MIKE FINK AND INDIAN TOMBSTONES ERECTED IN 2004 - "Maybe They Will Now Be Long-Remembered"

(01/19/2024)

Reed Krack and Jim Bell place flowers on ancient graves

"Maybe they will now be long-remembered" said Emma Deel, leader for the project and now deceased

Group meets at burial ground along Milo Road

By Bob Weaver 2004

Yesterday a small group of folks came to the burial ground where Mike Fink and an unknown Indian are buried along Milo Road to erect reproductions of their tombstones.

Joining in the cause to put up the new markers was Grantsville resident Jim Bell and Nicut resident Reed Krack.

"We've obtained an old photograph of the original headstones," said Bell. Krack, who was a former stonecutter by trade, worked on the engravings.

"He (Krack) has done some fine work on the markers," said Bell, who furnished the sandstone rock which he acquired from Leafbank.

Bell and Krack took time to place some memorial flowers on the ancient graves, shortly after the monuments were set.

Emma Deel and her brother Jim Stalnaker have been on a mission to restore the cemetery. In recent years it has gone down hill, including the absence of the original markers. The grave sites are located on the Stalnaker home place.

"Maybe these early people will now be long-remembered," said Deel.

A visit to the cemetery was worth a trip for Calhoun kids in the last century, to see where the two men killed each other about 1780. Parents would pass the tale to their children.

It is likely the most often told story in Calhoun history, a happening long before the area was populated, It was recorded in "Chronicles of Border Warfare" by Withers, with word-of-mouth versions written in early Calhoun newspapers.

Deel, who says she will continue to expand the site for visitors, expressed appreciation to those who have helped with the project, including several Hur Herald readers who made contributions.

Reproduction of Mike Mike's tombstone erected ...

... with another marking the "Unknown Indian"

Read about this event, Adam O'Brien and Early West Fork Tales under PEOPLE, HUMOR AND HISTORY