The Kokomo Cemetery

The town of Kokomo was abandoned by the time the Climax Molybdenum operation took over the property it sat on. Every once in a while, I run across a new piece of information or a photo from Kokomo, and I'm always intrigued. The town was known as a "wild west" sort of place, the opposite of its tamer neighbor, Robinson. Located high above what we know now as the Copper Mountain Resort, it was once the home of the "highest" Masonic Lodge (in elevation) in the United States.

Big enough to maintain its own cemetery, but not big enough to survive the ups and downs of a mining based economy. In the sixties, the Climax operation wanted to use the land as a reservoir, and what was left of the town was covered with water. Thankfully, they moved the bodies from the cemetery to other nearby locations, and Breckenridge's Valley Brook got most of the deceased buried there.  Today, I stumbled across a record indicating who was transferred to Breckenridge, and who was buried in other locations. It indicated what I thought to be true; that Valley Brook was indeed the designated cemetery.

A Map of A Portion of Valley Brook Cemetery
Image ©Jen Baldwin, Ancestral Journeys, 2013

One of the great benefits from this piece was that it also listed the next of kin for each person that was being moved!

Here's a transcription of the body of the document:

Page 1:

"IN THE DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR

THE COUNTY OF SUMMIT AND STATE OF COLORADO

Civil Action NO. 2299

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF THE

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF THE 

COUNTY OF SUMMIT, STATE OF COLORADO, 

ACTING AS A BOARD OF HEALTH, FOR THE 

VACATION OF KOKOMO CEMETERY, SUMMIT

COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO.

Received for filing in the office of the County Clerk and Recorder of the County of Summit and State of Colorado, a statement of the names of deceased persons who are buried in other than the Kokomo plot of the Breckenridge Cemetery, and a copy of the map showing the place of burial of deceased persons in the Kokomo plot of the Breckenridge Cemetery. 

Signed

Zelda C. Ashlock

County Clerk and Recorder"

Page 2

"IN THE DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR

THE COUNTY OF SUMMIT AND STATE OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 2299

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF THE
COUNTY OF SUMMIT, STATE OF COLORADO,
ACTING AS A BOARD OF HEALTH, FOR THE
VACATION OF KOKOMO CEMETERY, SUMMIT
COUNTY, STATE OF COLORADO.

STATEMENT OF LOCATION OF BURIAL OF
DECEASED PERSONS

A statement of the names of deceased persons who were buried in any other cemeteries except the "Kokomo Plot" in the Breckenridge Cemetery, the location of the burial , and the name or names of the next of kin requesting the same, are as follows: "

The names listed are:
Pomeroy, Henry
Olson, Carl
Olson, Carl Jr.
Bryant, Joe
Bryant, Elizabeth
Colcord: Daniel, Catherine, Elizabeth, Willson, Clifford, Aurilla
Lindsey: William M., Sarah A., Jesse M., Samuel
Taylor, Margaret E.
Williams, O.E.
Anderson: Gustave, Carrie, Hilma, Harrison

"Respectfully submitted

Andrew F. Cassidy

Licensed Mortician

Leadville, Colo."

The map, also found with these documents, includes a list as well. A list of who was buried in the "Kokomo Section" at Valley Brook; this is information that many have told me is "unknown," and is just one of the reason's why this find is so exciting for me. Among the many "Unknowns" on the list are the following:

Farnham, Edward C.
Farnham, WM and Frank
LaFontaine, E.S.J.
LaFontaine, Katrina
Swanson, Carrie
Swanson, Gustaf
Winters, Anna, Andrew, John, Andrew
Mattson, Andrew
Sullivan, Son of M/M G.W.
Sullivan, DA of M/M G.W.
Lawrence, Winfield
Morison, R.
Swallow, William Penn
Chevan, Mr.
Chevan, Catherine
Anderson, Anna S.
Anderson, Axel
Thomson, C.R.
Thomson, W.A.
Cook, Baby
Pflum, Thos. F.
Walsh, Peter
Johnson, Anna
Recen, Katy
Creiner, Lt. Chas.
Hauser, Leo Frank
Hauser, Ida
Colcord, Blanche
Dowd, Mary
Dowd, James Wm
Dowd, Catherine
Colcord, Rose, Laura & Son, Josephine
Bush, Hazel
Colcord, Chas.
Dowd, Mary M.
Recen, Henry A., Catherine, Lilly, Katy

Wordless Wednesday: Snow in the Mountains

Since we woke up to fresh snow this morning, about two inches worth, I felt this was appropriate. Make sure to stop and think about the monthly measurements listed towards the end of the article. Fairly impressive! 

Summit Settlers: Mary (Cluskey) Ruth

Mary Cluskey is a true Summit County settler. Born in Breckenridge on 24 Nov 1902, she lived in the area her entire life. You can find a summary of her life, written by Alphild Wilkinson, in the book Women As Tall As Our Mountains, originally published in 1976 (most of the information in this post will come from this source, please contact me for further information). At that time, Mary was still an active widow, going back and forth between Frisco, Colorado and her son's home in Texas.

What struck me most about her story was her involvement in the mining camps during the 1920's and 1930's. You hear so much of the men that lived and worked these mountains, but very little of the women. I will offer only a quick summary here.

Born to Christopher and Mary Cluesky, both natives of Ireland. Christopher spent his early year's in the county as a dairy farmer on French Street in Breckenridge. As Mary progressed through her school years, she and her siblings went back and forth between ranch land and town. In 1913, the family went back to Ireland, but due to the quickly approaching War, they returned only a year later. Her father returned first, in May, as a potential soldier he was given preference on passage. Mary, her mother, sister's and brother's finally returned via London in August, but upon reaching New York, the ship sank and they lost all of their possessions.

The family was finally able to gather together again in Colorado on ranch property acquired by Christopher at Slate Creek. Once again, they moved back and forth to accommodate the children's need to attend school. At the age of 15, Mary went with her father to work at the Tiger mine. She was employed in the commissary, waiting tables; additionally, she sorted ore. The rest of the family moved to Tiger in 1918, during the flu epidemic. One member of the family was responsible for driving victims back to Breckenridge, and at times would have to carry four bodies a day.

Two years later, Mary, her mother and sisters, and one son were back at the ranch at Slate Creek, but her father and one brother, Tom, stayed on at Tiger. Tom worked at the sawmill. Just three years older, Mary was back at a mining site, this time the Pennsylvania for the summer, cooking three meals a day for 20-80 men. 1922 Again found Mary cooking, but this time at the Summit House in Montezuma, a hotel, and stayed there through September. At that time, she and her mother went to the top of Boreas Pass cooking for the men putting in the bucket tram for the 730 mine - that was living at 11,492 feet!  The men lived in one boxcar, the cafeteria was in a second, and Mary and Mary lived together in a third.

Eventually, our subject married Wilbur "Bill" Ruth, a veteran of World War I, who worked for the Bureau of Land Reclamation building the highway from Dillon to the summit of Fremont Pass (now on the way to Leadville, where Climax Mine sits). During the '40's they moved to Uneva Lake, in Ten Mile Canyon, to be caretakers for another family, and by 1935 had purchased a home in Frisco. During WWII, she was given a special assignment as Postmistress of Frisco, which meant that she travelled to town every day from Uneva Lake and ran the Post Office from her home.

She finally retired in 1974, having worked since 1955 for the town and the sanitation district. Bill passed in 1953, and Mary in 1990, having lived a long, hard life. They are both now resting in the Dillon Cemetery. She is remembered as a lady with a great sense of humor, courage, faith and "a lot of gumption."

I believe that to be absolutely true. To have lived as she did would have required the strength of more than a few ox.

Photo Credit for both photos:
www.findagrave.com, Kelly G, Sep 2008

Wilbur: Memorial #29576085
Mary: Memorial #29576096

The Kokomo Fire of 1881

Although the articles can be somewhat difficult to read, they are worth the time. These newspaper clippings describe a fire in the town of Kokomo, Colorado in 1881. How would the population have been affected? Who stayed? Who left? Who lost property, who rebuilt? 

Imagine: "Less than twenty houses remaining."