part 21 of 365

Things that keep Melissa alive

Part 21: Family History

Ok, yesterday was one of the best days of my life. Nope... no job yet. And nope, I'm not talking about the huge victory at the polls for republicans. It's a different kind of 'best'. The source of this jubilation lies behind reason number 31 that I am an old lady: I love family history. But let me tell you, this is not your gramma's shoe box of pictures-family group sheet-Gedcom file-searching for film in the BYU library-Family History (not that I have anything against that). This family history involves cloak and dagger research skills, breaking laws, battling stickers in your socks, hiking for 30 minutes in unknown territory, and driving for 6 or more hours for hands on discovery.

Tour de Fort

Here are the basics: I have an ancestor who started the tiny bustling town of Hamilton Fort, UT just south of Cedar City. Online, it says he was buried there in Hamilton Fort but as I talked with relatives about it, no one was really sure where the cemetery was or if it even existed anymore. I was directed to a hand-drawn map by a great-uncle years and years previous. This map showed I-15 and highway 91 and a basic location of the cemetery in relation to those landmarks.

My sister and I packed our gps and water bottles and headed down to cedar city for the day to check it out. Wire fences surrounded the general area we thought the location should be and inside those fences, a saw mill. After hiking along a wash and climbing over and under 2 different fences, we spotted a small picket-fenced area. The closer we got to it, the more we allowed ourselves to believe this is exactly what we were seeking!

Inside the fence were about 9 grave areas. Some of the headstones were in quite good shape considering they were about 150 years old. All of the legible stones bore the name of Hamilton.

Suddenly my sister wasn't complaining so much about the legality of the trespassing we were doing. "Let the cops come!" we announced to the sky, "Any fine is worth this!"

We made sure to take our time documenting the location and contents of each headstone. Then, soaking in revelry, we started the 20 min walk back. Even the jack rabbit and deer we saw bouncing around us seemed to be celebrating. I hope so, because we're trusting them that they won't tell on us.