Bulkeley Wells was born in Chicago on March 10, 1872, to businessman Samuel Edgar Wells and Marry Agnes Bulkeley. He was educated at Roxbury Latin School and at Harvard University. He married into the wealthy family of Colonel Thomas L. Livermore, to daughter Grace Livermore. He moved to Telluride, Colorado, and joined the executive board of the Telluride Mining Association, and headed up the San Miguel County Citizens' Alliance (SMCCA). He had a deputy sheriff's commission, and was captain of Troop A of the Colorado National Guard. He was also a Mason, and an Elk. Wells became president and manager of the Smuggler-Union Mining Company after the murder of Arthur L. Collins.[1]
Bulkeley Wells was noted for his hostility to unions. He conducted a campaign of vilification of Vincent Saint John, the head of the Telluride Miners' Union. Wells also reached erroneous conclusions when a local mine guard by the name of William J. Barney abruptly disappeared. Wells decided that a murder had been committed, and believed that local union leaders were responsible. There was one difficulty with this scenario: William J. Barney was still alive.[2]