Camp Polk Cemetery: Marching to their own beat.

Good evening to all!

Tonight at dusk I visited a cemetery that is one of the most unique in the state and I dare say, our great country. For those of you who have never been to Camp Polk cemetery, a little ways out of Sisters OR, it sits on a neat little hill down Cemetery Road.

Unless you look for it, you would likely never know it was there.

When you arrive, you’ll be in shock unless you’ve been to a Native American burial ground. There are no pretenses here about what a cemetery “should” be like. Not only is there no green lawn or manicured shrubs, there’s as far as I can tell, no rules or regulations. Someone from further east might guess at first glance that this cemetery has been all but abandoned, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

In case the image is too small for you to read clearly, the inscription says: “Cowboy Preacher. Who rode into glory with his boots on.” This is, in my opinion, exactly what a cemetery should be. I encountered a problem when helping find a design and headstone for my mother. In the event you wish to bury a loved one at a “Regular Cemetery” you will be handed a list of rules for the sizes, shapes and styles of headstone and decorative materials you can (and cannot) use. Most modern cemeteries won’t allow anything BUT flat stones. How terrible! Where’s the individuality? The passion? The love? The spirit? The hand made decorations? Plastic flowers only? @*&!$ that, this is my mother. (And that’s exactly what she would say!)  I’ll lay at her grave whatever I want. That is a huge problem I have with our current burial culture, and I hope like hell it changes fast. Camp Polk Cemetery has got the right idea. A Cemetery is what it’s people make it.

At Camp Polk Cemetery, anything goes! The graves that are marked are strewn about as though they had landed like dice on a table top. There are no nice neat little rows facing one direction or another. It may be somewhat confusing, but I find it to be much more authentic. It’s a nice relief from the pretense of ritual.

And it’s natural! There is nothing so beautiful as the nature in which we all exist. (You can take that to mean whatever you wish.) Those of you with Type A personalities are probably squirming in your chairs, thinking this chaotic free for all might work for Southwest Airlines in their boarding of flights, but how can you have no rules in a cemetery?

Well, it works out very nicely when the local population is mature and intelligent. Not only is there no vandalism, I didn’t find a spec of trash here. Not a single beer can, wrapper or anything else. The people who frequent these grounds love these grounds. The one thing you can feel here is a strong sense of ol’ fashioned Home. And what’s even more amazing are the fire pits with benches around them for cookouts with their dearly departed.

I can assure you I have never seen anything of the sort in any other cemetery. You can see how clean the area is, too. It is this free for all attitude that makes this place so special. There are a limitless number of styles and materials used to mark graves, whether it’s a camp site with a modern memorial marker or hand written (or blank) wood signs propped up with sticks and stones. This cemetery says far more about our culture and the people of the area than flat markers that are easy for Fernando the landscaper to mow over.

This was an old pioneer cemetery that has been in use throughout the area’s most recent history. The earliest burial dates back to just 1886, which for this area is fairly early.

That spirit to this day is not lost. Nor is the history.

I could spend hours here and could publish for you a hundred more pictures, but tonight life must press on. You will have your chance, however! If you can’t get around to visit, I’m co-writing a cemetery photography book with John Thomas Grant and you will absolutely get to see the best of Camp Polk.

Until then!

1 Comment

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  By Jean, June 25, 2009 @ 5:33 am

  It is a nice thought that people are encouraged to come to the graves at this cemetery and that there is abundant creativity allowed. Looking forward to more like this. Thanks.

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