This is a unique sad story and monument.It is the grave of Pvt. Dennis O'Leary,a lonely and sickly soldier who died at Fort Wingate, N.M. in 1901.
The story is that Pvt. O'Leary was a desperatly unhappy young man who didn't mix well with his fellow soldiers. One day he disappeared from Fort Wingate and was reported AWOL. Several weeks later, he showed up again without an explanation for his absence. He was court-martialed and sentenced to stay in the guardhouse, which he served without complaint.
But on April 1, 1901, Pvt. O'Leary shot himself to death. He left a note saying he had left a " memento" in the mountains and giving directions to it, and to take a team of horses and wagon to get it.
There they found a large tombstone carved out of sandstone. It was the statue of an almost-life-size soldier, wearing boots and a cartridge belt, reclining against the trunk of a tree. Behind the trunk was the inscription: "Dennis O'Leary Pvt.,Co. I, 23 Infty, died Apr. 1, 1901, age 23 yrs & 9 mo."
During his weeks away from Fort Wingate, Pvt. O'Leary had carved his own tombstone and inscribed the date of his death. He was interred at Fort Wingate, but when it was closed down all the graves were reinterred in the Santa Fe National Cemetery including Pvt. O'Leary.
The story is that Pvt. O'Leary was a desperatly unhappy young man who didn't mix well with his fellow soldiers. One day he disappeared from Fort Wingate and was reported AWOL. Several weeks later, he showed up again without an explanation for his absence. He was court-martialed and sentenced to stay in the guardhouse, which he served without complaint.
But on April 1, 1901, Pvt. O'Leary shot himself to death. He left a note saying he had left a " memento" in the mountains and giving directions to it, and to take a team of horses and wagon to get it.
There they found a large tombstone carved out of sandstone. It was the statue of an almost-life-size soldier, wearing boots and a cartridge belt, reclining against the trunk of a tree. Behind the trunk was the inscription: "Dennis O'Leary Pvt.,Co. I, 23 Infty, died Apr. 1, 1901, age 23 yrs & 9 mo."
During his weeks away from Fort Wingate, Pvt. O'Leary had carved his own tombstone and inscribed the date of his death. He was interred at Fort Wingate, but when it was closed down all the graves were reinterred in the Santa Fe National Cemetery including Pvt. O'Leary.
This is a unique sad story and monument.It is the grave of Pvt. Dennis O'Leary,a lonely and sickly soldier who died at Fort Wingate, N.M. in 1901.
The story is that Pvt. O'Leary was a desperatly unhappy young man who didn't mix well with his fellow soldiers. One day he disappeared from Fort Wingate and was reported AWOL. Several weeks later, he showed up again without an explanation for his absence. He was court-martialed and sentenced to stay in the guardhouse, which he served without complaint.
But on April 1, 1901, Pvt. O'Leary shot himself to death. He left a note saying he had left a " memento" in the mountains and giving directions to it, and to take a team of horses and wagon to get it.
There they found a large tombstone carved out of sandstone. It was the statue of an almost-life-size soldier, wearing boots and a cartridge belt, reclining against the trunk of a tree. Behind the trunk was the inscription: "Dennis O'Leary Pvt.,Co. I, 23 Infty, died Apr. 1, 1901, age 23 yrs & 9 mo."
During his weeks away from Fort Wingate, Pvt. O'Leary had carved his own tombstone and inscribed the date of his death. He was interred at Fort Wingate, but when it was closed down all the graves were reinterred in the Santa Fe National Cemetery including Pvt. O'Leary.
The story is that Pvt. O'Leary was a desperatly unhappy young man who didn't mix well with his fellow soldiers. One day he disappeared from Fort Wingate and was reported AWOL. Several weeks later, he showed up again without an explanation for his absence. He was court-martialed and sentenced to stay in the guardhouse, which he served without complaint.
But on April 1, 1901, Pvt. O'Leary shot himself to death. He left a note saying he had left a " memento" in the mountains and giving directions to it, and to take a team of horses and wagon to get it.
There they found a large tombstone carved out of sandstone. It was the statue of an almost-life-size soldier, wearing boots and a cartridge belt, reclining against the trunk of a tree. Behind the trunk was the inscription: "Dennis O'Leary Pvt.,Co. I, 23 Infty, died Apr. 1, 1901, age 23 yrs & 9 mo."
During his weeks away from Fort Wingate, Pvt. O'Leary had carved his own tombstone and inscribed the date of his death. He was interred at Fort Wingate, but when it was closed down all the graves were reinterred in the Santa Fe National Cemetery including Pvt. O'Leary.
