Original headstones, most of which had toppled or otherwise succumbed to the passage of time over many winters, are now in the museum. Wooden replacements mark the graves. The cemetery is hidden in the forest a mile or two from Sandon. Sandon is now a ghost town, but in the late 1890's it was a booming silver mining metropolis. Miners who died without the means to have their remains shipped back to families were buried here.
2 comments:
What came first, the graves or the trees? I can't imagine trying to dig a grave among tree roots.
I think the graves came first ... because the trees seem to be all about the same age, suggesting that they grew up in a neglected clearing i.e. a cemetery. Still, I would guess that the clearing that was created was probably just carved out of the forest with hand saws and horses, and there were a kazillion roots left over even then.
It's a lucky thing miners were experts at digging!
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