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American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Internet Presentation
Version 020409
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Yuma
County, Arizona
By:
Kathy Block
Laguna Cemetery, NW of Yuma, is a long forgotten derelict
Pioneer Cemetery, seemingly abandoned with little care or maintenance. It sits
on a slight knoll overlooking fields of produce, with barns and fenced pasture
to the south and a place that RVs park to the north.
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All Photos and Map are Courtesy: Ed and Kathy Block 1/31/09
At some point in the past, encroaching brush had been
cleared on the perimeter, but it is reclaiming grave sites. We counted six
graves marked only by rectangular piles of heaped stones, set side by side at
least 100 feet to the left (east) of the main cemetery. One can only speculate
why they are so separated from the main cemetery.
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The main Laguna Cemetery had at least seventy graves marked
only by piles of stones. Three had stones painted white. Some had rotting
wooden crosses lying across the stones; others had no markings at all. They
were sort of in parallel rows trending east to west. Some graves had heavily
decay, headstones that once held statues that had been beheaded possibly due to
time and the elements or wild life. Only four graves were marked with
headstones with names and dates.
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First, the earliest, was Atonita C. Arviso. It suggests a
tragedy. She was born in 1876 and died in 1915, age 39. Her grave is inscribed
in letters scratched into a concrete base, "BORN 1876 - DIED 1915 by
Daughters & Sons. By her son’s Douseno C. Arviso, Johnny Arviso, Bobby
Arviso.
A second marked headstone is entirely in Spanish for
Vincente Hernandez, 1901-1931.The figure of Christ on a cross is almost
entirely gone. Very likely time and elements have caused the continued destruction
of this headstone.
A third marked grave seemed to be somewhat maintained, with
plastic flowers, for Juana Mopales Quintero, 1915 - 1941.
The final marked headstone is for Donny C. Wright, 1922 -1976.
His is the only grave enclosed by a rusting iron fence. He has a brass plaque
on headstone plus wooden inscribed board lying on the grave.
There was one grave with a concrete cross with date 1930 on
right arm, a beheaded statue, but the rest of the inscriptions were too worn
and faint to read.
Because three of the four marked graves had Hispanic names,
and there were various religious items scattered among the graves, this very
likely is a Hispanic cemetery.
The surrounding area is mainly agricultural. Large fields of
green crops, many tractors and other machinery, and bus loads of Hispanic
agricultural workers picking, planting, weeding crops like lettuce, cauliflower,
cabbage, suggests a source
for the interments in Laguna Cemetery in the past.
The cemetery is unfenced and there was a pasture and barn en
route. The cemetery is totally unprotected and out in the middle of fields.
There also may be workers from various dam building projects
in the area, such as Laguna Dam, and also from many mines in the historic
Laguna placers in mountains to the north and west.
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Laguna Cemetery would definitely be a site for further research.
Very likely there are more unmarked burials in the brush. And it would be
interesting to determine more information on the age/sex of these
burials. A worthwhile cemetery to visit!
LOCATION: From US 95, turn west (left) on Avenue 7E, going
north from Yuma (this is at northern end of Yuma area), (or right, going south
from Quartzsite), between 2 gas stations, a Chevron to the south and a Circle K
to the north. The turn is also marked with a brown sign that says "Mittry
Lake." Stay on Avenue 7E going roughly west, about 14 miles, following its
curves and turns, to Kool Korner, a defunct grocery store on your left (south).
Map by: Neal Du Shane 02/02/09
Opposite it, just a few hundred feet before you pass the
store, turn right over a little bridge that crosses a canal and take the little
lane that curves around between a posted "No Trespassing" sign
on white fences and barns to your right and a fenced, posted field to your
left. Go about a block on the dirt track until you see a dirt path to your left
and start to see a few crosses of the cemetery. There is a rough, sometimes
muddy, parking lot from which you can walk to the cemetery. There are no
signs.
The cemetery can be seen from the main road to your right as
you go slightly past Kool Korner, on the left, but there is no access from the
main road. All are private and posted. (We had to turn around and go back to
the little bridge, pulling small trailer, somewhat tricky!) See map of area and
sketch map of route to cemetery.
American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Internet Presentation
Version 020409
WebMaster:
Neal Du Shane
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