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| Wickenburg Massacre Site, AZ | |
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| | Wickenburg Massacre Site, AZ | | | |
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Wickenburg Massacre Site, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.00 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 6.00 Miles | 3 Hrs | | 2.00 mph |
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| no partners | | Finding this site has been on my list for a couple of years so I decided to get it done today. This is the fourth Massacre site I have visited and they all have something in common, their remote locations! The American Pioneer and Cemetary Research Project has done amazing research on this location. Even though the massacre claimed the lives of, allegedly, six individuals at the site, they have determined that there are approximately 16 to 18 bodies buried there. One of those bodies is female. Supposedly, Mollie Sheppard survived this Ambush and died later in California from her wounds but the lone female grave at the site is in the middle of all the other graves of the men identified in the ambush. As you walk the grounds it is easy to understand that bodies were likely buried where they died. There is no pattern to any of the identified grave sites. This is a very quiet, lonely and somber location. In spite of seeing visible tracks of ATVs and other vehicles leading up to it, it still feels to be such a forgotten place in history. In spite of being a Mortician and seeing death daily, I felt sad being there and humbled by the experience.
When you head out to see this area you will come upon an abandoned ranch about a mile from the massacre site. The research project also determined there were six graves there circling a tree but they felt they were ranch related. I did not find those graves.
This is a fascinating place to visit that deserves the utmost respect. I might return again and spend more time there.
Getting to the site is not necessarily that difficult but it does take patience. The turn off is exactly .5 miles from mile marker 102 on Hwy 60 outside of Wickenburg. Pay close attention or you will miss it like I did! There are no signs just a little dirt patch to turn off of the main highway. You will have to go through a gate as you are entering BLM property. The massacre site is about 6 1/2 miles from Highway 60. I drove my Kia 4 miles and decided to park it when the road started turning rough. I walked a mile or so before I reached the abandoned ranch and then another mile or so before I found the massacre site. I never would have found it had I not been using GPS coordinates and had studied the satellite images of this area. You get into a wash and you feel you are getting closer and then out of nowhere there it is! Just like the little rattlesnake that I stumbled upon!
I would be very interested in hearing of anyone else's experience out there! |
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