Colorado Springs residents may not be aware that Evergreen Cemetery, now a quiet oasis for the city's pioneers, has a backstory rooted deeply in the Old West. According to the City of Colorado Springs, the tale of this hallowed ground reveals its evolution from a challenging burial site amid hard clay and native conflicts to its current, peaceful expanse.
Established after its predecessors, Evergreen Cemetery's earliest incarnation was in Old Colorado City. Dead were placed to rest near what is now the 31st Street entrance to Red Rock Canyon, but due to the stubborn soil and looming threat of native attacks, the burial ground had to relocate above the Old Colorado City Creamery, which proved untenable. Ensconced on a mesa offering sweeping views of Pikes Peak and the Garden of the Gods, tragedy touched these grounds in the form of the Robbins and Everhard boys' demise at the hands of the Arapahoes in the late 1860s. A stone in Pioneer Park remains today, inscribed with names of those early settlers who still lie in its earth, forgotten by the march of progress, but not by history.
With the founding of the Fountain Colony in 1871 and Colorado Springs' promotion as a health retreat, it became evident that a new cemetery was necessary. General Palmer, understanding the need for a more respectable and tranquil site for the city's deceased, donated land that once bore the name Mount Washington Cemetery. This land, wrapped in a pine grove's embrace at Mount Washington's base, is the cemetery known today as Evergreen.
This key part of Colorado Springs' heritage sustains the memory of those who braved the rough, gold-seeking days of the past. Serving as a serene anchor to the city's origins, Evergreen Cemetery, renamed from Mountain Home Cemetery, offers solace not just in its enduring pines but in its steadfast testament to the lives that sowed the seeds for the modern city. "Evergreen Cemetery remains a historic and serene final resting place for Colorado Springs’ earliest pioneers," notes the City of Colorado Springs, in a reflection of Evergreen's continuous operation and cultural significance.
