Searching for Cora Sue -7 Seeing around Denver and Meeting the Cousins

September 28, 1910

Now it is Friday, and we have been in Denver for four days.

“What more should we do?” I asked Kate.

“Let’s take things easy and go to the Zoo and the Botanical Gardens and the Nature Museum.”

“You call that taking things easy?”

So after our usual breakfast, we set off in glorious sunshine to spend our time again in the City Park area.

The Zoo was first on our list to visit. We found out that it had opened in 1896 and the very first resident had been a small orphaned black bear named Billy Bryan. We went to visit the much bigger bear, and read the sign beside his cage which read, “Gift to the Mayor of Denver, Billy’s adventurous and sometimes mischievous spirit has helped mold the zoo into what it is today.”

After about an hour of seeing the various animals, we went to the Museum of Nature and Science. The displays were what they called Dioramas. These were flat oil paintings placed behind the taxidermied specimens of almost every animal you could think of - showing what their natural habitat would be like. There were native grasses in the displays as well, but they didn’t really look very lifelike, and I for one was very disappointed.

I must admit that I was both physically and mentally tired by the time our visit there was over,
and I was very grateful for a quiet lunch and rest back at the hotel.

September 29

Saturday was our exciting day, and we thought that rather than spending the day in town, we would go to take a look at the Cheesman Park, (above) which is en route to my cousins’ home.

Having walked slowly, but still a mile is quite a long way, I decided that we should sit quietly on a bench at the entry to the park. An old man came and sat beside us. He wasn’t a tramp or a beggar, but there was something about him that made me think he was a very lonely old man, longing for someone to talk to.

Before long, he started out with, “You ladies new around here?”

“Yes, we're visitors from Massachusetts,” said Kate.

“So you won’t know much about his park then?”

“No,” we agreed.

“Well, I can tell you something about it,” he said. “In the late nineteenth century, this was Prospect Hill Cemetery, but they changed it into Congress Park in 1907. Actually it was only half of the cemetery that was made a park - the Protestant part. The Catholic forty acres and Jewish bit is still over there,” he said pointing. “The Catholics call it Mount Calvary Cemetery.”

“And what about the Jewish and non Christian people?” asked Kate.

“In 1875, the north twenty acres were sold to the Hebrew Burial Society. Just south of there was Denver’s 1881 pest house where victims of small pox were quarantined and left unattended until nearly 1900.”

“How awful,” I interjected.

“A small section was allotted to Denver’s early Chinese population; a sizeable group living in an
area called ‘Hop Alley’, on the west of downtown Denver. They had been the early railroad crews.”

“So how did it become Cheesman Park then?”

“It was renamed in honor of Denver pioneer and water baron, Walter Cheesman whose family donated the pavilion on the eastern side of the park in his honor shortly after his death, but only on condition that they change the park’s name.”

“That is very interesting,” I said, not really meaning it and wishing he would move on.

“Do you know how Denver was founded?” persisted the old man.

“No,” said Kate, annoyingly seeming to be actually interested.

“In 1858, General William Larimer jumped the claim of the St. Charles Town Company and
established his own town and he called it Denver. Claim jumping was a socially acceptable means of acquiring property at the time; especially since the land in question legally belonged to the Arapaho
Indians. While Larimer promoted his town by claiming it had the world’s healthiest climate, he realized his claim had limits, and it would eventually need a cemetery. One November morning, he and his son staked out a cemetery on this very site.”

“And were any famous people buried here?” asked Kate.

“The first burial was likely that of a quiet man who died a natural death. Most prefer to hear the
story of John Stoefel, a German immigrant who pursued his brother-in-law from the east to avenge an unknown act. On April 7, 1859, the pursuer's body was found near present day Arvada. After
confessing, Stoefel was tried and convicted by a ‘people’s jury’. A cottonwood located near the present Tenth Street and Cherry Creek facilitated the traditional penalty of the day. Cemetery owner
Larimer used the wagon that had provided Stoefel with his last earthly support to transport him to his final resting place.

“Larimer named the site Prospect Hill Cemetery, although he often referred to it as Mount
Prospect. It was informally known as Bone Yard, Boot Hill, and after an incident occurring in March of 1860, Jack O’Neil’s Ranch.”

“What do you mean, ranch? Did he have animals grazing on this cemetery land?” I asked, interested
despite myself.

“Professional gambler Jack O’Neil was popular, handsome and very Irish. In a billiard saloon, he quarreled with a less than creditable Mormon named Rooker. O’Neill suggested the argument be settled by both being locked in a dark room with bowie knives. Rooker refused, so O’Neil questioned his pedigree and that of several of his family members. Several days later, O’Neil was walking down Ferry Street. A door of the Western Saloon provided cover for Rooker as he used a shotgun to settle the argument in his favor. Fleeing, but eventually returning; he was tried and acquitted. The Rocky
Mountain News publicized the injustice. O’Neil being buried in Larimer’s cemetery, led it to being called Jack O’Neil’s Ranch.”

“Didn’t the Indians get any compensation for that man just taking over their land?” I asked, still very much a champion of Indians’ rights.

“In 1872, the legal ownership of the cemetery was determined by the United States Congress to be the United States of America; by right of an 1860 treaty with the Arapaho. They offered to sell the land for $1.25 per acre. Denver’s Mayor Bates produced the money; and the city was legally in the cemetery business.”

“And the Indians didn’t get anything?”

“That’s the way these things go, Ma’am.”

“What happened to all those graves when they made the cemetery into a park? Are they still here
underneath?”

“The Chinese picked out all their ancestors’ remains, and sent them back to China. Families were asked to remove the remains of their departed to other cemeteries. For those unclaimed, a contract was given to a local undertaker named McGovern. He was paid $1.90 for each box he delivered to Riverside Cemetery. In the enterprising spirit of early Denver, he often found it necessary to use up to three boxes for each grave. The Denver Republican became upset at this practice; resulting in his contract being terminated. So the answer to your question, is yes, there are still some graves
under here.”

Finally the old man had had enough of talking and he got up and wandered away.

We had our lunch at a sidewalk restaurant, and just had a leisurely time, before the excitement of our meeting with the others later.

We actually started walking towards Cherry Creek Lane well before the appointed hour. I had done some reading on the history of this place.

For hundreds of years, Native Americans in the area used the Creek, as did trappers, adventurers and traders. Everyone who used the trail was following the Cherokee trail up from the Santa Fe Trail on their way to the confluence of the Cherry Creek and South Platte Rivers to what is now downtown Denver.

It wasn't until William Green Russell and his brothers made a small discovery of gold on the Cherry Creek in 1858 that the area began to boom. With news of gold in the Creek, General William Larimer pioneered a group of men to travel to the Cherry Creek area from Kansas to establish a settlement. That settlement was named Denver City.

We found the place without any trouble, but were overwhelmed by the size of it. These four sisters
must have inherited a lot of money from their parents, I thought.

It was a two-story, stucco finished house, in about an acre of wooded land. The windows were
large, and you could see smoke coming from the chimney, so we knew that a welcome fire would greet us. It was still warm, but now that it was nearly October there was a nip in the air after mid afternoon.

Even though it was only 4.30, we decided to knock on the door, as I was very tired from the long walk, and I’m sure that Kate was too, although she has never complained - despite her being 20 years older than me.

The door was opened by a young woman - tall and slim - with a shock of reddish hair sticking out all
over.

“Oh,” she said. “I haven’t gotten changed or done my hair or anything yet. But do come in.”

“I’m sorry that we're early,” I apologized, “but we spent the afternoon in Cheesman Park and ran out of things to do, and thought you might not mind.”

“Of course we don’t mind. We're very pleased to see you.”

She ushered us into their large lounge with the fireplace burning a vigorous log fire.

“What a lovely place you have here. So much land.”

“Well, we pooled our resources when we bought this place. We each wanted a lot of space to do our
own things. Carrie’s the gardener. But we have a man to help us too, as it would be too much for one person - and the rest of us are not nearly so keen.”

“Anyway, I suppose that we had better introduce ourselves properly. I am your cousin Mattie Kellogg
Temple, and this is my mother-in-law, Kate Temple.”

“I'm such a klutz. I should have introduced myself too, but you probably knew from the fact that
I can’t stop talking that I'm the one you spoke to on the phone. I'm Ruth Clinton.” We shook hands, and then laughed. I decided it was much more cousinly to give her a hug, so I did. Then we laughed
again.

“I’ll just call my sisters. Carrie is probably still out in the yard picking flowers or something, and Jessie is in the kitchen making the meal. I don’t know where Minnie is, but she's likely off in her room writing to her children or something. She's the quiet one in the family.”

“Don’t make them come in now if they're busy. We just needed some place to sit, and we knew we
were early,” I said.

“Could I possibly refresh myself?” asked Kate, looking somewhat embarrassed.

“What - oh, you mean can you use the bathroom?” said Ruth. “It’s just through there on the
right,” she said pointing down a hallway.

“You are so lucky that you have a mother-in-law you get along with,” she said to me after Kate
had left the room. “Minnie couldn’t abide hers. She could have gone to live with her children after her husband died in a railway accident, but she preferred coming back to us. Isn’t that funny?”

Just at that time, we could hear a door slam and somebody shouted, “Are they here yet?”

“That’s Carrie,” said Ruth. “She always shouts.”

“Yes, they’re in here,” she shouted back.

In came an older woman, but still very slim and healthy looking. She had on gardening clothes,
and carried a pail of apples.

“Sorry, I'm not dressed properly to greet you, but I'm very pleased to meet you,” she said.
“Are you on your own?”

“No, my mother-in-law has just gone to refresh herself,” I said.

“That means going to the bathroom if you come from the East,” said Kate with a laugh as she
came back into the room. I introduced her to Carrie.

“Look at these glorious apples. It’s the last of the season, I'm afraid, but we have loads
stored already. We'll easily have enough for the winter. Do you garden much?”

“Not really. We have a gardener but mostly he just deals with the lawn and the flowers,” I
said, “but I think your huge garden is just wonderful. All those trees.”

“Yes, we love it, and although it's a lot of work, it's worth it just for the views. Isn’t Denver a terrific place? We missed it so much when we were in Los Angeles.”

“We've had a marvelous time so far, and the weather has been glorious. I was worried I might find
the altitude hard to adjust to, but I haven’t found that a problem at all.”

“I can hear voices in here,” said who I assumed was Jessie. She too was somewhat caught out as she had her apron on, and spots of flour on her face, of which, I'm sure she was unaware.

“Welcome. You must be Mattie.” She wrapped me in a warm hug. “I see you've met Ruth and Carrie.
I'll just knock on Minnie’s door to let her know that you're here,” and she went out again. Jessie was shorter and plumper than her sisters, but they all had a family look about them.

“When Minnie comes, I'll go and get myself cleaned up a bit,” said Carrie. “I always leave
things to the last minute, and we didn’t expect you for awhile yet.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized yet again. “We were in the neighborhood and really felt the need of sitting down. Please don’t feel you have to stay and entertain us. And on the other hand, please don’t feel that you have to change for our sake.”

“Oh, but I want to,” she said, “and I won’t be long.”

“You certainly have a look of Cora Sue about you,” said Carrie. “She is somewhat shorter, and her hair is lighter, but your eyes are the same. But it's been so long since we saw her, she might look quite different by now.”

“It's even longer since I saw her,” I added, “not since my wedding nearly 19 years ago. I wonder if I will even recognize her.”

“You seem intent on finding her. Why now, after all these years?”

I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to share my illness with them. But Kate answered for me. “Mattie’s son has just gone off to Medical School. Up till now she wasn’t free to go off looking.”

“I forgot that you had a child. I think Cora Sue must have mentioned it. Do you just have the
one?”

“Yes,” I said. “He's named Franklin Lyman after his father and grandfather Temple. And he's
following in both of their footsteps by becoming a doctor. He's even going to the same medical school as his father did.”

There was a sudden rush and then in came who I expected was Minnie, the sister whom they said was rather quiet. She was the only one who had married and had children, which I found interesting, as one would have expected her forthright and outgoing sisters to have been the popular ones.

“Hello,” she said shyly, as she came in the door. She shook hands formally with each of us. “I
am Mrs. Minnie Minty.”

“That’s a mouthful of m’s,” I said and then realized how rude that sounded.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” she said quietly and sat down in a chair near the fire.

“I'm Mattie Temple and this is my mother-in-law Kate.”

“Goodness. I would never have been able to call my mother-in-law by her first name.”

“Well, to be honest, until this trip, I never called her anything but Mother Temple. But, we decided that if we were setting out on this adventure together we would do it as friends rather than our usual relationship.”

“And you've come to try to find Cora Sue, is that right?”

“Yes, I desperately want to find her, and we thought that as this was the last place she was
before she dropped out of our lives, it would be the best place to start looking. We are so lucky that you girls all came back here from Los Angeles. We had been told that you'd moved there, by another Clinton, a Mr. Walter Clinton and his wife Isobella. Do you know them?”

“No, I don’t think so,” said Minnie.

“I think I remember them,” said Carrie. “Is he a rather bigger than life cowboy type?”

“Yes, you could call him that,” I said, with both Kate and I starting to laugh again. “We
had them to tea at the Brown Palace yesterday, and he kept his hat on the whole time.”

“He really wanted a cigar and at one time he started to take it out of his pocket, but he must have
realized that it was not the done thing and put it back again, thank goodness,” added Kate.

Now that Minnie had come, Carrie
excused herself to change her dress, and there was an awkward silence
for a minute or so, but then Ruth bounded back into the room. She so
much reminded me of a young pup - eager and enthusiastic and sort of
uncontrolled.

“Where are our manners? We haven't even offered you a drink. What can we get you?”

Always an awkward question, not knowing what might be on offer, but I thought that my request would not be too difficult to fulfil. “I mostly just have water, hot or cold, with just a dash of lemon in it, if you have any.”

“And I would be happy with that too, or tea, if you have it,” said Kate.

“We can offer you sherry, wine or beer, if you like. Not knowing what you were like, we went out and
bought something of everything,” said Ruth. “What would you like, Minnie?”

“A small sherry would be nice.”

“Well, if you have sherry, then I think I'll change my order and have that too,” said Kate. “I do love a sherry before a meal.”

“How about you, Mattie? Do you want to change your mind now you know that we are well supplied?”

“No, thank you. I don’t drink alcohol."

To be continued