Micro located near the Elze graves. Bring your own pen
& tweezers.
Please make sure container is closed
securely and re-hidden as well or better than you found it.
Maintaining the difficulty rating depends on
you.
History:
In 1902, Willhelm "William" and Henrietta Elze,
immigrants from Germany, homesteaded in the upper Ohio Creek
valley. Initially, Willhelm worked in the
Baldwin coal mines and, later, worked as a rancher. Willhelm
and Henrietta had 13 children, including 3 sets of twins. Only 7 of
the Elze children survived. Of the 6 children that died, Otto and
Anna Elze are buried on the old Elze ranch near an old building in
unmarked graves.
Clyde Buffington, who owned a ranch adjoining the Elze ranch
property, reported that during the 1918 - 1919 Spanish Flu
Epidemic, 5 other children from 1 unnamed area family died. The
dead children were frozen in a shed all winter and then buried
together in a common grave in the trees on the western side of the
property. This report has not been confirmed.
The old Elze ranch and Elze graves are now part of the gated
private Wilderness Streams subdivision. The Elze name remains on
the William Elze Ditch.
Information primarily taken from
"Graves of the Gunnison Country" by Judy Buffington Sammons
(2011).
| Old Building Near Graves |
|
Elze Ranch 2011 |
 |
|
 |
Please take some time to reflect back
on the lives of these pioneers and the effort it took to make
Colorado such a great state!! The only guarantee in life is death.
Where will you be?
Colorado Spirit Quest
Information:
The Colorado Spirit Quest (CSQ) 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 provide a history tour of these cemeteries. If you are
apprehensive about cemeteries, avoid this series.
The CSQ endeavor is an enormous and relentless task. It will
only flourish if there is a multitude of volunteer cachers willing
to place these caches. Each person that places a CSQ cache is
responsible for its maintenance.
New volunteers are always Welcome!! If you are
interested in being a part of this project,
email the owner of
Colorado Spirit Quest #1 – Golden Mountain Passage.
Thanks to the current 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, and The Meandering
Monkeys.
Colorado Spirit Quest #410 - Otto & Anna Elze
| Difficulty: 
| Terrain: 
4 
1 
1