Eastonville Cemetery - Spirit Quest

"COLORADO SPIRIT QUEST"

There are hundreds of cemeteries in the rural and mountain communities across Colorado.

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.

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.

William S “Billy” Coon

Mexican War

Private Co F, 1^st Michigan Volunteers

Civil War

Private Co C & D 1^st Colo Cav

1822 – 18 April 1889

History is often hiding right under our noses. Sometimes it’s in the dilapidated and weathered wood of abandoned buildings, or on that plaque you walk by every day on your way to office, you may miss it in that box in grandpa’s attic, and sometimes you find it buried in an unmarked grave in a little cemetery east of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Such is the case with this story.

Let’s start from the beginning. While searching for near by caches, I came across an archived cache at the Eatonville Cemetery near Black Forest, Colorado. This plot of land was now wide open for a new cache! I approached my wife with the idea of putting a spirit quest in this location. To my surprise she had the list of names of all those resting here within minutes! We sorted through a handful of interesting prospectives and their initial stories and narrowed it down to a couple. After a bit more researching my wife came up with some interesting background for this Veteran. She dove deeper and deeper until nearly his whole story was revealed. Turns out we were not the only ones interested in Mr. Billy Coon as more of his current affairs are still unfolding.

William S “Billy” Coon is buried in an unremarkable grave. There is no official headstone, merely a flag stone stood up on end with the name “Billy Coon” roughly carved upon it. There are no dates. No dash. The all- important dash. The dash is THE story and everyone has a story.

William S Coon was born in Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York about 1822. Little is known about William from the time he was born in New York until he enlisted in the Michigan Volunteer Militia during the Mexican War. The Mexican war was a battle for borders in the years 1846 – 1848 between Mexico and the United States of America. President Polk made an offer to purchase the land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande River. When Mexico refused to sell the land to the U.S.A., Polk moved troops into the disputed territory. In retaliation, Mexico attacked the American Army Outpost in occupied territory. Twelve U.S. soldiers were killed and 52 captured. The same Mexican troops laid siege to an American fort along the Rio Grande. President Polk viewed this as an act of war and Congress declared it so.

William is granted a pension to show he enlisted in Company “F” 1^st Michigan Volunteers, in the Mexican War. His service record is not available online. The National Archive (NARA) has his record on file for a fee.

Coon makes his way westward after the Mexican War from Michigan to colorful Colorado. He may have been chasing gold and adventure. He remains a bachelor until after the Civil War. On September 8, 1861, he enlisted in the Colorado 1^st Volunteer Calvary, Company C, in Buckskin Joe, Colorado. (Buckskin Joe, formally known as the town of Laurette, was first settled in 1859 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. The town was formally organized in September 1860 and abandoned by 1866 as the gold deposits were exhausted. The site of Buckskin Joe is about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Alma, Colorado, at 39°17'35?N 106°05'17?W, at an altitude of 10,761 feet (3,280 m) above mean sea level.)

He came into the Civil War as a 3^rd Sargent. According to the “Transcript of the Records of the Colorado Volunteers” acquired at the state archive in Denver, William’s occupation at the time was blacksmith. He enlisted for a period of 3 years. Here we find the first physical description of our soldier. He was 5 feet, 5 inches tall, he had blue eyes, auburn hair and a fair complexion! He is also shown to have a powder scar on his right wrist.

Upon initial investigation of this soldier, we were hopeful that William served in the company of Silas Soule, Company D, during the Sand Creek Massacre; as William had a one point been transferred to company D. Soule refused his company to fire upon the undefended natives, mostly women, children, and the elderly. Soule is regarded as a hero in the Sand Creek Massacre and is well worth researching on your own! Alas, William was transferred to company D during consolidation of the troops after the Sand Creek Massacre, therefore not in the company of heroes. Do not be disheartened by this. Our veteran was on special assignment in November 1864 when the massacre happened.

William Coon held several assignments while in service to the US Army during the Civil War. He had Provost duty on several occasions in Denver and Camp Weld, he was employed by the quartermaster to doll out supplies to troops, a teamster running payroll from camp and spent some time in Camp Weld sick in the hospital, as well as nurse duty in Fort Collins.

Billy Coon’s service had him travel all over Colorado! September 8, 1861, Coon enlisted at Buckskin Joe, Park County, Colorado. This town was about 2 miles from present day Alma. It would seem that Billy Coon chased the Pikes Peak Gold Rush that started in 1859. The governor of the Colorado Territory was mustering an army for the Union during the Civil War. The strapping miners made good soldiers as they were already a hardy folk. Coon mustered in on the first of November 1861 as a 3^rd Sargent into Company C of the 1^st Colorado Volunteer Calvary in this mining town. On August 13, 1862, he is reduced in rank to private. This does not mean his demotion is a punishment. It may simply be that a fellow came along better equipped for the rank than he, and that there can only be a limited number of that rank.

His Civil War record shows that he was on provost guard duty (military guard) in Denver of the Colorado Territory in January and February of 1863, returning to Company C in March at Camp Weld just outside of the small town of Denver. In April he is employed by the quartermaster as a teamster. A teamster is like the truck drivers of today. They carry goods or supplies to and from various locations. Coon rejoins Company C from his detached service on June 20, 1863 at Fort Garland. Then from November 1863 to March 1864 he is absent from duty. It is noted that he is left in the hospital at Camp Weld. After recovering the hospital, Coon is back on provost duty in Denver April of 1864.

In May his provost duty continues but on the American Ranch. Here is an excerpt from, Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey: Historical Trail Maps of the Sterling 1 ox 2 Quadrangle, Northeastern Colorado, by Glenn R Scott, page 9, 10 and 11, that describes the presence of the 1^st Colorado Calvary in 1860s Weld county (which occupied the entire north eastern corner of the state).

“1864, May 2

Maj. Jacob Downing, Chivington's righthand-man, and the 1st Colorado Cavalry, guided by an unwilling Cheyenne Indian named Spotted Horse and Samuel Ashcroft, found and attacked a party of Cheyenne Indians in a camp in Cedar Canyon (not Battle Canyon as reported by some authorities, according to Dirk Ross, oral commun. 1986) , killed and wounded many, destroyed their village, and captured more than 100 head of stock”

Tensions between the Natives and the new white settlers in the Colorado Territory will escalate on November 29, 1864, when Col. John M Chivington leads an attack on a peaceable, undefended, Indian camp. This attack is known to us now as the Sand Creek Massacre.

“1864, Nov. 29

Col. John M. Chivington with approximately 950 (750?) men of· the 3rd Colorado Cavalry, 1st Colorado Cavalry, 1st New Mexico Infantry, and a howitzer battery marched south from Bijou Creek to Fort Lyons, Colo. on the Arkansas River. After obtaining a guide, they proceeded northeastward to Sand Creek, where they attacked between 500 and 1,000 supposedly peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, killed many and destroyed their village in what is called the Sand · Creek Massacre. After the attack, the Indians became much more troublesome and travel on the Overland Trail became nearly impossible.”

This event would be a catalyst of vengeance for the plains Indians. The attacks on the migratory paths of white settles and ranchers along the Overland Trail would suffer greatly in retaliation for the murder of unarmed woman and children and elderly natives. They were lulled into the impression that their camp would be safe from attack by U.S. armies. Chivington’s murderous desire to make a name for himself and glory in the victories of the west would eventually cost the U.S. $30 million in damages along the Overland Trail as a result of the plains tribes seeking vengeance. This would ramp up the Colorado War 1863 – 1865.

It is not clear whether William Coon participated in the massacre at Sand Creek or not. He was certainly enlisted at the time, in the 1^st Colorado Calvary, Co C, however, his record shows he served as Company Teamster November to December 1864. By February of that year his unit is consolidated into Company D. Coon is sent to Valley Station on the Overland Trail to protect the ranches and people traveling the trail.

From May to June of 1865, Coon is serving nurse duty in the Fort Collins hospital. The next month he is escorting the Pay Master to Denver. His service record shows quite a range of responsibilities. The end of his record shows that he has deserted the army on September 14, 1865 from Camp Wardwell (now Fort Morgan). Coon is in debt to the United States army one horse. It is assumed this horse was his method of desertion.

Little is seen of Billy Coon in the coming years as far as surviving documentation goes. There is an entry for application for the Homestead Act dated 14 February 1867 for land in Weld County. The entry also indicates that the application was cancelled. There was no indication why. Perhaps Coon returned to the mountains to chase his fortune. We do not know. He did eventually marry a woman named Mary and adopt her daughter Annie McGarven as seen on the 1885 Colorado State Census. Coon does receive a pension for service in the Mexican War and his wife inherits the pension after his death in 1889. He does purchase and work some land in Eastonville, Colorado near present day Peyton and Black Forest.

The American Legion, Falcon Branch is in the process of placing a veteran’s headstone on this forgotten soldier. His service certainly warrants it. Doreen Bronner of the American Legion contacted the Pikes Peak Genealogical Society to research this man’s life to fulfill the Veteran’s Headstone application. The application was approved, and the headstone delivered to the owner of the Eastonville Cemetery. Unfortunately, it arrived broken. The cemetery owner signed for the stone where it sits in his garage. By doing so, he has assumed responsibility for the headstone. He is in poor health, but his family is working with Doreen to have it replaced. We hope soon to see the head stone placed on the veteran’s grave, restoring dignity to his name, honor to his service, and remembrance to the tapestry of our rich Colorado history.

Start with visiting Mr. Coon at the posted coordinates. You will find his grave stone and a tree very near. Here you will find a bearing (Top#) and distance (Bottom#) to the final container. Now let me say and be clear, It's a gadget cache with a custom locking mechanism. For the record... It's nearly as hard to put back together as it is to open. PLEASE PLEASE take the time to be gentle and put back how you found it.

Hope you enjoyed the history and the cache. Remember to be respectuful!

Additional Waypoints