Colorado Spirit Quest #413 - Capitol City Cemetery

Colorado Spirit Quest Series

Capitol City Cemetery

Small cache located at historic Capitol City. Bring your own pen. Do NOT disturb or deface any ruins.

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:

Galena City was established on 200 acres in the spring of 1876 as a silver mining town. By early 1877, Galena City had 2 stores, a post office, 100 cabins, and a smelter along with several hotels, saloons, and restaurants. In May 1877, George S. Lee arrived with ambitious plans for the town. Lee incorporated and renamed the town Capitol City most say because Lee hoped to see the city become Colorado's capital with Lee as Governor while others say it was named for nearby Capitol Mountain.

Lee built a second smelter, lime kiln, marble quarry, rock factory, and several saw and planing mills. However, Lee is most famous for building the Mountain House Hotel, commonly referred to as the Governors Mansion or Lee's Mansion, in 1879. The luxurious 2 story red brick mansion was Lee's personal residence and had high ceilings (on both floors), a formal living room, several guest bedrooms, a formal ballroom with a glassed-in bay window, and a small theatre with an orchestra pit. The mansion was complemented by a brick carriage house and brick outhouse. The bricks were purchased for $1.00 each and hauled from Pueblo. Lee drove a carriage pulled by 4 matching horses. Mrs. Lee and a friend from Lake City gave telephone concerts by singing together over the telephone while neighbors as far away as Silverton and Ouray listened in. In 1882, Lee's holdings became insolvent. Lee moved to Denver and later to New Jersey where he patented several inventions.

Capitol City remained active with a population of 800 in the 1890s. By the early 1910s, Capitol City was mostly abandoned. Today, the post office and a small cabin remain along with some ruins along the bank of North Henson Creek.

The Capitol City Cemetery was started in the late 1870's and used by residents of Capitol City as well as residents of the Upper Henson Creek area. According to Hinsdale County Historian, Grant Houston, existing burial records seem low and it is likely that many burials went unrecorded. Records show that burials at the Capitol City Cemetery include O.B. Adair (d1877), Wilbur Guy Donnell (b1876 d1878), Johnnie Dwyer (b1881 d1882), Annie Jameson (b1835 d1909), David Kincaid (d1877), John Mackin (d1881), Infant of Phil McMahon (d1882), Anna M. Walsh (b1895 d1902), Ida Walsh (b1874 d1907), Mary Walsh (b1907 d1907), Peter A. Walsh Jr. (b1907 d1907), Peter A. Walsh Sr. (b1868 d1918), Daughter of A. E. Wells (d1907).

Of the 13 recorded burials, 6 are from the Walsh family (Annie Jameson was Ida Walsh's grandmother). In 1907, 3 members of the Walsh family died less than 3 weeks apart. On January 29, Ida Walsh died after child birth. On February 5, Peter Walsh Jr. died after swallowing alum which he mistook for powdered sugar. On February 15, Mary Walsh died at 1 month old. Following this tragedy, Peter Walsh Sr. moved to Denver and worked for the Denver Police Department until his death.

Today, the cemetery is located on Forest Service property on a heavily wooded hillside. The cemetery originally had many elaborate memorials and wooden lot fences. Sadly, after 1960 souvenir hunters removed almost all traces of the cemetery. Only a few fence fragments and an occasional depression remained. Recently, the cemetery has been fenced off and restored as much as possible.

Information primarily taken from "Cemeteries of Hinsdale County, Colorado" by Grant E. Houston (1996).

Sign 2011		Illustration dated 1880. Shows Lee's Mansion.

Post Office Outside 2011		Post Office Inside 2011

Cabin Outside 2011		Cabin Inside 2011

The Collapse of Luxury - Lee's Mansion:

Shows Outhouse		1930-1950 by Muriel Sibell Wolle

1955 by Al Bachman		1955 by Al Bachman

1956-1960 by Muriel Sibell Wolle		1961-1980 by Sandra Dallas

North Henson Creek ruins:

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.

Additional Waypoints

R134J8D - Capitol City Cemetery
N 38° 00.560 W 107° 28.025

R234J8D - North Henson Creek Ruins
N 38° 00.460 W 107° 28.075