Editing Grand Lake, Colorado (section)

===Fred N. Selak, ″The Hermit of Grand Lake″===
'''Frederick Nicholas Selak''' (1865–1926) was an early pioneer of the Grand Lake area. He operated a stage line with his brother as well as saloons and other businesses in the early days of Grand Lake. When he died he owned 300 acres of land in and around Grand Lake as well as interest in two mining operations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fay |first1=Abbott |title=The Selak Hanging |url=https://stories.grandcountyhistory.org/article/selak-hanging |website=Grand County History Stories |publisher=Grand County Historical Association |access-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107004647/https://stories.grandcountyhistory.org/article/selak-hanging |archive-date=November 7, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Chronicles1">{{cite news |title=Chronicles of Clarence: Number III: The Selak Mystery |newspaper=Estes Park Trail |volume=V |issue= 17 |publisher=A. B. Harris |date=July 30, 1926 |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=ETG19260730-01.2.34&srpos=5&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22L.+W.+Coffee%22-------0----- |access-date=October 27, 2020 |location=Estes Park, CO |page=9}}</ref>

In 1926 Selak lived alone in a small log cabin about 3 miles outside of Grand Lake. He was referred to as "The Hermit of Grand Lake", but  was known to have loaned money to locals, and rumored to have stashed up to $500,000 on his property. After friends became concerned they had not seen Selak for over a week, they checked on him, found his house had been ransacked, floorboards torn up, and Selak nowhere to be found. An investigation by the local Sheriff was unable to identify any leads.<ref name="Chronicles1" /> The intrigue surrounding the hermit and his wealth made the crime mystery a national story. An article in ''[[True Detective (magazine)|True Detective Mysteries]]'' magazine described the crime in the June 1930 issue. The article had the title ''Echo Mountain′s Hanging Spectre'' and was written by A. G. Gertz of ''[[The Denver Post]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gertz |first1=A. G. |title=Echo Mountain's Hanging Spectre |magazine=True Detective Mysteries |pages=60–63, 97, 98 |publisher=MacFadden Publications |date=June 1926}}</ref>

Selak's sister in California, Lillian Coffee, and her husband, Lawrence W. Coffee, were notified when Selak went missing. The two traveled to Colorado to assist in locating her brother. Lawrence Coffee was credited for helping identify the two suspects that would later confess to Selak's murder.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mystery of Selak Murder Solved by Brother-In-Law |newspaper=The Denver Post |page=5 |date=August 18, 1926 |location=Denver, Colorado |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01170706175622054961608683364}}</ref>

The two men had hanged Selak July 21 as retaliation related to a fencing dispute. When found on August 17, Selak's remains were still hanging from the pine tree where he was killed almost a month earlier. Selak's murderers said they only found $75 and some old coins when they searched Selak's property. It was the coins that alerted Coffee as to who the perpetrators might be.<ref>{{cite news |title=Grand Lake Mystery May Be Cleared Up |url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=STP19260818.2.9&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22grand+lake+mystery%22-------0----- |access-date=October 28, 2020 |newspaper=The Steamboat Pilot |volume=42 |issue=5 |publisher=Chas. A. Leckenby |date=August 18, 1926 |location=Steamboat Springs, CO |page=1}}</ref> Rumors of the hidden cash persisted. In March 1927, convinced there must be more valuables or cash stashed somewhere on the property, the townspeople planned a search of his property as soon as the snow cleared.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hermit Slain, Neighbors To Seek His Gold |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65960697/hermit-slain-neighbors-to-seek-his/ |access-date=December 24, 2020 |newspaper=The Tampa Daily Times |issue=38 |volume=5 |publisher=The Tampa Publishing Company |date=March 28, 1927 |location=Tampa, FL |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Planned Search for Gold of Slain Hermit |newspaper=The Bee |page=5 |publisher=Rorer A. James Jr. |date=March 30, 1927 |location=Danville, VA |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65941982/plan-search-for-gold-of-slain-hermit/}}</ref>

The two perpetrators, '''Arthur Osborn''', 22 at the time of the murder, and his cousin, '''Ray Noakes''', 21, were found guilty and given the death penalty. Like the man they killed, they themselves were hanged. They were executed in [[Cañon City, Colorado]], on March 30, 1928.<ref>{{cite news |title=Boys Laugh and Joke During Death Hour; Face Noose Calmly |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01170706175622054961608688608 |access-date=December 23, 2020 |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=March 30, 1938 |location=Denver, CO |pages=[https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01170706175622054961608688608 1], [https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01170706175622054961608688875 3]}}</ref>