My Walkabout

In the year 1878 on a plateau high above Deadwood gulch, the bodies of “Wild Bill” Hickok and soon thereafter, Calamity Jane, were laid to rest in Mount Moriah cemetery.

This though is more than just a final resting place for legends of the Wild West, murderers, and pillars of Deadwood’s early economic development.

 

It is a place to learn about the history of our country from the perspective of the dead buried here.

The real Mount Moriah is located in Jerusalem, Israel and is the location of Solomon’s Temple. Here, you will find three gateway symbols at the cemetery entrance, representing the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Freemasonry, and the Star of David.

 

I have a special kinship with these symbols, as I learn that my Australian grandfather (a man I never met before he died) was a Freemason.

You see sections full of Chinese immigrants that have grave markers stacked upon each other in South Potter’s field. Many of the Chinese that died here were eventually exhumed and returned to their country for a proper burial in their native custom, but many that could not be identified still remain.

 

South Potters field holds the poor and wretched children of Deadwood that lost their lives due to disease and other afflictions.

You swell with pride watching the US Flag fly proudly above in honor of the veterans of this country, my Father and Uncles among this group.

 

I sit in the cool afternoon of an Autumn’s day, and let the spirits of old remind me of their sacrifice to build our country.

 

Nicknamed “Boot Hill”, feel the power of Mount Moriah cemetery.