Our last stop of our day in Idaho City was to the Pioneer Cemetery. Located outside of town off the road to Placerville, another Idaho mining town, this cemetery has been the final resting place of over 3,000 of Idaho City's residents. The cemetery is so crowded that no more bodies are being accepted for burial even if residents have a family plot there. My friend Dianne was telling us last night that her friend's sister died last year, and they had to get special permission to bury her in Pioneer Cemetery with her family in the plot but after that, no more bodies can be buried there.
The cemetery is on a huge plot of land, so Mom, Rita, and I were able to let Loki, Katie, and Malachai run loose through the place. They enjoyed running around the grave stones and getting some well-needed exercise before going home. Mom, Linda, Rita, and I walked around looking at many of graves of Idaho City's colorful residents. We couldn't believe how young people died in the 19th century, and this cemetery is still in use today, so there are many fresh graves in Pioneer Cemetery, too. Linda thought the graves that were fenced in with wooden or iron fences gave the cemetery a charming look, and there were wildflowers galore.
Due to it being Memorial Day, there were several people in Pioneer Cemetery putting flowers on their loved ones' graves. While the newer graves were taken care of with new stones and flowers, the older graves were showing signs of wear and tear and neglect. But there was one gravestone that made Linda, Rita, Mom, and I laugh out loud. The woman had died in 2003, and her gravestone was a wooden sign that said, "Faunelle E. Casner 1911-2003. Rest in Peace. You never gave us any." 
We spent about a half-hour in the cemetery and were getting ready to go home to Meridian. We rounded up Loki and Malachai, but we couldn't find Katie. "Katie! Where are you!" we yelled as we walked down the cemetery's hill. Rita was ahead of us and said, "Here she is!" Our little tramp Katie was laying at the cemetery's gates, wagging her tail and rolling over on her back for anyone who would pay attention to her. BRAT!!
The Pioneer Cemetery is open from sunrise to sunset year-round and free to visit, but there is a little bucket at the gate asking for donations to maintain the appearance of the cemetery.