Hi Everyone, My name is Nancy and I currently live in Connecticut but was born and raised in Colorado. I am new to the list and wanted to say how much I enjoy the Huerfano website.... It's the best! I have a question about one of the graves at the St. Vrain Cem. My Great Great Grandmothers name was Maria Matilde Salazar and we have long been searching for her date of death and place of burial. On the St Vrain Cem. list is a Maria M. Salazar and the picture shows a rock with a cross carved into it and a metal name plate just laying on the ground. I am wondering if anyone knows if this name plate could be as old as the mid 1880's? We know she died between 1882 and 1886 time line is not accurate. She was married twice, once to Bernardo Johnson in 1867 and then to Juan Jose Chaves 1878 both marriages are documented in Holy Trinity Church, Trinidad. Is it possible they used her maiden name at burial? Thanks for all the hard work and the great website! Nancy

Hi Nancy, Welcome to the list. I am the one that took the photos at the cemeteries. No, that metal plate could not have come from the 1880's. I would say it's no older than the 1970' or 80's. It's one of those novelty things, like having your own street sign. It was not attached to anything, just lying there on the ground. There was another one, identical to it laying by the fence, as if someone had tossed it there. I have no way of knowing if it was supposed to be lying next to that rock or not. Now it could be entirely possible that a descendent of hers had those tin plates made and placed them at the site. Again, we have no way of verifying that. I assume that you have asked at both churches, St. Mary's in Walsenburg and Holy Trinity in Trinidad, if they have records of her burial. If not, you need to do that. In trying to determine where a person might be buried, you can narrow it down by examining the burial records of other members of the family. Where were her parents buried? Where are the husbands buried? Where are her children buried? If she was widowed when she died, did she live with one of her children? If so, where? This won't always give you an exact location, but it may give you a narrower avenue to search. Yes, in that time frame, she may have been buried under her maiden name, especially beings she was married twice. So be sure to explore those possibilities with the churches. Do you know where she lived the last years of her life? Chances are her burial would be close to there. Hope this helps and please do let us know if you find out anything. Karen ----- Original Message ----- From: <Latingrl40@aol.com> To: <COHUERFA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 8:07 PM Subject: [COHUERFA] St Vrain Cem Hi Everyone, My name is Nancy and I currently live in Connecticut but was born and raised in Colorado. I am new to the list and wanted to say how much I enjoy the Huerfano website.... It's the best! I have a question about one of the graves at the St. Vrain Cem. My Great Great Grandmothers name was Maria Matilde Salazar and we have long been searching for her date of death and place of burial. On the St Vrain Cem. list is a Maria M. Salazar and the picture shows a rock with a cross carved into it and a metal name plate just laying on the ground. I am wondering if anyone knows if this name plate could be as old as the mid 1880's? We know she died between 1882 and 1886 time line is not accurate. She was married twice, once to Bernardo Johnson in 1867 and then to Juan Jose Chaves 1878 both marriages are documented in Holy Trinity Church, Trinidad. Is it possible they used her maiden name at burial? Thanks for all the hard work and the great website! Nancy