Colorado Spirit Quest #418 - Coursey Memorial

Colorado Spirit Quest Series

Sheriff Roger Coursey

Memorial

Micro located near the Sheriff Roger Coursey Memorial. Bring your own pen & tweezers. Do NOT disturb or deface any memorials.

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:
Roger Coursey was appointed Hinsdale County Sheriff in August 1994, and was elected to his first term on November 8, 1994. Prior to becoming sheriff, Coursey was an undercover agent for the state of Wyoming, a deputy sheriff in Utah and Colorado, and Hinsdale County Undersheriff. Coursey also taught and trained many other law enforcement officers at the Delta-Montrose Technical College.

On November 8, 1994, Coursey jumped into the icy water of Lake San Cristobal near Lake City and saved the life of Tommy Thompson, a National Park Service employee. In the early morning of November 18, 1994 (just 10 days after being elected), a series of burglaries, including a bank, took place in Creede in neighboring Mineral County. At 5:50am, Sheriff Roger Coursey and Undersheriff Ray Blaum stopped a suspicious pickup truck at the entrance to the Alfred Packer Massacre site. Coursey and Blaum contacted the occupants, Mark Allen Vredenburg and Ruth Slater. As Coursey stood near the driver's door telling the driver to get out, Vredenburg shot him in the chest, killing him instantly at the age of 44. Blaum, standing on the passenger side, emptied his gun at the pickup truck as it sped away and went to Coursey's aid.

A few hours later, the bullet ridden truck was found abandoned about a mile away. The killing virtually shut down Lake City, while the search for the two suspects was conducted house by house. Residents were warned to lock their doors, and they curled up in their beds with hunting rifles. A nationwide manhunt began for the suspects. A segment on TV's "America's Most Wanted" led to scores of false sightings of the suspects in half a dozen states. After the nationwide search failed, the FBI suggested another check near the murder scene. On December 17, 1994, an avalanche rescue dog found the frozen bodies of Vredenburg and Slater with suicide notes under a tree covered with a brown sleeping bag on a steep mountainside south of Lake City less than half a mile from where the truck was abandoned. Vredenburg and Slater died not long after killing Sheriff Coursey.

On November 18, 1995, near where the bodies of Vredenburg and Slater were found, a radio transmitter was put into operation and dedicated to Sheriff Roger Coursey.

Please take some time to reflect back on the life of Sheriff Roger Coursey and all fallen law enforcement officers. Freedom, peace, and justice all come at a high cost. Sheriff Roger Coursey and his family paid the ultimate price.

The next time you interact with a law enforcement officer please remember to thank them for their service.

Information primarily taken from "Tribute to Hinsdale County Sheriff Roger Coursey" by Scott McInnis (November 29, 1994), Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial Book Online, Deseret News articles, and Lake City Radio Station website.

Memorial Front		Memorial Closeup		Memorial Back

Grave Marker at Hinsdale County Cemetery


Radio Transmitter Plaque		Radio Transmitter

Notes may be left on Sheriff Roger Coursey's Online Memorial Page.

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.