“Collected here are the final resting places of some five generations of dream chasers, miners, merchants, ranchers, freighters, madams, promoters, vigilantes, teachers, movers and shakers, loafers and busy bodies; most from somewhere else, from all over the world, all brought here by the winds of fortune, and caught, like nuggets, in holes in the ground.”
~Rand Desert Museum
Rand Desert Museum maintains a monument at the northeast corner, commemorating the many anonymous graves on site and listing the known names of those present.
Definition of a ‘Mine’:
“A hole in the ground owned by a liar.”
~Mark Twain
The Rand Desert Museum supports the cemetery by adding names to the pioneer plaque when research shows that a pioneer of the District was buried in the cemetery but the headstone is missing.
Why would a man take 38 years out of his life to tunnel through a solid granite mountain?
The questions are many. The answers are few.
William “Burro” Schmidt dug a half mile tunnel in Copper Mountain which was completed in 1938.
Little did Burro Schmidt know as happenstance would have it that years after his death a widow by the name of Tonie would pay the ultimate tribute to the miner by protecting his legacy for the rest of her life, and spending eternity next to his grave.
Our respect to the groundskeeper who tends and protects Rand District Cemetery so beautifully for visitors from around the world to enjoy. Thank you.
We couldn’t help noticing a modular home across the street that had a sign which read, “Passport to Oz.” The front yard is decorated with a Tin Man statue and other interesting works of art but we just admired from afar since there was no yellow brick road in sight. We really enjoy the whimsy that many homes display in the local area.
Carrying on the theme of discovering unique and unusual things, we spotted this tiny “creature” on the ground near the Rand District Cemetery sign. What it is, or who left it there is anybody’s guess. It’s still there waiting for the next mystified visitor to find it.
On the way to the cemetery from Randsburg the back way on Butte Avenue towards Johannesburg, we came upon a well-tended “Boot Hill,” decorated with all manner of boots on a hillside near an off-road area.
For further information about Randsburg and its fascinating history, please read our accompanying article at https://www.thedesertway.com/randsburg-ca/
Citations and Suggested Resources:
http://randdesertmuseum.com/site/cemetery/
http://www.interment.net/data/us/ca/kern/rand.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=685739
This coming weekend, we will reunite my uncle, Garry Dore who we lost earlier this year, with his brother Glen Dore and my Grandmother Mary Lou Dore and Grandfather, Chuck Dore. All of their ashes to Rand Cemetery under my uncle Glen’s desert mimosa tree planted over 33 years ago, where he was then laid to rest. The Dore Family finally all together, with family coming as far as Wisconsin to celebrate their lives…reuniting brothers, & the parents with their sons. We will love and miss you for all eternity. Via con Dios <3
What a beautiful, well kept “old West” cemetery. My father Capt. George W. McCormick Jr. is buried in the cemetery. He was murdered next to his campsite in 1966. He spent many a happy week-end mining his 40 acres. It truly was his paradise on earth.