Historic cemeteries group to lead tour of abandoned cemeteries

WALLA WALLA—A new nonprofit organization, Walla Walla Historic Cemeteries, will be leading a tour of three abandoned cemeteries on Saturday, October 26. The event is sponsored by the local chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America in honor of International Archaeology Day. 

 Participants will board a bus provided by Walla Walla University at 9:00 a.m. which will take them to three area cemeteries. Attendees will have a chance to tour each site and participate in an assessment of its needs, as well as help with plans for mapping each cemetery and looking at unmarked graves.

The first site, Stubblefield (Saling) Cemetery on Foster Road is in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Next, participants will move on to the Lyons Creek (Hendrix) Cemetery, northeast of Mill Creek and Meiners roads.The final site on the tour will be the Rose Hill Cemetery at the corner of Middle Waitsburg and Smith roads, after which the bus will return by 3:00 p.m.  Rose Hill is closer to the road than Stubblefield or Lyons Creek, both of which require considerable walking from the road, and all require walking over uneven ground.

 The Stubblefield (Saling) Cemetery was established in 1863 by John Saling, who homesteaded there, and deeded the grounds to the Saling Cemetery Association in 1870.  The heavily wooded cemetery, whose last known burial was in 1920, sits far back from Foster Road, north of its intersection with Reser Road, and has been the subject of serious vandalism over the decades.  It has also been the location for a variety of ghost stories, as well as a novel titled “Stubblefield” that includes a murder there. The cemetery has been referred to by a variety of names over the years, including Saling, Russell Creek, Blue Mountain, and finally Stubblefield, in honor of Joseph Stubblefield, who farmed in the vicinity, and whose will in 1902 provided funds for a family monument there, as well as a trust fund for maintenance of the cemetery.  

 The Lyons Creek (Hendrix) Cemetery was established in 1871 by John and Lucinda Hendrix, who homesteaded the surrounding area, and deeded the graveyard to the Hendrix Cemetery Association in 1887.  The cemetery sits on a hill east of Meiners Road and Lyons Creek, overlooking Mill Creek Road to the south.  A prominent burial there is the grave of William Davies, the leader of a Latter-day Saints schismatic group called the Kingdom of Heaven. Davies and forty of his followers moved to Walla Walla in 1866 and established a communal society on 400 acres near the top of Scenic Loop Road at its intersection with what is now Mormon Grade.  When his son Arthur was born on February 11, 1868, Davies declared that the infant was the reincarnated Jesus Christ, and the child came to be called “the Walla Walla Jesus.”

 The Rose Hill (Buroker) Cemetery was established in 1869 by Oliver and Clara Gallaher, who homesteaded the land, and deeded four acres to the Rose Hill Cemetery Association in 1887.  The largest monument in the cemetery honors the Buroker family, for whom the cemetery is also known.

 To register for the October 26 cemetery tour, for which the cost is $30 for adults, and $15 for students, please email Sarah Davies (AIA-Walla Walla president) at daviessh@whitman.edu.  All proceeds will go to a Walla Walla Historic Cemeteries graveyard preservation fund.