I FOUND TWO UNMARKED GRAVES IN THE FIELD

There is a large sagebrush-covered field behind my house. Several hundred acres at least. The northern side of this field is bordered by open BLM land (Bureau of Land Management...federal land). As the crow flies it's about 8 miles to Virginia City, site of the gold and silver strike back in 1859, commonly known as the Comstock Lode. Anyway, I walk the dogs out in this field every day, and a few days ago discovered some old unmarked graves. I figure they are probably about 100 years old give or take 20 years.

Looking at this pic you can't really see much, but there are two separate piles of stones. One is positioned to look directly at the mountains above Virginia City, the other, oddly enough is positioned to look directly east...perhaps the occupant of the grave longed for home back east and whoever buried her (I'm assuming it's a woman) honored that longing. One of the graves is larger and would accomadate a large man. The other, the one looking east, is smaller and would hold a woman or a large child.

SOLVING THE MYSTERY

The stones are the same kind of stones for both graves. Some of the stones came from the field where the graves are, but others come from the mountains in the background. I've found a great deal of evidence that at one time this field was home to several small mining cabins or shacks. There are old square headed nails to be found, along with broken bits of colored glass aged to lovely blues and greens. I even found a bottle out there with a date on it. 1889. And just a few weeks ago a family friend stumbled upon a lost Morgan silver dollar minted in 1881. There are also lots of old trashed and rusted tin cans and broken pottery laying about.

As best I can determine the graves are at least a hundred years old. I dug around them and found no headstones. I suspect at one time there might have been wooden crosses but they have long since deteriorated. I dug down to see it the stones piled together were more than one layer deep. They were. However the ground was essentially level, indicating that when the graves collapsed the soil and stones settled into the earth.

There were many miners who came for the big strike up at V.C. but never found any gold for themselves. Many struggled on for years hoping to find something. Most ended up working in the mines or eeking out a small existence doing a little placer mining. Or, in the case of these two souls, they may have worked up at the gypsum mine close by. But why two graves? And with the same stones? And close together?

I'm thinking there is a good chance these folks passed away during the great Flu epidemic of 1918. 100 years ago. They both passed within days of each other. A husband and wife, or perhaps a parent and child.

We'll never know. I'm not going to disturb the graves. Why should I? I've been known to be visited by the dead from time to time (really) so went out there last week and sat on the ground nearby and opened myself to feeling any indication of a deceased spirit. Nothing. it's a peaceful place out there. Whoever they are they have rested in peace.

Gold and silver were not the only riches found here in the nearby mountains. There is also gypsum (drywall is made of this mineral). In fact there is an active gypsum mine less than two miles from my house. Perhaps these two souls once worked in the gypsum mine.

There is also a good chance these folks were Chinese. There were a great many Chinese coolies who worked in the area doing everything from building railroad beds to working in the stamp mills that crushed the ore coming out of the mines. In fact it was the Chinese that first found gold in a canyon near by, aptly named "Gold Canyon", pulling thousands of ounces of gold out of the creek that comes down from the Virginia City area.

There is still gold and silver mining close by. Looking at the first pic above with the mountains in the background, there is an open pit gold mine less than a mile to the northeast of the taller mountain.

There is a rich history in the area, not just a history of wealth, but one of poverty and drudgery. Many of the miners lived and died here and were buried in unmarked graves, their lives and remains quickly forgotten and left behind. I suppose, in a way, we are not much different than they are in the larger view of things. We leave our marks and then are gone.

Blessings,

Mistermercury