Palo Duro Wildorado Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here on the Llano Estacado, in Deaf Smith County, there's a piece of ground that started as a schoolyard and ended up as something much more. The Palo Duro Wildorado Cemetery, and friend, its story goes back further than most folks realize when they first pull up to the gate.

Let me take you through it. The J.C. Womble family came to this area in January of 1892, early settlers making their way into country that didn't have a whole lot of anything yet except wind and sky.

The very next year, the community managed to obtain land to build a schoolhouse. They called it the Union School, and for a stretch of years, that building did a lot of heavy lifting for the people around it. Then came May of 1893.

A young cowboy named George D. Whitfield was buried right there in the schoolyard. His is the first marked burial, though the marker takes care to note that two earlier graves were already known to exist at the time.

So the ground had already begun keeping its quiet record before anyone put up a stone to say so. By 1901, the community had organized the Palo Duro Missionary Baptist Church, and they held their services in that same schoolhouse, the Union School pulling double duty for the living and standing watch over the dead. They moved the church across the road in 1905.

Then in May of 1910, the school itself moved, approximately two miles north, and the property reverted back to its original owner. You might think that would be the end of it. But in 1914, that land with the gravesites was deeded to the community specifically for use as a cemetery.

The ground had found its permanent calling. During the mid-twentieth century, area residents bought additional land and added a well and a fence, tending to the place the way communities tend to things they understand matter. Today the Palo Duro Wildorado Cemetery holds numerous area residents, and men and women who served in the military, and it stands as a link to all of that history reaching back to a schoolyard, a young cowboy, and a January in 1892 when the Womble family rolled in and the whole story quietly began.

What the marker says

Early settlers to this area included the J.C. Womble family, which came in January 1892. The next year, the community obtained land on which to build a schoolhouse, known as the Union School. In May 1893, George D. Whitfield, a young cowboy, was buried in what was the schoolyard. His is the first marked burial, although two earlier graves were known to exist at the time. In 1901, residents organized the Palo Duro Missionary Baptist Church and held services in the schoolhouse. They moved across the road in 1905. In May 1910, the school moved approximately two miles north, and the property reverted back to its original owner. The land with the gravesites was deeded to the community in 1914 for use as a cemetery. During the mid-20th century, area residents bought additional land and added a well and fence. As the burial site of numerous area residents, as well as men and women veterans of the military, the cemetery serves as a link to the area's rich history. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004