The New Hope Church and Cemetery were officially founded in 1873, however burials date back to 1870. Services at the church were discontinued in 1917 when the Wetmore Community Church opened. Some graves are unmarked and the engraving on some markers has been lost to erosion.
There is a fascinating story that the outlaw Jesse James may have been buried here under the pseudonym of James Sears. Read the article here (the section on New Hope Cemetery begins on page 8 and the Jesse James story starts on page 11). I added a waypoint for James Sears' grave site if you care to see it. What do you think about this story?
Be sure to check out the petrified tree stump a few feet west of the cache site.
Please be respectful!
! The Exciting Cache Series!
“COLORADO SPIRIT QUEST”
REMEMBER:
If you are APPREHENSIVE about cemeteries – AVOID this series.
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 that have ‘walked’ before us.
If you are interested in being a part of this project, 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.
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 CSQ endeavor is an enormous and relentless task and 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.
Each person that places a CSQ cache is responsible for its maintenance.
Thanks to the volunteers: Greasepot, Taylorgeotracker, Ivy Dog Parents, Team Boogity3, Grand High Pobah, Boborr 80909, Imusttravel2000, Buzz Lightyear I, Sandhill 49er, MrVolkswagen, Isisfan, Rockymtn8iv, Fork-L-Man, Outdrlvr201, Condor1, 2Cachedivers, arthurat, smilz787, Kyotmoon, Mountain Roamer, SugarPug, Team Tiger Pride, ernie66, drnetwork, Team w-bar-v, Dynamite Rabbit, DustyKat, mtnbirders, RustyBeerCan & Marma, grymreaper, nteclpr, Moose1 & Mama Moose, Joe Friday, 3cacheteers, 3cacheteers, Dasha Aussies, KB0UMW, hiking_fool, tripping, res71cue and 1Mrs1Ogre, and nickgatt, kingbee, The misgnoners, rbradu, shashyaz&foxy, Bugranger, Lyonden ut., Any Direction, Sewnssew, The Meandering Monkeys, Charlie-n-Geri, skibum1, gooftroop 4, stubywwjd, MaDDoGGaming, kingbee, Wolverine, Random Acts, lbmiller, BTBugs, God chaser, imcasey, lesslost2, Back Country Horseman, vorticity, Triggur, Eagle 2, imyy4u2, MikeAndJuli, and 9-rushman&famgirl79, TheBrecks, animjason, 3 Willams Kidz, RhyoliteRangers, Indiandunes,getoffmycachem, moncheers and Room1009
New VOLUNTEERS are always Welcome
* * * * * * * *
Additional Waypoints
R0794JY - James Sears/Jesse James
N 38° 15.883 W 105° 04.368
Grave marker of James Sears, who some believe to have been the outlaw Jesse James.
Colorado Spirit Quest #500 - A New Hope
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