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Cemeteries of Hinsdale County, Colorado 1874-1995
The information on this page has been transcribed (with permission)
from a terrific book compiled and researched by a local Lake City
historian, Grant E. Houston. The title of the book is "Cemeteries of
Hinsdale County, Colorado 1874-1995, Revised 1996". This book
provides detailed information on individuals buried in a number of
historical cemeteries in Hinsdale County. The book does not contain
all deaths which have occurred in Hinsdale County since its
inception. Individuals who died in Hinsdale County but were
transported elsewhere for burial are not included. This book
contains more genealogical information then what is transcribed
here, permission was granted by the author to transcribe basic
genealogical information only.
Lake City Cemeteries
OLNEY CEMETERY
Two infant children of the Olney family are
buried near the head of the small gulch immediately west of Lake
City. The parents of both children are Henry C. and Eugenie (Wilde)
OLNEY. The graves are located in an evergreen grove overlooking Lake
City. There is a white marble marker and the remains of a wooden
picket fence.
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
OLNEY, Wilde |
17 Jul 1877 |
17 Jul 1877 |
Died a few hours after birth |
|
OLNEY, Willetta Blanche |
18 Mar 1879 |
1 May 1879 |
Age 6 weeks, 2 days |
CITY CEMETERY
The City Cemetery, also
known as Lower or Old Cemetery, came into existence in 1876. The
first death to occur in Lake City was in January, 1876, when William
F. RYAN died. The location of his burial is unknown. The marker of
Benjamin HOUSE, a Bluff Street faro dealer who died in October,
1876, is the oldest tombstone in the City Cemetery. This cemetery is
located on Cemetery Hill to the north of Lake City and just east of
Colorado Highway 149 as it enters the town.
All of the basic
genealogical information for this cemetery has already been
transcribed and is available on the
Find-A-Grave website.
IOOF CEMETERY
Silver Star Lodge No.
27, International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), decided to create
their own private burial ground on the northern outskirts of Lake
City in 1877. The first burial to take place in this cemetery was
Andrew T. HOPKINS, who died April, 1877. The IOOF cemetery is
located on Balsam Drive, to the north of Lake City and west of
Colorado Highway 149 as it enters the town.
Burial in the
IOOF cemetery was intended to be very restrictive. In the early
years of its existence only members of the Odd Fellows Lodge or
their immediate families were permitted to purchase burial plots.
Restrictions had loosened somewhat by 1900, and members of other
fraternities and sororities were allowed to be buried in the
cemetery. The cemetery was later opened to the general public and
was finally taken over by Hinsdale County after the Odd Fellows
Lodge was dissolved. The IOOF Cemetery remains the principal burial
location for Lake City at this time.
All of the basic
genealogical information for this cemetery has already been
transcribed and is available on the
Find-A-Grave website.
CAPITAL CITY
Capital City,
located 10 miles from Lake City on Henson Creek, started as Galena
City or Silver Glen in the spring of 1876. It was incorporated as
Capital City in 1877. A post office was started there in May of
1877, operating until 1920.
The Capital City Cemetery was
started in the late 1870's as a convenient burial ground for
residents of Capital City and the upper Henson Creek region. The
number of existing burial records seems too low and it is probable
that many burials went unrecorded. Lake City newspapers occasionally
carried Capital City obituaries, but these appear to be haphazard.
The cemetery is located on Forest Service property on a heavily
wooded hillside to the west of the original townsite. The cemetery
originally contained a number of elaborate memorials and wooden lot
fences. Since 1960, however, souvenir hunters have carried off
almost all traces of the old cemetery. As of 1985, only a few fence
fragments and an occasional depression mark the location of the
Capital City Cemetery.
All of the basic genealogical information
for this cemetery has already been transcribed and is available on
the
Find-A-Grave website.
UPPER HENSON CREEK
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
FERGUSON, Mr. |
Unknown |
16 Dec 1881 |
Mining accident-buried at Palmetto mine |
|
WORLEY, William Dean |
17 Sep 1934 |
31 May 1992 |
Small plane crash |
Upper Lake Fork
LAKE SAN CRISTOBAL
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
BUTLER, MR. |
UNKNOWN |
FOUND 12 MAY 1893 |
UNMARKED GRAVE |
HORSE THIEF TRAIL
Formerly used by
the Ute Indians during their summer encampments, this meandering
wilderness trail gained notoriety in the late 1870's due to its
frequent use by outlaws. The trail passed close to Lake City,
Silverton and Ouray, and was used by horse thieves to transport
stolen livestock between the San Luis Valley and the Paradox region
near present-day Grand Junction.
Two graves are known to
exist along Horse Thief Trail in Hinsdale County.
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
THOMAS, William E |
Unknown |
June 1879 |
Horse thief |
|
Unknown man |
About 35 years of age |
Found 24 Jul 1900 |
Froze to death |
CLAWSON CEMETERY
A wooden fence
enclosure on the former Clawson Ranch, located about 3 miles above
Lake San Cristobal on the Lake Fork River, contains the graves of
four members of the Timothy E. CLAWSON family. Tim Clawson first
came to Hinsdale County in 1874 and was one of the original pioneers
of the Burrows Park region.
The former Clawson Ranch had
successive owners and is today known as Red Cloud Ranch. The Clawson
family cemetery is located at the edge of the main ranch meadow on
the east side of the Lake Fork River.
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
CLAWSON, Amy Amelia |
10 Apr 1902 |
28 Aug 1902 |
Horse thief |
|
CLAWSON, Helen |
20 May 1897 |
5 Oct 1897 |
|
|
CLAWSON, Ruth |
22 Jan 1899 |
28 Sep 1899 |
Froze to death |
|
CLAWSON, Timothy C |
22 Sep 1903 |
31 Aug 1966 |
Son of Timothy E |
BURROWS PARK
The neighboring
settlements of Burrows Park, White Cross and Tellurium, located in a
narrow park near the headwaters of the Lake Fork River, 21 miles
from Lake City, represent some of the earliest mining activity in
Hinsdale County.
Mining accidents and the harsh weather in
these 10,700-foot elevation settlements claimed a number of lives,
but the majority were removed to Lake City for burial. Only two
burials, the exact locations of which are unknown, are thought to
exist in the park.
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
BURNETT, L Monroe |
Unknown |
5 Jul 1876 |
Disease of the heart |
|
SMITH, James |
Unknown |
6 Jul 1875 |
Mining accident |
Upper Rio Grande
The Upper Rio Grande section of Hinsdale
County, bordering on Mineral County since 1893, was settled in the
mid-1870's due to its fine agricultural land and transportation
routes. The Del Norte & Baker's Park Toll Road, between Del Norte
and Howardsville-Silverton passed through this section in 1873. In
1875, Del Norte businessmen extended the toll road from Antelope
Park over the Continental Divide to Lake City.
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
MARTINES, Aniceto |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Grave and wooden marker on route of old toll road
between Jerosa Mesa and Rambouillet Park. Verbal
tradition - stagecoach driver on old toll road. |
SAN JUAN CITY
San Juan City was
established on a speculative basis in 1874. From February 1874, for
one year until the following February in 1875, it served as the
county seat of the newly formed Hinsdale County. The settlement
never grew into a city or even a town, due to the lack of building
materials and its relative isolation from major mining centers. San
Juan City experienced a steady decline after February 1875, when the
county seat was moved to Lake City.
|
Name |
Date of Birth |
Date of Death |
Comment |
|
BENT, Eva M |
Age 19 years |
27 Apr 1900 |
Died in childbirth |
|
BENT, Infant |
27 Apr 1900 |
27 Apr 1900 |
Male child |
|
BRIDGEMAN, Grace May |
15 Sep 1877 |
1900 |
Tuberculosis |
|
BROOKS, Hermione |
Unknown |
Sometime between 1876 and 1880 |
Infant child |
|
MOSHER, Mr. |
15 years old |
July 1876 |
Ranching accident |
|
WING, Ada "Dolly" |
Age 22 years |
12 Sep 1887 |
Born in Sweden |
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