Wild Bill's and Calamity Jane's Graves

When we visited Deadwood, South Dakota a week ago, we didn't go to Mount Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried.

For one thing, RVs aren't permitted on the access road to the cemetery. Also, I didn't see any tram service that goes to the cemetery. We're just too old to try to "hoof" it up there.

I did visit the cemetery in 1990. 

A photo by Dave Williams in Facebook states that this is how Wild Bill's and Calamity Jane's graves look today:

 

Above, Wild Bill's grave is on the left and Calamity Jane's is on the right. Photo by Dave Williams.

Here's how the graves looked in 1990:

Above, Wild Bill's and Calamity Jane's graves in 1990. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The graves look a lot better now.

Poll: Do You Enjoy Visiting 'haunted' or Spooky Locations?

Above, the grave of Bela "Dracula" Lugosi. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

RV Travel has posted a poll asking, Do You Enjoy Visiting 'haunted' or spooky locations?

Personally, the only place I've been to that may qualify as a spooky location was the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. Other than that, I can't think of any other place.

When I was 15, I worked at a convalescent hospital as a dishwasher when I saw a metal dessert cup move by itself on a counter. But that was at work and not on a trip. 

Above, Cedar Hill Cemetery in Ouray, Colorado. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I did take a Dearly Departed Tour of cemeteries containing celebrity graves about ten years ago. 

The poll begins with:

During your RV travels, do you enjoy visiting “haunted” or just plain spooky locations? These could be old cemeteries, old, haunted mansions, abandoned mental institutions, old jails/prisons, or anything else along those lines.

If you do enjoy visiting those kinds of places, do you seek them out on your travels, or do you only visit them if you come across them along your route or at your destination?

There are many places around the U.S. (and world!) that claim to be “haunted.” Have you ever visited a haunted location and had a ghostly or creepy experience?

To read more and take part in the poll, go here. 

A Visit At Billy The Kid's Grave

Above, Billy the Kid's Grave. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

After a drive of about 290 miles, I arrived in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Fort Sumner is famous for the location of Billy the Kid's grave. He is buried with two others. The gravesite has a steel cage around it. I guess it is to keep them from leaving and voting Democrat. 

The graves are covered with coins from other visitors. 

Even though I planned on making this trip this week for some time, oddly enough, I got a call last Sunday from an ex-Noble Grand Humbug from the Lost Dutchman Chapter of E Clampus Vitus asking about getting information on Billy the Kid for a possible plaque in 2026. After the told me what the call was about, my reply was, "Funny that you called. I am heading to Billy's grave in Fort Sumner this coming week..."

To help accomplish that, I stopped at the Fort Sumner Chamber of Commerce to make arrangements to meet with the Chamber president tomorrow. Their office is at the cemetery where Billy the Kid is buried.

It was a good thing I went there today. It looked like rain may be coming (it did, it sprinkled as I am writing this).

Some photos:

Above, the grave of Joe Grant. He was shot and killed by Billy the Kid. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yesterday In Lake Havasu

Above, following the "last beer with Doug" at the cemetery. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yesterday was spent attending the funeral and internment of Mitch Geriminsky's wife's father, Doug. 

It was a nice, but informal, service at the Lake Havasu church of Latter Day Saints. Following the service, we headed to the cemetery, Lake Havasu Memorial Gardens. It was a nice small cemetery. It is interesting to note that the cemetery is in a residential area, where, if one has a home or apartment there, they either have a view of the lake or of the cemetery. The cemetery was there first and the homes were built around it later. It is also the only cemetery in Lake Havasu.

Afterwards, we returned to the church for lunch.

When that ended, we headed back to Mitch's to rest up. Well, Mitch and wife Holly did. I studied the owner's manual to the new Remington Model 870 shotgun in the motorhome. 

Above, while studying the shotgun's owner's manual.

Before I knew it, around 20 of us returned to the cemetery to have our "last beer with Doug". By then, his grave was filled in and the only thing of concern were the water sprinklers that were on the whole time. The gathering was light-hearted with stories of Doug's life. He was a Navy veteran who participated in the Bay of Pigs failed operation in 1961. If only JFK allowed U.S. air support, the outcome would have been much different.

This morning, Mitch and I will be going to Hobby Lobby to get a frame for the painting I gave Mitch for his birthday. We may do a video call with Asya, if her work schedule allows, while we are there. 

After that is accomplished, I am heading back to New Mexico. It has been a busy six days in Lake Havasu.

By the way, Dwight Kuntz and I introduced Mitch to the Antiques Roadshow on PBS last evening. Incredible as it may seem, he was unfamiliar with it. He seemed to like it.

RV Travels and Cemetery Exploring

Above, Cedar Hill Cemetery in Ouray, Colorado. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Here's something kind of offbeat.

It is about exploring random cemeteries during RV travels. Personally, I haven't done this although I have been to cemeteries and found some interesting. As a poll in RV Travel says, some local history can be gleaned from them

It begins with: 

Maybe you love exploring cemeteries on your RV travels, but maybe you find them sad, or creepy. However you feel about them, there’s no denying that visiting cemeteries can be a great place to learn about local histories. Read this essay by Chuck Woodbury about why he enjoys visiting cemeteries while he travels.

To read more and answer the poll, go here.

Headstone Reading

Above, Rodney Dangerfield's headstone at Westwood Cemetery. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Here's an idea. 

During your travels or even within your city or town, visit a cemetery and just wander around and read the headstones. 

That is the topic in RV Travel.

They start with:

I like to visit cemeteries when I travel. How about you? Here’s an idea: This weekend, stop by a cemetery — any cemetery. Just walk around. Take your time. Read the headstones. Soak up the history.

You can learn about the people buried there from their headstones, and often about the hardships of life in times more challenging than ours today. For example, you see many children’s graves or those of adults who died young. In many Old West ghost towns, it seems every other grave is a child’s.

Sometimes you come across a headstone that makes you laugh — like the one of Douglas Kiss, pictured here. Whether he wrote the epitaph himself or someone else did after he was gone, the message is a good one. I think I would have liked him.

To read more, go here. 

Cremation: Going Out With A Bang

Above, my aunt's urn was one of the nicest ones I've seen. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While perusing for any current news on the ammunition shortage, I stumbled on an article at the Daily Herald on different ways ashes (cremains) of the departed can be dealt with.

While most were more traditional, such as scattering at sea, burial, or kept at home, there was one that I found rather especially amusing (there's another: turning cremains into a vinyl record).

The article began with:

There’s no shortage of options when it comes to handling or disposing of your cremated remains after you’re gone. Your family can keep, bury or scatter them in a variety of imaginative ways that reflect your life and personality. Here are some different options to consider.

Here's the one I found most amusing:

Go out with a bang: If you’re a hunter or a gun lover, a company called Holy Smoke will create loaded ammunition out of cremated remains. Your family could store the ammo in the engraved wooden box it comes in, or they can send you off in a gun salute.

To see more, go here. 

RV Travel: Camping In A "Ghostly" Cemetery

Above, campers (background) next to Hi Jolly Cemetery in Quartzsite, Arizona. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Boondocking or dry camping in the desert can be and often is an interesting experience.  There's plenty of open land, with quite a lot of it managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management).

For the past three years, the Lost Dutchman Chapter of E Clampus Vitus has held camping clampouts at cemeteries. One was in Kingman, Arizona and the other was in Quartzsite, Arizona. Why did we camp at cemeteries? We had plaques to dedicate at each.

It just so happens that RV Travel has an article on camping in a "ghostly" cemetery. 

Here's how it begins:

Would you stay the night in a ghostly cemetery, especially around Halloween?

I have and will continue to do so when it meets my needs. Read on…

Those of you that follow our travels know that my wife and I like to explore abandoned ghost towns and mining camps across the West. Since there typically is not a campground or RV park anywhere close to these places, we most often boondock nearby.

You may also recall an article I wrote earlier this year regarding a spontaneous road trip we took detailing the places we camped. One of our campsites was adjacent to the ghostly cemetery in the 1860’s town of Candelaria, Nevada. As the article mentioned, the interred appreciated the visit and I promised a future article. This is the promised article. I waited until October, as it seemed like an appropriate time for a ghost story with Halloween just around the corner.

Many of you are probably asking, why would anyone choose to camp near an old ghostly cemetery in a ghost town?

Note: When I say “ghostly” I am not referring to spiritual ghosts lingering around their earthly remains*. I’m referring to a shadow of what once was in the form of tangible remains of the lives lived and lost, and their stories.

 To read more, go here.

Grand Canyon Pioneer Cemetery Closed To New Burials

Above, one of two memorial plaques at the Watchtower. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I've been to Grand Canyon National Park several times, but I was unaware that there is a historical cemetery at the South Rim.

U.S. News & World Report said that due to a "lack of space", no new burials will be taking place at the Grand Canyon Pioneer Cemetery. There are about 400 individual graves there, including 29 unidentified passengers from the 1956 TWA-United Airlines plane crash that took the lives of 128 people. I blogged about this plane crash last year.

Above, the view of the crash site in November 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more about the cemetery, go here.

What Do Coins Left At Military Headstones Mean?

On this Veteran's Day, here's something I read on a forum I follow:

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.  

These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.  

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.  

A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed. 

 According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.  

In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war. 

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.  

The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire. 

http://militarysalute.proboards.com/thread/864/placing-coins-on-headstones

End of Life Funeral Preparation On The Rise In Japan

Above, a traditional-style Japanese cemetery in Niigata. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

With a rapidly aging population, Japan's funeral industry is "extremely active" these days. Japan's elderly are planning their own funeral preparations.

According to an article in RT.com, Japan's population is expected to shrink by over 30 million over the next 50 years, but funeral industry-related businesses quadrupled between 2000 and 2013.

The article states:

Trying out a coffin, posing for a tombstone photo, and simulating the scattering of one's own ashes into the ocean: Japan’s elderly are taking funeral preparations into their own hands, with ‘end of life’ preparations gaining popularity in the country.

The article includes some innovative tombs now available for "occupancy" in Tokyo. Included are mult-storey, vault-style interactive graveyards. These just may become the next big thing in Japanese tourist attractions.

I bet you're just "dying" to read the article, so go here. There's also plenty of photos.

Current Blog Pick-ups

The latest blog posts pertaining to Japan travel have been picked up by The Japan Daily for sharing with their readers.

They include:

To read The Japan Daily, go here. 

A 13-Foot Gundam Grave Marker?

Above, a Niigata cemetery. Can you picture a 13 ft. Gundam statue standing here? Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Kaiju fans and Japanophiles in general have seen some cool stuff come out of Japan. At the same time they've also seen some strange stuff as well.

The following would have to come under the strange category (at least, my strange category). Then again, a Gundam fan would probably think it's cool.

RocketNews24 reported:

For a few years now, whenever online chatter of a new statue based on the machines of the Gundam universe goes on the picture above seems to always pop up. But exactly where is this MS monument of mourning? Is it even real? 

In the photo, the Gundam headstone appears to be lined up with the other graves outside of the stonemasonry shop, standing proud at around four meters (13ft) tall and weighing in at 10 tons. With that we might assume it’s a custom made incredibly ostentatious yet cool monument to the deceased.

Yes, it does appear to be a possible headstone for a deceased person who was a Gundam fan. RocketNews24 seems to be unsure of the purpose of the stone statue. It could be for someone's grave, but it also could be for a garden decoration for someone.

They are leaning towards the grave marker theory as "it can be found outside of a Kise Sekizai Boseki Center in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture. Kise Sekizai is a chain of Japanese grave makers in the area."

If someone wishes to be laid to rest under a 13-foot tall Gundam statue, who are we to judge them?

Still, if someone were to come up with a Godzilla grave marker, I can think of several people who might be tempted to get one.

To read the full article and see the statue, go here.

Tofugu.com: "The Grave Matter of Japanese Cemeteries"

Above, a Niigata cemetery.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

During my trips to Japan, I've noticed Japanese graves from small sections at rice paddies to cemeteries sprinkled in urban areas.  One is even below Tokyo Tower.

An article has been posted on the subject of Japanese cemeteries and burial customs at Tofugu.com, "The Grave Matter of Japanese Cemeteries." It is an interesting read.

It begins with:

Japanese graves and cemeteries are a bit different from what most westerners are used to. Japanese gravestones are just big blocks in a cemetery, sometimes with additional blocks, or like holders for things, and a bunch of other strange stuff that I never really understood or took the time to look into. 

I always wondered – what does all of this signify? Is there something buried underneath them? Do they channel psychic energy to allow one to communicate with the dead? Well in today’s post, we’re going to figure that all out. So pack your bags, kids – we’re going on an adventure.

To view the article, go here.

Note: The article mentions the movie, Departures (2008).  Checking into it, it seemed interesting.  I ordered a copy.  Here's the trailer.

Done For Today!

Above, on Interstate 5 north of Valencia. Normally, I don't wear suits when doing scene investigations (a t-shirt and bluejeans are preferred), but I went directly there from a court meeting. Photo courtesy of CALTRANS.

Today started early (for me, anyway) as I had an 8:30 mandatory settlement conference at the Chatsworth Superior Court.

The plaintiff/claimant was attending a funeral at a San Fernando Valley cemetery when she claimed her foot went into an open, but hidden lawn flower vase/container on a grave. She fell and broke both ankles (she apparently landed on a headstone and broke the other ankle). The demand is over $600k, the cemetery's carrier's offer (based on the cost to defend) is $25k. The cemetery claims the vase was upside down with the solid part facing upwards and that she wasn't watching where she was going. They accept no liability.

As one would expect, neither side would budge on their demands and offers. I was there to represent the insurer. The matter goes to trial in November.

From there, I headed off to an area north of Valencia, California to photograph an accident scene that involved a semi truck and a Lexus passenger vehicle. You can guess which vehicle won that encounter.

I sent my activity sheets and photos off to the boss and made myself lunch when I got home. So now it's kickback time for the rest of the day, which will include a visit by Amber.

Another Cemetery Scandal

Another cemetery scandal has surfaced involving grave desecration.

This time it is the Eden Memorial Park in Mission Hills, California, which is located at the northern end of the San Fernando Valley. This is a Jewish cemetery.

It is alleged that that groundskeepers were told to break-up vaults and caskets. Human body parts, caskets, vaults were disposed of. A class-action lawsuit has been filed.

Any time a grave is dug up the family needs to be notified. According to the news, this has been going on for about 15 years.

The remains were dumped in the northeast corner of the cemetery, which is being developed currently.

There is a finite amount of space between graves. There's supposed to be a 4-inch variance between graves. When a backhoe is used, it has to "surgically" dig a new grave so that the neighboring grave is undisturbed. In the allegation, the variance is less than 4 inches and the backhoe hit the buried vaults in adjoining graves, causing them to break open, and causing bones to fall into the new holes.

It is alleged that some of the damages were accidential and some intentional.

This is similar to another cemetery scandal (near Chicago) in which at Burr Oak Cemetery, 300 graves were desecrated and bodies were found to be dumped in piles throughout the cemetery.

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times is reporting:

The class-action lawsuit, filed last week against Eden Memorial Park and its parent company, Service Corporation International, claims the cemetery improperly attempted to squeeze plots together to generate more profit, breaking existing vaults and moving or discarding remains in the process.

"We're aware of instances where they literally lost bodies," said Michael Avenatti, the lead plaintiff's attorney. "In other words, loved ones have been going to graves that have been empty."

A spokeswoman for Houston-based SCI denied the charges and said the company "will not and cannot try this case in the media."

"While very salacious, these allegations are just that -- allegations," company spokeswoman Lisa Marshall said in a statement. "Eden Memorial conducts extensive training with its employees and we support that with strict policies and procedures."