DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Lynn Creek Cemetery tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out in Jack County, there's a burial ground that's been keeping watch over the land since the mid-19th century, when the first pioneers came pushing into this part of Texas. Settlers had arrived by the 1850s, and by the 1870s, a community had taken root and taken a name — Squaw Mountain.
At its peak, Squaw Mountain had a number of institutions, the kind of things that tell you a place is serious about becoming somewhere. Schools, commerce, all of it. Most of that is gone now.
But this cemetery remains, and that right there ought to tell you something about what endures. The burial ground dates to 1878. That year, a cowboy was buried here — no name on the marker, just a cowboy, which in its own way feels like every cowboy who ever worked this stretch of Texas.
That same year, pioneer John Jackson was interred, and so was infant Henry Henyan. The old and the young, the trailbreaker and the barely-arrived, all commended to the same ground in the same year. As the farming and ranching community kept growing, residents kept coming — not to visit, but to stay.
Then in 1898, three men decided to make it official. Gabe Washburn, John Allen Jackson, and Tom Allen purchased property for the burial ground and organized the Lynn Creek Cemetery Association, serving as trustees. They put a name on it, put papers behind it, and made sure somebody would be responsible for keeping faith with the dead.
Walking through Lynn Creek today, you'd find veterans of conflicts dating back to the Civil War, teachers and pastors, farmers and ranchers, community residents of every kind. You'd find Woodmen of the World markers standing guard, sarcophaguses, stone cairns, vertical stones, curbing and grave slabs — a whole catalog of the ways people have tried to mark a life in stone. And you'd find a tabernacle, built by residents in 1912 and later replaced in 1991.
A rock chapel went up in 1951, thanks to generous donations, and a water well followed in 1991, same way. The cemetery association continues to care for this ground to this day. Squaw Mountain as a community has mostly faded into the grass and the memory of the county.
But Lynn Creek Cemetery is still here, still tended, still receiving. Some places die when the people leave. And some places, it turns out, are exactly where the people never leave at all.
What the marker says
This burial ground has served area residents since early pioneers came here in the mid-19th century. Settlers arrived by the 1850s and by the 1870s, the community of Squaw Mountain developed. Squaw Mountain had a number of institutions at its peak; today, this cemetery is one of the few remaining vestiges of the former settlement. This burial ground dates to 1878, when a cowboy was buried here. That same year, pioneer John Jackson and infant Henry Henyan were also interred. As the nearby farming and ranching community grew, residents continued to use the graveyard. In 1898, Gabe Washburn, John Allen Jackson and Tom Allen purchased property for the burial ground and organized the Lynn Creek Cemetery Association, serving as trustees. Many early area pioneers and their descendants are buried in Lynn Creek Cemetery. Others interred here include veterans of conflicts dating to the civil war, teachers, pastors, farmers, ranchers and other community residents. This cemetery contains woodmen of the world markers, sarcophaguses, stone cairns, vertical stones, curbing and grave slabs. In 1912, residents built a tabernacle (replaced in 1991); later additions, which were the result of generous donations, include a rock chapel (1951) and water well (1991). Today, the cemetery association continues to care for the burial ground, which serves as a reminder of the pioneers of Squaw Mountain and the surrounding area.