This cemetery is the Fonder Cemetery.
Pioneers Hubert and Miriam Fonder were married in 1862. He was a miner from Belgium and she was from Ohio. They met in Idaho Springs. Hubert joined the army shortly thereafter and Miriam traveled with his battery, acting as laundress for the soldiers. He was discharged in 1865 and they settled on 80 acres, called Shingle Ranch, just west of the current Ponderosa High School.
The main person in this tale is Miriam. She was born in 1835. At age two she suffered severe burns on her face from a fireplace accident. After marrying Hubert, she contracted mountain fever. Hubert went to Kansas for awhile and she supported herself and her children by washing clothes for the miners. In 1871, Hubert was killed while trying to break a horse. Hubert is buried in this cemetery. Miriam had four children and a fifth on the way. A blizzard killed most of her cattle and grasshoppers ate the crops. She eventually moved to Glenwood Springs and is buried in Rosebud Cemetery. She died at age 91. This was one tough lady.
She supposedly taught school but there is no record of this. However, there is a Fonder School still in existence near the cemetery.
To claim this geocache, email the age George died. This is the north-west marker. Photos are fine for verification.
JimReeb@ecentral.com
Thanks Geocaching Colorado for the Geocache of the Month Award, as the second series to win!
