MINIDOKA, Idaho (AP) - A wind-swept parcel of ground on the edge of the tiny town of Minidoka once cradled the remains of at least 40 people.
But now, The Times-News reports no one knows how many grave sites remain.
Minidoka County Historical Museum Curator Melissa Alley says some families moved the remains of their loved ones to other locations as the cemetery fell into disrepair. Only one grave marker is still at the cemetery, and it belongs to Henry Mitchell, who died in 1905. The others have all been removed or crumbled.
Rupert resident Lynn Porter owns a cold-case assistance business called Semper Vigilans, which provides forensic archaeology and other services. She’s used the cemetery as a training ground for her human cadaver-sniffing dogs.
She and other dog handlers are using their findings to make a map of the remaining gravesites.
“I love history and I like helping people,” said Porter, who doesn’t charge for her services. “It also gives my dogs a chance to keep their skills sharp.”
When Porter signed up for a historical grave class with Paul Martin, a forensic archaeologist from Tennessee, a group of nine dog handlers spent Sept. 29 and 30 at the Minidoka cemetery using their dogs and ground penetrating radar to map remains. The handlers came from northern Idaho, Arizona, California and Colorado.
All of the information they gleaned was marked with GPS coordinates and will be used to make the map, Porter said. The cemetery has hardpan at 30 inches, according to a study of the soil density, so the bodies were likely buried in shallow graves.
Research also confirmed the name of one other person buried at the cemetery, who died in 1928, Porter said.
The remains detected were “somewhat scattered,” she said.
Minidoka Mayor Jim Cook was born just a few miles from the cemetery. He’s spent most of his life working the fields surrounding the small village, which has a population of about 100.
The cemetery property has been used as a stock pen and as a parking lot for unused farm equipment in the past, but it was deeded to the town of Minidoka a year ago. Now Cook and other officials would like to pay proper homage to those who remain buried there.
“If we can find out where the bodies are located the city will at least put up crosses to mark the graves,” Cook said. “We might not have names to go with them, but they will be marked.”
If they find names of people buried there but do not know the location they will put up a plaque listing the names, he said.
A proposal for work at the cemetery is in progress, said Porter. She said donations or grants could help with the cost.
“Sometimes I think we should just dissolve the city because the water and electricity is so expensive here,” Cook said.
Still, he would like to see the cemetery restored.
“I really wouldn’t mind being buried here,” Cook said as walked around the six-acre lot. “My wife doesn’t want me to though, so it may depend on who goes first.”
The couple already picked out plots at the MAR Cemetery, he said, but if the city could get the graves mapped, he could buy a plot. “If I had it all fixed up maybe she wouldn’t mind so much,” he said. “After all, this is where I’ve lived my whole life.”
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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
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