BUFFALO, NY - One of Western New York's Unknown Stories is unknown no more, thanks to local historian and radio personality Steve Cichon.
Did you know that right in the center of the Delaware Park Golf Course is an unmarked mass grave that is the final resting spot for 300 War of 1812 American soldiers?
It is known as the "Mound in the Meadow", but it is the spot where soldiers who died from camp disease and winter exposure were buried in the spring of 1813.
Dr. Daniel Chapin moved the bodies to the meadow and buried them there. Chapin also planted two yellow willow trees at each end to mark the graves.
The boulder and bronze plaque that mark the spot today were dedicated in 1893.
Most of these volunteer soldiers were from Maryland and Virginia, and were horribly ill-prepared for the weather conditions of Western New York. They arrived with little more than open ended tents and southern-style linen uniforms.
Steve Cichon says the Delaware Park Tomb of the Unknowns is quite possibly the last remaining intact site in the City of Buffalo from the War of 1812.
Monday Cichon led a parade of people onto the course to plant 300 American flags around the boulder, honoring their sacrifice.
"We are considering the Memorial Day ceremony to be the official beginning of our efforts to properly memorialize this sacred spot and the sacrifices made by these men almost 200 years ago," says Cichon.