Colorado Spirit Quest #176 Rose Hill Redux

Rose Hill Cemetery, in the heart of historic Commerce City, was established in 1892 on what at the time was an open plain by the United Hebrew Cemetery Association.

Max Levin died on August 25, 1892, one month before Rose Hill Cemetery began keeping records. Although the details of what killed Max have faded from memory, it's easy to imagine what happened immediately after he died. The chevra kaddisha, the sacred society of Jewish men who consider preparation of the dead to be the ultimate mitzvah, would have arrived to wash his body, dress him in plain linen shrouds and his prayer shawl and place him in a plain pine coffin. Then Max would have been taken by horse-drawn hearse into the countryside now known as Commerce City. If this trip was made after dark, lanterns would have swung from the hearse as it traversed the sandy roads from west Denver, where, as a Jew, Max probably had lived. When he was laid to rest, Max may have joined a few other Jews, their graves marked and otherwise -- but 107 years later, his grave is the earliest anyone can point to. Seven thousand graves plus have been dug and filled there since Max arrived.

Jews arrived in Colorado with the Gold Rush in 1859. The oldest Jewish burials in Denver were conducted by the pioneer organization, the Hebrew Burial and Prayer Society (later known as the Hebrew Cemetery Association) from 1860 to 1910 and were
interred at the Denver Pioneer Cemetery “Old Jewish Section” located east of Cheesman Park on Capitol Hill.

Most Jewish remains and gravestones there were moved to the nonsectarian Riverside Cemetery and to the Jewish Fairmount, Golden Hill and Rose Hill Cemeteries in the early 1900s due to urban development.

"COLORADO SPIRIT QUEST"

The Colorado Spirit Quest is a series of Caches started in 2008. Placed by many individuals, near cemeteries and historic sites in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that 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.

The Colorado Spirit Quest 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 placing a "Colorado Spirit Quest" you should contact Ivy Dog Parents or Joe Friday.

Each person that places a Colorado Spirit Quest cache is responsible for its maintenance.