Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Symbols of War


The corner of stone was barely sticking out of the ground and I'd already dug up a few other relatively intact stones. Carefully digging and moving the dirt away, exposing first a few words, then more.  There was so much dirt embedded in the carved image in the oval near the top that it took lots of water and brushing to get it all off.

Bit by bit the beautiful flags came to light, then the cannon, and the cannon balls at the base.  I've never seen this image before. Symbols of war.

The stone says: William Keys, son of L. & C. Keys born near Tahlequah Cherokee Nation Jan. 17, 1843 and died at Flat Rock Creek February 6, 1875.



Keys Cemetery (also listed as McDennil and Cherokee Cemeteries on Find-A-Grave) in Wagoner County is at the south edge of Highway 16 west of Okay in Wagoner County.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Cane Creek Cemetery - Muskogee County Oklahoma

I guess you could probably find some humor in this if that is how it affects you.  Sad was my emotional reaction walking up to this scene.  Saddness, the impulse to plant a new tree, fix the fence, clean up the charred remains of the tree, just the overwhelming desire to fix it.  I didn't try.  Someone else had been there and left flowers and returned the stone to its upright position.  Did they have the same emotional response that I did?  Was it a dear one buried there?
Closer and you can see the details of the damage to the fence.