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Near La Junta in Otero County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
 

Edward Dorris

 
 
Edward Dorris Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Duane Hall, October 8, 2010
1. Edward Dorris Marker
Inscription.

Edward Dorris
Died July 21, 1865
Aged 31 years
2 Ms. 28 Ds.

Edward Thou Hast Gone to Rest
In This Far Country of the West
Brothers and Friends Mourn and Weep
Thou in this Tomb Dost Sweetly Sleep

Edward Dorris, a stagecoach driver, died of a sunstroke or a heart attack enroute to Bent’s Old Fort, a Barlow and Sanderson stagecoach station in the 1860's. Like others who had gone before him, the hardship of life on the Santa Fe Trail ended here at Bent’s Fort. Of the thirteen graves located in this cemetery, twelve are covered with adobe bricks while Dorris’ grave is covered with limestone and marked. This may be the cemetery described by visitors to Bent’s Fort in the 1840's.

“In the evening another Missouri volunteer died, and was buried. They were obliged to cover the graves with prickly pear, or rocks, to prevent the wolves from tearing the bodies out of the ground ...” Lt. Abert, U.S. Army of the West, 1847.

The cemetery was never completely excavated. Please stay on the trail to protect this resource.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial SitesForts and Castles. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1846.
 
Location. 38° 2.498′ N, 103° 25.78′ W.
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Marker is near La Junta, Colorado, in Otero County. Marker can be reached from State Highway 194, 0.1 miles east of County Road 35. Marker is located in Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site on the 0.25 mile trail between the parking lot and the fort; the above directions are to the intersection of State Route 194 and the driveway to the Bent’s Old Fort parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: La Junta CO 81050, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Mountain Men to Merchants (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Cast of Colorful Characters (approx. 0.2 miles away); Welcome to the Borderlands (approx. 0.2 miles away); An Adobe Outpost (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Babel-Tongued Multitude (approx. 0.2 miles away); No Fur, No Fort (approx. 0.2 miles away); Trading Post on the Trail (approx. 0.2 miles away); An International River (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in La Junta.
 
Also see . . .  Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. Official National Park Service website. (Submitted on February 18, 2014.) 
 
Edward Dorris Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Jeff Leichsenring, June 27, 2023
2. Edward Dorris Marker
Old Bent's Fort Cemetery and Edward Dorris Headstone image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Duane Hall, October 8, 2010
3. Old Bent's Fort Cemetery and Edward Dorris Headstone
View to west from marker
Bent's Old Fort image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Duane Hall, October 8, 2010
4. Bent's Old Fort
View from trail at cemetery
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on July 5, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 18, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas. This page has been viewed 645 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on February 18, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.   2. submitted on July 4, 2023, by Jeff Leichsenring of Garland, Texas.   3, 4. submitted on February 18, 2014, by Duane Hall of Abilene, Texas.

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Apr. 19, 2024