DAY 54: Tombstones, Legends and Columbine Flowers......

DAY 54:  Central City, Colorado
TEMP:  High 71 / Low 55

"Death may be the greatest of all human blessings."  

~Socrates

From our front window perch up on the mountaintop, you can make out a small cemetary on a hill at the base of this quaint little town several miles away.

Ever since we arrived here in Central City, I have been eyeing this cemetary eagerly wanting to check it out and see how old it is.  And today was the day!!

After breaking into the gate of the cemetary (just a little bit), I was enjoying walking around reading the headstones, taking pictures and imagining what these people had been like.  Since this town is a historic mining town founded in the mid-1800's during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush days, my imagination was in overdrive as I saw whole families buried here.

It was late in the day as I was making my final row of tombstones, when I looked up and saw a young man walking among the tombstones, taking pictures and making notes.  Our paths crossed and we started chatting about these ancient buriels.  Turns out, he's been coming here since 1985 and researching the families buried here.  He had a wealth of information that he gladly shared with me.

He walked me from grave to grave giving me background on many of the people buried there.

They ranged from a woman who was determined to be a witch by her peers.  Legend has it that if one stands just a few yards from her grave, a green mist will surround the area.

And then there's Sarah Ella Rudolph and her two children, who all died on the same day, buried in an avalanche in their home in 1899.   My new friend, Sean,  told how it took many rescuers to find the bodies, and how they heard the faint cry of one son who survived, and that they found Stella with a wooden beam on top of her, holding her daughter.

And then there's John E. Cameron's grave; it's been said to be visited annually on the anniversary of the young bachelor's death, Nov. 1, by a young woman, dressed in black, who is said to leave columbine flowers each year.

The cemetary history lesson continued until we had visited each grave....spoken about each life......calculated each life span......

So, was it just a coincidence that my new friend, Sean, just "happened" to show up at a small, lonely old cemetary when he did?  Hummmm.......