On November 11, 1886 Albion F. and Emma Welch of Nooksack deeded to
the Nooksack Cemetery Association 1.36 acres of land, then in
February of 1906 an additional acre was purchased. More land was
purchased and added to the cemetery in subsequent years, which is
now included in and maintained by Whatcom County Cemetery District
No. 9.
The first recorded death was Mary J. Smith on August 31, 1888.
Cemetery records for the earlier years are nonexistent, although it
is known that this cemetery was reserved for the burial of white
settlers
The local Nooksack Tribe's burial rituals are outlined by Robert
Emmet Hawley in "Skqee Mus", where he writes that Indian Chiefs and
those higher up received an elaborate funeral. The coffin would be
a canoe in which the corpse was placed, along with whatever
valuables he possessed, suspended in the trees. The common Indian
was placed, along with his valuables, in a box, the front of which
was carved with images of birds, animals or faces; the boxes then
placed on long racks - their burial ground. The slaves, enemies or
those of extremely low caste, were laid upon the ground and dirt
piled on them until a high mound was formed.
A farm home on East Front Street in Lynden was the original site
of the old Indian burial ground. The bones from here were
transferred to common graves in cemeteries patterned after the
white man. P. R. Jeffcott, in "Nooksack Tales and Trails," notes
that in the late 1870’s, definite reforms were introduced by the
Methodists, such as the burial of the dead, including the remains
of all dead that had been deposited in canoes and crude split cedar
coffins and placed in trees and on platforms for security against
the ravages of wolves.
Please park with care, be respectful, and cache in, trash out.
 If you are a geocacher in
the state of Washington, please join the Washington State
Geocaching Association. This is a great way to get the most
out of geocaching in our region. Simply go to geocachingwa.org for
details! |