Eaten by mountain rats...

"In 1876, Signal Station attendant Private John O’Keefe, told tall tales of life in the station to lawyer, newspaper man and drinking buddy, Eliphat Price. O’Keefe recounted a story of large, man-eating rats that lived in caves on Pikes Peak. The story then grew to include how these rats attacked him and his wife and daughter in the station itself – devouring a side of beef in less than five minutes. While Private O'Keefe tried to protect his family using a club to fend off the rats, it was actually Mrs. O’Keefe who saved the day by electrocuting the rats with a coil of wire connected to the signal station’s battery. According to the story though, her efforts were too late. Before she could connect the wire to the battery terminals, hundreds of these killer rats had already devoured Erin, the O’Keefe’s only daughter.
O’Keefe quickly erected a fake grave on the summit to support his story and, more likely, to woo tourists. However, there were only two problems with the story – O’Keefe wasn’t married and he didn’t have a daughter. Despite these obvious clues, the story hit the wires and ended up being published in many newspapers around the globe. (Rumor has it that Erin was actually O'Keefe's mule that had recently died.)
Two years after being transferred off the mountain, Private O’Keefe returned to the summit of Pikes Peak and the Signal Station – this time as a Sergeant. With his promotion in rank, he also developed a promotion in his storytelling"
http://pikespeak.us.com/Learn/fun-facts.html