Historical Marker · No. 28
Maiden's Grave
Kirkwood, Amador County · California
Erected by Sharkey Begovich of Gardnerville, Nevada
The state hedges and the stone does not. It is said, the register begins, that in 1850 a young girl named Rachel Melton, a native of Iowa, fell ill on the crossing and was buried here. The granite standing over the grave gives her as Rechall Melton, laid to rest on a cold and frosty morning, 4 October 1850, under a covered wagon cut into the stone above the text. It was paid for by a donor from Gardnerville, Nevada, and not by the state.
What the plaque says
BROKEN DREAMS AND HOPE, CARRIED 2000 MILES THROUGH SCORCHING DESERTS AND OVER LOFTY MOUNTAINS. AT LAST...THE SIGHT OF THE PROMISE LAND. THOSE OF YOU WHO VISIT THIS GRAVE CARRY A TORCH OF LOVE AND HOPE (WHICH THIS YOUNG GIRL LOST), AND PASS IT ON, TO GENERATIONS UNBORN. RECHALL MELTON WAS LAID TO REST HERE, ON A COLD AND FROSTY MORNING, OCT. 4, 1850. BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD. DONOR SHARKEY BEGOVICH GARDNERVILLE, NEVADA
Where it stands
38.63180, -120.17123 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Emerald Bay State Park — 23 miA glacial fjord on Tahoe's west shore with the lake's only island and a Scandinavian house at the water.
More markers nearby
- Old Emigrant Road — 1.6 mi
- Kirkwood's — 7.2 mi
- Old Emigrant Road — 8.8 mi
- Memorial to Pioneer Odd Fellows — 11 mi