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All the United States California Calistoga Calistoga Pioneer Cemetery

Calistoga Pioneer Cemetery

This historic California cemetery holds the bodies of veterans of both the Civil War and the Donner Party.

Calistoga, California

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Martin Schmidt
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Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
The cemetery is still in use today with some restrictions.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
The daughters died at ages 24 and 28, respectively.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
One of the oldest interments: Frances Owsley, died 1855 at age 36.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
David F. Clark (1889-1918), 5th Recruit Squadron, Aviation   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
The cemetery’s entrance, on Highway 128.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
The cemetery directory.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
A small headstone for a small child.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
One of the few surviving wooden markers.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Philip Gilman died in 1912 at just 13 days old.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
The veterans’ plot, established by Samuel Collins in 1883. Memorial Day ceremonies are conducted here to this day.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Pioneer Cemetery   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Plaque at the cemetery’s entrance.   Martin / Atlas Obscura User
Loving Cyrus, a child survivor of the Donner Party.   laurenpantos / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Calistoga's Pioneer Cemetery clings to a steep forested hillside with the same tenacity that the pioneers themselves displayed when they settled this Northern California area.

The recorded history of the Calistoga area begins in the 1840s when the Mexican government began making land grants for ranchos. Samuel Brannan, one of the most influential figures in the area's history, arrived in San Francisco in 1846 as the leader of a settlement expedition. He engaged in numerous business ventures including the publication of San Francisco's first English-language newspaper, the California Star, and he ultimately became California's first millionaire. Brannan was fascinated by the natural hot springs in the Napa Valley and he purchased more than 2,000 acres (8 sq. km.) of land with the goal of developing a spa similar to the well-known Saratoga Springs in New York. According to legend, Brannan gave the town its name by accident in a public speech. Intending to say, "I will make this place the Saratoga of California," he fumbled the sentence and instead said, "the Calistoga of Sarifornia."

Available literature dates the cemetery's initial creation to 1877 when Samuel W. Collins, a resident of Calistoga, and a veteran of the Civil War, established his own private cemetery on the land. Some of the gravestones list dates of death that are earlier than that, so these are likely reinterments from other sites. The site was surveyed and officially established as a cemetery in 1885. Among the notable people buried in the cemetery are veterans of the Civil War, and two survivors of the doomed Donner Party, which saw a trapped caravan resort to cannibalism before being rescued.    

Upon Collins' death in 1893, title to the cemetery passed to his youngest daughter, Anna, who was the wife of local building contractor Henry Lee Hopper. Eventually, the burden of maintaining the cemetery became too great and Anna conveyed the cemetery deed to the City of Calistoga on Memorial Day of 1936. The city has managed it since that time.

As might be expected, many of the cemetery's records have been lost to history and as a result current burials are subject to considerable restrictions. Only inurnments are allowed, and those are restricted to persons who are related either by blood or marriage to the existing plot owners.

Related Tags

Cemeteries Us Civil War Donner Party Graveyards

Know Before You Go

From downtown Calistoga at the northern intersection of Highway 128 and Highway 29, travel northwest on Highway 128 about 3/4 mile (1.2 km). The cemetery will be on your left. There is no parking lot and vehicles are not permitted in the cemetery itself, but there is an ample shoulder on the opposite side of the road on which you can park.

Community Contributors

Added By

Martin

Edited By

CalistoGal, laurenpantos

  • CalistoGal
  • laurenpantos

Published

April 21, 2015

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Sources
  • http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~enderlin/calistoga/cw/calistoga-cw.htm#collins
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calistoga,_California
  • http://napavalleyregister.com/calistogan/lifestyles/name-that-date-calistoga-pioneer-cemetery-a-great-place-to/article_20135e97-d9fb-5cd3-a291-c8a56c59059f.html
  • http://codepublishing.com/ca/calistoga/
  • http://cemeterytravel.com/2011/10/19/cemetery-of-the-week-37-calistoga-pioneer-cemetery/
Calistoga Pioneer Cemetery
2148 Foothill Blvd
Calistoga, California, 94515
United States
38.579136, -122.592678
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