Ogallala, Nebraska

The Boot Hill Genre:  Cemeteries seem like perfect places for communities to inter time capsules, far better than city parks and town squares, which have all sorts of uses and experience all sorts of changes. Ogallala's 100 Year Capsule was buried in 1984 to mark the anniversary of the town's incorporation in 1884. In 2084, it will be exhumed and opened. As for "Inspect 2034": Never heard of such a thing! The capsule supposedly includes two bottles of Scotch. Think it will survive a hundred years? Boot Hill Cemetery. [2019]

Ogallala, Nebraska

The Boot Hill Genre:  Today the set of all-seeing eyes that presides over the cemetery belongs to "The Trail Boss." His ghostly presence in Ogallala's pioneer cemetery commemorates the cattle drives that gave rise to the beef cattle industry of the Northern Plains and the town of Ogallala. Those cattlemen and the Union Pacific Railroad that served the industry sent the town soaring to a population of almost 500 by 1890. Boot Hill Cemetery. [2019]

Ogallala, Nebraska

The Boot Hill Genre:  Of those buried here, "many came by running afoul of the law -- some for stealing another man's horse. . . Most were buried with their boots on, thus the name Boot Hill. Their bodies, placed in canvass sacks, were lowered into shallow graves and marked with a wooden headboard." Over a hundred years later, the ordinary events that transpired on the Nebraska frontier are recalled by historical markers. Thus, our sense of place is not only perpetuated but mythologized. Boot Hill Cemetery. [2019]

Ogallala, Nebraska

The Boot Hill Genre:  How weathers the wood? Well or not well? These markers, commemorative of the pioneer days, date only from restoration work in 2015. What was left of the abandoned cemetery was finished off by a wildfire in the 1950s. A hundred years from now, what do you think these wooden headstones will look like? Not well. In fact, not in existence at all. Now you understand the comparative advantage of granite! Boot Hill Cemetery. [2019]

Ogallala, Nebraska

The Boot Hill Genre:  Ogallala's Boot Hill is but one of dozens throughout the American West. It was necessitated in an era when men were likely to die with their boots on, often while defending themselves and their territories, or their bad habits and offensive words. Some other famous "boot hills" are located in Dodge City, Deadwood, Leadville, Tombstone, and Virginia City. Here, the highest hill on the outskirts of town was used as a burial ground for about 18 years and then replaced by a new cemetery a bit further away. Many of the grave markers were subsequently claimed by the elements. The grave yard was completely abandoned in 1885 and began to deteriorate. Restoration and replacement took place periodically from the 1960s through 2015. Boot Hill Cemetery. [2019]

Loveland, Colorado

Unicorns on Parade:  Here in the land of love (get it?) is another unicorn with a right-sized horn. Remember where that horn (really a tusk) came from? That's right: the narwhal. Remember the symbolic associations of unicorns? That's right: strength, love and fantasy.  Remember which sex is more likely to have a unicorn on their memorials? That's right: females. Remember the most famous woman ever painted with a unicorn on her lap? That's right: The Virgin Mary. Do you remember what famous toy line featured a number of colorful unicorns? That's right: My Little Pony. Lakeside Cemetery. [2019]

Manteno, Illinois

Unicorns on Parade:  The unicorn is a symbol of love, but it is also a symbol of pure fantasy. And, finally, on the verso of this headstone, we have a right-sized horn. It should be at least as long as a clarinet (see it?). Remember how long the horn was on that unicorn in Bristol? In fact, what came to be traded as unicorn horns in the Middle Ages were from narwhals, sea mammals that have been labeled "unicorns of the sea." See below. Narwhals were never seen by Europeans because they live in the Arctic Ocean, so their horns could be traded as unicorn horns and nobody would know the difference. Elmwood Cemetery. [2015]

San Diego, California

Unicorns on Parade:  Anecdotal evidence suggests that the unicorns that congregate in cemeteries are found mostly on female gravestones. Here is an exception. We shouldn't be surprised because art historians tell us that most unicorns are male. Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]

Westphalia, Missouri

Unicorns on Parade:  "Love you always" reads the epitaph, and the unicorn underscores the word love. That's because the unicorn became a symbol of pure love during the medieval period, perhaps the type of love a parent has for a child, like the 12-year old buried here. She may also have played with My Little Ponies, a few which were unicorns. St. Joseph Parish Cemetery. [2015]

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Unicorns on Parade:  Add two more rearing unicorns to the parade. They honor a woman in her late 20s when she died. There is no indication she was married, which would fit the unicorn legend that states only a virgin (with bared breasts!) can catch a unicorn. In fact, the Virgin Mary was depicted in a famous painting, in Poland's National Museum, holding a unicorn, presumably one that she had caught. Note, however, how much longer the horn is in the painting. See below. St. Patrick's Cemetery. [2014]

Zeigler, Illinois

Unicorns on Parade:  Today is National Unicorn Day, so let the parade begin with two unicorns standing sentry (saluting?) over the remains of someone's wife. She must have been a strong woman because strength is the trait which the Book of Numbers associated with the one-horned animal, which bore the name re'em in Hebrew, but which was translated as "monoceros" and then "unicorn." Zeigler Cemetery. [2015]

San Diego, California

Communities of Difference Share a Final Resting Place:  The hieroglyphic alphabet of the ancient Egyptians is hard to find in American cemeteries, but here in the land of diversity-on-steroids it comfortably adds to our list: Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, English, Japanese, Persian, and now ancient Egyptian! Remember all of these alphabets are within sight-distance of each other in a single cemetery. What glyphs do you recognize? There's an ankh and a scarab beetle outside the cartouche. Inside the cartouche may be the deceased's name. If so, it seems to be presented as a royal name, indicated by the tangent vertical line. When you are traipsing around cemeteries, always be prepared for some fun! Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]

San Diego, California

Communities of Difference Share a Final Resting Place:  The last name (which ends in the distinctive -ian) leads you to believe that the person buried here is Armenian, but the alphabet is not the Armenian alphabet. It looks like Arabic, but when you consult the verso, you find one of the Persian language's unique characters, a K sound (common in the Arabic language) transformed into a G sound (common in the Persian language but absent from standard Arabic). Then, when you look at his very unusual (for the US) first name, it seems to be Muslim; it carries the name of God (-ollah), and probably means "thanks to God." Another clue is in the scenery. The mountain peak could be from a childhood home in northwestern Iran (near the border with Armenia) or it could be the sacred (to the Armenian Apostolic Church) Mount Ararat in modern-day Turkey. All things considered, he seems to be an Iranian immigrant of Armenian descent who may have come to the U.S. in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In any case, his memorial adds the Persian alphabet to the collection that now includes Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, English, Japanese, and now Persian. Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]

San Diego, California

Communities of Difference Share a Final Resting Place: Here lies buried not a Japanese American, but a citizen of Japan. He was a seaman on board a Japanese ship that called in San Diego. Overboard he fell, in 1887, as the ship departed for Mexico. His body was found off the coast of California and his remains were interred in Mount Hope Cemetery. Added to his memorial is a slab that bears a Japanese inscription, adding yet one more language and alphabet to our list: Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, English, and, now, Japanese. Can anyone offer a translation? Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]

San Diego, California

Communities of Difference Share a Final Resting Place:  Mount Hope cemetery is huge, yet within a few steps in any direction you can see headstones calling attention to California's cultural diversity. Today we add English to the mix of cemetery languages. It joins Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russian. But, don't simply assume you have found an Anglo-American, just because of the name and inscription. Take a gander at the verso and you will find a solitary cross, but one that is so unique it betrays a particular ancestry group: Armenians. The cross turns the headstone into an Armenian khachkar. "Forever in our hearts" reads the inscription; and also on the verso are four hearts. Are these symbolic of her children? If so, why not inscribe their names into each one? And, then there is the musical notation: That's an alphabet, too! Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]

San Diego, California

Communities of Difference Share a Final Resting Place:  Now you recognize the pattern for this week's postings: We are collecting alphabets and languages from a single California cemetery. So far, we have seen Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Now, we can add Russian, with its Cyrillic characters. Can you figure out her religion? Do you think she is first or second generation? Was she married? When do you think she arrived in the U.S.? Where does her life fit into the pageant of American history? Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]