It was decided we would move The Amazing Cemetery Crawl 3 from January to April to avoid winter road conditions for future road rallies. Our rendezvous and starting point was the serene setting of the Mesa Cemetery.
Mesa’s first small cemetery was established in 1883. Some well known individuals buried here are Ernesto Miranda, John Lee, and Waylon Jennings.
Upon receiving their first clues, the Cemetery Crawlers dashed to their cars and headed to east Mesa to take on the first Detour—the Hearse Relay! Derek Lewis, president of Kaos Funeral Cars, was on hand to conduct the relay. Crawlers had to remove a wooden coffin from the back of one hearse, load it with a dumbie, weave through a series of cones, and unload the coffin into another hearse waiting at the end of the parking lot.
The Crawlers continued to head east to the town of Superior and Fairview Cemetery. Fairview Cemetery is on Forest Land owned by the Federal Government, but the town of Superior has been operating and maintaining the facility for years. It has been in use since the early 1900’s.
From Superior, the teams needed to pose in front of the cemetery gates of Mountain Breeze Cemetery and light a candle for good luck at the roadside shrine just out of Miami, AZ.
The teams headed to Central Heights Pinal Cemetery in the Miami/Globe area. This cemetery was located centrally for the use of Miami, Globe, Claypool, and Central Heights. It is one of several small cemeteries built at one site. Some interesting occupants are the notorious Pearl Hart, interred as Pearl Bywater, and Chief Talkalai who lived to be over 100 years old.
The Crawlers traveled a few miles further into Globe to the Old Globe Cemetery. The first burial was in 1870. The graves are sporadically layered in tiers down the hillside. There is a historic section in the cemetery for the Buffalo Soldiers and a small Chinese Cemetery.
The Cemetery has honored some of the founding members of the city and lawman by placing small plaques on a hitching post setting. Some of the more intriguing occupants are Phineus Clanton, Al Sieber, and Pete Spence.
We sent the teams into the town of Globe to photograph the Catwalk between the old Globe Jail and old Courthouse. We didn’t anticipate a parade marching down Broad Street that day, so many of the Crawlers became instant parade participants as they scurried across the road to snap the required detour photo.
Heading further East, the Crawlers had several required detours to complete before stopping at the next destination. They photographed an old building with a “Rest in Peace” message to their departed friends, photographed white crosses in another cemetery, and stopped to take a photo in front of the Lions Club Memorial.
They ended up at the Thatcher Cemetery on Stadium Avenue in Thatcher, AZ. This cemetery has a section with at least 150 unknown grave sites.
The Crawlers then headed for the over night pit stop in the town of Safford The MVD Ghostchasers were waiting for them at a ramada in a Safford park. One by one the teams checked in. The competition was beginning to stir up. After the first day of racing, the leaders were Team Zero, Ghostie Gecko’s, The Freaky Bison, The Newbies, Oh KEC, and Creepy Peepers.
Everyone met for dinner at a Safford Restaurant. Several of the crawlers ventured off to a Safford Cemetery to do some ghost hunting. The rest of us were plotting out the adventures for the next day of action.
Sunday morning the Cemetery Crawlers were ready for another day of visiting Arizona’s finest cemeteries. They were back at the park and had their cars lined up for a quick departure. Only Chris had a little twist in store for them. The teams were going to leave in the reverse order they arrived. Lots of groans were heard except from the last place team. They were elated. So one by one, the teams ran to their vehicles and headed for the old Safford Cemetery.
Safford Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Graham Country. It is comprised of three sections. The older section in the rear includes the old Layton Cemetery and old Safford Cemetery. It was established in 1874 with grave sites scattered on the hill.
From Safford, the teams were directed to drive to Willcox AZ and visit the Old Willcox Cemetery. It is a small sand dune, boot hill looking cemetery south of old downtown Willcox. The most interesting occupant is Warren Baxter Earp, brother of Wyatt Earp. Warren was killed by Johnny Boyett (Boyd) in a local saloon.
The teams drove back into Willcox to photograph the Rex Allen Memorial. Rex Allen’s horse Koko is buried there. When Rex Allen died, he had his ashes scattered in the park. The residents of Willcox said his presence is often felt in the park area.
After completing the detour, the Crawlers were heading west. The next stop was the old railroad town of Benson, AZ. The Old Benson 7th Street Cemetery is located in a residential area. It contains burials from 1881 through 1973. The earliest marked grave is dated 1883.
Now the teams were again heading west. The road construction detours of the 10 freeway made driving through Tucson a challenge for even the most skilled drivers. They were instructed to find Holy Hope Catholic Cemetery on Oracle Road. Holy Hope is the oldest Catholic Cemetery in Tucson. One of the most interesting occupants of Holy Hope is Sheriff John Behan. He was Sheriff during Tombstone’s Gunfight at the OK Corral involving the Earps.
Traveling north, the Crawlers had a detour at the Tom Mix Monument where they needed to pose by the roadside tribute. The Western cowboy star was speeding down this highway when cattle stepped out in front of him. Swerving to miss the cattle, he crashed into a ditch—his loose luggage in the back seat flew on to him, breaking his neck. His spirit still roams the highway.
Onward they traveled to the Florence Memorial Park Cemetery. It is a large desert like cemetery. Because of changes of ownership through the years, some records have been lost or destroyed by fire. An interesting occupant is Eva Dugan. She was the first woman to be executed in Arizona.
Now all teams were heading to Goldfield Ghost Town to the finish line near Apache Junction, AZ. The energies were flowing high as they entered the parking lot and ran to the train depot to pose with the huge tombstone of the Unknown Prospector. Oh, but the challenge was not over yet! Before they could cross the finish line, the teams had to unscramble a list of every place they had stopped on their journey and assemble them in the proper order of their visit. This seemed to frustrate even the most detail minded person on the team.
But soon, all the Cemetery Crawl teams were linked arm and arm making their way up the hill towards the Goldfield church steeple! First place went to the OH KEC team, followed close behind by Team Zero in second place. Third place went out to the Newbies.
We held our awards ceremony at the Goldfield restaurant. Everyone received a mini goodie bag and joked about all the fun they had on the road together for the past two days. Another Cemetery Crawl adventure was now history.
