Historic Cemetery Tour
Buena Vista
Yesterday we went on
a historic cemetery tour to Mt Olivet Cemetary in BV. Re-enactors in costume were standing near "their" graves, and told of their lives and how they died.
The couple are Mr and Mrs. McPhelemy who came from Ireland during the potato famine. After a few years in the east, they heard of free land and gold in the west and moved their family to Colorado. He worked in the mines and later ranched, eventually becoming prosperous after some hard years of scraping to get by. They donated the land for McPhelemy Park.
The next one was a Madam, also known as a "soiled dove". She married a much older cruel man when she was 14, and he forced her into working at a brothel. That husband eventually died, and after several years of running the brothel, she remarried for love. They had some happy years, and she did charity work, trying to atone for her history. But when she died, the town refused to let her funeral be held at the church - they never forgave her for being a madam. Her husband held a service in their front yard.
This guy had a very colorful past -- he was a gold miner but never struck it rich. He tried other work, and finally went east and studied homeopathy and became the equivalent of a pharmacist. On one of his travels, he was attacked by a grizzly bear and badly wounded. His friends got him to the doctor and after months he was able to walk again. Somewhere in there he was also shot and wounded.
He recovered from all his misadventures and lived to the age of 91. He was county comissioner in his later years.
The older lady "Byrd" also had a very interesting life. She was born into a large very poor family who had too many children. For amusement, the children would wave at the train when it passed by. The conductor would always give this little girl a special wave. One day the train conductor and his wife came to their house and asked the parents if they could have this little girl. The parents said yes, so she went to live with them. This couple raised the girl and gave her a good education including music lessons. She married young but wasn't really in love with her husband. One day she was at some event with a friend and spotted a very handsome man. She said "I want to marry that man", so she left her first husband and married the handsome man who was also very rich. This husband pampered her and gave her everything she wanted. She wanted to take nurses to Europe - this was during WWI. So her husband paid for her to recruit women and train them as nurses, even bought them uniforms. Byrd took her nurses overseas to help the soldiers, and while there she met royalty and became friendly with them. After the war she came back to Colorado, and bought a hot springs resort. She invited her foreign friends to come and they did. She had all kinds of adventures and lived to be an old lady.
The saddest story was told by a young widow. She and her husband, who worked for the railroad, had two young children. Their wedding anniversary was coming up at the same time that a dance was going to be held in town. She got a new dress and her young husband got new boots. They danced all night and the children fell asleep on a bench. The next morning her husband had big blisters on both feet from too much dancing in his new boots. Two weeks later he died from blood poisoning. The young widow was overcome by grief. The railroad officials felt sorry for her and gave her a job as a telegraph operator in remote post in the mountains. She worked there almost a year, but felt so isolated and had no one to talk to and no way to resolve her grief. One day she just snapped and jumped in front of a train and died. Some passengers on the train took the two children to raise.
There were many other stories, but these are the ones I remember. Most of the characters told how hard their lives were. We paid $8 each for the tour, and it was well worth it. All proceeds go to the Buena Vista Heritage Association. This was a great "Living History" opportunity. History was never this interesting in school!
Yesterday we went on
a historic cemetery tour to Mt Olivet Cemetary in BV. Re-enactors in costume were standing near "their" graves, and told of their lives and how they died.The couple are Mr and Mrs. McPhelemy who came from Ireland during the potato famine. After a few years in the east, they heard of free land and gold in the west and moved their family to Colorado. He worked in the mines and later ranched, eventually becoming prosperous after some hard years of scraping to get by. They donated the land for McPhelemy Park.
The next one was a Madam, also known as a "soiled dove". She married a much older cruel man when she was 14, and he forced her into working at a brothel. That husband eventually died, and after several years of running the brothel, she remarried for love. They had some happy years, and she did charity work, trying to atone for her history. But when she died, the town refused to let her funeral be held at the church - they never forgave her for being a madam. Her husband held a service in their front yard.
This guy had a very colorful past -- he was a gold miner but never struck it rich. He tried other work, and finally went east and studied homeopathy and became the equivalent of a pharmacist. On one of his travels, he was attacked by a grizzly bear and badly wounded. His friends got him to the doctor and after months he was able to walk again. Somewhere in there he was also shot and wounded.
He recovered from all his misadventures and lived to the age of 91. He was county comissioner in his later years.
The older lady "Byrd" also had a very interesting life. She was born into a large very poor family who had too many children. For amusement, the children would wave at the train when it passed by. The conductor would always give this little girl a special wave. One day the train conductor and his wife came to their house and asked the parents if they could have this little girl. The parents said yes, so she went to live with them. This couple raised the girl and gave her a good education including music lessons. She married young but wasn't really in love with her husband. One day she was at some event with a friend and spotted a very handsome man. She said "I want to marry that man", so she left her first husband and married the handsome man who was also very rich. This husband pampered her and gave her everything she wanted. She wanted to take nurses to Europe - this was during WWI. So her husband paid for her to recruit women and train them as nurses, even bought them uniforms. Byrd took her nurses overseas to help the soldiers, and while there she met royalty and became friendly with them. After the war she came back to Colorado, and bought a hot springs resort. She invited her foreign friends to come and they did. She had all kinds of adventures and lived to be an old lady.The saddest story was told by a young widow. She and her husband, who worked for the railroad, had two young children. Their wedding anniversary was coming up at the same time that a dance was going to be held in town. She got a new dress and her young husband got new boots. They danced all night and the children fell asleep on a bench. The next morning her husband had big blisters on both feet from too much dancing in his new boots. Two weeks later he died from blood poisoning. The young widow was overcome by grief. The railroad officials felt sorry for her and gave her a job as a telegraph operator in remote post in the mountains. She worked there almost a year, but felt so isolated and had no one to talk to and no way to resolve her grief. One day she just snapped and jumped in front of a train and died. Some passengers on the train took the two children to raise.
There were many other stories, but these are the ones I remember. Most of the characters told how hard their lives were. We paid $8 each for the tour, and it was well worth it. All proceeds go to the Buena Vista Heritage Association. This was a great "Living History" opportunity. History was never this interesting in school!
posted by RVmom at 7:52 PM
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