Six Feet Under

GRAVESIDE TOUR TO DIE FOR

By Kyle Kirves

Gravesites are a little like family albums in that they have the curious ability to remind us that the past was real. It’s one thing to read about the fabled lives and times of a Buffalo Bill Cody or Doc Holliday, quite another to stand in the shadow of their gravestones, knowing just under the ground before you lies a legend. And, unlike living celebrities, you know they’re not running away from a photo op. Colorado is home to some famous final resting places that make for curious destinations and are a “Who’s Who” of American history.

Shrine of Remembrance Mausoleum, Colorado Springs

It would be difficult indeed to find a performer with as storied and colorful a histor y as Ethel Merman. Born in Queens, New York, Merman’s career as an actress and singer is like a mini-biography of Hollywood itself. Born to belt out showtunes galore, Merman’s career spanned over five decades – and she’s featured in classics like “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” and the ensemble comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” Perhaps most notably, the perennial hit “Hello, Dolly!” was written for her and, upon her debut in the role on Broadway, the performances often needed to be stopped in order to allow the mid-performance standing ovations to die down. Her cremated remains were interred in Colorado Springs at the direction of her son in 1982.

DOC HOLLIDAY

Linwood Cemetery (?), Glenwood Springs

Think the old west’s deadliest dentist is buried in Glenwood Springs’ hilltop Linwood Cemeter y? Well, as the notorious gunslinger and gambler might say himself: Don’t bet on it. There are those who maintain that Doc’s body was secreted away to his home state of Georgia. Or, more likely, Doc was buried hurriedly at the hill beneath the cemeter y in an unmarked location due to the rain and accumulating mud that prevented the hearse wagon from making it to the hilltop. We reckon John Henr y Holliday would’ve more than “OK’d” this game of beyond-the-grave catch me if you can.

CHIEF OURAY

Ouray Memorial Park, Montrose

The name means “Arrow,” and yet Ouray was a man of peace and grace and intelligence. Chief of the Uncompahgre Utes by his twenties, Ouray was so masterful with languages and statesmanship that President Rutherford B. Hayes called him “the most intellectual man I’ve ever conversed with.” A diplomat and staunch advocate for the Ute tribe, Ouray negotiated favorable treaties with the United States yet, as any student of Western expansion will tell you, was often betrayed on terms. Still, he is credited with defusing the tensions brought about by the Meeker Massacre in 1879, resulting in de-escalation and the freedom of several captured white hostages, many of whom were cared for in his own home by his wife, Chipeta. Ouray is buried in the park that bears his name and honors his legacy in Montrose.

CHRISTOPHER H. “KIT” CARSON

Boggsville, Bent County

Yes, yes, we know – Carson is buried on his house grounds in Taos, New Mexico, just a few hours south of the Colorado border. But originally, in 1868, Carson was buried alongside his third wife Maria Josefa only a few months after her passing in the south-central Colorado town of Boggsville. It was only later that the mountain man, soldier, scout, explorer, and legend from dime store novels and pulp western’s remains were relocated to Taos. A marker for the original burial location remains today. Seems you can’t keep an old scout from ramblin’ even after death.

GEORGE TARO “JOE” SAKATO

Fairmount Cemetery, Denver

Joe Sakato embodied the kinds of courage you typically only see in fictionalized war movies. In October 1944, in northern France, Sakato singlehandedly charged and took an enemy stronghold and commanded its defense against a resurgent enemy advance – responsible himself for 14 casualties and four captives, while the platoon rounded up many more. Seemingly unconscious of enemy fire and without thought for his own personal safety, Sakato ensured the victor y of the day and is a perfect example of courage under fire. In the year 2000, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest commendation for valor.

Riverside Cemetery, Fort Morgan

Sci-fi fans venerate Phillip K. Dick as a patron saint of futuristic fiction. Some might not recognize the name, but his works inspired film classics “A Scanner Darkly,” “Total Recall,” and “Minority Report,” among others. Not only did Dick win numerous writing nods (including Sci-Fi’s top prize, the Hugo), the Phillip K. Dick award annually recognizes the year’s best paperback science fiction novel – an apt tribute to a man who elevated the common pulp “amazing stor y.” Buried in Fort Morgan’s Riverside Cemeter y in a shared site with his twin sister, Dick died just months before the release of what is widely regarded as the best adaptation of one of his works: Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” starring Harrison Ford.

WILLIAM FREDERICK “BUFFALO BILL” CODY

Lookout Mountain, Golden

Pony Express rider. Army scout. Sure-shot buffalo hunter. Entertainer, performer, and inventor of the rodeo. To talk of American expansion and the western experience is to talk of the life and times of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. As the museum in his honor at the top of Lookout Mountain testifies, Cody’s life and legacy were as colorful as any figure from the Old West. The Iowaborn Cody died in Denver in 1917 and is buried on the grounds of the museum – much to the dismay of his “adopted” home state (sorr y, Wyoming!), which contested the interment (to say the least) and caused the deployment of Colorado guardsmen to watch over the grave. Read the whole stor y on the museum grounds in Golden.

BABY DOE MCCOURT TABOR

Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, Wheat Ridge

Like many a Midwesterner in 19th centur y America (and, well, 21st centur y America as well), Elizabeth “Baby Doe”

McCourt came west to seek her fortune – and found it in the form of Horace Austin Tabor, a silver magnate and politician. Much to the chagrin of the first Mrs. Tabor, the alluring McCourt wooed Tabor away and the scandal wreaked havoc on Tabor’s political ambitions. She was the subject of numerous biographies, movies, and even an opera, not to mention fevered rumors surrounding her demise, penniless, in a Leadville cabin attached to the Matchless Mine.

© Archivist / Adobe Stock

Kyle Kir ves drinks beer, plays guitar, runs trails, and manages projects – all with var ying degrees of success. While not a craftsman himself, he is quite content writing about the Colorado artisans who create such wonderful things and memorable experiences.