through until they were released. Publicly, and perhaps a bit disingenuously, he objected to any privileges being extended to prisoners, believing that any such privileges would be exploited by the inmates and by those in charge of the system.15 Alston’s scheme to form a baseball team at the prison particularly rankled.
