Just south of Alma, Colorado, there was a dance hall girl in the mining camp of Buckskin Joe, called Silverheels for the silver decorations on her dancing shoes. A smallpox epidemic hit the camp in the winter of 1861, and Silverheels was the only woman who stayed in the camp to care for the sick miners and families. She eventually contracted smallpox herself, and the town took up a collection in gratitude of her dedication, nearly $5000. The next spring, when the miners delivered the reward, her cabin was deserted. She did not leave by horse or stagecoach, so the nearby mountains and valleys were searched. Silverheels had disappeared into the hills, her beautiful and kind face likely scarred by smallpox.

Today, a ghostly woman dressed in black with a heavy veil is sometimes seen placing flowers on graves around the Buckskin Cemetery, still tending the bedsides of the people of Buckskin Joe. Mount Silverheels looks over Alma, Fairplay, and the South Park valley, and is named in her remembrance 🖤

Visit the Buckskin Cemetery with me here to learn more! 🖤