Originally published Saturday, December 5, 1998

By JON HAHN  
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST

This bluff overlooking the Snoqualmie River at Fall City is the final encampment for Snoqualmies. Some lived near here long before there even was a Fall City, and all their days were Salmon Days.

No one knows for sure how many members of the Snoqualmie Tribe are buried in what is generally called "the old Indian section" of the tiny Fall City Cemetery. And no one knows for sure just how long it has been sacred ground for the tribe, only that it was a burial ground long before white settlers acquired the much larger portion of the land for their own cemetery.

"Many of the (Snoqualmie) graves are unmarked and always have been, so far as we know," said Andy de los Angeles, tribe chairman.

A 10-foot totem pole at one end of the section is the only sign that sets the section apart from the main cemetery. The pole was commissioned for the grave of a former Snoqualmie chief, Jerry Kanim. But some of the tombstones are so old and weathered that they cannot be read. And some are simple hand-carved wood markers.

But one especially prominent gravestone memorializes "Grandma" and notes her death on July 2, 1888, at the age of 130. "That was Grandma Moses," recalled Mary Anne Hinzman, a half-blood Snoqualmie and vice chairwoman of the tribal council. "We had many members who lived a long time. Although no one kept records, they marked their birthdays by notching a wooden stick. Grandmother Louie had 124 notches on her stick when she died, but she's buried up in one of the Muckleshoot cemeteries."

The several dozen stones and markers here designate the resting places of other Snoqualmies who were elders in every sense of the word. Ed Davis, a particularly revered tribal elder, rests beneath a stone with the dates 1888-1987. And Jennie Davis Harris, 1843-1943. And Dwenar E. Forgue, July 1898-December 1983.

Jerry Kanim, last full chief of the Snoqualmies, is buried here (1869-February 1956), along with his wife, Jenny (Feb. 22, 1878-Dec. 18, 1952). A simple wooden marker with inscribed letters painted white marks the grave of "Rev. James Enick 1909-1988" not far from a smaller wooden marker that declares simply: "The Enick Babies." Two tiny wood crosses are inscribed with the names "Annie Moses" and "Albert Moses."

"Our people were buried here long before this became the white man's cemetery," de los Angeles said. "Still today, skeletal remains occasionally come out of the hillsides around here. Unfortunately, when they are found, particularly in areas being developed, no one tells us. That happens all the time."

This overlook originally was set aside by the tribe as its own burial ground, according to Hinzman. "Jerry Kanim's sister married the first white settler in the valley, and she donated the property to the cemetery association on the condition that we would have our own section there, and that she could live out her life in her cedar plank house on the property. She's buried up there, too."

Occasionally, when people are seen placing flowers or other tributes at a grave site, they are asked details of the burial so Hinzman and her husband can mark the site and prepare a grave marker. "In the old days, people were buried in cedar caskets and they eventually rotted and the ground sank. Those sinkholes were eventually filled in, and it has been difficult to mark exactly where the burials were. No one kept records," Hinzman said.

The section includes burials from outside the Snoqualmie Tribe. "Jerry Kanim had a close friend, a white man, who had no means for burial, and he is buried there. And about 10 years ago, the University of Washington returned the bones of a Duwamish, and that tribe had no burial ground of their own, so we found a place for them here," said Hinzman. "My husband and I are making a headstone for that one, in addition to all the others we've made."

A cousin had been taking care of the cemetery years before, she said, but the ground gradually fell into disrepair, overgrown with weeds and high grass. "When my mother died, I promised her we'd take care of the cemetery. She's buried there. And we've been caring for it as best we can ever since," Hinzman said.

When a Snoqualmie wishes to be buried there, the family tries to find a spot near other family members. But since many of the graves were unmarked -- and many other markers were damaged or removed by vandals in years past -- bones are sometimes unearthed, according to Josephine Gabel, whose parents are buried there.

"If the family has money, they might hire someone to come in and dig the grave. Otherwise, mostly the family members dig the grave. And if they find another grave, they keep the bones. And then they rebury the bones in another spot. When the Moses boys dug a grave for their mother, they found another grave and had to do that."

Even so, not all Snoqualmies are buried here. His own grandfather, says de los Angeles, lies in an unmarked grave in a wooded area on the east side of Lake Sammamish. "There are burial sites like that throughout King County and Puget Sound. Whether or not there are markers depends sometimes on their religious affiliation. Tribe members are also buried in Catholic and Protestant cemeteries."

But this small piece of land is sacred to the Snoqualmies, and this is where de los Angeles, 46, says he will be buried. "To Snoqualmies, this is like our Arlington Cemetery."