A trip to Ha Ha Tonka and Forgotten Places and Graves
Since this was about the last nice day before the weather turns bad I went to Ha Ha Tonka this morning. Took the long scenic way in through Spencer Creek Road. I drove to all the parking lots and only saw about five cars total in all of them. Only saw one person while I was there fishing in a boat on the lake. The weather was perfect, you didn't even need a jacket.
Stopped back by the house and then my mom showed me the cemetery where my great great grandfather was buried. It was a tiny little cemetery about 2 miles down a private one land road. Not sure I could have made in a car without dragging, but my Jeep had no problems and I didn't even have to use the 4-wheel drive. The cemetery was tiny surrounded by evergreen trees. It had a chain link fence up around it. My mom said a guy she knew had it put in 4-6 years ago and the man was dead now. The fence still looked really nice though, but my mom saw where it was starting to rust in spots. The cemetery was really overgrown and didn't look like it had been mowed in a couple years. The farther back you went the more overgrown it was, up to my chest in places. Thankfully this time of year the ticks aren't out and it was easy to stomp though the weeds.
The whole cemetery had maybe 10 graves in it, so I took pictures of all of them. Only about half you could tell who they belonged too. Some weren't much more than rocks to mark the spot. Some of the rocks had a little framed plaque on a stake stuck in front of them with a piece of paper behind glass saying who they were. All except one had been broken and the paper long gone. The only one that remained wasn't in good condition and I could only read about half saying it was a still born baby of a couple's first names. My mom said at the back beneath a tree were the graves of two children who had been playing inside of a refrigerator and suffocated. I saw the grave stones, but their were no names. Some of the graves had decorations on them, but you could tell they were really old. I remember the fake roses stuck in the ground in front of one had really faded.
The house where my great great grandfather lived had collapsed. It wasn't much more than a pile of rubble. There was pretty much nothing inside, no old stoves or appliances. I saw an old tire inside and a few old glass bottles and bits of rusted metal scattered around the outside.
I plan on going back sometime and taking pictures of where my mom's house was. She said all that is left there is the foundation and where the well was. I would also like to get pictures of the old school houses. One just looks abandoned, the other looks like it was converted into a house and has since really run down. It was hard to tell if anyone still lived there.
Stopped back by the house and then my mom showed me the cemetery where my great great grandfather was buried. It was a tiny little cemetery about 2 miles down a private one land road. Not sure I could have made in a car without dragging, but my Jeep had no problems and I didn't even have to use the 4-wheel drive. The cemetery was tiny surrounded by evergreen trees. It had a chain link fence up around it. My mom said a guy she knew had it put in 4-6 years ago and the man was dead now. The fence still looked really nice though, but my mom saw where it was starting to rust in spots. The cemetery was really overgrown and didn't look like it had been mowed in a couple years. The farther back you went the more overgrown it was, up to my chest in places. Thankfully this time of year the ticks aren't out and it was easy to stomp though the weeds.
The whole cemetery had maybe 10 graves in it, so I took pictures of all of them. Only about half you could tell who they belonged too. Some weren't much more than rocks to mark the spot. Some of the rocks had a little framed plaque on a stake stuck in front of them with a piece of paper behind glass saying who they were. All except one had been broken and the paper long gone. The only one that remained wasn't in good condition and I could only read about half saying it was a still born baby of a couple's first names. My mom said at the back beneath a tree were the graves of two children who had been playing inside of a refrigerator and suffocated. I saw the grave stones, but their were no names. Some of the graves had decorations on them, but you could tell they were really old. I remember the fake roses stuck in the ground in front of one had really faded.
The house where my great great grandfather lived had collapsed. It wasn't much more than a pile of rubble. There was pretty much nothing inside, no old stoves or appliances. I saw an old tire inside and a few old glass bottles and bits of rusted metal scattered around the outside.
I plan on going back sometime and taking pictures of where my mom's house was. She said all that is left there is the foundation and where the well was. I would also like to get pictures of the old school houses. One just looks abandoned, the other looks like it was converted into a house and has since really run down. It was hard to tell if anyone still lived there.
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