Unsung Heroes of Colorado and Their Final Resting Place

           

             The Everything Ventured Anthropology Club from CU Denver took a field trip to Denver's oldest cemetery this week. Driving up to the 77-acre plot that houses the Riverside Cemetery, it is hard to reconcile this spot as the final resting place of over 67,000 individuals when you are met by the sound of a train going by and the smell of nearby factories. At first the industrial surroundings, dusty road, and dry vegetation hinder any feelings of peace, but then the spectacular view towards the Rocky Mountains and the warm sunshine anchor you in the moment and it is easy to see why this place was chosen in 1876 to be Denver's newest cemetery. 

            Much has changed since the first residents of the cemetery were laid to rest. Unfortunately, the cemetery’s water rights were revoked in the 1970s, so the once proud trees that offered shade and respite from the Colorado sun have withered. The story of Riverside Cemetery is a familiar one, that of preservation and development. The tension between wanting to maintain a historical landmark on the one hand, and on the other, the greed of developers in an ever-expanding world. To protect and preserve the old cemetery from development, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Despite its protection and upkeep, it feels almost abandoned.

              As you walk through the sprawling cemetery, you can’t help but be stunned by the stark contrast of the somber headstones and the RTD light rail train going by, smells from industrial work, and the dusty vegetation. Several other things jump out: the variety in markers, the remarkable amount of Civil War era graves, and the disorganized array of lots. Among the well-known names such as Evans, Elbert, and Seerie are the unsung heroes of Colorado history including Barney Launcelot Ford, Elizabeth Piper Ensley, Sadie Likens, and Silas Soule. 

            Barney Ford was a very successful Colorado businessman, he was also an escaped slave and spent his life fighting for equal rights and establishing adult education classes for African Americans in Colorado. Read more about his impact and life here

            Elizabeth Ensley, upon arriving in Colorado with her husband, set up reform movements to aid the poor. As an African American woman, she stood up for civil rights, equality, and the women’s right to vote, forming the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association, find out more here. Sadie Likens served as Colorado’s first prison matron and performed charitable work for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. You can read more on her life and role in the Denver prisons here

            Silas Soule was a cavalry captain who disobeyed the order to attack a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek in 1864. He went on to testify against the massacre and against his commanding officer Chivington, shedding light on the horrendous injustice done to the native peoples at Sand Creek. Two months after testifying, Soule was assassinated in Denver. His simple marble headstone rests among the other Civil War era graves and is decorated with flowers, painted rocks, and candles. Read more about him here

            Walking among the thousands of grave markers, which represent thousands of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and loved ones, is humbling and inspires the imagination to think about the diverse, colorful lives these people lived. Their names may no longer be spoken, but Riverside Cemetery provides them a degree of immortality. Hopefully work can continue to be done to preserve this plot of land so that future generations may rediscover the lives of influential figures. As a nation, we are shedding light on problematic characters in our nation's past, rethinking what we name our important monuments, buildings, and mountains. Part of that attempt to reckon with our past is teasing apart the narrative to reveal the stories of people such as Barney Ford, Elizabeth Ensley, Sadie Likens, and Silas Soule. 

For more information about the Riverside Cemetery and those interred there, please visit these sites.