ERL H. ELLIS PAPERS

Erl Hubert Ellis (1888-1984) was born April 10 in Garden City, Kansas. His father, Daniel Buckley Ellis, a native of Clinton, Iowa, was a successful attorney. His mother, Laura Francis (Smith) Ellis, was the first white child born in Fargo, Dakota Territory (later North Dakota). The family moved to Denver, Colorado where Ellis attended East High School. In 1910, Ellis received his B.A. degree from the University of Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1912 and was admitted to the Colorado Bar the same year.

In 1937, Ellis gained notoriety when he entered a guilty plea to misdemeanor charges for planting a recording device in the office of then governor Teller Ammons. Ellis, acting in concert with Walden Sweet, a reporter for The Denver Post and Jack Gilmore, a private investigator, placed two microphones in ventilator shafts in the governor's office. He claimed that he sought to uncover evidence of malfeasance and bribery on the part of Governor Ammons. Previously, Ellis had tackled illegal slot machine operations, and helped put Colorado's Secretary of State in jail for graft. Although Governor Ammons was cleared of any charges in the affair, he lost his re-election bid to Ralph Carr in 1939. The Colorado Supreme Court suspended Ellis from practicing law for one year, and a grand jury indicted him as a public nuisance. However, within a year Ellis had been reinstated, and the entire episode had blown over.

During World War II, Ellis worked as an office manager during the construction of the 10th Mountain Division's training base at Camp Hale, Colorado in 1942. Later, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve as an ensign and an instructor in naval aviation.

During his legal career, Ellis served as Chair of the Colorado State Bar Association and was a member of the American Bar Association. He specialized in Colorado mining law for over fifty years. In addition to his expertise in mining law, numerous Colorado corporate and financial interests retained him as legal counsel through the law firm Ellis, Melville and Winner.

Ellis had an intense interest in western history. He became active in the Colorado Historical Society and in the Denver Posse of the Westerners, where he served as Sheriff. He published five books and numerous articles. An avid outdoorsman, Ellis joined many skiing and mountain-climbing clubs, including the Arlberg Club. He skied until he was well into his 80's.

Ellis married Elizabeth Swann on December 2, 1914, and the couple had one son. Elizabeth died in 1939 and Ellis married Carrie Scott in 1950. Ellis died on July 9, 1984 in Denver at the age of 96.