Riverside Cemetery is filled with Denver history. But there is more, including a link to a famous Civil War unit that helped change the course of our nation’s history.
The 250-acre cemetery is overwhelming. Built in 1876 to serve the city of Denver, the 64,000 interred there are all but forgotten. With the Platte River as a backdrop, headstones jut up, and many lean toward an inevitable date with gravity.
The last visit was with my wife’s family, who came to pay respects to long-deceased loved ones.
When Riverside opened for business, the city seized the opportunity to change the growing landscape of Denver. Existing burial sites were uprooted in what would today create a firestorm of controversy. City Cemetery became Cheesman Park. The Botanic Gardens today sits on what was originally Mount Cavalry, and some of the remaining Jewish and Catholic cemeteries closed by century’s end to become Congress Park. All the bodies were relocated to Riverside.
One can recognize many of the family names etched on stone there: Routt, Zang, Tabor and McDaniel, among others. Wandering between the dry, dusty rows (Riverside ran short of maintenance money years ago), one can see the large sections of those who died very young, especially from 1918-20, a particularly harsh period for influenza victims. One can also see how, even in death, people were segregated by religion or race.
That is, except for the 1,000 graves of veterans. A large area of Civil War headstones and memorials stand out. These were survivors of the “great war,” many who afterwards found their way West, and settled in Denver. The simple military markers understate the meaning of the war between the states. In the shadow of a towering statue of a 19th century soldier, one can almost hear Lincoln’s closing words from his first inaugural address: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen . . . is the momentous issue of civil war. . . . You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I have the most solemn one, to preserve, protect and defend it.”
Veterans of the Northern states are represented at Riverside, including many from Colorado’s own volunteer regiments of the same period.
One gravestone of a Civil War veteran caught my eye. The marker is free of any distinguishing feature or rank: John Cornish of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.
The story of the 54th is well-chronicled as the leading unit that charged the well-fortified, Confederate-held Fort Wagner. The 54th Infantry suffered 281 casualties in this single assault.
The 54th was also one of the first all-black regiments, made up mostly of free men from Northern states. Its story was made into a movie: The 1989 Academy Award-winning film “Glory” is a standard today for many American history classes. And at least one veteran from the 54th is buried right here in our own backyard.
Riverside is a cemetery reflective of Denver, and of our nation’s history. Found in the neat, homogenous slabs of marble and stone, integrated in death, is what all veterans demonstrate best: the United States of America.
John Cornish was a black soldier who fought in and survived the Civil War and lived in Denver until he died in 1891 at the ripe old age of 78. His grave is in the northeast part of the military section.
If you go to Riverside Cemetery and look for his grave, take your time. If you’re a teacher, consider taking your class.
Especially take note of all that isn’t mentioned on the gravestones.
If there are 8 million stories in John Zorn’s “Naked City,” there are at least 64,000 in Riverside Cemetery.
Armand Lobato (armandlobato@comcast.net) of Broomfield has worked in the fresh produce business for more than 30 years.
