Remembering history and those who served

The Memorial Day remembrance at Old Carbon Cemetery got a bit of a twist this year thanks to mother nature mercurial weather on Sunday.

The dedication to the veterans of past wars is usually held at the lower gates of the Old Carbon Cemetery but as a downpour started to commence around 10 a.m., the same time as the service. The remembrance service was moved to a red barn on the Palm Ranch which has the nearest structures to the old ghost town.

Carbon County historian Nancy Anderson welcomed everyone to the red barn building and told the crowd the building had tremendous value to Old Carbon, as the building had once been a church in Old Carbon. 

"We are really privileged to be celebrating this service near this building and that is why God sent the rain," Anderson said jokingly.

Arlen Rounds gave the Invocation and Anderson went over the veterans buried in the Carbon Cemetery. She started with the Civil War veterans, of which there are three and finished with veterans from the Korean War. Anderson said there might be other unknown veterans buried in the cemetery.

Anderson made mention of the coal miners to be remembered on this day.

"I am mentioning the miners and I do this every year," Anderson said. "To me the miners are also soldiers. They went into the dark, they were brave and faced formidable enemies and they really brought about a cultural revolution by bringing coal to the railroads and opening up the country."

Archaeologist and author of "Big Nose George, His Troublesome Trail" Dr. Mark Miller spoke about the famous outlaw and his gang, but because "Dutch Charlie" Burns was lynched in Carbon, Miller focused on him.

Miller said the gang attempted to rob a Union Pacific Railroad train east of Carbon but failed. On August 19, 1878, the gang was tracked by Carbon County Sheriff Robert "Bob" Widdowfield and Union Pacific Railroad Agent H. H. "Tip" Vincent near Elk Mountain."We know Widdowfield was killed by Frank Toll and we know it happened quickly and Vincent tried to ride away but was fired on by all the gang and was killed," Miller said. "The gang split up immediately the murders."Miller said because Burris and Toll came across another gang several days later they told what had happened. This would be Burris' undoing.  A member of that gang gave up Burris. He was captured in Green River and after a small stay in the Laramie prison, Burris was sent to Rawlins on train Number 3 to stand trial for the murders of Widdowfield and Vincent. He was in the custody of Laramie Deputy Sheriff Ed Kerns. The deputy tried to hide him in the baggage car, but when the train stopped at 9:25 p.m. in Carbon, Burris was found and taken off the train and lynched by the citizens of Carbon, some relatives of Widdowfield, on a telegraph pole. 

Miller said Burris tried to deny he was the outlaw, but when that failed and realized he was going to die, he begged to be shot and hanged. The townspeople hung him despite his pleas. 

Burris remained hung on the pole until 3 p.m. the next day. Miller said the body was taken to Rawlins and contrary to some stories, his body was not thrown outside the Carbon Cemetery.

The Carbon Cemetery Memorial Day service finished with Quinn Felton playing Taps.