Buck Conner1
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I just .
Mike (meauxtown) Thompson and myself were talking about Marino Medina's rifle. Mike got a chance to handle the rifle a while back.
I have handled it several when Medina's rifle was still in Loveland at the Library. I lived 4 miles from Medina's Crossing (his toll bridge location) west of Loveland CO, his daughter Lena was buried on our property and Louis Papa (Medina's step son would come to our place to visit his step sister). I found a pair of leather breeches left on our property for years (Mrs. E. Gates who wrote about Medina and Charley Hanson [Museum of the Fur Trade] knew who they belonged to when seen). Both had pictures of Medina wearing them at a ball in Denver (Marino was a fancy-dan and liked to show off at up-scaled affairs. Papa use to wear his step-fathers clothes at parades in Loveland and Ft. Collins around the turn of the century. Mrs. Gates found an old newspaper article that Louis had gotten hurt up the Buckhorn Canyon in the early 1900's. Figured they removed the breeches when taking him to Loveland.
Read on:
We had a famous mountain man living in our area, just a few miles down the road. He was known to have traveled on this land in his adventures.
A Famous Mountain Man
According to local historians, mountain man Mariano Medina, for whom the Mariana Butte area is named, arrived with his wife in 1858 and built a cabin near the Big Thompson River two years later, becoming the first permanent settler of the area.
Sometime before 1864, Medina reportedly buried a friend at the site and soon after buried two of his children there. He built a low stone wall around the cemetery and kept it neatly whitewashed. By the time he died in 1878, the cemetery was full, and he had to be buried outside the walls, according to published reports.
"The cemetery was viewed with curiosity mixed with respect by settlers and travelers, who expressed surprise at finding it so well kept in such an uncivilized land."
"Mariano Medina Colorado Mountain Man" by Zethyl Gates).
First created as the Medina family cemetery, friends and acquaintances were also buried in the cemetery outside the sandstone walls surrounding the Medina plot. The earliest grave at this site was of a family friend buried prior to 1864. This was followed by two of Mariano Medina's children in 1864. The cemetery was surrounded by stone walls that were neatly whitewashed. The entrance was topped with a Blue Cross, a symbol of Medina's Catholic faith.
I'll continue this story and how we have connections with this man on the family property. We will share what was found while cleaning up a century of junk left by the forefathers of this ground, Medina's family included.
I just tried a different way to input longer articles rather than several different headers.
Mike (meauxtown) Thompson and myself were talking about Marino Medina's rifle. Mike got a chance to handle the rifle a while back.
I have handled it several when Medina's rifle was still in Loveland at the Library. I lived 4 miles from Medina's Crossing (his toll bridge location) west of Loveland CO, his daughter Lena was buried on our property and Louis Papa (Medina's step son would come to our place to visit his step sister). I found a pair of leather breeches left on our property for years (Mrs. E. Gates who wrote about Medina and Charley Hanson [Museum of the Fur Trade] knew who they belonged to when seen). Both had pictures of Medina wearing them at a ball in Denver (Marino was a fancy-dan and liked to show off at up-scaled affairs. Papa use to wear his step-fathers clothes at parades in Loveland and Ft. Collins around the turn of the century. Mrs. Gates found an old newspaper article that Louis had gotten hurt up the Buckhorn Canyon in the early 1900's. Figured they removed the breeches when taking him to Loveland.
Read on:
We had a famous mountain man living in our area, just a few miles down the road. He was known to have traveled on this land in his adventures.
A Famous Mountain Man
According to local historians, mountain man Mariano Medina, for whom the Mariana Butte area is named, arrived with his wife in 1858 and built a cabin near the Big Thompson River two years later, becoming the first permanent settler of the area.
Sometime before 1864, Medina reportedly buried a friend at the site and soon after buried two of his children there. He built a low stone wall around the cemetery and kept it neatly whitewashed. By the time he died in 1878, the cemetery was full, and he had to be buried outside the walls, according to published reports.
"The cemetery was viewed with curiosity mixed with respect by settlers and travelers, who expressed surprise at finding it so well kept in such an uncivilized land."
"Mariano Medina Colorado Mountain Man" by Zethyl Gates).
First created as the Medina family cemetery, friends and acquaintances were also buried in the cemetery outside the sandstone walls surrounding the Medina plot. The earliest grave at this site was of a family friend buried prior to 1864. This was followed by two of Mariano Medina's children in 1864. The cemetery was surrounded by stone walls that were neatly whitewashed. The entrance was topped with a Blue Cross, a symbol of Medina's Catholic faith.
I'll continue this story and how we have connections with this man on the family property. We will share what was found while cleaning up a century of junk left by the forefathers of this ground, Medina's family included.
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