Monday, November 8, 2021

Goldfield, NV - October 19, 2021 (Part 2)

 So what is a "ghost town" without a cemetery?  In my view, a good cemetery can make a big difference, and Goldfield's cemetery is excellent.  It's not unusual for older towns to have multiple cemeteries for different ethnicities, religions, social clubs, etc.  In the case of Goldfield, it's one large cemetery with different sections to accomplish the same.  For example, I noticed one section for Catholics, another for "Odd Fellows" (a fraternal organization dedicated to helping others), Elks, Knights of Pythias, etc.  There is also a section for the pioneers of the town.




The pioneers section was the most interesting for me.  You can see that the "head stones" here really are nothing but stones found in the mountains.  Many of them don't even have an inscription,  but those that do appear to have been added much later.




One head stone declared the occupant "Unknown, Died From Eating Library Paste", but I failed to get a photo of it.  Some sections had very few head stones, but mostly wooden crosses.  Some graves had both.  I looked for Virgil Earp's grave but never found it.


A different type of cemetery is one for old vehicles, although the owner/developer calls it "The International Car Forest".  I've see a couple of similar places in my travels, but this one is my favorite so far.  Bodies of cars, trucks, buses, etc are hauled into the desert and placed in particular positions, then covered with graffiti.  I think anyone is invited to participate in the painting and some are very good artists.

















Like a few other old western towns, Goldfield has a number of burros roaming around, no doubt descendants of those who served early prospectors.


 


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