Do you see a cemetery

in this picture?

No? How about now?

Still no? Try this one.

For years I have heard rumors about a very old indian cemetery hidden in the woods . It's not too far from the other Indian cemetery from my previous blog. This past weekend I explored the area and found it. Up these stone steps are the graves of indians who lived on this land that was once a reservation. These particular indians were converted to Catholicism and were given a christian burial.

At the base of the steps lays an assortment of items. A small amount of change, rocks and a beautiful "Dream Catcher" have been left as, what I presume, offerings.

On the top of the hill, the graves are widely scattered although I do wonder if many more are buried that are not marked with headstones. To be honest, I don't know how they buried anyone on this hill. The pictures do not capture it, but the entire hill seemed to consist of rocks from the size of marbles to the biggest boulders I have ever seen around this area.

The grave of Chief Pay-Baw-Me. He died in 1870. His was the only headstone that was engraved with both his indian name and his christian name, Joseph Papahme (or Pabahme, I couldn't tell). All of the other headstones were engraved with only the christian names.

There is also a historical marker about a quarter mile away from this cemetery.

This man drowned in 1871. Note how the grave has an old flower pot at the base.

Together forever.

This area, about 15 feet in diameter showed recent (ceremony ?) activity. Note that the grass is trampled but not quite dead yet. There is a small carved plate and buried under the grass next to the rock was a much older plate from an earlier time.

The activity seemed to be directed to this cross.

This urn seems so out of place.

I plan to return in the next couple of weeks to see if I can get better pictures.

Egelston Cemetery

Part II



A headstone, urn, numerous flower arrangements, bench, statues, pictures, wind chimes, and solar lights are not enough. Lets add a cross. A big cross.

I didn't actually count all the crosses but I bet there were over 50 at this relatively small cemetery.

My help is not needed

at this cemetery.

For years, my sister and aunt have told me that I have to visit Egelston Cemetery in Muskegon, MI. They called it "the cemetery without rules".

I finally made it over there last week and boy, they sure were right. It is really quite an amazing place, especially considering it's the start of fall, a time when cemeteries usually start to take on an "abandoned" look. I can't wait until next year. This one will definitely be on my Memorial weekend tour.

A few of the many benches brought in by family members

Meet the family

This is a guy

And this is what he liked to do

To be Continued......

Holy cow, look at all this stuff!

OH MY GOSH!!!!
Do you see it? Do you see the little animals in front of the headstone? Are them the same little animals that were on all those graves from my last post? The ones in a different cemetery located almost 50 miles away from here?



Yes! They are the same! They look newer, but they certainly are from the same manufacturer. I do a lot of shopping for kids and I have never seen these in a store, yet I find them at two different cemeteries less than a month apart.

I am just dumbfounded. Could the same person have left these at both cemeteries?

A few interesting gravestones....

This one is very hard to read. It states simply "Two babies 1900". I thought it was very sad.






In a very old cemetery, I came across these and many more headstones, each with a tiny dog, cat, cow, or some other animal beside them. It looks like they had been there for some time. Quite a few were laying down but I stood them back up. Who put these here? Why?

I never even noticed the pinching bugs on this headstone until I seen the picture on my computer. I was too busy trying to solve the mystery of the little animals.

I'm thinking she's forgotten by now.

I am a walker

my husband is not because it doesn't involve gas or motors. He spends his spare time with anything that takes gas - mopeds, three wheelers, motorcycles, leaf blowers, riding lawn mowers. I am sure that if they would make a razor that ran on gasoline, he would own one.

My best days are those when I have the opportunity to pull on my mud boots, pack some water along side my camera in a fanny bag, pick up my walking stick and just start wandering through the hundreds of acres of woods, swamps, and farmland that surround our small cabin.


I climb over fallen trees, creep under tangles of scrub brush, and cross small streams for the chance to see and explore a new area.

My husband will not accompany me on my journeys. He thinks I’m nuts. Even when I can talk him into short little walks on well traveled two tracks, I have to answer his many questions to ease his mind: No, that’s not poison ivy. I would run I stepped on a bee nest. You can’t get lost in one square mile of land (for too long anyway). Bears, mountain lions??? Geez…. we live in an area where a sighting of either would make front page news of every newspaper within a 200 mile radius. If that is how my life ends, by some predatory animal attack, well, maybe the great power above decided my spectacular ending at the very same moment he started my heart.

So I walk alone, which is just fine by me. I see beautiful things, I think through my problems, and find treasures – things like arrowheads, antique brass padlocks, and fawns laying motionless in the grass.



One day, if I am so fortunate, wheels will be a necessity to move me from point A to point B. Until that time comes, I am going to take full advantage of my working legs.

The Indian Cemetery

Located on the left side of a Catholic Church in Oceana County, Michigan is an Indian cemetery that goes back many, many years. The right side of the church has a traditional "white people" cemetery.

Plain wooden crosses mark the vast majority of the graves, others use rocks. Only a handful have traditional headstones. I am not sure why no effort was made to identify who is in the graves. I could not see any carved or written names on the crosses or stones. Did the person(s) performing the burials even know who they were? Was it against their faith to put the persons name on the grave? If you know why, I would appreciate an email.