The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1896-10-23

ASAN OSCA 81 UClNlS ACS-
'ected that when he wrote the docu-
ment he spelled the word Orrington.
and in this manner was a good town
name born from very poor photography,
says the Lewiston CMe.) Journal. Dur
ing the LOS years which have passed
since then the people have made very
few plumbers. They not on,.; know
what they want, but they go for it with
4 s et-there impetuosity which generally
wins success.
In fact, some citizens of Orrington
can be truthfully charged with having
too much zeal. One resident a wom-
an, bearing the name of Baker--has
made herself famous for all time by a
little act of thoughtful kindness that
would never have been noticed had it
been done in most towns. Mrs. Baker.
though she lived and died years before
secretary Morton was known, was a
drm believer in Arbor day. She set out
such native trees as she could find
growing on the hills, and sent away to
friends and got several varieties that
lad lately come over from Europe.
One spring morning in the fourth de-
,ade OF the present century a coaster
came in from Boston having a few trees
on board billed to Mrs. Baker. Among
hem was a rare species known as the
honey locust. The agent who sold it
20 her praised it very highly, saying it
aad large racemes of fragrant white
lowers and beautiful pendulous foliage,
making it a most suitable ornament for
cemetery. In addition to these quail
ties, it was thrifty and perfectly hardy.
and could be either grown as q. hedge
Dr. trimmed to a single trunk.
Following the printed instructions
which came with every tree she planted
her honey locust in the family lot in
the old Chaplin cemetery on the road
from Orrington Center to Orrington.
No tree ever kept it's contract more per-
tectly than that honey locust. 1t waxed
Dig and strong in the dry, gravelly soil
Ind raised up many offspring, all of
which grew wonderfully. Fifteen years
alter, when Mrs. Baker laid down the
cares OF life, she was put to rest in a
beautiful grove of her own planting.
Around her grave the wild cypress
grew in rank yellow profusion. Above
1t the red cinnamon rose bloomed all
through the summer months, and over
these the rare honey locusts swayed
their fragrant blossoms, until every
aallylng vino stole away deeply laden
with sweetness. Surely, if there we're
ever a place where death was robbed
Of its terrors this was the spot.
New tenants came to the little four
acre cemetery as the years went on.
The Harrimans, noted for their
strength; the Chapins, famous in fl
nance; the Bakers, with their handsome
children, and several other good people,
having finished their work, were laid
away for a long, sweet rest among the
flowers.
The people died, but the honey To-
Gusts lived. They not only lived. but
took such a joy in living that by 1850
the sexton complained bitterly about
the tough roots of the locust trees
which he was forced to cut out in order
to dig a new grave. In former years
with a spade and a pickax he could
dig a good grave in about four hours.
Now he had to take an ak and a crow
bar along n when he had dug a grave
he found the whole day was used up.
Several wner Of burial plots that
were inclosed with expensive fences,
as we'll as those who had erected stones
or monuments, complained about the
prevalence of locust trees, saying the
tangled growth concealed the graves.
The lots were thickets of brushwood
and even the cemetery paths grew I'D
SO that men had to swamp new roads
whenever a body was inferred on the
further side Of the Enclosure.
About the time the war closed the
residents woke up to the fact that their
beautiful cemetery had been trans
formed into a wilderness, filled with
brambles and noXious thorns. Some
made onslaughts upon the trees CLEAR
ing individual lots here and there),
which at once grew up to young locust
trees from roots on the unreclaimed
lots. Meetings Of lOt-oWners we're ED,
but no definite plan of action was
adopted. Meanwhile the locusts grew
and entrance to the cemetery became
more difficult every year. Shortly after
it was learned that the locusts could
not be e-.adicated the survivors began