Sunday morning my goal was to go to a cemetery as part of my research for my next book. I made it there, but this story today was about an unplanned location I could go to.
The Baxley-Bliss Cemetery is in Harrison-Crawford State Forest, but the best access to hiking there was to park on private property that sits next to the forest. I planned to meet the property owner (Justin) and got permission to park on their property so I could hike to the cemetery.
As I pulled onto the gravel driveway, I could see only the road before me that cut through the trees. I was instructed to drive to the “Y in the road and take the left fork even though the GPS will take me to the right”. I did so.
I was met by a man in pajama pants, slippers and a t-shirt. He told me to “park there by the zero-turn (mower)” and I did as I was instructed.
I asked him if you could guide me on a route to my destination as I had a map of the location of the cemetery, but not how to start my journey. He looked at my map, pointed to the barn to my left and stated “take that road behind the barn, up the hill to the large tree then turn left and go into the woods.” He then told me that the dirt road I would take used to be the road from Corydon to New Amsterdam (Indiana). The current road between these towns is a busy two-lane highway that sees thousands of cars use it daily. The one I would hike today was barely 10 feet wide and made of dirt and rocks.
The property owner, who I might add also shares the property with his brother, John (his house was the right fork at the Y to his house), gave me another destination to hunt for. His dad used to live on the property and erected two crosses “on our property that you might want to go look at”. He drew on my map of the locations and told me he would text me more information about the crosses.
As I began my journey up the old road, I got a text from him with an article written by Bob Sculley for the Courier-Journal some years back. The article’s primary focus was the cemetery, but there was a brief snippet on these crosses. I did further research and from what I gathered these crosses replaced basically unmarked graves of two people that died along the route when it was the main road. The property owner’s father (Joe) had placed a 3 foot wooden cross bound with barbwire, in honor of “Mrs. McCune and the other for the Taylor family”. Joe stated in the newspaper article by Bob Sculley “I put the cross there, for a woman who died. She died here a long time ago, maybe before there was a cemetery. So the family buried her here and then marked the site with this pile of stones. Then a while later, they moved out west.” Joe continued in the article to say, “I added the cross to the stones. We don’t have any information or dates about her. Just her last name. Her name was Mrs. McCune.”
After hiking to the cemetery, I again entered the private property and walked the old road to the first mark on my map. There was a good size pond to my right (showed on my map) and then the first cross appeared before me. The sun lit up the area and the cross and nearby pond brought me a sense of peace. I looked around a bit and looked for the second. My map showed a squiggle ‘X’ from the owner showing this to be less than a ¼ mile away. The first cross was simple, with no other markings or sign what it was for. Just a wooden cross in the woods with barbwire holding it together.
The road swayed to the left and right. It took me through the forest, past an open field, then I spotted the 2nd cross on the opposite side. This cross was the same as the other, with one exception. This cross was being overtaken by a thorn bush. The top half of the cross was visible and part of the base, but getting in close proved to challenging. I got a few shots and headed back.
On my hike back, I thought about my dad. I don’t know why, but I did. I thought about how he would enjoy the research I was doing and be so proud of my books. He, however, would not enjoy the hike or being out with the “bugs and mice”. Dad was a city boy. Today it was about 39 degrees, but the bright sun and sparse clouds made it feel much warmer. There were no bugs or mice to scare my dad, and I felt a warmth come over me. I felt dad was there with me today.
My thoughts continued. I thought of those at the cemetery, of the two people that died along the road, the very kind act of Joe adding crosses the stone markers, and thoughts of my dad. I wondered how many had traveled on this road beneath me. Walking like me, by horse, by carriage, even by car. What hidden coins, jewelry, bottles, artifacts lay just inches or feet beneath me? I didn’t enjoy reading about history in school, but love the idea of exploring and learning like I did today.
I eventually arrived back at my car and headed back to the main road. I waved to Justin as I drove by. He was bush-hogging his field. We exchanged a few texts and one made me thrilled. “You are welcome back here any time.” My buddy Mark and I will hit this place soon.
Until next time,
Tim (Kilmer)
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