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American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Internet Presentation
Version 060109
Howells Cemetery
Ghost Town of Howells, Arizona
By: Kevin Hart - APCRP Certified Coordinator
On May 30th,
2009, with research information in hand, acquired from various sources, I made
the trip to Walker, AZ and specifically Howells Cemetery near the ghost town of
Howells. Howells was located South of Prescott in the
Bradshaw Mountains along Historic Lynx Creek. Neal Du Shane had read, heard,
been told (where he keeps coming up with further sites is beyond me) that there
may be 15 graves at the Historic Pioneer Howells Cemetery, with all evidence of
any remains, long since gone. In fact in 1966 a person visited the Howells
Cemetery and nothing remained at that time.
Map by: Neal Du Shane
The Smelter
was located approximately one and a half miles north of Walker area and sets
slightly east of the current Walker Road to Prescott. There is only a few foundations
left of the Howells Smelter with some flat areas where buildings once stood on
Smelter Hill.
I picked up
Kurt Wenner a former Arizona State Site Steward for Howells Smelter in Prescott.
We then met Loren Bykerk at his house just down the
street from the smelter near the ghost town of Howells.
We then met
the two current Arizona State Site Stewards for Howells Smelter, Jim and
Barbara Marcel, who also live in the area. All four of them are extremely knowledgeable
of the Howells Smelter site and Walker area in general. It was an absolute
pleasure listening to the exchange of history for the Walker area.
I was unable
to find any indication of any graves at the Howells Smelter site. Checking the
flat areas did not identify any graves. With further research of the general area
no evidence of graves were found. Old graves will sometimes implode over time
and a depression will be visible which can indicate a grave or several graves,
especially if there are some stacked rocks also visible.
Allegedly the
Howells Pioneer Cemetery and fifteen graves are located within 300 or 500 feet
of the Howells Smelter, it is my opinion that we will need several APCRP Certified
Coordinators to locate the historic cemetery. There is no record’s that our
research has found that the Howells Cemetery was exhumed and the interred
placed elsewhere. Logically it is there . . . we need to find it.
Loren led us
to an area about 1,800 feet from Walker road with an elevation gain of about
200 feet above the road. He had come across this barbed wire enclosed area a
while back while hiking. He thought it might be a small cemetery and he was
correct. He had the good sense to mark it on his GPS and we used the
coordinates to find it.
We are
temporarily calling this site, Bald Mountain Road Cemetery. Loren suggested the
name, although he would like to find the name of the claim that the mine is on
and name it after that. I should be able to find that out through the Arizona
Department of Mines and Mineral Resources (ADMMR)
These four adult male
graves were dubbed the “Bald Mountain Cemetery”
Photo: Kevin Hart
I was able to
confirm that there were four males buried there. We believe the graves might be
associated with a mine not far from site. As you can see it is very overgrown
and was difficult to conduct infield research.
Our next stop
was the Claude Miller grave mentioned in Ed and
Kathy’s article at www.aprcrp.org on
Walker.
Claude Miller Grave –
Walker, AZ Cemetery
Photo by: Kevin Hart
After that
Loren took us to his grandfather’s grave behind the new fire station about 50
feet from Lynx’s Creek. The story regarding this grave is that the casket was
washed up out of the grave when the creek flooded one particular year, and had
to be put back in place after it was retrieved from down Lynx Creek
Photo by Kevin Hart
Although we
could not locate the cemetery at Howells Smelter or in the general vicinity of
the ghost town of Howells, AZ I consider the trip a success.
It is my
belief that with a few APCRP Certified Coordinators joining me, we will find
the Historic Pioneer Howells Cemetery.
American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Internet Presentation
Version 060109
WebMaster: Neal Du Shane
Copyright
© 2009 Neal Du Shane
All rights reserved. Information contained within this
website may be used
for personal family history purposes, but not for financial profit or gain of
any kind.
All contents of this website are willed to the American Pioneer & Cemetery
Research Project (APCRP).
HOME | BOOSTER | CEMETERIES | EDUCATION | GHOST TOWNS | HEADSTONE
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