!! Exciting New Cache Series!!
“COLORADO SPIRIT
QUEST”
The Colorado
Spirit Quest is a series of Caches placed by many individuals, near
cemeteries and historic sites in hopes of paying respect to the
many pioneer ancestors who have ‘walked’ before
us.
There are hundreds of
cemeteries in the rural and mountain communities across Colorado.
This series will introduce you to many of them.
The cache
pages will provide a virtual history tour of the cemeteries and
tombstones.
COLORADO
SPIRIT QUEST is not affiliated with any other ‘Spirit
Quest’ group. Special thanks and credit are given to
SixDogTeam who started the Indiana Spirit Quest in 2004. The idea
has rapidly spread into many states.
The CSQ
endeavor is an enormous and relentless task. It cannot be
accomplished by just one or two people. This project will only
flourish if there is a multitude of volunteer cachers willing to
place these caches.
After
locating the cache container, take some time to reflect back on the
lives of those pioneers and the effort it took to make Colorado
such a great state.
If you are interested in
joining the “Walking Through History Clan” contact may
be made by sending an e-mail to the owner of “Colorado Spirit
Quest #1 – Mountain Passage”. Use the ‘Send
Message’ link at the center of the page of their
profile.
Each person who places a CSQ cache is responsible for its
maintenance.
REMEMBER:
If
you are APPREHENSIVE about cemeteries – AVOID
this series.
Thanks to Clan Members: Greasepot, Taylorgeotracker, Ivy Dog
Parents, Team Boogity3, Grand High Pobah, Boborr
80909,Imusttravel2000, Buzz Lightyear I, Sandhill 49er,
MrVolkswagen, Isisfan, LadyCoots, Rockymtn8iv, Fork-L-Man,
*Sparky*, TwoCs, Outdrlvr201, Condor1, 2Cachedivers, arthurat,
smilz787, Kyotmoon and Mountain Roamer.
New
Clan members are always Welcome
* * * * * * * *
I really enjoyed researching information about this cemetery. I
learned a lot about the history of Fort Collins and I hope you do
too!
ABOUT THE GRANDVIEW CEMETERY:
In 1887, Thomas Connolly purchased this land for $50/acre. At the
time, it was 1.5 miles west of the city. Originally called Grand
View, it had abundant water rights from the Plesant Valley and Lake
Canals. A 40-acre tract was laid out by landscape garnders for the
cemetery. Originally, there were attractive circular drives and
several small parks with lush bluegrass, groomed shrubs and
beautiful flowers.
Sadly, the first interment here was a 3-month old baby named Felix
Scoville. He was buried on November 21, 1887. His grave can be
found in Section K. While I was visiting the cemetery, I was able
to find his grave—to my surprise, rather quickly. The
coordinates for his gravesite are included in this listing so you
can visit, too.
The graves from one of Fort Collins’s two original
cemeteries, Mountain Home Cemetery, were moved around the same time
as the burial of Baby Felix. From what I could learn in my
research, no records remain as to the number of burials that were
transferred, but it is estimated that the transferr work took a
great deal of time.
Another interesting fact I learned is that the graves from the Post
Cemetery, the other original cemetery in Fort Collins, were moved
to Mountain Home Cemetery in 1873. Then when Mountain Home was
moved, all the remains were again moved to Grandview Cemetery.
Approximately 6-10 unidentified soldiers’ remains were found
in the Post Cemetery. The remains of one of these deceased soldier,
W.W. Westfall, a member of Company J, 13th Missouri Volunteer
Cavalry who died on November 3, 1865, was included in this group.
His identity is know because a small bottle with a note written
about him was found with his remains. His grave now lies on the
front edge of the Soldier’s Section and is marked with a
simple headstone.
Section S was set aside and dedicated to the use of George H.
Thomas/Post No. 7/Grand Army of the Republic and included the
remains of the soldiers buried at the Post Cemetery. Also buried
here are veterans of the Spanish-American War, both World Wars and
the Korean War. At the center of this section atop a 6-foot base is
a life-size statue of a Union Civil War soldier at parade rest.
This memorial was erected in 1905 and cost $1,250. At one time,
there were two Civil War cannons in front of the monument. They
were donated by the Granddaughters of the American Revolution. In
1972 one of the cannons was destroyed by vandals; the other was
donated to the Fort Collins Museum in 1986.
Across the road from the Soldiers’s Memorial is the Volunteer
Fireman’s Memorial. It was dedicated to the Volunteer Fire
Department in 1909.
In 1918, additional lots were needed because of the number of
deaths related to a sever influenza epidemic. The Grandview
Addition, a 10-acre section south of the original cemetery that was
opened in 1915, had to be used.
The bridge over the canal and the rustic flower receptacles were
built in 1924 to give the cemetery enterance a pleasing look. Some
of the rustic planters can be found through the cemetery. In
addition, many trees and shrubs have been planted over the years
making Grandview one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the
area.
The Armed Forces Flag Display at the enterance of the cemetery was
added in 1994 and the Four Seasons Columbarium was added in 1995.
Today Grandview consists of approximately 45 developed acres,
34,000 grave spaces, 70 crypts, 336 niches, and over 22,000
burials.
Some famous, and infamous, Fort Collins inhabitants at Grandview
include:
- Joseph Mason, the first white settler in the Fort Collins
area
- James Howe, the only person ever lynched in Fort Collins. On
April 4, 1888, Howe, while intoxicated, fatally wounded his wife,
Eva, with a knife. He was arrested but did not survive to see a
trial. He was lynched in the courthouse yard the night of the
murder. From what I can find so far, his grave is unmarked.
- Elizabeth Stratton, the town's first school teacher
- Benjamin Whedbee, Fort Collins' first mayor
- Frank Potts, reported to be a train
robbed
- Agnes Giddings, the first settler's
child born in Fort Collins
- Auntie Elizabeth Stone, one of the
city's first settlers who was quite a businesswoman
- Joseph McClelland, editor of Fort
Collins' first newspaper
Oddly, Lt. Col. William O. Collins, after whom the city was named,
is not buried here or in any cemetery in Fort Collins. He died and
was buried in Hillsboro, Ohio
At the time of this listing, I wasn’t abel to locate these
graves, but when I do, I’ll add the coordinates.
If you’re a local history buff, this cemetery is certainly
worth visiting. And if your into ghost stories, you might want to
visit, too. One cemetery worker claims to have seen ghosts while
working around the park. He claims to have seen a woman in a
flowing gown walking her dogs.
If you want to visit the various memorials and gravesites in the
cemetery, please do so during the day because the cemetery closes
at dark. As always, be respectful while visiting and follow all
cemetery rules and regulations. If you’re interested in a
historical tour of Grandview Cemetery, you can call the cemetery at
221-6810 to make arrangements.
ABOUT THE CACHE:
You do not need to enter the cemetery to access this cache and
there is plenty of parking along Laport Ave. Or you can park at
N40° 35.328 W105° 06.636 and walk less than 300ft to the cache.
Bring something to write with because the cache is only large
enough to hold a log and very small trade items