Granite Tombstone Quarry - Hugo, Oregon
Twice before, we had searched for this elusive Granite Tombstone Quarry.
We got to know the peacock that runs with the
wild turkeys, as we walked the entire area.
Up to the top of this hill,
where the communications towers
look out over the vast country,
and down the logging roads that surround the area.
We finally decided to take the guided tour by Mike Walker who
is the Education Chair of the Hugo Neighborhood Association and
Historical Society.
This really made it all so enjoyable.
It turns out that we had at several times been less than 200 feet away from the old Granite Tombstone Quarry,
and on three different sides, but it was not what we expected. We had
been looking for something that stood out, but it seems the forest has
reclaimed much of the quarry.
As near as records can determine, the granite outcropping was in use as a tombstone quarry from the 1880's through 1929, and created tombstones for the surrounding area cemeteries.
William A. Cox is the first recorded owner, and it was run as a
family business. Not known is how much granite lies underground, or if
this is just a relatively small outcropping.
Very little is known of the workings of the quarry, but it
seems as if the stones were cut out and moved downhill to various work
stations.
Mike said that evidence indicates that shelters may have
existed, which likely meant that the workers lived right here on the job
site. Because of our mild climate, it almost certainly was an
operation that continued year-round.
This stone is named the "Obelisk Sentry Stone," as it guards the Granite Tombstone Quarry from below.
This is the "Line-of-Stones" referred to on the self-guided tour map.
Mike Walker really did a superb job in making this tour great
fun and entertaining, as well as educational. Here he gathers everyone
around to discuss additional findings that have recently been made.
Since the Granite Tombstone Quarry
was only rediscovered in 2007, there is a lot of research yet to do.
It was stumbled on by a government worker surveying the property for an
upcoming timber sale. Research turned up a lot of old-timers who
eventually remembered that there had been a quarry there, but it had
been forgotten for so long that every discovery now is new and exciting.
Mike said that they have recently found wire that had been
wrapped tightly to form what sounds like early man-made cables for
towing the stones from the quarry to the work areas below.
The area around and below the quarry looked like many work-sites,
where it could have been that the stones were in various
stages of completion, which maybe indicates that the workers had a sort
of assembly line operation, and maybe more for camaraderie than anything
else.
There are many stones scattered downhill that appeared to be
in final stages of completion, and something happened to fracture the
stone, so it had to be discarded. They lie on the fringes of the
operation, and ended up being monuments to themselves.
Many of these drill holes are observed on the stones in
various sizes. Possibly the larger ones were hand drilled for packing
dynamite to blast the stone loose.
The smaller holes may have been used for splitting the slab of
stone in smaller slices for final finishing, but this is just
speculation on my part.
Before the modern pneumatic drills, such a this one, were used for stone work,
the work was done by hand, using star drills, such as these.
One man would hold the drill, while another hit it with a sledge
hammer. The holder would turn it slightly after each strike, and
gradually drilling a hole.
When the holes had been drilled to the required depth along
the line to be sheared off, the powder charge was placed. Ignited
simultaneously, the stone would break in a straight line. Final
finishing may have all been done with hand tools.
Stones such as this "Discovery Stone," show evidence of having
been very close to final finishing. There is no obvious reason why
this stone could not have been completed. Maybe it was at the end of
the operation, and everything just shut down.
Pedestal stones, such as this, are seemingly ready to be
transported to their final destination. As their name implies, they act
as a base for a finished monument.
Mike said there is a lot of work to be done yet on completing research on the Granite Tombstone Quarry.
Stones from here were hauled by wagon on the old trail along the base
of the hill, and out to what is now Interstate Highway 5. The old
trail connected and continued for a time on the historic "Applegate
Trail." The stones made their way over the pioneer road to where they
rest today.
The same exact type of granite, as came from our quarry, has
been found at the Pleasant Valley Cemetery, which is only a few miles
from the Granite Tombstone Quarry.
Follow the directions, and look for this road. The fork on
the left is obviously not the one you want, because it goes up at very
steep angle that takes you to the communications towers. Stay to the
right, and go until you see
this small stake on the right side of the road. Go down hill,
following the orange flags, which puts you on the path that leads to
the quarry.
