Pueblo Tragedy Memorial - Roselawn Cemetery - Pueblo, Colorado - Disaster Memorials on Waymarking.com

This touching memorial is on the east side of Roselawn Cemetery. An angel with large wings leans her head and left arm on the granite memorial's left side. A long pebble-filled walkway continues about 100 feet behind her. To the left of the memorial are four signs that provide information on Pueblo's three tragedies as well as an analysis of the Elm trees that were possibly placed to honor those in the mass graves on site.

Text on memorial:

Watching over those unidentified souls laid to rest on these grounds after the:
1904 Eden Train Wreck
1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
and the
1921 Pueblo Great Flood
Their names known only to God,
May they rest in peace!

Text on Eden Train Wreck marker:

The 1904 Eden Train Wreck
The First Great Pueblo Tragedy
On the evening of August 7, 1904, Missouri Pacific Railroad car no. 11 was headed towards Steel Hollow approximately nine miles north of Pueblo near Eden Station to cross a 96-foot-long section of the Denver and Rio Grande Bridge 100-B spanning the Arkansas River. Unbeknownst to railroad operators, heavy rains earlier in the evening had washed out a county bridge, sweeping debris downstream and impacting Bridge 100-B. The bridge was left standing but badly damaged, and when car no. 11 attempted to cross it collapsed sending the engine, tender, baggage car, chair and coach cars into the flood waters below with approximately 125 passengers on board. The accident garnered national attention at the time, and to this day, it is believed to be the second largest loss of life in a railroad disaster in United States history.
Ninety-six bodies were recovered from the wreckage, while twenty-six remained missing. Twenty-four of the victims are interred at Roselawn: Etta Bishop, John F. Bishop, Don Campbell, Roger P. Campbell, Carrie B. Downing, Eliza Downing, Jacob M. Emrich, Tony Fisher, Herbert R. Graves, Jennie Huddleson, William E. Hughes, Nannie Keating, James Paul Keating, Jr., Margaret Kelley, Ida Leonard, Stella McDonald, J. William Miller, Mizella Miller, Dr. Walter F. Munn, Ralph R. Schwarzkoff, Minie Selby, Bud Seward, Mary C. West, Emily Woods.

Text on The 1918 Spanish Flu marker:

The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
Pueblo's Second Great Tragedy

In 1918, the deadly Spanish Influenza pandemic swept the globe, infecting an approximately 500 million people worldwide (one third of the total population), killing an estimated 30-50 million people. In the United States, more than 675,000 are thought to have fallen victim to this dangerous strain of the flu. Influenza arrived in Colorado early in 1918, and reached Pueblo by October with soaring fevers and pneumonia-like symptoms. The County reacted swiftly, closing schools, public entertainment, stores and strictly enforcing "no spitting" rules. By early November 1918 Pueblo was reporting more than 2,000 infections and nearly 400 deaths, making it the deadliest month of the pandemic on record in the County.

On November 11, 1918, World War I came to an end and Europe and the world rejoiced, but it was a bittersweet victory in Pueblo. City officials ordered no victory celebration because the fly was so rampant. The epidemic raged until the spring of 1919, often resulting in multiple deaths within the same family, indiscriminately affecting all age groups, geographic areas and classes.

The final death toll from the Spanish Influenza in Pueblo County is unknown as the building containing the records was destroyed during the Great Pueblo Flood of 1921; however, Roselawn Cemetery alone recorded 1,098 burials in 1918-1919 with the cause of the death listed as the flu. The pandemic resulted in many new graves at Roselawn and left hundreds of grieving families in it wake. The mass grave contained in Block 27 was set aside for those who did not have financial resources for burial in a family plot. Many in the Roselawn mass grave remain nameless.

Text on The Great Flood of 1921 marker:

The Great Flood of 1921
Pueblo's Third Great Tragedy

Around 6:30 p.m. on the evening of June 3, 1921 the warning came: a flood was headed for Pueblo, caused by a sudden cloudburst on the Arkansas River just ten miles west of Pueblo. The storm was furious, with a recorded average rainfall of over 5" in half an hour and almost zero visibility. The rainfall also caused Fountain Creek to swell some 30 miles to the North of Pueblo, and when it merged with the Arkansas further downstream the results were catastrophic for Pueblo. The flood was so powerful that it submerged the entire commercial district under more than 10' of water and changed the course of the Arkansas River nearly half a mile to the south of its original location. Railcars, buildings, animals and people were washed away, and all the bridges connecting Pueblo's neighborhoods were destroyed. Those who could moved to higher ground when the warning came; however, the community's poorest populations lived on low ground near the railroad and river and neighborhoods including the Grove, Peppersauce Bottoms and Little Italy were most severely impacted.
Newspaper accounts from the time estimated that nearly 15,000 residents and business owners were homeless, with reports of death toll that reached at least 500, and according to some estimates as high as 1,500. The flood covered more than 300 square miles and caused more than $20 million in damage. To this day, the flood is considered the greatest natural disaster to strike the Pueblo community.
According to Roselawn oral histories, an estimated 250 to 300 bodies went unidentified due to a lack of refrigeration following the flood, and burial records indicate that some of these individuals (though the exact number is unknown) were interred at Roselawn in the mass grave in Block 27 that was originally established for victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. In order to make more room for the new additions to the mass grave, Beech Lane-once a cemetery road, was abandoned and replaced with additional burial space.
Despite the devastation, Pueblo citizens rallied admirably, relocating the business district to Main Street and making plans for a new levee to protect Pueblo. The Pueblo Conservancy District was formed in 1923 to design flood protection and aid restoration of the City. The District developed a plan for the re-routing and containment of the Arkansas River, the relocation of major railroad lines and the revitalization of the business district. Through hard work and perseverance, rail commerce slowly returned to Pueblo and businesses were re-established. The levee was completed in March of 1926 and has protected Pueblo from flooding from the Arkansas River ever since. Today, the Riverwalk in Pueblo (which follows the original channel for the Arkansas River) provides economic development opportunities and continues to revitalize downtown Pueblo.

Text on Tree Ring analysis marker:

Results of the Tree-Ring Analysis of Increment Cores taken on April 12, 2021 by:
Dr. Peter Brown, Dendrochronologist, Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research, Inc. Ft. Collins, Colorado
Marilyn Martorano, Principal Archaeologist, Martorano Consultants, LLC, Longmont, Colorado

*Based on the tree ring analysis, the three probably Elm trees were planted simultaneously around 1943-1948.
*The trees appear to have been intentionally planted.
*The planting is triangular in shape - possibly to commemorate the three Pueblo Tragedies: 1904 Eden Train Wreck, 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic and the 1921 Great Pueblo Flood.
*Increment cores removed from the three trees indicate the trees were likely cared for an nurtured during their early life.

We will always wonder...
*Were the trees planted to mark the location of the mass graves?
*Was this done as part of some sort of later private or public ceremony to commemorate the tragedies and mass burials?
*Were the trees possibly planted by a Roselawn ground's keeper who knew of the three tragedies and chose to mark the mass grave with three Memorial Trees?
*Did the person or person who may have planted the trees actively care for them during their early years?

Disaster Date: 08/07/1904 Date of dedication: 06/04/2021 Memorial Sponsors: The Roselawn 1891 Company (aka The Roselawn Foundation), State Historical Fund History Colorado Parking Coordinates: N 38° 14.439 W 104° 34.481 Disaster Type: Natural Relevant Website: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
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Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   06/03/2022 wanderfish visited it