Those who have attended my cemetery tours, I tend to point out that there is a large percentage of unmarked graves. For many, it was a financial issue. A less expensive alternative to the traditional stone markers was wood. For whatever reason, wooden markers in this region were not widely used except for the Hayden Hill Cemetery. Of course, wooden markers do not hold up as well with the elements like stone, and eventually become so weathered that they are no longer legible. Or in the other extreme, a fire at Hayden Hill went through that town’s cemetery and destroyed all the wooden markers. There are only a handful of wooden markers in the Susanville Cemetery, and time has taken its toll on them, especially the Conkey graves of the 1860s. If would be a great project for someone who likes to do woodworking, to make replacements.
*On a final note, the other day I came across the following tidbit published in Susanville’s Mountain Review of January 1880 about Jesse Cole: “Hunters are slaying deer within a mile of town. Saturday, Jesse Cole found a herd of seven and killed all of them. The snow is so deep on the mountains that they cannot run far and are easy prey.”
I would be very interested in helping in the restoration of the wooden grave markers. I enjoy woodworking and carving, which could come in handy for this project… How would we get started on this project..?