El Paso 2019: A Cemetery ... Prairie Dog?

El Paso, Concordia Cemetery. January 2019.

My friend, Kate, on a Grand Tour of the Southwest, stopped to visit me in El Paso.

After lunch at historic L&J Cafe, we walked through adjacent Concordia Cemetery.

It delighted me to see a prairie dog-like creature bounding to the entryway of his hidey-hole.

A cheeky little thing, he appeared nonchalant about my presence, affording me several photo opps.

El Paso, Concordia Cemetery. January 2019.

Do you see him?

El Paso: A Walk Among the Dead

La Llorona, Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

October 2016


What better way to spend a sparkling Saturday afternoon than walking among the dead, the undead, and the living?

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Well, I could have done without these. They are veritable demons when dead.

But otherwise, it was a day of beauty, both somber and playful.

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Giant puppets danced through cemetery lanes:

A mariachi band serenaded; La Llorona made a cameo appearance. On the other side of the stone wall is the Chinese section of the cemetery:

Concordia Cemetery honors the Buffalo Soldiers.

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Chinese residents of El Paso made their final homes here.

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

The Franklin Mountains give the cemetery a sense of place and of calm reserve.

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Natural flags paid their respects.

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

Drummers drummed -- Echoes in the Park -- who you can find and join - at Upper Tom Lea Park on Friday evenings from May through October.

Day of the Dead, Concordia Cemetery, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

The Paso del Norte Paranormal Society hosts the annual Day of the Dead event at Concordia Cemetery.


One of Benjamin Alire Saenz' characters resides at Concordia Cemetery. From Carry Me Like Water (1995), about Diego's friend, Mary, who met a violent death:

“[Mary’s] going to be buried at Concordia. That’s where they bury them, the people who don’t have anybody get buried at a section of Concordia. At least they’re still saving spaces in the ground for the Marys of the world.”

… Concordia was filled with weeds and trash delivered there by the El Paso wind. It looked more like a dump than a cemetery. It was only cleaned once a year when the prisoners from the county jail were let out to clean it, but that wasn’t until the summer, and it had been almost a year since its last cleaning, a year’s worth of old newspapers lying up against the gravestones.

For a moment, Concordia Cemetery distracted another character in the same book:

Driving down Interstate 10, Jake took the Juarez exit. He took his eyes off the road for a moment and stared down at Concordia Cemetery, the dead disturbed now by a freeway the locals called the spaghetti bowl. As the freeway curbed around, Juarez was straight ahead. It was so easy to get there, just get in the car, take an exit – Mexico – so easy, he thought.

A slide show below:

Kansas: Hiawatha: Davis Memorial

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

Years and years ago, I read about this little town of Hiawatha, Kansas, where a man - John Davis - had created a statuary garden that honored his late wife, Sarah Hart Davis. I imagined a large estate with a vast green lawn, dotted with white-white statues of Ms. Davis at various stages of her life.

Although it never quite worked out for me to visit that memorial, its presence remained filed in one of my brain cubbies.

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

But this year, this road trip, it would happen.

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

Upon researching my way there, my vision of a vast estate dissolved with the information that the Davis Memorial is actually in a cemetery, specifically, the Mount Hope Cemetery. It took me awhile to find the cemetery, but I did, at which point I discovered that the collection of statues that comprise the Davis Memorial are in a compact space.

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

The compactness of the space concentrated the impact of the statues. However, the author of this article disagrees.

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

Some Hiawatha residents questioned Mr. Davis' devotion to his wife while she lived. One wonders. Look at that side-eye below.

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

Mr. Davis' outlay of more than $200,000 on such frivolity provoked many Hiawatha citizens. It was during the Depression, after all, and Mr. Davis could have spent his wealth on communal amenities such as a pool or a hospital.

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

The Davises had no children, and evidently there was no love lost between Ms. Davis' family and Mr. Davis. Some community members whispered that Mr. Davis' memorials to his deceased wife was one way to deny her family members access to his money when he died.

Davis Memorial, Mount Hope Cemetery. Hiawatha, Kansas. June 2016.

Despite the rumors that spoke to Mr. Davis' motives and stinginess, apparently Mr. Davis regularly and anonymously gave money to people in need.

The author of this article recognizes the irony in the fact that the Davis Memorial attracts tourism dollars to Hiawatha.

Below is a video from Tales of the Midland Empire that tells the story. Or let's say, one of the stories, about the Davises and the Davis Memorial:

Antigua, Guatemala: San Lázaro Cemetery

San Lázaro Cemetery, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

Is it the ultimate irony to name a cemetery after Lazarus? It would seem so to me, but maybe there's a nuance I'm not getting, or maybe Antigueños are an optimistic people.


I probably would have wandered over to the cemetery at some point during my Antigua stay, but what drove me to put it on my must-see list was a provocative conversation with my Spanish teacher.

San Lázaro Cemetery, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

One day, during a lesson, I don't remember how the topic came up, but she casually mentioned formerly-interred bodies being thrown into the garbage dump if the deceased's descendants failed to pay the annual cemetery bill.

Internal squealing of brakes in my head, backing up. "Wha?"

At first I thought she was talking about tossing the cadavers into the city dump, about which I was incredulous, but after some refinement of terms and my understanding of same, I got that there was a garbage area in the cemetery itself. I am deliberately using the word "garbage" - or "trash" if you prefer - because that is the term my teacher used, i.e. "basura." Not that this was any less startling to me.

San Lázaro Cemetery, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

So, really, this is how it works in Guatemala. You've got to pay recurring cemetery fees if you want your deceased loved one to remain in his eternal resting abode. My impression is that at San Lázaro Cemetery, there's a grace period of sorts, where maybe your loved one's body can stay in situ for awhile past the payment-due date, but then it's moved to another "resting area" to give the family more time to find the funds for (newer, but less stately?) digs, but once that period ends, the corpse is chucked into what one person might call a mass grave and what another might call a garbage dump.

Indeed, an article on the Guatemala system here: Evicted From Their Own Graves (2014) - Caution, disturbing photos included. 

San Lázaro Cemetery, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

So I went to the cemetery so I could see this for myself, but in talking to the cemetery workers, who confirmed the practice, I was told visitors weren't allowed to go to that spot because of "safety" concerns.

I did note that at least one crypt, possibly that of a delinquent "renter," is used as a work shed of sorts. If so, perhaps that is a kindness, forestalling eviction.

San Lázaro Cemetery, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

As with all cemeteries, there are the chi-chi neighborhoods and the more humble ones.

Overall, the cemetery is gracious, serene, and beautiful. The public area, that is.


Some other takes on San Lázaro Cemetery: 

Tree-Lined Cemetery Path (2007)
Wall of Graves (2016)
San Lazaro Cemetery (2015)


A slideshow below of San Lázaro Cemetery:

Some other cemeteries I have known are here.

Grand Coteau, Louisiana: Among the Dead

Jesus of the Pasture. St. Charles Cemetery, Grand Coteau, Louisiana. February 2016.

A Grand Coteau friend took me on a walk in her village. Her people are from here, and she pointed out spots where ancestors lived and worked.

As a person with with no strong geographical roots, it is a remarkable thing to live in a place such as South Louisiana, where so many people live in the same area where their families have lived for centuries. 

We paid our respects to villagers past at the St. Charles Cemetery.

A slide show:

Washington, Louisiana: Cedar Hill Cemetery

Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana. Eugene Lemontey, born in France and died in Washington.

The village of Washington, Louisiana, lists four historic cemeteries:

1. Cedar Hill Cemetery
2. Hebrew Rest Cemetery
3. Hinckley Family Cemetery
4. Old Church Landing Cemetery (aka Yellow Fever Cemetery)

Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana.

One day, I took a quick look at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana.

I have so much appreciation for individuals who give their time and careful attention to identifying and mapping the inhabitants of graves in cemeteries. Here is a list of the deceased buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery.  The names. These families are still here, as they have been for hundreds of years. From the name list, you can click through to a photo of the person's grave. Sometimes there is additional information about the individual.

Decades ago, when my mother researched her family's genealogy, she traveled to different sites in the US and in Canada, visiting libraries, exchanging letters with people and organizations who might have the information she sought. Now - so much of this data is a click away. 

It's a beautiful thing.

Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana.

I am curious about the putty-colored box in the tree above. Is it for beekeeping?

St. Landry Parish, Louisiana: Little Bethel Baptist Church

George Henry, WWI veteran, Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.

My maternal grandfather was a World War I veteran. There were things he saw that he never wanted to speak of.

When I saw the grave of George Henry, a World War I veteran, in the Little Bethel Baptist Church cemetery, I thought of my grandfather. I also thought about A Gathering of Old Men, by Louisiana author Ernest J. Gaines, which included a story of a World War I veteran:

Coot was there in his First World War Army uniform. The uniform was all wrinkled and full of holes, but Coot wore it like it was something brand new. …. 

“I shot him,” Coot said. ….. “I was the only man from this parish ever fit with the 369th,” Coot said. …. “The 369th was a all-colored outfit. You couldn’t fight side by side with these here white folks then. You had to get your training in France, take orders from French officers. They trained us good, and we helt our ground. … we helt our ground. …

And I was proud as I could be, till I got back home. The first white man I met, the very first one, one of them no-English-speaking things off that river, told me I better not ever wear that uniform or the medal again no matter how long I lived. He told me I was back home now, and they didn’t cotton to no nigger wearing medals for killing white folks. That was back in World War One. And they ain’t change yet – not a bit. Look what happened to Curt’s boy when he come home from World War Two. Because they seen him with that German girl's picture, they caught him – and all y’all remember what they did to him with that knife. Korea – the same thing. That colored boy had throwed his body on that grenade to protect his platoon. Still the politicians here wouldn’t let them bury him in Arlington like the rest of them was buried there. Vietnam, the same thing. It ain’t changed. Not at all.” … 

“I used to put on my old uniform and look at myself in the chifforobe glass. I knowed I couldn’t wear it outside, but I could wear it round the house. Today I told myself I was go’n put it on and I was go’n sit out on my garry with my old shotgun, and I was go’n shoot the first person who laughed at me or told me I had to take it off. … “ 

George Curtis, Army veteran, Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.

There were two women's graves in the cemetery that suggested they might have been strong women, that of Ms. Helen Sanders and "Big Mama" Elizabeth Curtis.

Helen Sanders, Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

"Big Mama" Elizabeth Curtis, Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

Both lived long, long lives. The things they must have seen.

Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

The church grounds had just been mown when I arrived. It was a hot day. Why do I always seem to be in cemeteries on sweltering days?

The wasps under the church eaves seemed lethargic from the heat.

Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

The church has pretty bones.

Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

A splash of red draws the eye.

Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

Someone laid markers carefully atop the grave.

Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

Little Bethel Baptist Church, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. July 2015.

Elton, Louisiana: On My Way to the Powwow: Liberty Cemetery

Liberty Cemetery, near Elton, Louisiana

I'm on 190 going west, on the way to the Coushatta Powwow in Kinder, Louisiana. I've just left the weekly Saturday jam at the Savoy Music Center, and I've checked out the roseate spoonbills and taken a first glance at the village of Elton.

I see a large sign pointing to a road on the left, Liberty Cemetery Board. I drive up a-ways, turn around, and go check it out.

The first things that grab my attention are the fence around the cemetery property entire, then the fence around the garden of graves, and then the Puritan meetinghouse-esque chapel.

Liberty Cemetery, near Elton, Louisiana

My rational, mature brain feels soothed by the serene plainness of the chapel within and without.

But it is my irrational, Flat Earth brain that enters, half-way expecting to startle a psychopath camping out in a dusty corner. Or slavering dogs.

Liberty Cemetery, near Elton, Louisiana

The pews are marked with family names and memorials.

Liberty Cemetery, near Elton, Louisiana

There is an empty altar. I do not inspect it for sacrificial blood.

Liberty Cemetery, near Elton, Louisiana

Two small rooms flank each side of the altar, perfect hidey-holes for aforementioned, imaginary madman to lunge out at an unsuspecting visitor.

Liberty Cemetery, near Elton, Louisiana

The best I can tell, there's no electric power in this building. I imagine the window shutters are opened during memorial services, letting in natural light. If anything happens here at night, it's probably best not to know.

Liberty Cemetery, near Elton, Louisiana

The angel is androgynous. I like that.

There is some word that Liberty Cemetery is haunted. From another site, there's this story from "Greg:"

You can ask anyone that lives in the town of Elton if you sincerely want to see a ghost or something they will tell you without a doubt that you can go any night to Liberty Cemetary. I have been 5 maybe 6 times with friends and each time it only took minutes to notice that something was not right with this place you feel something in the air something that feels like its watching you and that you should not be there. I've heard of stories of people being chased down the road on foot from something screaming at them and their car not wanting to start; even stories about a little girl that sits on her grave every night waiting for her mother to come visit her but she never goes!!! I on the other hand have only heard voices giggles and laughs of children. Ohhh!!! Yeah, I almost forgot; there is a church on the far end of the cemetary that is extremely old that it has been closed down for probly 50 years or so. But... well to tell you the truth I haven't even heard of anyone even getting close to the church because they dont make it but maybe a few yards inside the cemetery without being freaked out by something.... Don't believe me? pshhhh.. try it yourself.

The French Connection: The Louisiana and Missouri Dead

Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, Louisiana

The French settlers in Missouri and Louisiana (and other parts of the Americas) shared a style of iron grave crosses.

I talked about this when my mother and I visited an old cemetery in what used to be Vieux Mines (Old Mines), Missouri, a village with French roots.

My own French antecedents came to St. Louis, Missouri,  by way of the Quebec area, then to what is now Kaskaskia, Illinois, and settling the town of Florissant, Missouri.  At that time, Florissant was St. Ferdinand, and it was in the upper boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase area.

The cross in the photo at the top of this page is from the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Washington, Louisiana.

The crosses in the photo below are from the St. Joachim Cemetery in Old Mines, Missouri:

St. Joachim Cemetery, Old Mines, Missouri

Here is an iron cross from the French colonial cemetery in Kaskaskia, Illinois, circa 1770 to 1880.
 

Missouri: Old Mines - St. Joachim Cemetery #2

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

At least I think this is St. Joachim's Cemetery #2. There appear to be three St. Joachim's Cemeteries in tiny Old Mines.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

My mother and I took a mini road trip Old Mines over the weekend. My interest in this village was due to its Missouri French history and a tradition it had that is similar to the courir de Mardi Gras in South Louisiana. If you watch the Pat Mire documentary, Dance for a Chicken, at minute 6:38, you'll hear about La Guignolee, a tradition similar to the courir de Mardi Gras, albeit a different time of year (December 31 or January 1) and different song (La Guignole). You can listen to the song here:

Here is a half-hour video about Old Mines and the Missouri French. The video references the cemetery, mentioning the abundance of iron crosses. The designs on the cross ends are similar to those in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and of the Cajuns in South Louisiana. The designs go back to the time of the Crusades in Europe. 

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

My French people helped settle St. Louis (specifically Florissant) in the early 1700s. They came down from Cadillac in what is now Michigan, but back in the day, was in French territory.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

The video also mentions a book, It's Good to Tell You: French Folktales from Missouri. You can download or open the book in its entirety here. Rosemary Hyde Thomas, affiliated with St. Louis Community College at Meramec, collected the stories from French-speaking Old Mines residents in the late 1970s.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

The crypt above looks ominous to me. It's for a T.C. Murphy, who evidently died in a boat explosion. I tried to get a photo of the interior through the keyhole in that metal door. Doesn't it look like a crematorium? Shivers.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

Here is a good page that identifies some of the markers in Cemetery #2.

St. Joachim Cemetery #2, Old Mines, Missouri

I bet this cemetery has been flooded a time or two.