7/30/2010 6:00:00 AM Construction work disturbs old cemetery Bones, other artifacts found under football field
ERIN TAYLOR/Miner
Crews digging a sewer line for the city of Kingman unearthed remains from the former Pioneer Cemetery this week on what used to be the southern end zone of the Lee Williams football field.
Courtesy
This femur was unearthed during excavation work on the site of the Lee Williams football field this week.
KINGMAN - The Mohave County Medical Examiner will remain onsite during construction of the new Lee Williams High School after remains from a turn-of-the-century cemetery were unearthed on the former football field this week.
Workers with CORE Construction were digging a trench for a sewer line Tuesday on what used to be the southern end zone of the football field when they began unearthing bone fragments, pieces of wood and what was possibly a brass handle from a casket.
Director of Construction for KUSD Oz Enderby said officials were aware of the cemetery's existence when they planned the location of the water utility easement for the city, which the school agreed to do in conjunction with the construction of the new high school. Enderby said the location was in the best interest in the long run and that crews were told to stop work if they unearthed any remains from the cemetery.
Workers were about 40 feet into their excavation when they discovered the remains Tuesday. Work was halted and officials met Thursday on how to proceed.
Rumors have swirled for years about bodies buried underneath the football field. Portions of the field and surrounding area were located on what was once the home of the Pioneer Cemetery.
From 1900 until 1917, the cemetery served as the primary burial ground for residents. According to research done by Mohave Museum librarian Kay Ellermann and historian Kathy Block as part of the Arizona Pioneer and Cemetery Research Project, more than 400 people were buried in the cemetery.
Back then, caskets ranged in price from $7.50 for a pine box to $117 for a "french drape" coffin.
After Mountain View cemetery opened in 1917, officials began moving bodies out of Pioneer Cemetery for a fee of $45. If families couldn't afford the fee, they left the caskets where they were. The cemetery was formally abandoned in 1944. Most of the remains that were left behind were in unmarked graves.
Kingman Junior High was built next to the cemetery site in 1948. Kingman High School was built on an adjacent site in 1957 and took over the junior high buildings in 1972.
Ellermann's research cites anecdotal evidence of students bringing bones to classes after they were unearthed during construction of a new gymnasium in the early 1970s.
After the north campus was built in 1993, the old Kingman High became known as the south campus and served freshmen students only. In 2006, all high school students transferred to the north campus, and the south campus became White Cliffs Middle School.
In 2009, White Cliff students moved into a new building on Prospector Street and it was decided to turn the south campus into the new Lee Williams High School, set to open for the 2011-2012 school year.
A memorial containing unidentified remains from the cemetery was built some time ago. That memorial has not been disturbed and will be located near the student drop-off point at the new school, Enderby said.
KUSD Superintendent Roger Jacks said the discovery of the remains has caused slight delays in construction.
"Our larger concern is over the remains and the proper handling of those," he said.
Workers have about another 100 feet of excavating work. Should any more remains be found, their location will be marked with a GPS unit, removed by the medical examiner and stored at their Lake Havasu facility until a final resting place is determined.
Enderby said officials from CORE Construction, KUSD and the Medical Examiner's Office are working together in the effort.
"It's a sensitive situation, but it's being handled in the proper manner," he said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Article comment by:
Tom Hand
@ mr kingsman -- the name of this town is Kingman. why don't you show some respect and learn the name of our town? and what makes you think someone can build something just anywhere they want?
Posted: Monday, August 02, 2010
Article comment by:
mr kingsman
man this is freaky with all that land out there why the hell did they build on that piece of land in the first place-----------------puuulease kingsman show some respect
Posted: Monday, August 02, 2010
Article comment by:
Will Solo
This shouldn't be any surprise to anybody. There is a large memorial on the school grounds that clearly states ".....in memory of the hundreds of courageous pioneers who are now and forever entombed within this sacred and hallowed ground". The memorial was erected in 1974.
Posted: Monday, August 02, 2010
Article comment by:
Local Resident
According to another news site, the Las Vegas Review Journal...Oz Enderby, director of construction for the school district said the disturbed remains were no longer confined to wood caskets which had apparently deteriorated into dust long ago...Museum and library documents indicate that families who could afford to do so paid to relocate buried loved ones once the Pioneer Cemetery closed in 1917. Most of the bodies, however, remained at the cemetery...School district Superintendent Roger Jacks said the discovery of a burial plot map might serve as a sort of road map of grave sites on campus. The parchment map is dated 1941...Enderby said the map shows that about 10 percent of the graves were relocated and more than 100 other bodies were apparently left at the cemetery...He said officials will do their best to afford dignity to the dead when authorized to complete the trenching effort...Enderby said it's entirely unclear when crews can resume digging across the cemetery but any excavation activity will be gentle... "We won't be digging as boldly as you might dig a normal sewer," Enderby said. "We'll also have a full-time medical examiner on site."
Posted: Sunday, August 01, 2010
Article comment by:
Jim King
"It's a sensitive situation, but it's being handled in the proper manner"
That would be the first time.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Renee Morris
I am a student who attended that school an have heard that bodies where still there . I find it hard to believe that the school cares about the bodies because if they did why didn't they unearth them when the field was 1st originally built. ?
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
someone in arizona
for wonderer me.. they can write whatever they want and if you want to believe that thats fine. Not what happened. But i do agree with you that if someone disagrees with something they should not be told to get out.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
loren clemens
Honestly i think everyone who went to school in this town knew it was there.....
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
So Childish
Oh please, cut the "the high school was haunted" garbage and grow up already!
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Wonderer me
Why is it that when someone questions another's statements they are told "like it or get out of town?" Is that really the kind of community you want? I never heard about the cemetery, probably because I didn't have children attending school there. The workers did quit their work at that spot and if you'd read the article you'd know that.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
just curious
why is this a shock to everybody i have lived in kingman my whole life i have even went to school at this very school .we all heard about this and seen the memorial at the school and as a player for kingman for 4 years i have a lot of respect for the people that we shared that field with even if they were under it. in saying that maybe the field should have been left a lone and had new sod and some cosmetics done to it since it was already a memorial to one of kingmans great men . i know me personaly will never attend another game for kingman high for the simple fact that they have no buissnes playing at kingman north but its just my opinion that lee williams field is were kingman should be playing . oh and just for chris maybe you should move if you think these people have not gotten any respect and we are all so bad or just ask any body that has ever played on that field and they will tell you the respect they have for them
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Your insider is wrong from someone in arizona
Your insider was incorrect. You are correct that they halted but they did not leave that area. Core told them to continue excavation and they continued to dig up graves. The excavation company halted work on their own until this was figured out . I am not saying that they should not work but care should be taken in the removal of these people. I attended south campus and knew that there was graves there. It was no secrete and apparently they knew also because the paper said they were told to halt in the event they found remains. I would think these people would not want their families remains just torn out by a large excavator with no regard for them. Even if they were left in place and the utilities were moved would be fine. Just acknowledge their existence and give them the respect they deserve. This is Kingman's history. I have lived here all my life and have no plans on leaving because I do like it here. These remains are the people who were part of making our town what it is today. And really i find it fascinating to have this kind of history.
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Ryan Ruggles
For long time, I knew that football field was builted on top of cemetary. Bunch of kids knew because they play the sports there then bam the bones turned up. One time, I saw hip bone and informed the janitors. They told me it was normal thing since they had been doing it for many years. I asked them what they do with the bodies and they told me that when bone show up then they transferred them to new cemetary with unmark grave. They informed me that the school looked the old map up and found out whole time that football field was on old cemetary. In my own opinon, you should show some respect toward cemetary and people who was buried there. If you don't understand the history and family history then you wouldn't understand why bunch of people are upset about workers distrub the cemetary ground. Don't tell people to leave the Kingman just because they were upset that workers found bunch of the bones. They have a right to say something. My father went to school there when he was kid and he said the bones always popped up all of the time. They just covered it up whole time so people wouldn't know. Only way that you knew if the bones was there if you were there to play the sport or watch your kids playing there. Or you were janitor who had to pick them up all of the time when kids reported them to you then you have to transferred them to new cemetary.
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
ANGEL IN DISGUISE
Well like all others said, No this is nothing new, a family member of mine worked there for years, and that person unearthed remains of someone, and the police picked up the bones, and never wrote anything in the paper about it... So whats the difference now...! You all got input on that...!
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
anita say
I am not originally from kingman but I too have heard that the old high school was haunted. My husband worked down town at the warehouse by the pool and he said that the maintenance guys were always digging up human remains....creepy!
Now we're going to have Zombies strolling around, all over town...Uh, wait, those are dopers....Zombies don't get welfare.
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
c korb
Chris West-terd needs too get the hell out of Kingman!!! We make you so sick??? Beat Feet!!!!
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
R. Eagle Levy
I received word on the Monday before this became apparent that they were finding hinges. Now they have dug up bodies, four adults and one child? Yes, those who are in charge must think we are just ignorant local yokels to believe they have this under control. To put a photo in Thursday's newspaper of a human bone and fragments in a Home Depot bucket. Shame on the one who put them in the bucket, the photograher and the newspaper. What has happened to the sensitvity of respecting those who have died? This callousness stinks of disrespect for Kingman and indifference to the history of those who were here before us. There should be a big big fine coming and hopefully a lawsuit getting whoever is involved with this disaster fired and sent down the road. I am sure there are some Native Americans buried there that no none has ever mentioned, that were prisoners at the internment camp at Beale Springs and met an untimely death. Eagle
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
someone in Arizona
There should still be honor and respect for these remains regardless if they can be identified or not. How did they uncover the remains of multiple people if they halted work when they found the first one? Sounds like they may have been pushed to keep excavating even though they knew they were supposed to immediately halt work if they uncovered any remains as they agreed to. If Core pushed the contractor to continue digging after they had uncovered a set of remains they should be punished if there are any legal provisions to do so. Not only is this Kingman’s history it is someone’s family history.
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
Toby Christensen
Yes. Nothing says "dignity and respect" like an orange Homer's Bucket from the Home Depot
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
jeez loueez
Some of you people make us look so silly...
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
Kingman Native
This was not an old indian burial grounds- although, certainly, there may have been indians buried there, too. My dad and grandfather were among those hired to dig up graves to be moved to Mountain View and it was always known that many unmarked graves had been left behind. That is no big secret to those of us who have history in this town and county and went to school at the old Junior High. If you don't happen to like it here- perhaps you should move on.
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
just me
you may want to check some history. there has never been a gymnasium at that site some graves were found back in the 60s when tenis courts/basketball courts were built there, across the street from where they were till recently. The next time was when more graves were found there when the Lee Williams field was built in the 70s. This was the original "pioneer" cemetary land, which was thought to have been vacated and was taken over by the Mohave county high school around 1930, not the 1950s. the cemetary actuall would have sat right about where the old lee wms field concession stand was/is, extending a little bit west, north and south. There used to be house on the west side of 1st between gold/maple and spring st. the cemetary was behind those houses about 50 yards. . Mr Westerd, maybe you could move just a hundred miles further west! Im sure you would find the company a bit more to your liking.
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
Lena Margita
When I attended KHS 23 years ago, we KNEW there was a cemetary under the football field. They make this sound like NO ONE knew...
@Brian - there were rumors (old timers who went to HS at MCHS in the 50's) when I was a kid that it was an Indian Burial Ground but because "they" could never confirm it, the football field was build there in the 1950's
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
I Know An Insider
For those who say they should halt the work, they did. They taped it off and told the workers to continue construction elsewhere on the project. It even says so in the paper. It also says they are meeting to determine the best way to handle the situation and the remains. So all of you who don't like the way that Kingman handles these types of situations then leave.
