Belle Fourche man looks to drive cemetery vandals out of the Hills

By Milo Dailey, Belle Fourche Post | Wednesday, December 06, 2006

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BELLE FOURCHE -- Vern Davis and others whose roots grow deep into the Black Hills are just plain angry over a recent rash of cemetery vandalism that has spread throughout the Black Hills, including Belle Fourche.

In response to the vandals, Davis is helping head a drive to offer at least two $4,000 cash rewards for the arrest and conviction of Black Hills area cemetery vandals in South Dakota and Wyoming.

“It makes my blood boil,” the Belle Fourche native said of the vandalism.

But the Belle Fourche native now living in Beulah, Wyo., isn’t the only person in the Hills trying to make life difficult for cemetery vandals.

Last week, the Society of Black Hills Pioneers -- people whose ancestors were in the Hills for the nation’s centennial in 1876 -- asked Deadwood Historic Preservation for a grant to offer the rewards and another $1,000 to post signs on area cemeteries noting the reward.

And Vern Davis’ brother Ken, a Pennington County Commissioner, led that county to petition the S.D. Legislature to make cemetery vandalism a felony.

Both brothers still have a Belle Fourche connection with their mother a resident at Belle Fourche Regional Long Term Care Center.

Vern Davis has been vocal about his anger over the desecration of area gravesites, especially at the 120-year-old Minnesela Cemetery where vandals knocked down and damaged gravestones, including those of seven Civil War Veterans.

At least two cemeteries in the Hills have been vandalized, including one near Piedmont and the one at Minnesela that overlooks Belle Fourche.

Other cemetery vandalism has been reported in St. Onge, Spearfish and Whitewood.

Gravestones in the Belle Fourche cemetery have been painted, and at least one tombstone was found on U.S. Highway 85 in Spearfish Canyon several years ago. Davis said nobody knows where it belongs. The name on the marker is Susan P. Johnson Smith.

Davis said that’s simply one example of how history is lost through the vandalism; nobody even knows what cemetery the stone was stolen from. One thing Davis said he does know, however, is that whoever stole the gravestone should be caught and prosecuted.

“Do not feel sorry for anyone arrested for desecration of cemeteries,” he said. “It doesn’t take much of a human being to attack a man or woman who has been dead for 100 years.”

Among photos Davis carries when looking for funds for the reward project are of damaged stones marking the graves of his great uncle and his wife, Jabez and Mary Spaulding.

Davis said he hopes Deadwood preservation dollars can pay the amount needed, but he said the Pioneer Society also hopes to have cash donations from those interested in preserving the area’s history.

“We’re basically out begging for funds,” Davis said. “We need funds to get this thing started and get it off the ground.”

The cemeteries Davis hopes to protect with signs and reward money are in the counties of Butte, Meade, Lawrence, Pennington, Fall River and Custer in South Dakota and Crook and Weston in Wyoming.

Those interested in helping the society should call Vernon Davis at 643-7178, Marty Jolley at 341-5104 or Doris Shipley at 722-2315.