James Fraser, Buckskin Cemetery, Alma, Colorado

This stone leaves the age of James to the imagination and I could find no info on him otherwise with an approximate age or birthdate. The stone was never carved with his age or birthdate. My searching came up vague and blank. 

James Frazer, Born in an unknown era, Died at the end of an era.

James Fraser Died December 31, 1892. So many possibilities of what happened to him on a New Year’s Eve in a mining boom. He is buried in the Buckskin Cemetery near Alma, Colorado. 

Buckskin, kindly called Buckskin Joe in the coming years, was discovered by a prospector in 1859 that struck gold during the Pikes Peak rush. According to legend Joseph Higginbottom, clad in Buckskin clothing, fired a rifle shot at a target and revealed a Gold vein in the rock. He was the original Buckskin Joe, and the tourist attraction western town near Canon City in the 70s was drafted after this mining town.  After the small rush, the town died out very quickly and dried up by 1866. The town was considered abandoned and the courthouse was moved down the valley to Fairplay. 

Leaves one to wonder if James Fraser was here for the boom or came much later when the town was considered a ghost town with few residents. Whatever the case, rest easy James.