GPR Study

Friends of Midas is responsible for maintenance of the Midas Cemetery, which is believed to have been first utilized in 1908.

Over the years, fire and theft took their toll on the Midas Cemetery, and all but three grave markers vanished. No cemetery map or formal records have been located. Elko County death certificates, obituaries, and local memories indicate that as many as 28 people may have been buried there between 1908 and 1991, but no one is quite sure where all of those graves actually are.
To locate the historic graves, Friends of Midas contracted with Nevada’s highly respected Desert Research Institute (DRI) to conduct a survey using drone and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology. Geoarchaeologist Dr. Teresa Wriston and GPR expert Dr. Nathan Chellman conducted field work in Midas in August of 2023 with the assistance of several local volunteers.

After returning to Reno, the DRI team analyzed their findings to identify anomalies in the ground that may be burial locations. DRI’s final report was presented to a joint meeting of Friends of Midas and AmArcs of Nevada in Reno on April 10, 2024. Dr. Wriston, Dr. Chellman, and Dr. Bennett (FOM President) also made a presentation at UNR’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on July 10, 2024. You can read the full report here. 

The DRI team identified areas of significant disturbance, which are likely burials, but they did not find 25 distinct burial chambers. In addition to the three known pre-1991 graves (John Rice, Emma Halsell, and Gardiner Bliss), only a handful of strong possibilities appeared in the GPR data. Even those possibilities did not reflect the deep burial of caskets.

This unexpected outcome can be understood in several ways. First, it is highly likely that the current picket fence does not encompass the original cemetery. The original fence was destroyed before 1956, and the current fence was placed in a best-guess location 40 years later. Dr. Wriston’s drone surveys and her expertise in large-scale archaeology suggested that additional graves may be located south of the main gate under the current parking area and perhaps even farther south of that. The current access roads were built late in the 20^th century; the topography and local memories indicate that the original access road came up to the cemetery from the trees known as “Grandma’s Place,” adding to the assumption that graves may be to the south of the current fence. Additional field work would be required to analyze this hunch.

In light of DRI’s findings, the Elko County death records were studied again, and an interesting omission was noted. Only one death certificate recorded that the deceased was buried in the “Midas Burial Ground”; the others simply record “Midas” as the burial location. Thus, some of the deceased might not necessarily be buried in the area known today as the Midas Cemetery.

There is also a strong possibility that bodies were simply wrapped in shrouds for burial rather than placed in caskets. Midas imported all lumber, making it expensive, and none of the surviving records indicate that the local stores included pre-made caskets in their inventory. No undertakers operated their business in Midas. Simple burials, especially of infants and people without families in town, would not leave as deep a disturbance in the earth as a casket would have.

In further analyzing the study’s conclusions, it was noted that relatively few Midas residents were buried in their town. Of the hundreds of people who lived in this town between 1908 and 1942 when the mines closed, no more than 28 were buried here. Longtime Midas residents were not buried in this cemetery, even if they died in town. Midas also had no churches. Likely, this burial ground was never consecrated. Without a church in Midas to host funerals, Midas families chose to bury their loved ones in established cemeteries, such as Winnemucca’s.

This fascinating study is a marvelous contribution to understanding the complex history of this early 20^th century mining town. Friends of Midas will continue to research the history of this place and maintain it in its current footprint. Rather than marking historic graves individually, the areas of known disturbance will be protected, and a sign will be installed at the main gate to remember the names of those who rest in the area, whether their remains are actually within the picket fence or not. All known burials (1908-2020) are listed on the Midas Cemetery page at FindAGrave.com.

As the landowner, Elko County will utilize DRI’s work to map out acceptable sites for future inurnments and ensure that the historical sites are not inadvertently disturbed. A process is being established for the future burial of ashes and installation of monuments. Thus, the Midas Cemetery will be both an historic site and a continuing asset to the community. For more information, contact FriendsofMidas@gmail.com