Oak Creek Cemetery (Aka Galena Cemetery)

In 1885, little Bessie Rhodes was buried by her family at the age of nine months in the community cemetery near Yorkville, on County Road 143 in Fremont County, Colorado. She joined others there from the small mining communities that had sprung up with promises of gold - along Grape Creek and Oak Creek.

Later, another grave was marked on a natural red stone rock only with the date of 1892.

Interviews of old-timers about the cemetery produced many opinions as to the actual name of the cemetery, the dates it may have been used, and the other names of people possibly buried there. The four mining communities most likely to have produced burials from accidents or disease were: Titusville, Galena, Yorkville and Blackburn. All these mining communities are now gone. Without records to be found, the cemetery is a mystery and an enigma. Other names that were in the various communities were extracted from census and school records. The Galena School building is still standing on the property that used to be called the Griffin Ranch.

The Fremont County Historical Society was deeded 1 ½ acres, containing the cemetery, in 2000. The remains of at least 7 graves are noticeable, and the deed states that over 22 graves actually are within the boundaries. The wooden picket fences and other markers are almost gone. In addition to the name Galena/Oak Creek cemetery, this resting place may have also been called is Ilse Cemetery, Yorkville Cemetery and Topliss Cemetery.

Upon the acquisition of this cemetery, the Historical Society installed a small white stone marker on the County Road 143 side of the cemetery. The marker states that the cemetery is the property of the Fremont County Historical Society. Our information is scant, but gleaning names from census records, we found the following names that may have been in the Galena/Oak Creek Cemetery in the late 1800's: Topliss, Griffin, Rants, Hill, Stultz, Daniels and Starr. The Rhodes family is listed on the census in 1885 with A.J. Rhodes, wife Josephine, and children Henry, Perry, and Mary.