Bayview Cemetery: A Beautiful Place of Buried Bones

I was fortunate enough this weekend to go on a historical excursion to Bayview Cemetery with Marissa McGrath from The Bureau of Historical Investigations. 

As soon as we pull in, Marissa has me stop near the road to pay respects to the grave of F. L. Dames. She fills me on on the history of one of Bellingham's most notorious murders.

F. L. Dames - Died 1905

Here is what she wrote about it on The Bureau's website:

"Dames was bludgeoned to death in his butcher shop in 1905. His thirteen year old delivery boy discovered him the following morning, his skull pinned to the ground with a screwdriver and the top of his head chopped off. No one had been arrested. For a while, it was assumed that some robbers had killed him. That was until a Maple Falls man was tried in Stevens County, Washington. He had killed a woman he was engaged to for her money and was discovered to have likely murdered at least 3 other people. After reviewing the evidence, a local detective figured out that this murderer had lived in Bellingham at the time of Dame’s death, and that witnesses had seen the two arguing the week before Dame’s death." - From This is Frederick Dames

Note that Dames' butcher shop was located where the Redlight is today. They recently opened up "The Red Room" just opposite the bar. As you are enjoying one of their excellent drinks, you should say a prayer for the murdered soul of Frederick Dames. And if you look up towards the ceilings, you can see a row of meat hooks still mounted near the ceiling. Violent poetic history.

Nicholas Caufman - Died 1906

Nicholas Caufman - Died 1906

Nicholas Caufman - Died 1906

Just down the road is a tombstone for Nicholas Caufman, died 1906, who belonged to the fraternal organization, Woodmen of the World. [More information about the Woodmen of the World can be found on my other site, The Shaving Mug Review.] The WOW are noted for the elaborate gravestones.  This is from the Woodmen of the World website:

When Joseph Cullen Root founded Woodmen of the World more than 100 years ago, one of his objectives was to provide a decent burial for all members. 

Root made a special effort to honor deceased Woodmen. He created Woodmen Memorial Day, celebrated on June 6 each year, and included the following statement in the Objectives of Woodcraft: "... to give honorable burial to our sacred dead ..." 

Early Woodmen certificates provided for a death and a monument benefit. Gravestones were originally furnished to members free of charge and later were offered only to those who purchased a $100 rider to their certificates. 

However, during the 1920s the Society stopped providing stone markers to members when the cost of gravestones increased and cemeteries began prohibiting above-ground markers for maintenance reasons. The monument rider was discontinued and converted to an extra $100 of insurance protection, but for many years after that, members and lodges arranged for markers and monuments on their own. 

Woodmen gravestones vary greatly in size and shape. Some resemble a tree stump, others a stack of cut wood. There are elaborate hand-carved monuments, simple stone markers and stake-type markers driven into the ground.

Thomas S. Dahlquist - Died 1939

The grave for Thomas S. Dahlquist is just behind the Caufman grave. Earlier, Marissa and I had stopped for a lunch at the new Thai restaurant, Maikhamm which happens to be located in the Dahlquist building. Thomas Dahilquist opened Bellingham Bay Grocery Company on the lower floor while his wife operated a hotel in the rooms above. At one point there was even a car dealership in the basement. [source] 

In 2013, the Good Time Girls were being filmed in the Dahlquist building and experienced an a strange anomaly: 

We drive down the road a bit until we came to an unpaved stretch. Just off the road is a broken gravestone propped up against a tree. We share some speculation about the tree sending roots down into the body beneath. Nourishing elements of the man's mortal being now bound into the branches. 

Edward ???

Just beyond this, Marissa finds a marker for the lovely and evocatively named grave of Kitty Bone. Kitty was born on November 3, 1880 and died on February 24, 1902. The COB database lists her name as Mrs. Kate Bone. No other members of the beautifully named Bone family are buried in Bayview. 

Kitty Bone - Died 1902

Further on is a leaf covered dirt track that leads to a group of graves for the Japanese, who we assume were granted this space on the outskirts to bury their families. Many of the grave markers are inscribed with Kanji. There are also a lot of graves for babies. It is nice here: a quiet and beautiful place under the trees. 

The Japanese Section in Bayview Cemetery

Japanese Gravestone in Bayview Cemetery

Baby Marker in the Japanese Section of Bayview Cemetery

We drive up the hill and take a left to the crossroads where the Angel of the Luminous Eyes looks down upon all who pass by. Marissa tells me that certain individuals periodically come out to paint the Angel's eyes with luminescent paint. If you come into the graveyard at night, the Angel's eyes may be glowing.  

The Angel of the Luminous Eyes at Bayview Cemetery

Just beyond the Angel is a large bench / cross monument for a local poet and writer Ella Higginson, who died in 1940. Along the base are inscribed the words: "Yet, am I not for pity - trembling I have come face to face with God." Moss and lichen obscure many of the letters. And the bench seems difficult to sit upon. But it is all quite decadent and lovely. [More information about he Higginson grave.]

Ella Higginson - Poet and Writer - Died December 30. 1940

"Yet, am I not for pity - trembling I have come face to face with God."

We walk down the hill behind us. Marissa points out several markers for Civil War veterans, informing me that there are a couple of hundred in Bayview. Many soldiers came out to this area to get away from the horror and aftermath of the Civil War.

Edmund Gaudette - Died 1916

Around the corner is the large grave of Edmund Gaudette. The only information I could find on him is a brief reference in a court case as listed in The Pacific Reporter, Vo. 280: 

The facts essential to be stated are these: Edmund Gaudette and Laura M. Gaudette were married in 1853, and for some years prior to Mr. Gaudette's death, in 1916, resided in the city of Bellingham.

Below this is a single rose on the grave for Baby Caulkins. The COB Database lists it as "Infant Caulkins 9-27-16" - which adds a sweet mystery. 

Baby Caulkins - Died 1916

We head back toward the center of the cemetery, where some of the most famous bones of Bellingham are buried. 

An imposing a solid marble slab marks the grave of the Henry Roeder, generally acknowledged as the "Founder of the Whatcom Settlement" - what eventually became Bellingham. 

Henry Roeder and Elizabeth Roeder - Died 1902

The Best Virgil to Guide One Through the Graveyard: Marissa McGrath

The always informative Skagit River Journal documents this interesting passage from Wes Gannaway's Whatcom Then and Now:

He shares this research from the Hubert Howe Bancroft papers — an interview with Henry Roeder at Port Townsend in June 1878: "While he (Roeder) was at Pt. Townsend [in 1852] Capt. Pattle arrived on his way to Olympia to file on a claim. He was an English subject, and he had discovered coal in the place called Bellingham Bay and he told Plummer [owner of Port Townsend's only trading post along with E.B. Hastings] he had also discovered a waterfall, a good one, and would give the information for $1000 to anyone who wanted to locate there. Plummer told him (Roeder) how to get to the falls without paying any 1000 dollars; the Indians would take them there for dollar a day. They took up this plan and camped the first night inside of Deception Pass on Whidbey Island because of the stress of the weather. The next day they camped on Guemes Island where they killed a wild dog in the night. The place was called Dog Island for many years. The third day found them at the future site of Whatcom. They met with Chief Chowitzet of the Lummi Indians who invited them to stay and offered help to build a sawmill." As with all anglicized Indian names, you will find many spellings; Lelah Jackson Edson spells the chief's name as either Cha-wit-zit or Chow-its-hoot. 

Marissa directs my attention across the road to an imposing draped obelisk that marks the graves of the Eldridge family. She humorously speculates that it almost seems as if Capt. Edward Eldridge wanted to "one-up" Roeder. There certainly is an element of compensation for some insecurity in the design. From the COB Database, it appears there are five members of the family are on the plot, including an infant that died in 1921.

The Eldridge Obelisk

The COB site also has this to say about Eldridge:

Edward Eldridge, originally from Scotland, came to Bellingham from San Francisco in 1853 along with another of the city's founding fathers, Captain Henry Roeder. When Eldridge settled in Bellingham the Federal Land Policy allotted 160-acre claims to each person. The current 2.2-acre Eldridge Homesite on a bluff overlooking Bellingham Bay is what remains from Edward Eldridge's, and his wife Teresa's, 320-acre claim that made up much of north Bellingham. 

The first enterprise of Edward Eldridge upon his arrival in Bellingham was to open a lumber mill. The Eldridge mill would supply San Francisco with much of the wood needed to rebuild the city after their great fire. Eldridge soon quit the lumber industry and began teaching at Sehome School while continuing his mining ventures. After exploring a career in mining Eldridge became the first legislator ever elected from Whatcom County to the House of Territorial legislature. Eldridge continued to be a distinguished political figure in Bellingham until he died from Paresis in 1892 at the age of 63, shortly after his return as a delegate to the National Republican Convention.

Across the road, there is a fresh pile of roses and a few graves with unusual mementos recently left upon them:

Memorials at Bayview Cemetery

Memorials at Bayview Cemetery

Memorials at Bayview Cemetery

Bayview Cemetery is a beautiful and fascinating cemetery. Of course, it helps to have an informative guide from the Bureau of Historical Investigation with you. But even without a guide, there is plenty to explore hike around. It is a perfect place to contemplate one's life and be reminded of Memento Mori -  that there is only one certainty in this world: you too will one day die. 

Much thanks to The Bureau of Historical Investigation and Marissa McGrath. If you are looking for more information about the history of Bellingham, especially of the more notorious and fascinating sort, I encourage you to head over to the Bureau of Historical Investigation. There is no better place to find books, photographs, historical artifacts and fascinating curiosa about Bellingham and the surrounding areas. 

9 Curious Notes on the History of Lake Padden

1. There is a man who walks around the lake with a notebook full of the bones of poems. He has memorized all of the bones. As he walks, he recites them all back to himself, watching for omissions, slips, substitutions, failures. The memorized bones of these poems are like thousands of canaries singing in the depths of his mind. At that moment his memory begins to fail, each of the canaries will suddenly stop singing and die. Then, he knows, there will be nothing left to do but get out of his mind as quickly as possible.

2. "March 6, 1880: Michael Padden, residing a few miles from Whatcom, was on Saturday, the sixth, shot dead by a little son of Thomas Clark, at the instance of the boy's mother.

The circumstances of the tragic affair are briefly reported to be about as follows: The Paddens and Clarks, being close neighbors quarreled over the ownership of a small tract of land, which each claimed was within their lines. To settle the matter the land was surveyed not long ago; at the instance of either or both parties we believe was decided to belong to Padden, but the Clarks still lay claim to it.

On Saturday Mr. Padden with his father-in-law Connelly, went out to fence in the tract in dispute. Mr. Clark being away from home to work at the Seattle Coal Mine, Mrs. Clark, accompanied by her little boy, aged about 10 years, with a loaded shotgun, went out to expostulate with and warn of Padden who would not desist. Hot words followed, and Mrs. Clark requested her son to shoot, which he did, killing Padden instantly.

The boy and his mother are under arrest to appear at the next term of court at La Connor. Mr. Padden, the victim of this tragedy, has long been a resident of the Sound. At one time he was foreman of the B. B. coal mine and more recently connected with the Talbot mine at Seattle, and after the collapse of that mine, in which he was part owner some three years ago, he returned to his homestead near Whatcom with his family, where he resided up to the time of his death." - Padden Family Notes

3. The Lake reminds him another Lake, the one where he was raised. There was a man who lived at the Lake who taught him how to catch fish. He also taught him how to wait with full attention. And he also taught him how to clean the fish, to separate the meat from the bones.

4. "Michael PADDEN was born in Ireland about 1840, the son of Michael and Mary (CARBIN) PADDEN. Michael died 8 Mar 1880 in Fairhaven, Whatcom, W. T. and was buried in Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, WA; shot and killed by a neighbor during an argument over a fence line. He came to Happy Valley in 1870 and filed on his homestead 22 Nov 1873. He discovered the lake which is known as Lake Padden. Michael married Anna CONNELLY 2 Nov 1877 in Bellingham, WA. She was born 4 Dec 1857 in Ireland and died August 30, 1926 in Bellingham, WA. She was the daughter of Edward Michael CONNELLY and Bridget DOLLY and is buried in Bay View Cemetery, Bellingham, WA. Michael's father, Michael PADDEN, Sr. and three brothers, Thomas, James, and Dominic, came out from Pennsylvania in the latter part of 1866. They took a sailing vessel from Philadelphia to Panama, crossed the isthmus and took another sailing ship to San Francisco, CA, then to Portland, OR and later to Vancouver, WA, where Michael PADDEN acquired 160 acres of land. They had heard out in Pennsylvania that coal had been discovered in the Washington Territory so they headed West." - Michael Padden Family

5. One day, I am sure, the man will just keep walking. Already, he forgets where he is, how far he has gone, where he started and where he was going to end. He walks around and around, stopping now and then to check his memory against the notebook. Standing there in the middle of the path, eyes closed, remembering it all correctly. Closing the book, closing his eyes. The rain falls from the trees. Fragments of Shakespeare thread through the leaves.

6. "Lake Padden is located east of Interstate 5 on the south side of Bellingham, Washington. The outflow of the lake drains into Padden Creek and is controlled by a small concrete dam. Development within the watershed mcludes a golf course and dog park on the eastern edge of the lake, a swimming beach and park on the north, a boat launch, three public docks, and residential development in the northern watershed. There are no nearshore homes. Recreation on the lake includes walking, hiking, swimming, and fishing for annually stocked rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and fry plants of lokanee (O. nerka) and cutthroat trout (O. clarkii) (WDFW Fish Program, 2008). Residents have expressed concern about possible deterioration of the lake's water quality and intense algal blooms in the fall.

The bedrock of the Lake Padden basin is made of massive sandstone with interbedded conglomerate and siltstone (Huntting, et al., 1961). The soils are a mixture of loam and silt loam on rough mountainous land with moderate to steep slopes (Poulson and Flannery, 1953).

Water input into Lake Padden is a combination of direct precipitation, surface water runoff via tributaries and unconfined flow, and groundwater seepage. Three unnamed intermittent tributaries drain the eastern watershed, these tributaries are normally dry during summer months. Surface water from the northwestern portion of the watershed have largely been diverted through a culvert to Padden Creek. During high runoff events, overflows from this system enter the lake through a submerged pipe at the northwest corner of the lake."  - Lake Padden Water Quality Monitoring Project June–December 2011 Final Report PDF

7. There a few faint paths that lead off the main trails. He often stops before them. They seem to lead nowhere. A fallen tree. The stump, a broken column, fragments of a temple. He shakes his head. Angry. Frustrated at the traces left of his sad education. He stares in the direction of the pathless path. Wills himself to not be haunted by the ghosts of columns or temples. As he stands there, he realizes the boots he found in the storeroom, the almost new boots that fit so well, that one of them must have a hole in its sole. He walks on, singing this bit of nonsense under his breath.

8. "A decline in the available water supply in Lake Whatcom as a result of climate change impacts would require that Bellingham residents reduce their water usage. Water quantity, however, will not be the only issue facing the citizens of Bellingham as water quality will also continue to be an issue of concern. There is already heavy development and human usage along the west and north sides of Lake Whatcom. As of 2007, the population of the Lake Whatcom watershed was roughly 15,000 people or 6,500 homes. In 1998, Lake Whatcom water quality failed to meet state dissolved oxygen standards and was placed on Washington’s 303(d) list of polluted waters. In addition to the lake failing to meet dissolved oxygen standards due to phosphorus loading, 11 of Lake Whatcom’s tributary streams failed to meet state water quality standards for fecal coliform bacteria. In response to this listing, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study was completed by DOE to determine the amount of phosphorus and fecal coliform reduction needed to return the lake to acceptable water quality standards. Currently there are 91 water bodies in Whatcom County on the 303(d) list as impaired. The pollutant of highest concern in both Whatcom County’s freshwater and marine ecosystems is fecal coliform bacteria." - Forest and Water Climate Adaptation: A Plan for Whatcom County, WA PDF

9. Everyone that passes him seems so bright and shining and full of colors and loud sound. He just wants to become quieter and unnoticable, a pile of leaves, a cluster of roots, a pile of wet bones beneath the ferns.

Map of Lake Padden and Trails PDF