Cemeteries

There are a large variety of sites to see along the Oregon Trail; battle sites, forts, river crossings, ruts, but the one category that has touched me the most so far is the little cemeteries and individual grave sites. When I read the headstones, I'm surprised by the ages of those who are buried there. They are almost all so very young. The first one that really hit me was at Red Vermillion Crossing in Kansas. It's down a dirt road (many of the sites I wanted to see in Kansas are!), there were no houses or cars anywhere nearby, and it was incredibly peaceful. The site is at the top of a small hill, and partway up that hill is a stone-lined cave cut into the hillside. The guidebook doesn't mention it, and I'm going to assume that it's a tornado shelter!  

                Daniel aged 3 months 11 days; Katherine, aged 3 years, 1 month, 3 days

Another lone gravesite was in a memorial wildlife park that had once been an Oregon Trail village.  

I try to imagine how it must have felt to leave a loved one behind on the trail, sometimes with not even a stone to mark the grave. What happened to the children left behind? How did women cope if their husband died?  I have no answers to these questions, but these are the sorts of things I'm thinking about as I go from place to place. 

Another kind of place that always moves me is National cemeteries. Part of that is because both my parents are buried at the one in Santa Fe, but I always get a feeling of awe when I see them. This is Ft. McPherson, Nebraska. Many of the graves date from the 1870's and are soldiers from the Western posts. 

                                  Ft. McPherson National Cemetery

Along the way, there were places to rest for a day or two, or perhaps a little more.  These were open fields, or treed groves near water. One such place is called Alcove Spring, and I would have loved to camp there!  It was a most peaceful place although the water wasn't running for now.  One of the neat things about that place was the trail to the spring -- it was a very nicely improved trail, with a little wooden bridge -- had been an Eagle Scout project in 1999.  It still looked great!

                                                              Alcove Spring