Bringing life to death - Top, left: One of many guides leads a group of crawlers through the Knights of Pythias Cemetery in Central City. Top, right: Community members support Central City’s Cemetery Crawl by dressing up in garb and enjoying the lectures from the past. Bottom, right: The past comes to life through music played via a gramophone. Bottom, left: Volunteers of the Gilpin Historical Society prepare to bring the past to life while waiting for groups to enter the cemetery. PHOTOS BY OMAYRA ACEVEDO[/caption]

On Saturday, August 23, 2023, sullen skies fell over the Knight of Pythias Cemetery in Central City as a few hundred visitors gathered outside its gates, anticipating tales of the dead. Promptly at 11 a.m., a welcome and introduction set the pace for what guests should expect.

Before continuing, let’s first recap the inspiration for the 34th Annual Cemetery Crawl, hosted by the Gilpin Historical Society. On February 19, 1864, Justus H. Rathbone founded The Knights of Pythias in Washington, DC.

Rathbone, a music composer, actor, and Shakespearian scholar, was a Colgate University graduate who attended Carlisle Seminary. He moved to Washington in 1863, where he worked in the United States Treasury Department.

A year later, Rathbone, influenced by the Greek mythological friendship of Damon and Pythias, founded the Knights of Pythias. According to legend, one of the friends was sentenced to death but requested time to square away some affairs before his demise.

When the prisoner’s request was denied, the other friend offered to die in his stead if he didn’t return. When the condemned man returns, the captor, moved by their friendship, releases both men.

The story did not only inspire The Knights of Pythias but the fraternity’s three main principles: Friendship, Clarity, and Benevolence. The fraternal organization was one of the first organizations to receive a charter from Congress under former President Abraham Lincoln.

Domains of the Order exist in many states and provinces, including lodges located in several cities and towns across the nation, Canada, and Europe.

Saturday’s crowd split into groups, which were led by local guides, to specific gravestones. The guides, dressed in time-period attire, became the actors, bringing to life the ones who were once dead, telling their stories of travel, marriage, work, adventure, and survival.

Every year, one of the 11 Gilpin County cemeteries becomes the home of the Cemetery Crawl, allowing visitors the opportunity to step back in time and experience Gilpin County from a different perspective.

The Knights of Pythias Cemetery is located above Central City. To learn more about the Gilpin Historical Society visit https://www.gilpinhistory.org/ or give them a call at 303-582-5283.