Remains of likely Civil War soldier are buried in Grand Junction

Bones found last summer near Leadville

By Ellen Miller , Special to the Rocky

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Special To The Rocky

One of the buttons found with the remains, along with cloth from what appeared to be a Civil War coat.

A man who was most likely a Union soldier was laid to rest at the state Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Friday, escorted by Civil War buffs in period costumes and a full honor guard of veterans.

School children among the crowd of 200 flinched when the honor guard's rifle squad fired a salute. Then, a bugler played Taps.

The soldier's remains were found last summer near Leadville by a fisherman who spotted parts of a coffin. Little is known about him. Military historians and forensic anthropologists couldn't pinpoint the date and cause of death.

The man was Caucasian and between 35 and 45 years old, experts at Colorado State University said.

A small piece of blue cloth found beneath bones appeared to come from a Union Army greatcoat, and buttons were those worn by Dragoon (later cavalry) units based in Fort Riley, Kan., Lake County Sheriff Edward Holte said.

Historian Tom Noel, of Denver, said that the man could have been a Civil War veteran who came to Colorado. Or, he said, he could have been part of patrols dispatched into the then-Kansas Territory during the war to protect the gold strike near Oro City, later named Leadville.

Geoff Hunt, an Aurora Community College history professor with a keen interest in the Civil War, said that Dragoon units "were all over the place."

He said that the description of the buttons means they could be from before the Civil War, possibly with earlier military explorations.

"But I'm guessing with a 'D' on the button, it was during the Civil War," he said.

Fort Lewis College history professor Duane Smith offered another theory: The soldier could have been serving with the Colorado Volunteers, many of whom wore older clothing issued by the Army and who patrolled the region during the Civil War.

"He was buried where he died, but he'll get a better send-off this time than the last time," he said.

Since no absolute proof exists that the man was a soldier, Sheriff Holte said, the remains could not be buried in a federal military cemetery.

But the state cemetery in Grand Junction was glad to help, donating a grave site to accommodate the small coffin that Lake County bought.

"We're trying to do the right thing by him," said Lake County deputy sheriff Aaron Dmize.

After men in Civil War uniforms lowered the coffin into the ground Friday, bagpiper Hugh Thackeberry, of Grand Junction, announced that he would "play him across the loch."

"His regiment is waiting," Thackeberry said before he launched into a rendition of High Road to Gareloch.