GC1ENEE Colorado Spirit Quest #68 - Pioneer Black Cemetery
Type: Traditional | Size: Micro | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Ivy Dog Parents @ | Hide Date: 07/28/2008 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 58.007 W104° 50.154 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
 

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!! 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 – Mo untain 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, and Grand High Pobah, CDirtO, FulComers, Boborr 80909, Imusttravel2000, Buzz Lightyear I, Sandhill49er, MrVolkswagen, Isisfan, LadyCoots, Rockymtn8iv, and Fork-L-Man.

New Clan members are always Welcome

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This cemetery is called both Pioneer Cemetery and Black Cemetery (because it was owned by the Black family).

In 1859, James and Mary Blundell came to Colorado with ideas of the "Gold Rush." They had little luck mining and so came to present day Brighton to homestead. James Blundell staked out his 80 acres in the Spring of 1860.

Thomas Donelson and his wife, Laura Aiken Donelson, came to Colorado from Ohio with James and Mary Blundell. Thomas Donelson bought the land next to the Blundells, which was One Hundred and Twenty acres."

Thomas Donelson built the first frame house between Ft. Lupton and Denver on his land.

In 1864 Laura Donelson died and was buried in the cemetery with Mary Blundell. Thomas Donelson had a son, James E. in 1860. James died in 1869 and was buried with his mother. Thomas Donelson had a daughter, Mary M. Donelson. She married the neighbor boy, William Blundell.

There are sixteen headstones in the Pioneer Cemetery. The people buried in the cemetery were members of the Donelson or Blundell families, close friends of the two families and a few neighbors.

The property which once belonged to James Blundell was sold to M. E. Black. The cemetery itself was never sold, or legally passed down from generation to generation. Presently, Hattie McCoy claims ownership of the land that the cemetery is on.

A woven-wire fence surrounds the cemetery. There are sixteen headstones; some are broken and crumbling. There have also been a few new headstones added to replace the older ones. In the middle is a small area, surrounded by a high, black, spear-tipped fence.

The fence was locked with no way to get into the cemetery.

04/26/2019 By Linnymitch
G

01/06/2019 By Shanda80
Nice history

11/07/2018 By Skyho
Great little spot. I’m sure the roofers were wondering what we were doing. Out with hubby cco37. Walked around fence and paid our respects. SL. TFTH.

11/07/2018 By CCO37
Quick find with my wife Skyho. The cache was right where it was supposed to be. There was some roofing going on next to us, but they never noticed. Great location, thanks for bringing us there.

TFTC SL.

10/15/2018 By caverdon
Our family is on vacation in Colorado. We've been in Colorado Springs earlier, and we stayed overnight in a hotel close by while on our way north. In the early morning hours my family was still sleeping in. So as not to disturb them I checked out the surrounding area and picked up a few more geocaches.

It was bitterly cold this morning with a few inches of snow on the ground from yesterday's winter storm. Wherever I hunted caches, sometimes I left bootprints in the snow leading to them. I guess any cachers today won't need their GPSr!

I didn't expect anyone at this cemetery in the early morning, but there was a vehicle parked near the cemetery (opposite from the GZ). Someone was going out into the nearby cornfield, checking it out, and coming back to their vehicles a few times. At first I thought it was another cacher, but I guess not. I was able to park on the other side of the cemetery a few feet from GZ and out of sight of the other person.

At first I was concerned because the gate was locked and there was no access into the cemetery. I searched anyway, and soon found it. While inside the cemetery, you don't have to be inside to get it. It was really tough searching for a while, because the snow covered all the possible hiding places around it. I SL and replaced as I found it.

TFTC at this part of Colorado history!

09/09/2018 By Chino644
Came back and found it haha

09/09/2018 By Chino644
Couldn’t find it unfortunately

08/26/2018 By Nala2325
Clever hide thanks for the cash

05/22/2018 By robespierre50
Interesting history - must have been in the middle of nowhere in the 1860s. tftc sl

04/01/2018 By cjcacher01
Interesting place I never would have visited if it wasn't for geocaching. TFTC!!!

01/05/2018 By dustyriver
Good cache find with BriGuy on a good start to a "many cache finds" day.