Colorado Spirit Quest #95 - Valley Brook Cemetery

!! Exciting New Cache Series!!

“COLORADO SPIRIT QUEST”

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.

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.

COLORADO SPIRIT QUEST is not affiliated with any other ‘Spirit Quest’ group. Special thanks and credit are given to SixDogTeam who started the Indiana Spirit Quest in 2004. The idea has rapidly spread into many states.

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.

If you are interested in joining the “Walking Through History Clan” 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.

Each person that places a CSQ cache is responsible for its maintenance.

REMEMBER:

If you are APPREHENSIVE about cemeteries – AVOID this series.

Thanks to Clan Members: Greasepot, Taylorgeotracker, Ivy Dog Parents, Team Boogity3, Grand High Pobah, Boborr 80909, Imusttravel2000, Buzz Lightyear I, Sandhill 49er, MrVolkswagen, Isisfan, LadyCoots, Rockymtn8iv, Fork-L-Man, *Sparky*, TwoCs, Outdrlvr201, Condor1 and 2Cachedivers.

New Clan members are always Welcome

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VALLEY BROOK CEMETERY

The first cemetery in Breckenridge was south of town and was cleared for mining operations that never transpired. All but one of the early graves were was relocated to Valley Brook Cemetery in 1882. The cemetery is laid out in streets and circles which when viewed from above form a Celtic cross (see the map just inside the cemetery entrance), echoing the northern European heritage of many of the town members. Many of the headstones are hand carved out of local materials such as marble from Marble, Colorado. There are many historical fences around the various plots made of chains, delicate baby wire, filigreed wrought iron, wooden arches, concrete barriers and stone pillars.

Breckenridge author, Sandra Mather, says "The cemetery's a book. If you go there and read the book, it tells you so much about the people, economy, medicine and social values of that time."

Among the people buried in this cemetery are 62 veterans, including 35 Civil War Veterans. As of 2014, this cemetery is recognized as a national historic site. This cache is available in the winter, but you may need snowshoes.