Pioneer Cemetery

The years this cemetery was in use match the town's boom and fall. In the 1880s Fort Davis became a ranching center as cattlemen poured in, many escaping the Texas fever spreading elsewhere. Whitaker Keesey, who came as a baker with the returning troops, became the town's most influential merchant. By 1885 about 2,000 people lived here, with three lawyers, a milliner, two saloons, two churches, gristmills, cotton gins and a weekly called the Apache Rocket. After the army left in 1891 the town shrank, to about 500 by 1896.

What the plaque says

Pioneer Cemetery Used from 1870s to 1914. Settlers buried here include: Mr. and Mrs. Diedrick Dutchover, immigrants from Belgium and Spain; their surname, coined by a recruiter in the Mexican War, is borne by many descendants. Dolores, who on her wedding eve lighted a signal fire for her fiance, later found scalped by Indians; she became mentally ill and (until her death 30 years later) burned fires on mountain near town for her lost lover. Two young Frier brothers, who were shot by a Ranger posse as horse thieves and were buried in only boothill grave in county. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Davis National Historic Site — 1.1 mi
  A frontier post of 1854 to 1891 on the San Antonio-El Paso Road, garrisoned after the Civil War by Black regiments, with its buildings restored to their 1880 look.
• Davis Mountains State Park & Indian Lodge — 2.9 mi
  A 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps park above Fort Davis, with the CCC's Skyline Drive, the white adobe Indian Lodge and a trail down to the old fort.
• Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens — 4.3 mi
  The Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute's grounds south of Fort Davis, with an 18-acre botanical garden, a cactus museum and trails into the desert foothills.
• McDonald Observatory — 10 mi
  The University of Texas observatory on Mount Locke, founded with a Paris, Texas banker's fortune, with star parties three nights a week under some of the darkest skies in the country.

More markers nearby

• Jeff Davis County — 0.5 mi
• Confederate President Jefferson Davis — 0.5 mi
• Hotel Limpia — 0.5 mi
• Old Fort Davis C. S. A. — 0.5 mi