The other day we went to Idaho City, the first settled town in the state. We took Julie, Kelley, and TM with us. The drive was beautiful, we wound around next to the river up through mountains full of pine trees, it reminded me of Montana. This first picture is a pull off on the way back, the Lucky Peak Recreation area, that I definitely want to visit later this summer. So anyway, Idaho City is just this little town, lots of old buildings including the first church for "white men" in Idaho. The area was the most prosperous for gold anywhere and was full of mostly immigrants who mined the area. As we drove down the very few streets full of potholes I saw a sign for the Pioneer Cemetery. WARNING: FAINT OF HEART MAY NOT WANT TO READ ON: Now those of you who know me know that I have a serious fascination for both pioneers AND cemeteries, so how could I resist? We had to drive literally up into the mountains just following signs to find it. I have never seen anything like it! This cemetery is just scattered across this mountain, not even
close to town. The sign said they figure about 3,000 people are buried there, but they only know where 300 of those graves are. So just scattered everywhere are graves that are sunk in, or you can't see the whole headstone. It's truly eerie to walk up this mountain side and see everything from huge fancy headstones to slabs of wood. I took millions of pics but only included these two. First is one of the many that are just old blocks of wood with "UNKNOWN" carved into them. A lot of the graves themselves are surrounded with fences, the more expensive high class people have metal ones and these ones are just wood. I think the moss growing on it and the slump of the fence where it is sinking into the ground has a weird beauty. The next one was just a piece of very old wood and this pine tree has grown right in front of it and pushes it aside. I
thought it was fascinating to see the way the grave marker is like peeking out from behind the tree as if to say "I was here first! Don't forget about me!" A couple more of my observations are that the earliest markers don't show birth dates; just names, age at the time of death, and the death date. And most of them also proudly proclaim where the person was from. I saw Belgium, Germany, China, and many more. Anyway I have a lot more pictures that I think are pretty cool and more stories but I'm not sure if anyone else is interested! Ramil and Julie refused to even enter the cemetery and spent the whole time I was exploring just nervously pacing. When I was done Kelley informed me that he was questioning them about their cemetery aversion and it turns out that in the Philippines they pretty much just toss a little dirt over people. Then the rainy season comes and I'll leave what surfaces to your imagination but it went a long way to explaining why Ramil wouldn't even eat and just wanted to leave! So if anyone is interested I have more pictures, stories, and information. Just for the record let me explain why I like cemeteries...I just think they are (usually) peaceful places and I like to read what family members wrote on the headstones of their loved ones. I think it also helps us feel connected to the many who came before us and reminds us not to waste our time here.
The other day we went to Idaho City, the first settled town in the state. We took Julie, Kelley, and TM with us. The drive was beautiful, we wound around next to the river up through mountains full of pine trees, it reminded me of Montana. This first picture is a pull off on the way back, the Lucky Peak Recreation area, that I definitely want to visit later this summer. So anyway, Idaho City is just this little town, lots of old buildings including the first church for "white men" in Idaho. The area was the most prosperous for gold anywhere and was full of mostly immigrants who mined the area. As we drove down the very few streets full of potholes I saw a sign for the Pioneer Cemetery. WARNING: FAINT OF HEART MAY NOT WANT TO READ ON: Now those of you who know me know that I have a serious fascination for both pioneers AND cemeteries, so how could I resist? We had to drive literally up into the mountains just following signs to find it. I have never seen anything like it! This cemetery is just scattered across this mountain, not even
close to town. The sign said they figure about 3,000 people are buried there, but they only know where 300 of those graves are. So just scattered everywhere are graves that are sunk in, or you can't see the whole headstone. It's truly eerie to walk up this mountain side and see everything from huge fancy headstones to slabs of wood. I took millions of pics but only included these two. First is one of the many that are just old blocks of wood with "UNKNOWN" carved into them. A lot of the graves themselves are surrounded with fences, the more expensive high class people have metal ones and these ones are just wood. I think the moss growing on it and the slump of the fence where it is sinking into the ground has a weird beauty. The next one was just a piece of very old wood and this pine tree has grown right in front of it and pushes it aside. I 
thought it was fascinating to see the way the grave marker is like peeking out from behind the tree as if to say "I was here first! Don't forget about me!" A couple more of my observations are that the earliest markers don't show birth dates; just names, age at the time of death, and the death date. And most of them also proudly proclaim where the person was from. I saw Belgium, Germany, China, and many more. Anyway I have a lot more pictures that I think are pretty cool and more stories but I'm not sure if anyone else is interested! Ramil and Julie refused to even enter the cemetery and spent the whole time I was exploring just nervously pacing. When I was done Kelley informed me that he was questioning them about their cemetery aversion and it turns out that in the Philippines they pretty much just toss a little dirt over people. Then the rainy season comes and I'll leave what surfaces to your imagination but it went a long way to explaining why Ramil wouldn't even eat and just wanted to leave! So if anyone is interested I have more pictures, stories, and information. Just for the record let me explain why I like cemeteries...I just think they are (usually) peaceful places and I like to read what family members wrote on the headstones of their loved ones. I think it also helps us feel connected to the many who came before us and reminds us not to waste our time here.
1 comment:
Becky, I want you to bring your pictures when you come home. Lovely post and I was fascinated by it. Love, Mom
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