Mr. Secretary of State:
I have the honor to send yon herewith a copy of the report in which the
person in charge of the royal consulate of Italy at Denver refers to me
the matter of the grievous incidents which occurred at Walsenburg,
Colo., on the 13th instant.
The contents of the said report seem to establish the fact that neither
in the attack made at the Bear Creek Bridge by masked people upon the
prisoners who were in the custody of two armed sheriffs, nor in the
breaking into the Huerfano County jail, did the public force make any
resistance whatever.
This circumstance, which, moreover, was never contradicted in the
telegraphic reports from the governor, kindly communicated to me by your
excellency, evidently settles the responsibility of the local
authorities, and I deem it my duty to at once call the special attention
of your excellency and through your excellency that of the governor of
the State to this responsibility, placing full reliance urjon the
impartiality and justice of both for an equitable adjustment of this
serious question.
In regard to the nationality of the persons killed, the inclosed report,
bating subsequent and better information, seems to me to agree with the
reports heretofore transmitted to you by His Excellency [Governor]
McIntire, viz: That of the three victims, one, Lorenzo Andinino, was not
naturalized, and the other two, Vittone Stanislao and Vincenzo
Ronchietto, had simply secured the first letters of naturalization and
were not, therefore, in full possession of United States
citizenship.
[Inclosure No.
1—Translation.]
The Italian Consul at
Denver to Baron Fava.
Royal Consulate of Italy,
Denver, Colo., March 21, 1895.
Your Excellency: Referring to my telegram
of day before yesterday, directed to your excellency, and in
conformity with your previous instructions, I proceeded to
Walsenburg, and have now the honor to give you the following
information:
The number of the Italians killed is reduced simply to three, to wit,
one in the attack at the bridge over Bear Creek, near Walsenburg,
and two in the jail.
As your excellency already knows from other sources, the body of one,
A. J. Hixon, an American saloon keeper, was found in the coal field
of Rouse, Huerfano County, on the morning of the 11th instant.
Public rumor accused some Italian miners of that neighborhood of
being the perpetrators of the crime. This rumor was confirmed by the
coroner’s inquest, a copy of which is annexed, from which it appears
that the real perpetrator of the murder of Hixon was one Lorenzo
Andinino, who was found guilty at that preliminary investigation and
was immediately taken to the Huerfano County jail in Walsenburg.
As the result of this inquest nine Italian miners were arrested, four
of whom were soon afterwards set at liberty, and the others, to wit,
Peitro Giacobini, Stanislao Vittone, Antonio Gobetto, and Francesco
Ronchietto, under the escort of two deputy
[Page 945]
sheriffs, set out, at about 6 p.m., in a wagon
for Walsenburg, which is about 7 miles from Rouse.
When they had arrived within about a mile of Walsenburg, toward 7
o’clock, and at the moment when they were on a bridge over the
torrent, Bear Creek, a man on horseback met the wagon and ordered
the driver to stop.
This having been done, he ordered the prisoners to get out of the
wagon, and he and four or live-other persons, also on horseback, who
were at the side of the bridge, began to follow the Italians,
striking them repeatedly in the back with shots from revolvers and
Winchesters, according to the statement of the deputy sheriffs. One
of the four, Vittone, was killed instantly, and his body was found
the next morning near the bridge. Another, Ronchietto, was shot in
the region of the heart, biat the ball merely entered the
subcutanean tissue, and he was found that same night, March 12, some
hours after the attack, taken to jail, and placed in the same cell
in which Andinino was confined.
The other two, Gobetto and Giacobini, took to flight, and in spite of
the repeated shots fired at them the latter made his escape in the
manner which I shall narrate further on; but I have had no news of
Gobetto up to this time, though I cherish the hope that he is in
safety.
Subsequently, at 1 o’clock in the morning, seven persons, armed and
masked, penetrated into the county jail, deceiving the guard by
calling for Sheriff O’Malley, and shot to death two Italians who
were confined there, sparing another prisoner of German nationality
who was in the same cell.
I here transcribe the particulars touching the birth, relationship,
age, etc., of the murdered men:
Lorenzo Andinino, son of Giacomo Andinino, deceased, of the commune
of Cantarana, province of Alessandria, on provisional furlough in
the third class, was born January 30, 1871.
I am not aware that Andinino had made application for American
citizenship, as he declared under oath to the governor in the jail,
as will be seen in the papers relating to the case which I am
expecting.
Francesco Ronchietto, son of Sera lino Ronchietto, and Giustina
Abbeville, was born August 3, 1889, at Salto, jurisdiction of
Cuorque, district of Ivrea, province of Turin, and was a corporal in
the Eleventh Infantry, on indefinite furlough.
He declared his intention to become an American citizen on the 11th
of July, 1894, at the proper office at Walsenburg, Huerfano County,
Colo., and took out his first papers.
Stanislao Vittone, son of Giusseppe (Joseph) Vittone, was born at
Salto, jurisdiction of Ivrea, district of Ivrea, province of Turin,
and was 28 years old.
He declared his intention to become an American citizen on the 28th
of October, 1893, at Trinidad, Las Animas County,” Colo., and took
out his first papers.
I also inclose a copy of the inquest (verdict) of the coroner’s jury
in the case of the three Italians.
As to the authorities, I must frankly inform your excellency that I
have no cause for complaint, for, from the governor of the State
down to the authorities of Huerfano County, they all placed
themselves at my disposal.
His excellency the governor, as an act of special deference to Italy,
issued, as your excellency is probably aware, a proclamation
offering a reward of $1,000, the largest sum that is allowed by the
law of the State, for the detection of one or all of the Walsenburg
murderers.
On Saturday last, at 9 o’clock in the evening, I was confidentially
informed by the district attorney at Walsenburg that Peitro
Giacobini had been found by some Mexicans at about 10 miles from
Cuchara. Giacobini had wandered through the mountains ever since the
fatal night, having gone for four days and four nights without
either food or drink. He was found with his lower limbs frozen, his
strength exhausted, and almost lifeless. They took him to the
railway station at Cuchara in the midst of a cavalcade; there the
sheriff examined him, took him under his protection, and advised him
to say that he was a Frenchman.
Deeming it my duty to interview the unfortunate man, I set out at
half past 9 o’clock, passing through a perfectly desert country.
When I reached Cuchara I placed Giacobini under oath, and from him I
learned that they were attacked at Bear Creek Bridge by a single
person on horseback, and that the two deputy sheriffs made no
resistance whatever. Your excellency may attach what value you
please to this story.
The next morning I had Giacobini taken to the hospital at Pueblo, and
at first amputation was thought necessary, but that danger now
appears to be over.
Thus far no arrest has been made at either Walsenburg or at Rouse. I
hope, however, that in process of time something will be done,
because I have faith in the local authorities, whose honor is at
stake in having the thing turn out well and to the satisfaction of
both the Government at Washington and that at Rome.
I beg your excellency to accept, etc.,
