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Russell Gulch Cemetery, Colorado - History Russell Gulch Cemetery is another pioneer cemetery located outside of Central City, Colorado near the ghost town of Russell Gulch. The cemetery was officially platted in 1878 by the local Independent Order of Odd Fellows, however the earliest grave stone lists a date of death of 1859. There is a rich history at this location, and the remains of a chapel (perhaps?), with an intact roof and walls, lie at the top of the hill on the southern edge of the cemetery. As with many of these pioneer cemeteries, entire families, such as the Lutz family (whose children are thought to have died of anthrax) are buried next to each other all having died within days or months of each other by any number of the virulent illnesses that ravaged this mining area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A suicide also took place within the grounds of the cemetery, as the bereft husband of Mary Ferganichich (pronounced like it reads), Alois (pronounced All-oyz), ended his own life at the end of a .38 pistol some four years after his wife died. More information can be found in the book "From the Grave" by Linda Wommack. This location is fairly isolated, although it is closer to a couple of residences than Bald Mountain Cemetery. It is almost entirely overgrown by the encroaching forest of aspen and pine trees and lies primarily on a very steep slope which ascends as it proceeds southward. |
