Pioneer Cemeteries: Falling in Love with the Past

Caspar Cemetery, perfect in the fog

Cinderella came to the Mendocino Coast. But not that Cinderella. Her glass slippers would not have lasted a day on the muddy rutted roads. No, this flesh and blood version went by the name Cinderella Wallace. She came to the coast in the late 1800s, a time when logging towns were bustling with men, money, and booze. She lived on the edge of the Evergreen Cemetery in Mendocino Village, and was routinely awoken by a loud drunken man who walked through the cemetery on his way home each night. Cinderella prized her beauty sleep, so one night she took matters into her own hands. Just before the saloon’s closing time, she crept out to the cemetery, crouched behind a gravestone, and then jumped out to scare the drunkard as he passed by.

I learned about this mischievous Cinderella, and a host of other deceased characters, during a cemetery tour on Halloween night, where local actors hid behind the headstones of their namesakes, then on cue popped out to share their tales. (A wonderful joint partnership between the KelleyHouse and the Mendocino Theater Company.)

A driftwood headstone shaped like a ship

Visitors to our coast fall in love with the sea, but when you stay long enough you will also fall in love with the dead. You might be amused by the names (there is both a Mustard and a Pickle buried in Mendocino), you might be moved by the heartfelt tributes (lives cut short and those long-lived), you might appreciate the gravestone sculptures, or you might be moved by the gorgeous natural surroundings (the dead have the best ocean views—many cemeteries are on bluffs or hills).  A walk through any of the charming cemeteries here will take you back in time and instill a sense of wonder.

If you, like me, are a little bit of a history nut, you can go back and research the stories of the folks you encountered. The Kelley House has a great online archive, and the Little River Inn, has a wonderful exhibit on their cemetery.

Katy Tahja’s excellent blog post on the Victorian symbolism found carved on headstones helps decipher some of the stories of those buried here:

“All sorts of objects were carved on gravestones. Anchors were symbols of hope and indicated seafarer’s graves. Arches stood for victory, arrows for mortality. Books appear on scholars’ gravestones, and a broken column indicated a life cut short. Doors or gates on stone were passages into the after-life and keys denoted spiritual knowledge.”

Here are a few things you might enjoy about each cemetery (just look up these names on your GPS to visit):

Sarah Foster, a surviving member of the Donner Party

• Rose Memorial Cemetery (Fort Bragg). Perhaps most famous for its connection to the Donner Party. Sarah Foster, a surviving member who later became a midwife is buried here, along with Britton Greenwood, a guide in the rescue party.
• Pioneer Cemetery in Noyo Headlands Park (Fort Bragg), The three remaining gravestones commemorate military men who died during the brief period Fort Bragg had an army post.
• Parrish Family graveyard. Located inside the Mendocino Botanical Gardens near the old family farmhouse, the graves date back to early settlement when David Parrish, a protégé of Luther Burbank, brought the first horticulture research to the site.
• Caspar Cemetery. Visit in the morning as the mist pulls back on this hidden cemetery (pictured at top). Walk to the middle to see a large tree swallowing the headstones. (My daughter filmed an Alice-in-Wonderland-eque story here.)
• Evergreen Cemetery (Mendocino). Home to Protestants, Jews, and a small pet cemetery. Final resting place of Cinderella, but also Erik Albertson, who built the Masonic Lodge building in the 1860s and carved the now iconic sculpture at the top, “Time and the Maiden.”
• Hillcrest Cemetery (Mendocino). Vets, Catholics and Chinese are buried here, though many of the Chinese remains were later dug up and sent back to the deceased’s birthplace, in accordance with Taoist beliefs). Look for the 3-Century grave: Francisco Fara, born in 1798 and died in 1904, so lived in three different centuries!
• Little River Cemetery (Little River). Lovely sculptures. And a magnificent blowhole (really a sinkhole) just behind it. Resting place for Dreeme Life Ball (who’s wife name was Dolly, can you believe it? Dreeme and Dolly Ball!).

There are many more along the coast, so when you feel the urge to stop, do it, you won't be sorry.