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Published: December 17th 2020
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No visit to Trinidad would be complete without driving up about 800 feet on the long narrow trail. Simpson's final resting spot is by the large (lighted by night) Trinidad sign overlooking the City of Trinidad. The one lane dirt trail (with some wide spots) was an enjoyable ride. With oncoming traffic they would pull off in a wide spot to let you proceed up or down. At the top there were dirt side-trails to go to enjoy the views with a nice breeze in the air. I stayed for an hour mostly away from the Trinidad sign so as not to disturb the families viewing there.
After a nice drive down, I passed the Masonic Cemetery near the bottom of the trail. I was in a hurry to get to my first camp in the high Colorado Mountains; and I could kick my butt for not checking out the Masonic Cemetery.
According to legendsofamerica.com, George S. Simpson (1818-1885), born in St. Louis, Missouri, was a hunter, trapper, and traded with the Native Americans, Anglos, and Mexicans. Simpson was also an adventurer, farmer, rancher, shopkeeper, poet, interpreter, guide, and a gold miner in California. His best activities was establishing
trading posts in what now is Colorado and New Mexico. in 1838 George joined several trappers including Old Bill Williams at Fort Hall, Idaho and trapped on the rivers in that general area. In 1839 George joined other trappers and worked in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. In 1841 at Fort Laramie, Wyoming he met Kit Carson and Robert Fisher. Fisher hired Simpson, and other trappers, who worked the front range of the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Colorado, and traded at Bent's Fort on the Santa Fe Trail. In 1842 Simpson and Fisher built the El Pueblo trading post at current day Pueblo, Colorado. Later that year Simpson married Juana Maria Suaso at Bent's Fort; and later had a daughter Maria Isabel Simpson in 1844. Simpson built a number of trading posts in Colorado and New Mexico. In 1849 George had contracted cholera on a steamboat nearby his home town of St. Louis and was pronounced dead and was packed in ice in a coffin. The crew members of the steamboat were very suprised to see him craw out alive from the coffin. (Maybe?) In 1850-1852 George went to California in search of gold. Later Simpson joined up with
Simpsons Rest
Trinidad sign military units in Taos, New Mexico and served as a guide, interpreter, and hunter. In 1865 Simpson moved his family to Trinidad, Colorado. In 1866 Ute Native Americans raided the Trinidad area. With George and his daughter Isabel in the open, they climbed the nearest butte and hid from the raid and survived the attack. George said that he wanted to be laid to rest on the top of the butte. (When Trinidad was incorporated as a City in 1876 George Simpson was credited for the development of Trinidad.) When George died in 1885, the people of Trinidad honored his request and laid George to rest at the top of that butte. Now the butte is named Simpson's Rest, and is a popular overlook for the locals (and tourists).
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