"Every cemetery is worth visiting, and the people in 
them are worth trying to remember. They were much like 
us." Thus the writers of The Dallas Morning News 
set out to explore the cemeteries of Texas and the 
surrounding states for the newspaper's Travel section. The 
more than forty-five stories serve as history lessons and 
travelogues for more than sixty cemeteries, chronicling the 
resting places of famous people and the tragedies borne by 
ordinary people.

 
This compilation reaffirms our fascination with cemeteries 
and their status as tourist attractions. People visit 
cemeteries in large numbers. Evidence of crowd control 
abounds, from signs directing traffic to the grave marker of 
President Clinton's mother in Hope, Arkansas, to the large 
steel cage protecting the tombstone of Billy the Kid at Fort 
Sumner, New Mexico. A monument in New Orleans was made famous 
by the movie Easy Rider, and Bonnie Parker's coveted 
headstone in Dallas was relocated to prevent theft. 

 
The stories also demonstrate that the reasons people flock 
to cemeteries are as varied as the people interred there. 
Cemeteries hold some of the most interesting sculpture and 
folk art in our region. Unusual graves include the Sturrock 
Cemetery in Tyler County, Texas, started when the family 
arrived from Scotland in the 1830s. The dozen sandstone crypts 
are said to resemble the style of the family's houses in 
Scotland. The graves at the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation 
in Polk County, Texas, are adorned with decorations such as 
sea shells, stones, skillets, and teddy bears.


New Orleans cemeteries are a tourist industry by themselves, 
featured in movies and Anne Rice novels. The oldest standing 
cemetery is St. Louis No. 1, on the edge of the French Quarter. 
The most famous grave here belongs to Marie Laveau, the voodoo 
queen. Louisiana's French and Cajun cultures come alive in its
cemeteries, and many plantations, such as Afton Villa and Rosedown,
contain cemeteries. 


Cemeteries hold fascination for history buffs and family 
genealogists, and this book is a valuable guide for both. It 
provides information about the more well-known gravesites, such 
as Sam Houston's at Huntsville's Oakwood Cemetery, but also 
provides information about the less well-known locations. Two 
graves in unassuming cemeteries are the final resting places of 
two of the greatest blues artists of all time: "Blind" Lemon 
Jefferson in Wortham, Texas, and Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter 
in Mooringsport, Louisiana. Do you know where Hoss Cartwright 
is buried? The authors of this handy guidebook do.


This book will also illuminate the history behind the sites and 
the people who lie buried there, as well as provide information 
on nearby places to stay. It's the ideal book for the amateur
genealogist and weekend historian.


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The Dallas Morning News writers are BOB BERSANO, 
Personal Technology Editor; LARRY BLEIBERG, Travel 
Editor; TOM SIMMONS, retired Executive Editor; JEAN
SIMMONS, Travel columnist; KATHRYN STRAACH, Travel 
writer; and BRYAN WOOLLEY, Feature writer. LEON UNRUH 
is news editor of the Anchorage Daily News.