Pioneers! O pioneers!

"All the hapless silent lovers,
All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
Pioneers! O pioneers!"

Walt Whitman


Pioneers Cemetery was established in 1838 and abandoned somewhere in the 1870s. It is believed that the local taverner, Daniel O. Dodge, is buried here next to his wife (who died in 1837 and was removed from their backyard to be buried here. tIs true) but there's no hard evidence. And it's the cemetery's only 'claim to fame'.

Most of the gravestones are too far eroded to be readable, which is why the map in the middle of the cemetery has a lot of 'unknowns' on it. It's evident from reading the ages on the map that pioneer life in the harshness of Michigan was difficult; the oldest people on there are no older than in their fifties.
And so many babies.

It has been out of use for so long that it's a peaceful place. Nothing but me and the birds there this morning.


The Beloved has come down with what's going around in Blipland. It's amazing how contagious this manflu/cold/flu is! ;)

Blip-reject
I didn't want another bird shot today, no matter how lovely this one is