Thank you for the excellent article on historic graves in the Animas City Cemetery. Ruth Lambert and Mona Charles have done important work documenting the history of the cemetery, the placement of graves and the unique stories of those who are buried there.
If the Durango Parks & Recreation Department submitted a grant application to the Colorado State Historical Register and it was not accepted, then another solution to designating the cemetery is to place it on the La Plata County Historical Register. On behalf of the La Plata County Historical Commission, we would welcome such an application from Friends of the Animas City Cemetery, as well as the town of Durango.
An application to the La Plata County Historical Register would be processed, then go forward to the La Plata County commissioners for their vote. Proposed development adjacent to the cemetery would seriously impact these immigrant graves from Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland and England.
We owe it to our ancestors to do the right thing and to protect their final resting place.
Andrew Gulliford
Durango
