Tuesday, January 3, 2012

end of the trail

This tombstone was spotted at Evergreen Cemetery in East Oakland.  While I was not able to find information about this family, the image on the gravestone is the iconic End of the Trail by James Fraser.  Evergreen Cemetery is best known as the final resting place for many of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy.  For more cemetery wanderings, visit Julie's new meme Taphophile Tragics.
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17 comments:

  1. JulieJanuary 3, 2012 at 1:44 AM

    Carolyn, I have made another entry on Mr Linky for your contribution, as the first entry pointed to last week's post. Hope that is okay by you.

    I know about the Jonestown slaughter, but nothing about Fraser and his 'End of the Trail', which seems to be the wrong-end-about to me. How appropriate to use that as a memorial! And yet, they are so taciturn with regard to personal details. I wonder if it is one person, or an entire family.

    So, I went hunting ... There are three Berkel's interred here: 'Father' Berkel (1820-1897); George Berkel (1849-1931); and Hattie Berkel (1869-1938).

    Now I wonder if the epitaph refers to the death of these three, or to the end of the family name as there were no progeny. Fascinating to ponder upon ... but not for too long.

    Thank you for participating in Taphophile Tragics in this, its second week. I really appreciate the style of memorial that you are featuring.

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  2. PeterJanuary 3, 2012 at 1:48 AM

    Looks pretty majestic, yep very different from my pile of rocks.

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  3. VioletSkyJanuary 3, 2012 at 2:04 AM

    That is a rather large headstone. I am always curious when I see one so detailed, yet with virtually no information other than a surname. makes me wonder if it was put up long after the deaths.

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  4. AndyJanuary 3, 2012 at 2:17 AM

    Interesting head stone with a famous pose on it.

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  5. Annie JeffriesJanuary 3, 2012 at 4:39 AM

    What a majestic monument. And, I clearly remember the Jonestown tragedy.

    I wonder if the information is on the other side. I've seen that on other headstones (though I'm sure you would have noticed) so not likely.

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  6. John @ Beans and I on the LooseJanuary 3, 2012 at 8:10 AM

    Now I did not know many of the Jonestown "victims" were buried there. I learned something already so early in the day!

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  7. GeneJanuary 3, 2012 at 9:36 AM

    Great find! And great reminder to me that Oakland has other cemeteries besides Mountain View and its neighbors. I knew about Evergreen, but haven't explored there at all -- yet :-)

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  8. Liz @ the Brambleberry CottageJanuary 3, 2012 at 10:41 AM

    Graveyards are really very interesting places to visit. There's so much history recorded on many of the tombstones.

    Hope to see you at Time Travel Thursday this week. Happy New Year!

    Blessings,
    Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage

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  9. Stefan JanssonJanuary 3, 2012 at 3:38 PM

    Impressive looking.

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  10. tapirgalJanuary 3, 2012 at 5:12 PM

    Wow.

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  11. OwenJanuary 3, 2012 at 7:20 PM

    Wow, Jonestown, hadn't heard of that in ages, and had no idea that victims had been brought back to the US for burial... what a sad and crazy story. Beautiful bas relief here... am off to Julie's to take a look...

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  12. ElettraJanuary 3, 2012 at 8:16 PM

    imposing and majestic !!!!!!!!!!!!

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  13. Joan ElizabethJanuary 3, 2012 at 8:49 PM

    This is a beautiful monument. What as sad time is must have been when all those people from Jonestown were buried.

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  14. EG CameraGirlJanuary 4, 2012 at 4:49 AM

    I like the symbolism here.

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  15. FranciscaJanuary 4, 2012 at 5:45 AM

    I had no idea the Jonestown Kool-Aid drinkers were brought back to the USA from Guyana. An impressive tombstone.

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  16. JanieJanuary 16, 2012 at 2:07 PM

    Thank you for this post.
    Often I have wondered about the Jonestown people and where they rest now.
    This would be a great thing for me to do.

    Surfer Want a Be:
    You and a lot of others share that same dream. I tried surfing once or twice. I didn't think it was for me when I couldn't even balance on the board!
    So I watched others. I will be posting some water photos in this set of one a day photos. Thanks for your comment.

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  17. UnknownMarch 2, 2012 at 7:04 AM

    Thanks to your posting, I finely found the origin of my art work. I actually have the original Plaster Bas relief for this monument. I have been searching for the origin for the past two years. I purchased it from the Estate in Albany. Per the previous owner. "it's been in the family since the 1930s or 40s. My grandfather owned a granite and marble business, primarily making cemetary headstones and also fabricating some architectural stone (building facades, stairs, etc...). The story I got from my father is that my grandfather accepted it as partial payment for a job, the customer having come up short of cash. A little bit of history on the headstone. Thanks for posting

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