The road took us to Williams, Oregon today. Williams is a small,
quiet community of rural homes, ranches and several businesses located
in the beautiful Applegate Valley.
While there, we visited
Gotcher Cemetery. This quiet resting places was established in 1891 on a small knoll.
We
found some of the Gotcher family here, and typical of many early
cemeteries, it is named after a prominent family of the time.
This is the first round headstone we have so far found in our many cemetery searches.
This
beautifully etched granite tombstone marks the resting place of a
gentleman with the nickname "The Mule Man." It's too bad that we
couldn't find out more information about how this gentleman got his
nickname, but how interesting it would be if it were possible for it to
have the persons' history engraved on their stones.
Looking
at this monument, isn't it strange that this husband and wife were
born only a month apart and died little more than a month apart. It's
almost like they were meant to be together forever.
"Hoot" Gibson and his wife are resting here.
I
would guess "Hoot" was named after Edmund "Hoot Gibson, an early cowboy
film actor, who appeared on screen with the likes of Harry Carey, under
the direction of John Ford. The original "Hoot" served in World War I
as our "Hoot" served in World War II. The original "Hoot" won the
all-around championship atthe Pendleton round-up in Pendleton, Oregon.
In
Gotcher Cemetery we found Veterans who had served in wars from the Vietnam War all the way back to the Civil War.
We found a couple of markers made from wood,
and a marker made from a pretty, natural stone.
All in all, this seems to be a well-maintained cemetery, with signs throughout of many visitations.
