Clear Creek Cemetery Association President Linda Callahan was recently asked if she’d ever felt haunted while at the pioneer cemetery at the end of Old Church Road.
“No, and I’ve been out there a lot by myself, doing different stuff,” she said. “As soon as you walk through those gates — it’s the most peaceful place in the world. There’s no noise. There’s no you can’t hear the cars going by, nothing. You hear you see rabbits jumping around. You see quail. You hear the birds. And other than that, it’s just peaceful.”
In 2003, Bea Richmond, the caretaker of Camp Verde’s pioneer cemetery, died and left the five-acre burial ground to Callahan; complete with maps, records and a letter detailing what needed to be done.
“It’s like, Why me? I didn’t want it,” Callahan said. But two decades later, Callahan, 69, continues tending to the
pioneer cemetery, where Camp Verde’s founders and descendants rest alongside Maggie Farrell, a young woman whose 1884 burial marked the cemetery’s beginning.
“There’s tons of history out there, and there’s a lot of Wingfields — some of the original people that founded the [U.S.] Calvary fort here are buried out there,” Callahan said. “They call it a pioneer cemetery because it has always been, and always will be, as far as I know, maintained by volunteers, and none of the plots here have ever been sold. They’ve been donated to families. At one time, families had to have somebody living in Camp Verde in order to get a plot there. Now all of the plots at the cemetery have been filled, but we still have some cremation plots available.”
Now, with only five active volunteers maintaining the grounds, Callahan is looking for help, board members and eventually, someone to inherit the cemetery just as she did.
Callahan said she keeps it up more for the responsibility to the living then the dead.
“I think it’s more for the living because it’s a place for people to go be alone, and be with their own thoughts when they’re grieving for somebody,” she said. “But, it doesn’t do the dead any good, that’s for sure. … People depend on us to help take care of the graves. Because there’s a lot of people that have family members out there, and they’re elderly now, and they’re not able to go out there and clean the graves and take care of things. That’s where volunteers step up and hopefully will take over for us when the time comes.”
The association is seeking three to four new board members with no term limits. The time commitment is minimal with one annual meeting in late January or early February, plus a couple of hours per month answering questions and occasionally checking on the property.
For those interested in groundskeeping, volunteers can contribute as little as 10 minutes or as much as several days. Callahan said that people could “adopt” a few overgrown graves to maintain on a regular basis.
The association operates entirely on donations and is also seeking a grant writer to help secure funding for fence replacement and parking lot improvements.
“It’s something you just can’t walk away from,” Callahan said. “A lot of people depend on it. You have people that have been here for years and years. I grew up here, so I know a lot of people in that cemetery, and know their families that are still here. It’s a responsibility, and maybe that’s why she willed it to me. She knew I wouldn’t just walk away and leave it so. But, it’s just a responsibility you have to do as a part of the community.”
People interested in helping can contact Callahan at (928) 567-3330 or at butter8356@gmail.com additionally monetary donations used for upkeep can be mailed to 1901 N. Royal Way, Camp Verde 86322.
