Pioneer Cemetery: Carson City, Nevada

Pioneer Cemetery is the original graveyard in Carson City. Many graves were moved, but a lone few remain. The most notable is Major Ormsby, for whom the county was named. A few graves remain, including the first Nevada law enforcement officer to loose his life in the line of duty.

Ghost Towning

I never know where the inspiration for my next trip will strike. My family and friends shake their heads regarding my seemingly scattered thought processes. Pioneer Cemetery in Carson City had been on my list to visit but I was always running through and never had time to stop.

While helping Nevada ghost town author Stan Paher with his booth in Genoa at the Candy Dance, I picked up a copy of Alkali Angels by Marilyn Newton. The book details the author’s travels through Nevada, documenting the graveyards, many forgotten. The first graveyard in her book was Pioneer Cemetery, my neglected exploration. After dragging myself out of bed Sunday morning, tired from trying to keep up with Stan, I told Hubby we were headed to the Capitol to explore cemeteries.

Pioneer Cemetery was the first graveyard in Nevada’s capitol, Carson City. The cemetery is on a hill overlooking the town, and was also known as Walsh Cemetery.

Pioneer Cemetery was used as early as 1860, four years before Nevada gained statehood. In the mid-1860s most of the graves were relocated to Lone Mountain Cemetery on the east side of Carson City. Five headstones remain in the cemetery but records indicate additional graves have been lost to history.

Major William Ormsby

The most notable headstone is that of Major William Ormsby. Ormsby was killed on May 12, 1860, in an ambush during the Pyramid Lake War. Ormsby’s family exhumed and moved his remains to Oakland in 1880; a grey granite cross marks his original grave site.

William S. Allen

William S. Allen, a scout during the Pyramid Lake War, is buried a few hundred feet away from Ormsby. He was killed while leading a scouting party called out by Colonel Haynes. Allen was one of the last fatalities of the war on June 5, 1860.

Sheriff John Blackburn

Sheriff Blackburn was the first Nevada law enforcement officer to lose his life in the line of duty. He was stabbed to death in the Nicholas Saloon by William Mayfield. Mayfield was found guilty of murder and sentenced to prison but escaped. Blackburn was buried along with his friends and Pyramid Lake Veterans Ormsby and Allen.

Edward B. Buckley

Edward Buckley died Nov 17, 1868 at age 25 years. He was a native of Kanturk, Co. Cork, Ireland. The headstone was erected by his brother, John B. Buckley.

Mary Lou Gardner

Little Mary Lou Gardner was only a year and a half old when her parents lost her on November 14, 1861.

Pioneer Cemetery now sits in the middle of modern Carson City at the end of 5th Street. The graves and trails line the backyards of residential housing. A vacant lot has a short trail leading to the cemetery. I was told the lot recently sold and access may be more difficult soon.

Visited 9-26-2021

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References

• Around Carson: Pioneer Cemetery
• Carson City, Nevada: Pioneer Cemetery
• Nevada Expeditions: Pioneer Cemetery
• Newton, Marilyn. Alkali Angels: Recording Nevada’s Historic Graveyards. Carmel Publishing Company, 2004. Pages 12-13.
• Paher, Stanley.  Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps.  Nevada Publications, 1970.  Page 47.

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