Sorry it's taken so long to post part 2 of the Austrian Central Cemetery trip but I have been beyond cranky since that day. It's like every day that goes by I feel myself getting just a little bit angrier...

Anyway, here's part deux of the ACC trip.

So, after leaving The Little Acorn we traveled through Spanish Fork Canyon. It's a beautiful canyon and if you've never been, you should rectify that oversight immediately. The canyon has a long history of European use. It began with the Dominguez-Escalante expedition of 1776 and a giant metal cross stands as a commemoration to that expedition (Fathers Fransisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante were tasked with finding a route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Monterey, California...they failed, but they left a journal detailing their trip and it stands as the second oldest record of the land and peoples of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico). Although the Spanish didn't stay in this area, they have left their mark...many areas in Utah are named for the above-mentioned priests.

Mormons first came to Utah in 1847, and have been here ever since. But it was coal mining and the railroad that made it's mark in Spanish Fork Canyon. Littered throughout the canyon are the remnants of dozens of coal or rail towns, and there is even a cemetery of some of the earliest settlers about 12 miles east of the ghost town of Thistle.

And, speaking of Thistle...not all ghost towns in Spanish Fork Canyon were abandoned when coal and rail stopped being so important. In 1983, the town of Thistle was obliterated in a devastating land slide and subsequent flood. The sliding earth dammed the Spanish Fork River and flooded the town leaving very little in its wake. From a scenic overlook you can see the path of the earth and if you travel down to the Thistle road you can drive past the few remaining foundations that mark where Thistle used to be.

Soldier Summit is the name of both a mountain pass and a ghost town. It was named for the Southern soldiers (previously under a Union general), on their way to join the Confederate Army, who where caught in a freak July snowstorm in the pass in 1861. What remains today are a few building and many foundations. The town's importance was due to its being a transportation route between the Wasatch Front and Price, Utah (a mining and railroad hub). It's on the route of both U.S. Route 6 and the old main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, which is now owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. From 1921 to 1984 the town was incorporated, but thanks to a steady outflow of residence it is now just a tourist spot.

Another area of interest is Scofield and the Scofield Reservoir. The town of Scofield was build on coal mining but after a devastating mine disaster on May 1st, 1907, in which 200 people were killed, the town began to fall apart. Today, Scofield is a tiny town with fewer than 30 residents. The main attraction in Scofield is the reservoir. But within the town is the cemetery where many of the 200 victims of the Scofield Mine Disaster are buried.

Other areas to visit are the Castle Gate area (so-called because of the unusual rock outcropping that kinda looks like a castle gate), the railroad museum in Helper (so-called because the "helper" trains that got the locomotives up the mountain were located there), the Natural History Museum in Price, and, of course, the Austrian Central Cemetery.

The cemetery isn't hard to locate, if you know where you're going. Traveling west to east on Highway 6 you turn left on Consumers Road, which is just a short distance from the Spring Glen turnoff. You then take the first left turn and then the next first left turn, and there you are!

According to the plaque at the entrance to the cemetery, the Austrian Central or Austrian Lodges Cemetery was established in 1930 on land purchased from the Ku Klux Klan! The purpose of the cemetery was to provide low- or no-cost burial places for immigrants whose family had remained in the Old Country. As the plaque notes (and I can attest to from their death certificates), most of the men buried here lost their lives in mining or other accidents. There are only 70 people buried here, so it doesn't take too long to walk around and see them all (or photograph them, as the case may be). I'm adding here examples of the different types of grave markers with an emphasis on the more interesting ones...or, the more interesting causes of death. (NOTE: In listing cause of death I am in no way trivializing or condemning these people. The information I am providing is readily available to anyone who wants to take the time to look up the death certificates.)

 

BELOW: The front entryway. As you can see, it's a lot of dirt and prickly brush. Quite painful, so if you plan to do a little cleaning up around the graves then make sure you take good leather gloves.

BELOW: The view over the northwest end of the cemetery, toward the road. Lovely view these people have here!

BELOW: Frank Bragach. Died as a result of a gun shot wound that blew out the entire right portion of his neck! It was ruled an accident.

BELOW: John Fiechko. Died as a result of an accidental mine injury that crushed his head and amputated his right foot.

BELOW: Joe Zijich (you may notice the difference in names here. The name I have given reflects the public record death certificate). Cause of death was ruled ulcer of the stomach and syphilis. And yes, an ulcer can kill you. It can either cause a stomach rupture (by compromising the integrity of the stomach lining), or, if it bleeds heavily, it can cause you to bleed to death.

BELOW: Stena Brakus. This lady died as a result of postpartum hemorrhage, septic infection, and a pulmonary embolism (anyone of these would kill you, but to have them all??! Yikes!). Apparently, she attempted to deliver herself of her baby and the doctors weren't called in until 2 hours afterward. She was given a blood transfusions, but died 19 days after the birth.

BELOW: Martin Marcin. He died as a result of shock secondary to a mine injury that resulted in the double fracture of his right femur, fracture of his pelvis, and fracture of something else on the left side that I couldn't read...but it looks kind of like humerus.

BELOW: Leonard Mohorich. He was a carpenter who died as a result of cerebral hemorrhage secondary to hypertension.

BELOW: Antone Evatz. A coal miner, he died from miners tuberculosis and hemorrhage of the lung.

There are so many more. I may do a part 3.