# Dead Man's Creek (an 1860s 'bloody tragedy')

- URL: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/dead-mans-creek-an-1860s-bloody-tragedy/
- Also known as: Deadmans Creek
- Kind: Murders, lynchings and killings
- Status: Historic or vanished
- County: El Paso County, Colorado
- Point: 39.0164, -104.8408 (USGS GNIS point for the feature itself (a few hundred feet))

- Updated: 2026-10-17

## What we know

'Nearby is the canon of Dead Man's creek, so named from a bloody tragedy …' (Rocky Mountain News, May 19, 1872). A 1956 Husted reminiscence mentions 'a skull from Dead Man's Canon' (News, Feb. 19, 1956). No name or date for the deaths.

## Where it was

USGS GNIS stream 'Deadmans Creek', El Paso County (2021 Colorado file, S-0007), the point GNIS gives for the creek, beside Husted. Where on the creek the tragedy happened is not stated.

## Sources

- S-0006: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0006
- S-0007: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0007
- S-0016: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0016

## Nearby

- [Husted](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/husted/): 0.2 mi west
- [Henry B. Walker ranch (1869-1907)](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/henry-b-walker-ranch-1869-1907/): 0.5 mi northeast
- [East Husted (Santa Fe station)](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/east-husted-santa-fe-station/): 0.6 mi east
- [James H. Shumate ranch](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/james-h-shumate-ranch/): 0.8 mi southeast
- [Reynolds Ranch House (Twin Oaks ranch)](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/reynolds-ranch-house-twin-oaks-ranch/): 1.0 mi northeast
- [Southwater](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/southwater/): 1.2 mi north

Source numbers (S-0000) refer to https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/. Compiled by Michael Christensen for Palmer Divide Research; CC BY 4.0.