Pioneer Cemetery

{{ this is a re-post from earlier this year. but I thought it was very fitting for October. }}

If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I have a fondness for tombstones and cemeteries.

There are numerous small cemeteries to be found in this area should one look. Many are family owned and just as many have been forgotten and reclaimed by Mother Nature. But a few can still be seen. One of these is Pioneer Cemetery, located not far off the highway on Rich Mountain.

Back in November Hubby & I went to visit Pioneer Cemetery. There isn't much to see, most of the tombstones have long ago been claimed by the elements. The graves are now marked only by large stones. But the story behind this little spot is what took us there for a visit.....

This part of Arkansas is mountainous (by eastern standards - nothing at all like the Rockies). In fact we live in the heart of the Ouachita Mountains, a mountain range which extends from central Arkansas to southeastern Oklahoma and the ONLY mountain range in the United States which runs east to west instead of north to south.

This area was settled in the early 1800's by hardy pioneer families. Life was hard. The nearest town was 80+ miles away.

As the story goes, a small group of pioneers settled in the Rich Mountain area, finding the climate mild and the soil rich with nutrients. Pioneer Cemetery was utilized by this group of settlers.

One winter, the mother of one of these families fell ill. Her three daughters nursed her as best they could. (The father is not mentioned in the legend - perhaps he was off fighting in the Civil War or maybe he was away getting supplies.) Late on a windy, snowy night, one of the daughters left the safety of their house to go to a local spring to get her mother some water. The daughter never returned. She was found the next day, high up in a tree, frozen to death. It was believed that she had been chased by wolves and had climbed the tree for safety. This poor young girl was buried in Pioneer Cemetery.

It wasn't long after her burial that people began to see a floating light in the woods near the cemetery. The sightings of the floating light soon gave way to an apparition of a young girl.

And to this day, it is said that on certain starless nights, a young girl can be seen seeking water to take home to her ill mother.

Hubby and I went to the cemetery in the afternoon and we saw nothing unearthly. Though the area did have a sense of disquiet about it. And a faint mist can be seen in the photo above.

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If you would like to read more about the Strange and Unusual of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and even some points beyond, then you might like these two sights ~

Strange State - Paranormal, Mysteries and More

On The Fringe