Tammy Kaber using ground penetrating radar at the Santa Clara Cemetery (Courtesy Photo)

The large amount of open space in the old Santa Clara/Central Cemetery makes opening a new grave seem as simple as moving in the backhoe and starting to dig. Village burial records, however, do not go back to the origin of the cemetery and the possibility of disturbing unmarked graves troubled Village Officials. How are unmarked burial sites found without disturbing the graves? Santa Clara officials decided to pursue Ground Penetrating Radar, a technology developed to locate underground pipes, cables and conduits and then adapted to the needs of archeology and forensic science, such as burial sites.

The Gila Land Surveying Company, the only business in southwest New Mexico that offers Ground Penetrating Radar service, was contacted. Yes, owner Tammy Kaber, assured the Village Officials, her company had the equipment and experience to find the unmarked graves without disturbing the old burials. No, she promised, her equipment could not €œsee € bones or other remains. The Ground Penetrating Radar allows the surveyor to distinguish the soil disturbed in digging the old grave from the surrounding unbroken earth. Satisfied, a deal was agreed upon and a contract signed.

When the Ground Penetrating Radar survey was completed, it was found that the 930 graves marked with headstones, field stones or mounds accounted for only about two-thirds of the total 1,397 burials present. The missing 497 interments established by the Ground Penetrating Radar represented the graves marked by simple, home-made wooden crosses or graves started, but not completed, during the 149 year history of the cemetery. Until 1894, when one grave was marked with an inscribed headstone, all other grave sites were identified by wooden crosses. Eventually, the wood rotted away or perhaps burned as a grass fire swept across the cemetery. When new generations did not replace the missing crosses, the graves, especially those of Santa Clara/Central’s first thirty years of existence, became “lost.”

The good news is that the locations of the 497 graves, found by Ground Penetrating Radar, and will never be disturbed. The adage, “Rest in Peace,” is now a reality in the historic Santa Clara Cemetery.

Encouraged by the completion of the survey, the Village’s Action and Cemetery Committees are combining their efforts in sponsoring a Cemetery Clean-Up Day on October 24th starting at 9 a.m. All people with relatives or friends interned in the Santa Clara Cemetery are encouraged to come and work as is anyone willing to lend a hand. People who know the identity of any unmarked graves are also invited to come and share that information. Lunch will be served with Raymond-Gene Martinez, mariachi singer, entertaining the workers.