The Afternoon Excursion

After the dogs decided that I brought them to a hellish place inhabited by crawly things but with no water, I decided to venture north to Pioche.

Pioche was a lawless mining town from the 1860's to the turn of the century. With a description in the guidebooks as a place that buried over 70 people in the "Murderers Row" of the cemetery, I had to see it. The Boot Hill cemetery backs up to a manicured cemetery that is filled with seemingly more respectable folk. One glance at the lawn with "So and so Plus Mrs So and so...sealed in 1980" convinced me that the LDS plots were probably not where the interesting epitaphs were to be found.

I headed for the sage and weed section and wasn't disappointed. There I found an abundance of old stone markers which erosion has erased, rusted iron railings around plots with stones from the 1800's, numerous unmarked graves which were apparent to the well trained eye of this former cemetery worker, and murderers row. The graves in the row are separated by a fence from the rest and it's clear that the current townsfolk of Pioche know a tourism gifthorse when they see one. The headstones are boards with names and epitaphs chiseled in and burnt with a woodworking tool of some sort (probably reminiscent of the ones my brothers had when we were kids.) Rocks ring each grave, which is mounded with dirt. (After over a hundred years, you'd think they'd be flat...) Fake plastic flowers adorn each, which I'm sure the crusty old miners would have appreciated horribly. And finally, an old weathered boot lies at the base of each marker, as if to remind the observer of the name of the place. I found myself amused but a bit skeptical. I did enjoy the epitaphs and hope that the original markers had the same lines at one time. One gentleman was shot over a dog, another's name wasn't known but had been shot by a coward, a third died by fire (gun or flame?) and the lone female (a prostitute) was killed by a lover. The last line in her marker reads "Damn shame."

I guess I can't blame the curreent residents of Pioche for trying to keep the history and tourism it brings alive. The mines have played out (and the hills are pockmarked with shafts. It's amazing.) The antique business looked to be slow while I was there. Other than the school, courthouse (the new one...not the million dollar one of its history), jail (there's law in Pioche now!), and post office I'm not sure what other industry is keeping Pioche alive. So, I got over myself and supported the local economy by having a sourdough burger at the Silver Cafe. Mmmm, good.
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