F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction Author

Silver Cliff Cemetery

The Assumption Cemetery

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The Assumption Cemetery, October 2013
The Assumption Cemetery, October 2013

Yesterday I posted about Silver Cliff Cemetery. Today, I’m posting about the sister cemetery up a little farther on that little dirt road, called The Assumption Cemetery. It’s a Catholic cemetery (and I’ve read Silver Cliff was a Protestant cemetery) and isn’t as old as Silver Cliff.  Most of the graves in Silver Cliff were 1800s, while in Assumption, there were many more contemporary graves.

Curiously, my wife and I noted a preponderance of “Franks” buried here.

That reminded me of the time my dad and I were staring down at my grandfather’s gravestone during my grandfather’s service, over 21 years ago. My grandfather was the “Sr.” of the “Jr.” and the “III” of us, but his gravestone did not have “Sr” on it. After the service I turned to my dad and remarked how that was our name on the gravestone. We both chuckled at how unreal it was attending our “own” funeral!

Anyway, since this was later in the day, I loved the long shadows that developed at Assumption; it reminded me of the Vincent Price film, House of the Long Shadows, I’d just watched the other night. It definitely added an extra bit of atmosphere to the place. And there are a couple shots I have that really turned out great, one a small tilted wooden cross and another of a wooden cross propped up by bricks that lent a particularly eerie (human?) shadow….

Note, I’ve attached links to my other cemetery posts, below. Take a tour!

So, without further ado, here is The Assumption Cemetery:

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Silver Cliff Cemetery

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Silver Cliff Cemetery, Silver Cliff, Colorado
Silver Cliff Cemetery, Silver Cliff, Colorado

Yesterday, my wife and I visited the Silver Cliff Cemetery, at Silver Cliff, Colorado. It’s a stone’s throw east from Westcliffe, Colorado. We picked this cemetery because of the drive…and that it’s supposedly haunted. It’s listed as the “most haunted” (scroll to the bottom to read about it) Colorado cemetery. Of course, you need darkness and a moonless night to see the supposed blue and white lights, but we went during the day…also to go on a drive on such a beautiful, crisp October day that it was. We saw no glowing lights that are said to hover above the graves, and are also written up in National Geographic (August 1969, Volume 136, No. 2). I did a quick search for the NatGeo magazine, but didn’t find any entry into one, just outlets looking to sell it to me, and now, to search NatGeo’s archives, you need an account. Not creating one.

Our visit was interesting…once entering Silver Cliff, you take a left on an unmarked street (should have been labeled “Mill Street”) just before the only pizza joint in town (on the left), drive down a short stretch of Mill Street blacktop, then onto a dirt road, which takes you out into the open Colorado plains. Lots of sun and wind. Open space. This, as well as another cemetery we also visited just up the dirt road from it, The Assumption Cemetery (will post tomorrow), both repose before the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains. Basically, they’re not your typical, Night of the Living Dead layout, but, this is Colorado. They both had some beautiful and interesting gravestones, and, as always, these places always fascinate me about the lives lived and lost. Who were they—really? How’d they die? How’d they live?

What are they doing now?

Here are some links to read about Silver Cliff:

Top Colorado Cemeteries to visit

Silver Cliff Town

Silver Cliff Lore 1 (lights)

Silver Cliff Lore 2

Silver Cliff Lore 3 (lights)

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