Searching for Charles Friskey's Final Resting Place

In 1879, Charles Friskey was living in Colorado City when he died of typhoid fever. Like many genealogical questions, what seemed at first to be a straightforward search for a burial place has turned into something far more complex.

My initial approach was to check the most prominent historic cemeteries in the area. I searched records for Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs and Fairview Cemetery in Old Colorado City. When those efforts failed, I was told that Charles might have been buried at Fairview Cemetery in Fountain, some sixteen miles from his home. That possibility seemed unlikely given the circumstances, and indeed, no record of his burial appears there either.

Expanding my search, I turned to lesser-known and often overlooked burial grounds. Miscellaneous historical records pointed to several early cemeteries in the region. One in particular stood out: Pioneer Cemetery, also known as Mesa Cemetery. This burial ground served early Colorado City residents from the 1850s into the early twentieth century.

Over time, however, Pioneer Cemetery fell into neglect. In the 1930s, some interments were relocated to Evergreen and Fairview, the newer cemetery in Colorado City. Yet not all graves were transferred. Some were left behind, unmarked and increasingly forgotten.

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration undertook efforts to clear the remaining headstones. Tragically, the stones were removed and never returned. What remained was a landscape with known burials, but without markers to identify them.

Since then, researchers associated with what is now the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum have documented 46 individuals believed to still be buried at the site, now known as Pioneer Park. Charles Friskey’s name does not appear on that list. Yet historians are confident that additional, undocumented graves remain beneath the surface.

That leaves an unsettling but very real possibility: Charles Friskey may lie in an unmarked grave, his burial unrecorded, in a cemetery that has long since faded from memory.

For now, the question remains open, but the search continues.

Jennifer Mulson, "Pioneer cemeteries once dotted Colorado Springs landscape," The Gazette (https://gazette.com/ : 26 September 2025).

Mel McFarland, "Cobweb Corners: The Westside's forgotten cemetery," Westside Pioneer (https://www.westsidepioneer.com/ : Sep/Oct 2017).

"Miscellaneous Colorado records : El Paso County," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 April 2026).