Located about 90 minutes from my little corner of Las Vegas, Pioneer Hill Memorial Cemetery in Overton, Nevada houses a fascinating mix of highly-personalized grave markers and offerings, both decades old and relatively recent.
I made a quick stop at this desert burial ground on my way to St. George, Utah on Saturday, March 21, 2015. As the gobble-gobble of local turkeys (birds, not humans) peppered the temperate morning air, I was struck by the varied and unconventional style exhibited by many of these graves. I say this with the utmost respect: It reminded me of the off-grid Boulder City Pet Cemetery in a lot of ways. Handmade markers, weathered stuffed animals, toys and personal effects dotted the landscape, drawing me deeper into the adventure of discovery that only a quiet graveyard can offer.
Stay close as we become gravely intimate with the residents of Pioneer Hill…
Welcome
The Landscape
BJ’s Toys
Fate Cemented
The plots are super personalized.
In the Deadlights
(Not an actual cowboy.)
On this day, I saw three scarecrows on graves. Three!
Marked and Unmarked Mounds
It’s rare when a monument brings me to tears. This one did.
Later, an internet search revealed that this mother and son had passed in a tragic traffic accident on their way to Las Vegas. It’s clear they are missed dearly.
Again, I’m struck by the personalization.
There’s always at least one monument at each cemetery I document that grabs me and won’t let go until I take shots from every angle, obsessed. Here, she’s The One.
Nothing rounds out a post like a decapitated cherub.
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