| Welcome to the Washoe Cemetery research project! My name is Patty Theurer and I have been a volunteer researcher in Payette county, Idaho, for about 5 years now. In March of 2002, I decided to put together as much information as I could find on the Washoe cemetery, located just on the outskirts of Payette. 3 years later, I am still at it. The project has become somewhat of an obsession. :) I believe if things remain the way they are, the cemetery will be gone within a short amount of time. It is my hope that I can at least help accurately preserve it in documentation, if nothing more. I have started a profiles page to provide at least some small detail about each person known or believed to be buried there. Currently I have been scouring courthouse documents, which have proven very useful. I keep hoping to eventually find the true origins of the cemetery, rather than just speculation. It's a good thing I am still young!! My initial research has shown that no one knows a thing about this cemetery. All most people seem to know is that it was a place local high school kids used to go for initiation purposes. Some people thought it was on private land, and some thought the county owned it. No one could tell me what the origins of the cemetery were. So, I started making phone calls. I called the gentleman who owns the land around the cmemetery, I called the city, the county clerk, the assessors office, the Ada & Canyon county land offices, the Independent Enterprise newspaper, the Payette County Historical Society, the Idaho State Historical Society, the BLM, 4 local title companies, and finally I ended up talking with the National Archives in Washington, D. C. The exact origins are still a mystery, but I am having fun searching and learning a great deal about early Payette history. The cemetery, .766 of an acre, sits atop a small hill 1.7 miles SW from the city of Payette, on Washoe road. 160 acres of land, including where the cemetery now sits, was purchased by William Upchurch from the government. According to the documentation provided by the National Archives in Washington, D. C., William Upchurch first established an actual residence on the land on June 10, 1890. The patent was approved on March 13, 1893. Here is a transcription of the notice posted in the paper: 'Notice for Publication.-LAND OFFICE AT BOISE CITY, IDAHO, Sept. 12th, 1892-Notice is hereby given that the following named settler has filed notice of his intention to make final proof in suport of his claim, and that said proof will be made before the Register and Receiver at Boise City, Idaho, on October 25th 1892, viz: William H. Upchurch, of Washoe, Idaho, who made Pre. D. S. No. 4171 for the se1/4, nw1/4, sw1/4, ne1/4, nw1/4, se1/4, and ne1/4 sw1/4, sec. 9, tp, 8n, range 5w. He names the following witnesses to prove his continuous residence upon and cultivation of said land, viz: Frank M. Draper, Isaac N. Darnall, Charles O. Hansen, Alexander Rossi, allfo Washoe, Ada county, Idaho. Chas. S. Kingsley, Register.' The Riverside cemetery is now responsible for the Washoe cemetery. They have in their possession, a copy of a deed for the cemetery from William Upchurch to the public, and a type written note, author unknown. Here is what the note says: "The Washoe cemetery was deeded to the Public by Wm. Upchurch and wife Adelia Upchurch on Nov. 7, 1935. Mr. and Mrs. Upchurch lost a little girl at that time and they owned the land where the cemetery had been since the early 80's and also owned the land on the other side of the road and lived opposite the cemetery, and after their little girl was placed in the cemetery they deeded the land to the Public, which would protect it from someone trying to get hold of the land. Why it was not recorded until 1935 I do not know" *CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE DEDICATION OF THE CEMETERY* My original theory was that the cemetery began as a family plot when the Churchill girl was buried there, but there were many burials prior to 1890. However it was William Upchurch who was responsible for making the land a public burial site. Ironically, the Churchill girl does not appear on any listing for the cemetery. Unfortunately, the cemetery is not giving up any secrets. It has been so severely vandalized, that only 6 readable stones remain, although at least two have been moved to Riverside cemetery in the past years. ~Click here to view the list of pioneers buried in the Washoe cemetery~ |
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| ~Last updated May 1, 2005~ |
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| This page was created and is maintained by Patty Theurer, seymour784@yahoo.com. It's sole purpose is to help remember and preserve a portion of Payette's history and the pioneers who settled here. |
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