On any given day, you will find that Fairmount Memorial Park is used for much more than the interment of the dead. Located at the end of a neighborhood drive, the Park is used for ... well, a park. In fact, historically, cemeteries were often a community's first parks where people would go to picnic and take strolls through the beautiful grounds.

While most cemeteries, today, are occasioned by people taking their dogs for walks, the grounds at Fairmount are used daily for recreational activities. People walk or jog laps along the paved driveways, and families ride their bicycles on them. Some parents use the parking lot by the Sunset Mausoleum to take off the training wheels of a child's bike and guide the young one to its new-found two-wheeled freedom. And, according to Sharon Evans (Fairmount's Secretary), people even snowshoe and go cross-country skiing in the winter time.

Not only do people engage in these activities inside the gates, they also make use of the undeveloped grounds to the north and east for the same kinds of recreation. Only here, there are dirt paths rather than paved ones.

So, if you're looking for a new place to work out or go for a peaceful stroll, check out your neighborhood cemetery.

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Greek Orthodox heritage in Spokane: Father Nicholas J. Velis was instrumental in fostering its growth and longevity. He was also the one who pushed for an eternal resting ground for the community of believers - the Holy Trinity Lawn at Riverside Memorial Park.

The Greek community in Spokane dates back to at least 1889. Like immigrants from China and Japan, many of the early immigrants from Greece labored for the railroads before they were able to settle down and open their own businesses, namely coffee houses. As the Greek community grew in Spokane, some immigrants, such as John Kakakes and James Papantone, helped plan for a church and the arrival of a priest. The Greek Orthodox Church began in 1932 as an outgrowth of the coffee houses, and served as a social gathering place to bolster Greek heritage.

When Father Velis arrived in 1959, he continued to foster the religious and cultural traditions of the local church, but also worked tirelessly to draw converts to Orthodoxy through his philosophy of unity, love, and understanding. In fact, Velis is quoted as saying, "all citizens are part of my parish." During his 25-year tenure at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, the congregation grew to include converts to Orthodoxy, along with Orthodox Christians from Russia, Ukraine, Lebanon, and other Eastern European nations.

But the Church wasn't the only place where Velis served. He was a member of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, which serves to "promote Hellenism, education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, and family and individual excellence." He was also a member of the Spokane Rotary, the Masonic Lodge, and the Children's Home Society. Additionally, Velis served on several charitable committees such as United Way and the sheltered workshop for disabled persons and, upon retirement in 1984, worked with troubled youth.

Before his passing in 1992, Father Velis was instrumental in securing a place for his parishioners to rest eternally. Near the Riverside Mausoleum there is a section called the "Holy Trinity Lawn" where several Greek-Americans are buried, and a memorial to the Reverend Velis stands. Ironically, Velis and his wife, Frances, are interred at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City, where he grew up and went to college.

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Spokane: Another statistic of the 1918 influenza pandemic. In fact, Spokane's mortality rate was nearly three times the national average, 6%. The Spanish flu, as it was commonly called, first appeared in the community sometime between late September and early October. As with other communities, once the flu appeared it spread quickly, infecting a reported 16,985 and killing 1,045. Many of Spokane's flu victims were buried in the Park View section of Riverside Memorial Park.

One of the more reasonable theories of the flu's origin and its spread claims the flu epidemic began in the United States as it was transmitted from Camp Funston in Haskell County, Kansas through other military camps, then to port cities and into Europe during World War I. By 26 September, west coast military bases were infected, including Camp Lewis near Tacoma, Washington.

Spokane's Health Officer, Dr. J. B. Anderson wasn't too concerned at first and simply issued warnings about how to avoid spreading the flu: using handkerchiefs when sneezing and coughing away from other people. One newspaper article read: "To establish quarantine for influenza does not seem practicable and the state board of health urges every one afflicted with the disease to practice 'voluntary quarantine' and if they have anything like what we are in the habit of calling 'grippe' they should keep away from others." He also informed the public of what symptoms to look for, such as a high fever and body aches, and to treat such symptoms with bed rest, not eating, and limiting water intake. After the toll of victims increased, Anderson released more detailed warnings, a longer list of symptoms, and even provided details about the nature of the disease.

Public education was just the first line of defense. Flu bans were also implemented, making it unlawful to gather in public or private settings. The bans closed schools, churches, theatres, dance halls, and other indoor public gathering places. It was illegal to hold card games and other social functions in the home, and even large funerals were not allowed. Interestingly, public gatherings held outdoors were allowed because it was believed that fresh air kept the flu at bay.

In addition to flu bans, people were encouraged to wear gauze masks. This tactic proved to be unsuccessful, partly because they were worn improperly, but also because only the wealthy could afford to purchase them from the Red Cross. As with many other illnesses, strange remedies were suggested: taking laxatives and alcohol, inhaling turpentine fumes, using cinnamon oil, quinine, or a slew of other oils, ointments, and emulsions.

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Clustered together in the Catholic section of Fairmount Memorial Park are 8 graves from the early 1900s that belong to the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Each grave was once marked with a white marble headstone, but were falling apart and have recently been replaced with small in-ground markers. Nearby is a marble cross monument in their honor. But who were these women, and what influence did they have on Spokane?

The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia were organized and ordained in 1885, and hosted immigrant women in a small hostel, nursed the sick poor, and provided assistance during the smallpox epidemic in 1858 - all in and around the city of Philadelphia. They later expanded their ministries to teaching and operating orphanages. Their only source of financial support for their ministries was through piecemeal sewing. As the Order grew, Sisters were sent to other locations, one being Spokane.

A small group of Sisters arrived in Spokane in 1890, when Father Joseph Cataldo secured a small lot for an orphanage in the Sinto Addition near the present-day Gonzaga University campus. The community, in full support of an orphanage, raised money to build a small wood-frame building, which was dedicated as St. Joseph's Orphanage in 1891. The orphanage, however, quickly outgrew the original building. At first, there were only 6 children, but the number quickly rose to 70, then to 115 by 1893. By 1899, construction began on a new facility, which is the same building as St. Joseph's Family Center today.

Through the years, the Sisters have stayed true to their mission: "to respond to the needs of others, especially the economically poor, the marginal, and the oppressed."

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There are 15 unmarked graves at Greenwood Memorial Terrace that belong to railroad workers who were blown to smithereens on 06 September 1890.

A crew, of at least 24 men, was working that day to clear rock to make way for the Northern Pacific freight yards. Witnesses claim that the rock foreman, James McPherson, was in a hurry as he was tamping approximately 200 pounds of blasting powder into the drill hole when, suddenly, the entire area blew up. Bodies, basalt, and balls of fire flew through the air before falling back down to the earth, killing and burying more workers in the rubble. Other workers were also injured, and according to the Spokane Spokesman, "Men with mangled limbs, covered with blood and dirt, their clothes in tatters and their bodies disfigured, crawled about over the rocks in a stupor, not knowing which way to turn."

The project contractor, Smith and Howell, paid for the burial of 15 men - who lived in shantytown and had no family to tend to their funerals - but did not pay for individual headstones. They were buried at Greenwood Memorial Terrace, and today, there stands a memorial to them and the other men who perished that dreadful day in 1890.

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Where lays Charles Brooks? Who was he? Why is he in an unmarked grave? Mr. Brooks has the unfortunate fame of being the first legally hanged man in Spokane.

The 1891 Brooks case was quite the scandal for Spokane. Brooks, 62, was charged with the murder of his wife, Christine Dohlman, a 27-year-old immigrant from Sweden. The tale of their relationship, as reported in the newspapers of the day, was full of speculations. One suspicion was that Brooks, for reasons unknown, specifically wanted to marry an immigrant. Another is that Dohlman was in search of a rich American to marry. As was common in that era, men on the frontier sometimes resorted to paying for immigrant brides, so it is quite possible that both hypotheses were true. What is known, for certain, is that they were married. Yet, their marriage led to another suspicion: that Dohlman left Brooks when she discovered he was a janitor and not a mining tycoon, and began cheating on him. Brooks, then, supposedly stalked her, and when she refused to return to him, he shot her on Havermale Island.

The hanging turned out to be quite the affair. Before 1900, executions took place at the local level and were conducted by the county sheriff. Because this was the first lawful hanging in the county, approximately 150 formal, engraved, invitations to the event were sent out ... but over 1,000 people were in attendance for the occasion that took place on the Spokane County Courthouse grounds, 06 September 1892.

After Brooks, there were 2 other hangings in Spokane before state law required that all executions had to be conducted at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla. Gin Pong, an immigrant from China, was executed in 1897 for killing another immigrant. Local farmer, George Webster, was also executed in 1897 for killing his wife's boss.

Of course there were several other extracurricular executions in Spokane. Namely, those of Chief Qualchan of the Yakamas and 5-20 others who were hanged by Colonel George Wright in his campaign against the Indians in retribution for the battle at Steptoe Butte in 1858 ... and before the days of law in Spokane.

Charles Brooks was buried at Greenwood Memorial Terrace without a grave marker for the plain and simple fact that nobody volunteered to pay for one. His grave is somewhere west of the main office, between the hillside and the row of upright headstones - near the memorial for Spokane's Greatest Human Tragedy. In 2010, Duane Broyles, president of the Fairmount Memorial Association which oversees Greenwood, said the grave will remain unmarked to avoid vandalism and disrespect.

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Faith healer, John Graham Lake, was a prominent evangelical preacher and contributor to the founding of the American Pentecostal movement in the early 1900s. He began the first healing rooms in Spokane in 1915, and many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, have been known to journey thousands of miles to witness and/or partake in his ministry of healing. Lake traveled across the west, starting up churches and healing room ministries in Washington, Oregon, California, and Texas. Today, the John G. Lake Ministries are led by Curry Blake out of Dallas, Texas.

Lake grew up around sickness and death - 8 of his 16 siblings had died young. At the age of 16, he became a born-again Christian and by the time he was 21, he was married and ordained in the Methodist Church. After witnessing a few miraculous healings, Lake yearned to know what the Bible said about healing and studied divine healing under the tutelage of John A. Dowie for 7 years. After his training, the Lakes moved to South Africa in 1908 to minister and start churches, but sadly, Jennie died the first year they were there. This, however, did not stop Lake from continuing his mission, with his sister by his side to help raise his 7 children.

He returned to the United States in 1913, married his second wife, Florence, and traveled across the country, preaching and reacquainting with family and friends before making a trip to England. There he met with several Pentecostal leaders, and founded the International Pentecostal Council; and upon his return to the U.S., helped to establish the Assemblies of God before moving to Spokane in September 1914.

In 1915, he opened Lake's Divine Healing Rooms and the Divine Healing Institute, where he trained healing technicians to assist in the ministry. It has been reported that over 100,000 healings took place in the period 1915-1920. But, as with many such ministries, there were skeptics who challenged the validity of these claims and even reported Lake to Spokane's Better Business Bureau for fraud. However, after meeting with the ministry team and questioning several people who claimed to have been healed, the BBB stopped their investigation.

After closing the healing rooms in Spokane, the Lakes moved to Portland, then California and Texas to start up similar ministries. He returned to Spokane in 1931 to restart a church and healing ministry, but this was short-lived as he died in 1935.

Today, there is no official John G. Lake Ministries affiliation in Spokane. People often mistakenly associate the Spokane Healing Rooms, an affiliate of the International Association of Healing Rooms, with the ministries of Lake. This is not hard to understand considering the imprint of faith healing Lake left on Spokane. Interestingly, the office at Riverside Memorial Park receives more requests each year for Lake's grave location than any other. In fact, they have pre-made maps highlighting how to get to his grave.

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The land where Riverside Memorial Park lies was originally a recreational municipal park, which opened in 1907 when John Aylard Finch spearheaded the organization of the Riverside Park Company. It wasn't until November 1914 that the grounds were dedicated as a cemetery, which required a special city ordinance to allow a cemetery to be within the city limits. The original name of the cemetery was Riverside Park Cemetery, and changed in 1962 to its current name.

From the outset as a cemetery, the organizers intended for Riverside to be an upscale cemetery that restricted burials to those from the upper classes of society. Evidence of this can be found in a corporate resolution which allowed the board members to set lot prices and had the right to refuse to sell lots to undesirable parties. In essence, then, this provision allowed for racial, ethnic, and economic segregation. It is unclear whether or not the corporate by-laws ever changed. However, federal and state laws from the 1960s forward prohibit cemeteries from discriminating in the sale of cemetery plots, except for those on religious grounds. For example, Mt. Nebo and Holy Cross cemeteries can refuse to sell plots to non-Hasidic Jews or non-Catholics, respectively.

Since the grounds were originally a park, it was only natural that the cemetery was developed in the memorial park design, with the majority of the gravesites having in-ground markers, and with few upright headstones, mausoleums, and family plots. There are, however, the fraternal and Orthodox sections that were designed in the old garden cemetery fashion.

In addition to being the home for the deceased, the site is also home to a large population of wildlife since it is so close to the confluence of Latah Creek with the Spokane River. The overall design of the cemetery was laid out in a flower pattern, thus the names of the sections: Rose, Violet, Aster, Lily, Jonquil, Tulip, and Wisteria among others.

Near the entrance you will find memorials to Spokane's law enforcement personnel and local firefighters, the rose garden columbarium, and bell tower. There is also the Riverside Mausoleum, which was built in 1931. According to cemetery historian, John Caskey, the crypt spaces were priced to cater to the rich, and were considered some of the most expensive in the United States at the time.

In addition to Finch, other Spokane pioneers buried at Riverside include Robert and Carrie Strahorn, Louis Davenport, and the August Paulsen family.

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Would you believe there's a tunnel that runs through the cemetery grounds at Greenwood Memorial Terrace? It's true. The 1889 plat for the cemetery indicates a proposed railroad terminal in the middle of the western perimeter. Originally, the hope was for the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway line to cross the Spokane River near where Riverside Memorial Park lies and go through Greenwood, where a terminal was to be built, and continue north then west toward the Cascade Mountains. The SLS & ERR was grossly underfunded, however, and the dreams for a terminus at Greenwood never transpired even after the Northern Pacific Railway purchased it in 1900.

But that didn't stop the Great Northern Railroad from continuing its competition with Northern Pacific. Great Northern built the tunnel so its main line could connect with the Spokane, Portland & Seattle road. In February 1909 work began at both the north and south ends of the tunnel. Workers from both sides met within 1.84 inches of the same spot to join in the middle. It took the contractor, Porter Brothers & Welch, just 13 months to complete, and the tunnel was opened for business on April 1, 1910.

So, where is the tunnel? Technically, it still runs through the second terrace, called the Bench, and under the top terrace. However, in preparation for the 1974 World Exposition, the City of Spokane revitalized the city center where the main railroad hub was, forcing the rerouting of several rail lines, including the line through Greenwood. In exchange for removing the tracks and permanently sealing the railroad tunnel, Greenwood Memorial Terrace ceded an easement from its western boundary for a new rail line that now by-passes the cemetery.

Despite a few rumors over the years about buried train cars and the like, the tunnel contains no buried treasures. Since it's sealing, vegetation has grown over any evidence of the rail tunnel's existence.

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Dr. Mary Archard Latham, Spokane's pioneer female physician, is one of early Spokane's most colorful and controversial characters.

Latham graduated from medical school in 1886, at the age of 42, then moved to Spokane in 1887 to practice medicine. She arrived with her three sons, Frank, James, and Warren; but her husband, Dr. Edward Hempstead Latham, arrived two years later.

Latham's practice was an immediate success, and she soon became one of the town's most popular citizens. Mary's prominence and popularity continued to grow as she pushed for a public library, to which she donated money and a set of Encyclopedia Britannica, and sat on the board of directors. She also wrote fictional stories for the local newspaper and magazines, invested in real estate near Mead, was involved with the Humane Society, and worked tirelessly on behalf of children, the poor, and the helpless in the community.

In 1891, Edward became the resident physician on the Colville Indian Reservation while Mary and the boys stayed in Spokane. This marked an unfortunate turning point in Latham's life, as her fortunes and her reputation began to decline. Latham mismanaged her finances, which frequently brought about lawsuits against her for payment of wages, payment on loans, and payment for consumer goods bought on credit. In efforts to belay her money troubles, she responded with acts of forgery, arson, fabrications, and various falsehoods. Ultimately, she was convicted for arson and spent a short time in the women's prison at Walla Walla. Upon parole, she returned to Spokane to continue practicing medicine ... which got her into trouble again when it was discovered she had performed an abortion, known as a "criminal operation" in those days. The charges were dropped upon agreement to permanently retire, which she did.

Shortly after her retirement, Mary fell ill with pneumonia while taking care of a sick infant in her home. Dr. Latham died at Sacred Heart Hospital, at the age of 72.

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As Spokane outgrew its frontier beginnings, its old church graveyards were at risk of overflowing, and the small pioneer cemeteries got in the way of land development. In order to solve both issues, A. M. Cannon and other prominent businessmen purchased and donated land west of town for the community's first modern burial site - an elegant garden cemetery.

At the time, the City Beautiful Movement was in full swing, which brought reform in architecture and city planning to communities across the nation, Spokane included. Greenwood Memorial Terrace was strongly influenced by this movement, and can be seen throughout the cemetery's design, especially the first two terraces: the flats and the bench.

The flats are the lowest level and contain the cemetery office, several memorials, and show how cemetery design and headstones have changed over time. For example, there are old-fashioned upright headstones, some very ornate from the rural/garden cemetery era, along with grave markers flush to the ground common with today's lawn/memorial park design. Another feature of the flats is the un-endowed section near the office. Here you will find a more natural setting where the grounds are left mostly unkempt, and the graves range from simple wooden crosses to commemorate a loved one, to small fenced gravesites.

The bench is where many of Spokane's first high society people are buried, such as the A. M. Cannon family, the Amasa B. Campbell family, Mary Latham, and James and Susan Glover to mention a few. It is full of family mausoleums, large family plots or memorials, and obelisks. This level was originally designed to have a large water fountain, though it is unclear whether it ever worked, or was built for that matter. It is also worth noting that the bench was designed to have a great view of the city and mountains beyond, but with time, the view disappeared as the trees grew. Now the top holds the best view.

Speaking of the top, it is laid out primarily in the memorial park fashion, which is designed for ease of maintenance, and is the most modern section of Greenwood. There are several military memorials, a children's section, and multiple columbarium walls which hold cremated remains and/or provide a place for people to visit their departed loved ones. The top is also the site of the giant white cement Cross of Inspiration that was erected in 1961, which is where an interdenominational Easter sunrise service is held each year, along with other events throughout the year.

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The most recent change in burial practices is the increasing use of cremation. According to the Cremation Association of North America, nearly 26% of U. S. deaths in the year 2000 resulted in cremations rather than traditional burials. And they expect the number to rise to 50% by 2025. With these kinds of numbers, scattering gardens have become a new, if not necessary, thing in cemetery design and management.

Scattering gardens provide a place for people to scatter ashes of their loved ones without having to purchase a plot or niche in a columbarium wall. As such, scattering gardens provide permanent memorials that give family and friends a specific place to visit the departed - an important factor in the grieving process.

There are several options available at scattering gardens, and each cemetery has their own rules and guidelines. At some cemeteries, urns are buried in the garden, and some of these cemeteries require biodegradable urns. Other cemeteries allow people to rake the ashes into the garden, which are then covered with mulch. Still other cemeteries bury vaults underneath gardens where the ashes are poured to keep them from entering the atmosphere.

Generally, there are many options for the handling of cremated remains, of which the scattering garden is just one. Other options include scattering ashes over bodies of water, casting the ashes into the air, in a trench or ring in the ground, and even from an airplane. The important thing with these types of scatterings is that they are done at a place significant to the departed and/or family. For example, a trench or ring could be dug at the beach, ashes could be tossed along a favorite hiking trail, or scattered at a lucky fishing spot.

When these types of scatterings are done, there are specially-designed scattering urns available. Water-soluble urns are often used for water scatterings because they gradually disperse the ashes into the water and eventually sink. As for land scatterings, some urns are designed for the easy dispensation of the ashes, such as a hole in or near the bottom to keep the ashes from flying all over the place. Of course, there is always the old-fashioned way of scattering, which is done by hand by one or more members of the grieving party.

A final note on cremated remains: even when people scatter the majority of a person's remains, some families choose to keep a portion of the ashes. When they do, the most common form of storage is a keepsake urn, but another popular option is to turn the ashes into jewelry.

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Some of Spokane's earliest residents lived, or at least died, in anonymity. The Washington State Archives has 71 death records of unidentified persons found in Spokane during the period 1891-1907. The majority of these unknowns were buried at Fairmount Memorial Park in Section 90, the Potter's Field.

These death records reveal some interesting statistics. First, most were white males ranging from infants to 50-plus years of age. Several bodies were found in or near the Spokane River. Of the white adult males, the primary causes of death were drowning, violence (usually by gun), accidents, and heart disease. Some interesting causes of death were opium poisoning, "wounds murderously inflicted", crushed by train, and "brain and lungs crushed by pipes in a freight car".

Secondly, the infant deaths, both male and female, were mostly due to premature or stillborn births, feticide, inanition, and abortion. Many of these babies died at institutions such as St. Joseph's Orphanage, the Kearney Sanitarium, and the Home for the Friendless. Others were found near dumps or the river, and a particularly gruesome and sad story reveals that one particular baby's body parts were found in different locations around town.

Only 17 of the 71 unknowns were females, and of those 17, 16 were infants. The only adult female, an Indian, died of consumption (the old term for pulmonary tuberculosis) at the approximate age of 65. There were only 4 other non-white persons in the records: one Black male who died of 3 pistol balls fired by an unknown party; a 32-year-old Mongolian male who died of endocarditis; a Chinese male, age 60, who died at home after being sick for some time; and a Japanese male, age 40-50, who drowned.

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Section 90 at Fairmount Memorial Park is known as a Potter's Field. This portion of the cemetery was donated, in 1897, by Spokane County for the purpose of burying the indigent and/or unknown persons from the city and county. It is in this section that several unknown people are buried - infants and adults, alike, who were found on the city streets, in the river, or left at orphanages and other like institutions. See the stop, "The Unknowns" for more details. Additionally, several of the disinterred bodies from Spokane's first cemeteries, Spokan Falls/Hangman Creek, and Mountain View, were transferred to Fairmount's Section 90.
The history behind potters' fields is believed to extend back to biblical times, in reference to Matthew 27:3-8. This story tells of Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus with a kiss to reveal him to the authorities. After Judas learned that Jesus was condemned to die, he was horrified and tried to return the money the high priests had given him to turn in Jesus. After tossing the money at their feet, Judas hanged himself. The priests, not wanting blood-money on their hands by using it for the Temple treasury, bought the local potter's field and turned it into a cemetery for foreigners, known as the Field of Blood. The field did not necessarily belong to an individual, but rather could have been a field of clay used for pottery.

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Fairmount, like Greenwood and Riverside, is the final resting place for many of the community's early pioneers and city developers - people from the mining, lumbering, railroading, banking, city development, and governing arenas. But these prominent individuals are not the only Spokane figures buried here. So are the common laborers from those same professions, the indigent, and the unidentified. A walk through the grounds will reveal a span of history from Washington Territory days to present-day, as noted by the headstones of Territorial representatives, and State senators and governors. People such as Reverend and Mrs. Havermale, Senator Dill, Mr. and Mrs. Browne, D. C. Corbin, Patsy Clark, and one of President Lincoln's body guards, Frank Johnson to mention a few.

Fairmount Memorial Park is the community's second modern cemetery. Like Greenwood Memorial Terrace, it was established in May 1888. Its primary incorporators were E. J. Webster, President of the Ross Park Electric Street Railway; D. T. Ham, a land speculator and developer; and J. L. Wilson, a U. S. Congressman and Senator. Two significant transactions put the cemetery into business. The first was when Jesuit missionary, Joseph Cataldo, purchased Blocks 22-29 and Block 34 for $10,000 to be consecrated for Catholic burials. The second transaction took place when Spokane County granted forty acres to Fairmount for the purpose of a potter's field for the city and county, Block 90. In addition to the Catholic section, Fairmount also is home to the oldest designated Jewish burial ground in Eastern Washington, the right half of Block 20.

A note on consecrated burial grounds: certain religious affiliations, such as the Catholic Church, perform consecrating ceremonies by an ordained bishop, over the entire grounds where members of the church will be buried. Bishop Quevil said in 1267, that "all churches and cemeteries must be guarded from all defilement." And Bishop Edyndon said in 1348, "that the Catholic Church believes in the resurrection of the body of the dead. Sanctified by the reception of the Sacraments, it is consequently not buried in pagan places, but in specifically consecrated cemeteries, or in churches, where with due reverence they are kept like the relics of the Saints, until the day of resurrection."

Early on Fairmount was often used as a municipal park, where views of the Spokane River Valley with its Bowl and Pitcher features could be enjoyed. In 1900, Fairmount bought a motorized jitney (taxi) with 3 bench seats to transport visitors from the end of the electric streetcar line, at Monroe and Indiana, to the cemetery for picnics and strolls through the grounds. Even today, it is not uncommon to see people visit the cemetery to simply enjoy the views, walk or ride bicycles around the grounds with their families, or take their dogs for walks.

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Clarence Cleveland Dill, commonly referred to as C. C., was instrumental in pushing Congress in the early 1930s to fund a study of the Columbia and Snake Rivers to determine the possibility of building dams for irrigation and electricity in the Pacific Northwest. The result of said study was the development of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project and the building of the Grand Coulee Dam.

Prior to coming to Spokane, Dill lived and taught for a few years in Ohio before graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University. Upon graduation, he worked as a newspaper reporter and high school teacher until 1908 when he moved to Washington. He was also a high school teacher in Spokane while he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1910 and quit teaching to practice law, working his way up to deputy prosecuting attorney for Spokane County.

From there, he began his political life serving as the private secretary to Governor Ernest Lister in 1913 before being elected for two terms to the United States House of Representatives (1915-1919). He later served as a United States Senator from 1923 to 1935. While a Senator, he sponsored the Radio Act of 1927 and the Communications Act of 1934. In 1940, he ran for governor but was defeated by Arthur Langlie, and was unsuccessful running for another term in Congress in 1942.

Dill, however, continued to serve in two significant roles. One, he continued his support of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project - which was designed to provide a network of dams and canals to water the arid lands of the Columbia Basin - by serving on the Columbia Basin Commission from 1945 to 1948. Secondly, he served as a special assistant to the U. S. Attorney General (1946-1953). After his political career, Dill returned to practicing law in Spokane until his death in 1978.

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In the aftermath of the American Civil War, veterans of the Union Army formed the fraternal organization, Grand Army of the Republic, in 1866. The initial purpose for the group was simply friendship and fellowship. However, based on their tenets of Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty, they also turned to political endeavors. In this capacity, they supported voting rights for black veterans, lobbied for veteran pensions, and backed Republican politicians. In fact, they helped to elect five U.S. Presidents: Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, and McKinley. The GAR is also widely credited for initiating Memorial Day (which was originally known as Decoration Day), with the first official observation in 1868. At its peak in 1890, enrollment reached nearly half-a-million members.

Many memorials have been given to the Grand Army of the Republic over the years, such as:
- A 3-cent U. S. commemorative stamp, 1949
- U. S. Route 6 being re-named the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, 1953, and
- Numerous statues and monuments ... Such as the one you're standing in front of.

You'll notice the inscription on the monument indicates it was erected in 1907 by the Women's Relief Corps and the J. L. Reno post of the Grand Army. All GAR posts were named after fallen comrades, and Spokane had two posts: No. 47 in honor of General Jesse Lee Reno, and No. 8 in honor of Major General John Sedgwick. Greenwood cemetery has a few GAR members buried near the statue, including Levi Anderson, Caleb Joseph, and P. C. Topping.

The Grand Army of the Republic remained in existence, with thousands of posts all across the nation, for ninety years, ending in 1956 when its last member, Albert Woolson, died at the age of 109. Two primary organizations succeed the GAR: the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War.

Finally, in pop culture, the Grand Army of the Republic is referenced in songs, poetry, and novels such as John Steinbeck's East of Eden, and Sinclair Lewis's Main Street.

Photo Credits:
Julie Y. Russell, 2011

For more (including 2 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.

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At the end of the 19th Century, membership in fraternal organizations and social clubs was at a peak - when it was common for ladies and gentlemen to be enrolled in several groups at a time. Women's groups usually focused on self-improvement, charity, or social and political efforts; while men's groups, though they grew to include benevolent endeavors, usually began as drinking clubs. Some of the social groups Spokane women belonged to include the Twentieth Century Club, mothers' clubs, and reading clubs, along with the female auxiliary units of fraternal orders. For men, popular organizations were the Spokane Club, Spokane Polo Club, and Spokane Athletic Club, along with fraternal associations.

As you walk throughout the terraces at Greenwood cemetery, you will notice many different symbols on headstones that represent several of these groups. One emblem prevalent on the second terrace is for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, which has a unique history with Greenwood Memorial Terrace. At the top of the abandoned staircase, is the raggedy remnant of a once great monument to the Elks - a mausoleum for their members, with a walkway leading up to it. It used to have a giant elk standing on top, huge brass doors where now only hinge pins remain, and the traditional clock set at 11:00 - the time at which they paid tribute to their fallen members during meetings. Due to a disagreement with the cemetery years ago, the Elks chose to remove their dominant presence from the grounds, thus taking the elk and brass doors, and leaving the structure in disrepair. There are, however, several members of the Elks buried near the abandoned mausoleum and walkway, with the Elks emblem on their headstones.

Also on the second terrace are many grave markers, called tree-stones, in the shape of a tree or log, with the symbol for Woodmen of the World (or Modern Woodmen of America). The Woodmen were primarily a life insurance society, and their tradition was to ensure that all members had marked graves and, therefore, paid for these unique grave markers - a practice they abandoned around the 1930s due to cost. Engraved on the tree-stones is the Latin inscription, Dum Tacet Clamet, which means: Though Silent, He Speaks. The female auxiliary to the Woodmen is the Women of Woodcraft, also depicted by tree-type headstones, found on the first and second terraces.

A very common symbol found on all three terraces is the square and compass representing Freemasonry. Though the Masons are shrouded in mystery, they are the largest fraternal organization in the world. Several of America's founding fathers were Masons: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Paul Revere to name a few. The women's counterpart to the Masons is the Order of the Eastern Star. Their emblem is a five-pointed star with symbols in each point representing Biblical women and characteristics.

Another emblem common throughout the cemetery is that of the Odd Fellows, also known as the "Three Link Fraternity." Their symbol of three chain links with the letters F, L and T means: Friendship, Love, and Truth. The Odd Fellows were formed by the working class and are said to be the "poor man's" Freemasonry. Like the other fraternal organizations, they too have a women's auxiliary: the Daughters of Rebekah. Their emblem most commonly contains the intertwined letters D and R, a half moon, a white lily, and a dove.

For more (including 6 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.

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Here at the haunted stairs, also known at the thousand steps, lies a great mystery full of tales of yester-years, tunnels, and ghosts.

One such fable presumes the stairs were the original entrance to the cemetery, where the trolley-train would drop people off to stroll through the park-like grounds. High-society men in their 3-piece suits and women in long, flowing, brightly-colored dresses with elegant matching hats would ascend the stairs to picnic on the second terrace, enjoying the once spectacular view of the mountains and downtown Spokane. Spectacular, that is, until the trees grew and now block the view. By the way, the original entrance is at the main gate where it has always been.

A second tale about the staircase leads people to believe the steps once led to a tunnel entrance. Though this isn't true, it's easy to see why people who simply drive by the cemetery might think as such. There's a large mausoleum at the top of the stairs in disrepair that, from a distance and looking through overgrowth, could appear to be a bricked-over tunnel entrance. The truth? There is a tunnel in the cemetery, but that's the subject of another stop.

Another story about the stairs lies in an old agreement between the cemetery and one of the city's fraternal organizations, the Elks - where the cemetery promised to build the staircase with terraced landings, and the Elks club promised to purchase plots on those terraces for their wives and children, while they, the men, would be buried on the second terrace with their fraternal brothers. The wives, however, were unhappy with an arrangement that would leave them eternally separated from their husbands. Shortly thereafter, relations between the cemetery and the Elks fizzled, leaving the stairs, terraces, and fraternal mausoleum to wither with time.

Finally, the best-known legend of the stairs has a ghoulish side, and what cemetery story would be complete without one? Many people believe ghosts and spirits guard the staircase, preventing people from reaching the top. Several folks even claim to have seen and/or felt these ethereal entities while traipsing through the cemetery at night, challenging the keepers of the thousand steps. Oh, and the number of actual steps? ... 60-something. So, who's up for a good haunt?

Photo Credits:
Anne Coogan-Gehr, 2011

For more (including 2 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.

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As you tour Greenwood Memorial Terrace, starting from the main entrance on the first level and working your way through the second terrace, and up to the third, here's a bit of history to help you understand the different types of landscape design you will see.

Burial practices in the United States have changed quite a bit over the years. For a long time, especially in the West, people simply buried their dead on their own property or in church graveyards in or near the city.

Speaking of graveyards, let's distinguish between them and cemeteries. Graveyards are generally considered the burial places next to churches, whereas cemeteries (not usually affiliated with any church) are large, landscaped grounds designed for the interment of the dead.

Getting back to burial practices ... As populations grew, the practice of burying people within the city limits became impractical due to overcrowding at graveyards and the sanitation issues that go along with it. As a result, burial sites were moved to the periphery of the city and thus, the rural cemetery (also known as garden cemetery) movement began in the in the early 19th Century. The first rural cemetery opened in Paris in 1804 - the Père Lachaise Cemetery; and the first for the United States was the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, 1831. These garden cemeteries, like the first and second terraces of Greenwood, were often developed in order to have a view of the city. They were designed with great landscaping, artistic buildings, and fine sculptures - and as a result, became popular places to go for a leisurely stroll or to have a picnic on the weekends.

The wealthiest citizens, to show off their wealth, often purchased large plots in these garden cemeteries to house several generations of the family, or built mausoleums and/or monuments to their name. Examples at Greenwood are the burial sites for the Cannon, Dessert, and Sillman families on the second terrace, and the Cowles monument as you drive up to the third level. Another option for affluent citizens was to purchase natural-looking headstones, like in the Armstrong photo, for individual burial plots. On the other end of the economic scale, a popular practice for those less fortunate was to use the natural (or green) cemetery. In these cemeteries, like the un-endowed section near the Greenwood Office building, bodies were buried without a casket and therefore, decomposed more rapidly and quickly became part of the natural environment.

The next transition in burial practices was the turn to lawn and memorial park cemeteries in the early 20th Century. Both types of cemeteries are designed with uniformity in mind - with graves lined up in rows, but the difference is in the type of grave markers used: lawn-type gravestones are upright, whereas memorial park markers are fully embedded in the ground. Greenwood's top terrace is a perfect example of this. There you will find lush, sweeping lawns, with commemorative plaques flush to the ground rather than traditional headstones. Another feature of lawn cemeteries was the introduction of columbarium walls, which feature the most recent evolutionary turn in burial practices - cremation. These walls gave people a niche to commemorate their loved ones, and if they wanted to, it was also a place to leave the cremated remains.

Photo Credits:
Church Graveyard = Library of Congress
All Others = Julie Y. Russell, 2011

For more (including 7 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.

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