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Submitted: 11/5/08 • Approved: 11/13/08 • Last Updated: 3/23/17 • R22176-G0-S3
Gravestone Inscription: George W. Snell 1850 - 1912
Note: The gravestone and the following obituary list two different years of birth.
The Alma cemetery and Buckskin cemetery are one in the same. The cemetery was originally called the Buckskin cemetery because it was next to the original town of Buckskin Joe, now a ghost town. President Theodore Roosevelt approved the land grant for the cemetery to be used by Alma residents on 3/21/1902, Patent No. 1638.
Source: the following was taken from the Fairplay Flume Newspaper (Fairplay, Park County) dated January 26, 1912, page 1.
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The Death of Wilke Snell.
George Wilkin (sic) Snell died at Alma Tuesday, January 23, 1912 of pneumonia.
He was born in Pennsylvania about the year 1851, he being something like 61 years old at the time of his death and had never been married.
He came west with his parents when a mere lad and his father, Jacob Snell, kept the post store at Fort McPherson, Nebraska, during the early days and Wilke spent his younger days in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana, coming to Alma about 35 or 40 years ago.
Mr. Snell was a typical mountaineer. He was at one time a government scout, associated with General Custer, Wm. F. Cody and other famous frontiersmen. He said he put the first government pack train into the Rocky Mountains. With an ox team, he hauled freight from Cheyenne to the Black Hills of South Dakota.
He had a very rugged constitution and spent the greater part of his life in the “out of doors,” which he seemed to appreciate and enjoy, speaking often of the grandeur of vision from the mountain peaks.
He read a great deal and had a wide range of information. He enjoyed music and loved to sing. His voice was rich and clear and full of melody.
He was a friendly-familiar character and will be greatly missed from the community. The old landmarks are being removed one by one. “They are gone but not forgotten”.
Mr. Snell leaves three sisters: Mrs. Wooden of Ohio, Mrs. Vantine of Nebraska City, Neb., and Mrs. John Ross of Morrison, Colo. Also a nephew, Ed Snell, and a niece, Mrs. Ida Gumar (note: correct spelling is Gumaer) both of whom, with their families, reside in Alma. The funeral was held at the Church in Alma, Thursday, January, 25, Rev. J.B. Youngblood conducting the services. The body was then laid to rest in the Alma cemetery. To those who mourn his death, we extend sympathy.
Contributed on 11/5/08 by southparkperils
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Record #: 22176