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Show Military cemeteries silently tell story of a historic past v" f ; . i ' , I I - I - t i i s f ! The large marker showing the burial spot of Utah Territorial Governor Doty overshadows the smaller, military-style grave markers of the non-commissioned soldiers that are buried at Fort Douglas. Many of these markers date back to the 1 860s. f .if Mt . s :: i -t - t ' f. i ; ' .. ' i i f . i ; j : , r ' -vv , , . , I - " m : i 1 " - w t 4 ' f - i si I - - k f I f l I jj j v ' ? . . -.iJ L By DON ETA GATHERUM The creation of the Utah Veterans Vet-erans Memorial Park at Camp Williams will bring the number of cemeteries set aside for military burials to three. Camp Floyd, the first military post in Utah, was established in 1858 by President James Buchanan. It was named for Secretary of War, Floyd. The cemetery was part of this fort complex. In 1863, Fort Douglas, the state's second military fort was established. estab-lished. A post cemetery was part of this post also. Both cemeteries were established long before Congress officially designated cemeteries as "national or military" cemeteries. Burials at Camp Floyd were conducted con-ducted between 1858 and 1861, the life span of the fort. Most of the 84 people interred in this small cemetery were soldiers. There were three officers and one or two civilians. Some of the bodies buried at Camp Floyd were soldiers with Johnston's Army who died en route to Utah. Once the "Utah War" situation was resolved peacefully, soldiers from Camp Floyd went back along the route of march, disinterred dis-interred their fellow soldiers and took them to Camp Floyd for permanent per-manent burial. Besides being a military post, Camp Floyd was also a pony express ex-press station and a stage coach station on the overland mail route. The fort property was later privately owned by the John Carson family, pioneer settlers of nearby Fairfield, Today, the fort, including the cemetery and the well-preserved stage coach inn, are part of the Utah Park system. When the state took over ownership owner-ship of the property, one of the stipulations was that no further burials would be allowed in the cemetery. The Fort Douglas Cemetery is much larger than the one at Camp Floyd. Although the official year this cemetery opened was 1863, there are some burials dating back to 1862. The cemetery is filled, with the exception of about four or five plots. Occasionally, a new plot opens because of a disinterment and relocation of a body to a different cemetery. With the exception of the one or two early burials already mentioned, mention-ed, the first men buried at Fort Douglas were those who died in the Battle of Bear River. The large sandstone monument in the cemetery commemorating the Battle of Bear River was carved by Samuel Layne Jones, one of four major pioneer stone carvers. Most of the other early sandstone markers were also carved by Jones. His name can still be seen in the lower right comer of many of his markers. Jones later moved to Kaysville, where he continued his stone carving carv-ing profession. Many stones in the Kaysville Cemetery were carved by him. Examples of his work can also be seen in the Farmington and Bountiful cemeteries. A walk through the Fort Douglas Cemetery is a "hands-on" lesson in Utah history. Buried at Fort Douglas are Major General Patrick Edward Connor, the first commanding officer of Fort Douglas, and the father of Utah mining; James D. Doty, Governor of Utah Territory; "Buffalo Soldiers" who served in the military during the post- civil war westward expansion era; German POWs from World War I and n who were sent to concentration camps in Utah; Italian POWs from WW II and one Japanese POW from WW II, along with the noncommissioned non-commissioned soldiers representing U.S. military history from the Civil War period down to Vietnam. The original gale at Fort Douglas is made of native sandstone. Its design is typical of that used in pre-1 900 military post cemeteries. f r v i l r '-.,., . ? " If ' - w t ; .-7. . t y .;---VlWi -. The monument to the Battle of Bear River, located in the Fort Douglas Cemetery, was carved by Samuel Lane Jones. One of four early stone carvers, Jones moved to Kaysville where he continued to practice his trade. Examples of his carvings can be found in the Kaysville and Farmington cemeteries. A |