BECAUSE DEATH ISN'T CREEPY ENOUGH...

This is the grave of Calamity Jane. She's buried next to Wild Bill Hickok. Her dying words were reputedly, "Bury me next to Wild Bill", and therefore she was. She was said to adore him. I snapped this picture of the monument over her grave site. People leave crosses and rocks at the memorial. What I can't understand is this face that is engraved on all four sides of the headstone, which is quite large. It looks a little like the drama mask symbols, and she WAS an entertainer with Wild Bill's shows in South Dakota, but it's only the "smiley" mask, not the grimacing mask...so I'm a little bit at a loss....there is a definite creep factor here....

Wild Bill's original grave marker was removed. It was made of wood and people kept plucking away at it, so it was replaced with this metally coppery one.
It's sad that "Custer was lonely without him", but I feel that Custer was otherwise occupied in the days to come.

So there you have it. These two people worked together in life. Calamity loved her Bill and was finally united with him in death. I have a soft spot in my heart for Calamity Jane because that is our grandmother's nickname. She was...well...a skosh ahead of the curve for her day and age. She was a corn-cob-pipe-smokin'-votin'-prayin'-bingo-playin'-throw-your-head-back-till-your-belly-shakes-from-laughin'-GRAND-mother. So, paying tribute to THIS Calamity was kind of like paying tribute to OUR Calamity.

Here's to all the Calamity Janes in spirit. Rest in joy.