Photo: Who Is Really Buried in the Maiden's Grave

Photographer: Syd Whittle
Taken: July 31, 2006
Caption: Who Is Really Buried in the Maiden's Grave
Additional Description: Who is the maiden? Who is buried here if not the maiden? Maiden's Grave is a popular roadside stop that commemorates the death of a young woman during the overland migration in 1850. Around 1900 an elderly woman looking for the gravesite of her daughter started a series of events that identified the wrong grave as that of her daughter. At two different times, two headstones were installed at a location along busy Highway 88. This site came to honor the maiden and many others that died on their journey to California. Historical research in 1989 disclosed that a young man was buried here and that the young woman or maiden was buried in a meadow two miles to the east. On October 4, 1850, William Edmondson wrote in his diary, "After traveling 6 miles we came to Tragedy Springs...After traveling two miles further, we came to a trading post about noon where we camped having come 8 miles today. A young man from Henry County named Allen Melton died at this place during the night." Allen Melton was buried near here. No one knows the exact location because of highway realignment when rocks marking the original location were moved. This memorial commemorates the life and death of Allen Melton of Henry County, Iowa and all the others who suffered and died during the great western migration. Dedicated October 4, 2004 Marker dedicated jointly with Amador County Sesquicentennial Committee, United States Forest Service, Amador County Historical Society, Oregon California Trails Association
Submitted: October 2, 2008, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.
Database Locator Identification Number: p37445
File Size: 1.257 Megabytes

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