Owego Pioneer Cemetery

Hidden away

Tucked into the trees in a little section of the Sheyenne National Grasslands, outside of Sheldon, ND, sits the Owego Pioneer Cemetery. 

I don't know a lot about this cemetery, just that it's a bit North of the road leading off the "doll bridge" (as I like to call it) or the "painted bridge" (as everyone else likes to call it). 

Some of the headstones here date back to the early 1870s, and some are home to children who lost their lives to diseases like diphtheria. 

A quick internet search told me that the cemetery includes graves from the pioneer Root family and the children of Daniel and Harriet Divet.

Discovery

The Doll Bridge: 

Once upon a time, there were about a dozen dolls of all shapes and sizes strung up in the trees at the turn for a bridge that had been spray-painted over nearly every inch. I have always referred to this bridge as the "Doll Bridge". I didn't realize that everyone else in the area called it the Painted Bridge and had no idea what I was talking about...go figure. The dolls were a little unnerving, so that's what stuck in my memory.

My daughter and I stumbled upon this place when we were out deer hunting. I always take the bridge route so we can do an impromptu photoshoot if the weather allows it. And on this day, when we came to the T in the road, we decided to take a right turn to the North instead of heading South.

As we traveled up that road, I noticed an American Flag hanging in a group of trees. I pointed it out to Ms. K (my teen), and we agreed that we needed to investigate. We hadn't caught a single glimpse of a deer all day anyway. 

We entered the grasslands through the barbed wire cattle gate and made our way to the tree grove. The closer we got to the flag, the more we realized it wasn't just a random flag in the trees - it marked a cemetery.  

It is a bit alarming to see a cemetery tucked in the trees in the middle of nowhere. Still, it's incredibly exciting to discover something new in a place (the Sheyenne National Grasslands) that you spend most of your time. 

We had to check it out. Deer hunting could wait. It was only Wednesday anyway. 

A mailbox is perched on the cemetery gate. We could see a corner of paper sticking out, so we opened it to see what was inside. Geocaching is a fun pastime in areas like this, and this mailbox was home to an unmarked cache. It held a notebook with thousands of signatures and entries. And as in every cache we've found trinkets, dollars, and random leavings.

After flipping through the pages, we signed our names, dated our visit, and entered the cemetery. 

I didn't get pictures of each headstone because when my daughter and I were exploring, a man came into the cemetery to take the flag down and do some maintenance, and we didn't want to disturb him. Returning at a later (and much warmer) date seemed like a better option.

Until I get a chance to visit again after the rest of our never-ending snow melts, for photos of the headstones, you can visit findagrave.com. 

Visit the Owego Pioneer Cemetery

How do you get there? Type these coordinates into your map app!

Coordinates:

46.53359° N, 97.31829° W

You will arrive on 148th Ave SE at a barbed wire cattle fence. You will have to let yourself in and close the gate behind you each time you pass through.