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Medicine Bow Origin and History
Trails End Cemetery
The Union Pacific Railroad deeded the cemetery to the Town on February
25, 1913. The deed was officially registered in the
Carbon County Clerk's Office on March 17, 1913.
The cemetery was named
"TRAILS END" by Pat Cronberg in a 1970 contest.
Many soldiers were sent
here when the Railroad was first being built and they
were buried prior to the cemetery being laid out,
consequently their graves or part of their graves are
located outside the fenced area. Some without caskets.
The 1919 Flu Epidemic
killed many people overnight, some time after the end
of W.W.I, and when the Armistice was signed.
These two periods of time
probably account for the over 30 unmarked graves.
As longtime residents tell
it, two (2) unmarked graves outside the fenced area of
the cemetery are those of a gambler and a cowboy.
Around the turn of the century, prior to 1909, a
gambler lived at the Virginian Hotel and became
smitten with a young school teacher who also lived
there. When he went to call on her and saw her with
her boyfriend who was visiting her, he shot himself.
The young cowboy, about 26
years old, had been drinking and playing cards all day
at the Virginian Hotel and left that evening. A couple
of days later he was found behind the Hotel in the
weeds when the cook went to dump the garbage. No
identification was found on the cowboy except a
crucifix around his neck. Assuming he was Catholic,
Mike Lundy, who later became a wealthy oil man, gave
the grave side services for the unknown cowboy, as
Lundy was the only known Catholic in Town.
On March 15, 1919, the
AFL-CIO purchased two lots while working on the
Railroad in this area, and there are five unmarked
graves on them. No records could be traced to identify
these graves.
Two other unmarked graves
are said to be those of W. W. Piper, Oregon's most
celebrated architect, who jumped head first from a
train passing through Medicine Bow on August 9, 1886.
It was said to be a suicide, but his sister thought he
may have been murdered as there was not a penny on him
when his body was found. He may not have been in his
right mind, as passengers said he ran through the car
yelling "Save Me!" and "Stop Me!". The other was that
of Alias Kalby, a Turkish attendant on a traveling
circus train, who was crushed between the side of the
car and "Pasha," an elephant, while trying to calm the
uneasy animal.
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