Ben Olson : “Mystery on Monarchs: Sandpoint Reader”

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By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

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The rocky beaches lining the eastern shores of Lake Pend Oreille offer a picturesque escape for visitors today. With the majestic Green Monarch Mountains towering over 3,000 feet above the water and stunning views of the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains, this area has become a sought-after destination for boaters and kayakers looking to soak up the sun.

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However, over a century ago, this same shoreline was the backdrop for a series of chilling murders and mysterious deaths that sent shockwaves through the community.

‘Two old-time miners’

Howard Shipley, originally from Iowa, made his way west in 1889, accompanied by his longtime friend Patrick Welch, who hailed from Ireland. Shipley and Welch had been partners and friends for ten years before venturing from the Midwest to the Idaho panhandle in search of gold and silver.

After working as a fireman on the Kootenai River, Shipley and Welch settled about three miles south of where the Clark Fork River meets Lake Pend Oreille. They built a modest cabin, where they lived for more than two decades.

Though leading quiet lives, Shipley and Welch were well-known figures in the growing community of Hope. Newspaper snippets from the time shed light on their activities, from Shipley’s visits to Spokane for important business to Welch’s jury duty and Shipley’s illness attributed to excessive swimming in the lake.

‘Cold-blooded assassination’

The tranquillity of Shipley and Welch’s lives was shattered on June 18, 1914, when a group of Hope residents, led by Jimmy Simpson, reported suspicions about the miners’ cabin on the Green Monarchs beach. Upon investigation, blood was discovered in front of the cabin, leading to the gruesome discovery of the two men’s bodies inside.

Shipley, seated by the stove, and Welch, lying on his bed with his spectacles on and a magazine nearby, had been shot multiple times in a calculated attack. The community was left reeling from the brutal nature of the crime, prompting county officials to seek the apprehension of the killer or killers.

‘Escaped lunatic’

Three weeks later, a rancher named John Rhodes encountered a stranger attempting to break into his Moravia ranch outside Bonners Ferry. In a harrowing confrontation, Rhodes managed to fend off the assailant, identified as Charles Lappel, an escaped lunatic from the Warm Springs asylum of Montana.

A dramatic shootout ensued, resulting in Lappel’s demise and Rhodes sustaining a gunshot wound. Investigations revealed evidence linking Lappel to the murders of Shipley and Welch, bringing a sense of closure to the community.

‘Another tragedy’

In a tragic turn of events, four years after Shipley and Welch’s murder, Jimmy Simpson stumbled upon the body of J.A. “Al” Moore, a Hope resident, near the site of the previous crime. Moore had met his demise from a falling rock while tending to water works pipes near the Green Monarch mine.

Despite the ruling of accidental death, suspicions lingered within the community about the string of unfortunate incidents along the Green Monarchs beach.

Special thanks to the Bonner County Historical Society and East Bonner County Library for granting access to the archives of local newspapers online at eastbonner.historyarchives.online.