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In 1968 an article in the Fresno Bee (a newspaper
in Fresno County California) ran an article asking for information about
a grave site found in the Sierra Nevada mountains, below the Westfall Ranger
Station. The article reads as follows:
"On a lonely hillside under the big pines, about
a mile west of 41 highway, and near Westfall Ranger Station, are two graves,
tended for many years by Cora Ives. Since her death in 1966, Joe Schmeller,
U.S. Forrest Service Bass Lake District, and his wife and four children
have placed a fence around the graves and cleared the debris from them,
honoring the One grave has a marker that states "J.
E. La Touche died May 17, 1893, aged 45 years nine months. At the
top is the word father. Was his father here in the woods with him? Who
was he? What did he do? The other grave had only a broken wooden cross
with O Neill on it. Schmeller has replaced
this with a sturdy wooden marker and seeks information about the correct
spelling and complete initials and date for O Neill,
so the grave may be marked properly. Was he the homesteader that built
his log cabin beside the hidden meadow about 3 miles west of Westfall Station?
If so he probably came to the mountains in the 1880's for his health. The
homesteader was cutting post sections one day, his saw blade pinched, the
log rolled on his legs, he could not get to water, tried to dig out with
his hands but died there. In 1928 Cora Ives moved to the meadow, which
was a grazing allotment owned by the Ives family. For many years she shared
her knowledge of wild life and wild flowers in her writings. Anyone knowing
more of the history of O'Neal or the O'Neill whose grave she tended or
about J. E. LaTouche is asked to contact Joe Schmeller, Bass Lake District
Ranger, Oakhurst. The meadow lies green and lush, surrounded by trees.
A timber sale is in progress and an improved campground is planned along
Carter Creek nearby. The old cabin has been torn down and a Boy Scout Troop
will stage a cleanup as part of their conservation program. The rotting
grape arbor still stands, the orchard trees still blossom each spring,
and a yellow roses blooms, as if in memory of those who lived here."
Sharon Hillhouse adds the following on J. E. Latouche:
I got my information from a newspaper article
in the Fresno Bee dated 6/18/1968. Last year a forest ranger found the
site for me and drew a map. I visited this summer [1999] and found the
grave no longer has a headstone. Previously there was a headstone with
the date of death. There is an old fence and one other grave marked as
O'Neil. Mr. J. E. Latouche was the husband of Phebe E. Branson of Hornitos
and father of William, Isaac, Henry, Jeannie and an infant girl.
Zelda Dubel adds the following:
John Rufus "Ruff" O'Neil died at age 55 (Obituary: Mariposa Gazette
26 Sept 1891).
From "As We Were Told," (1990, Coarsegold Hist. Soc.), page 75, interview
of Lewis Kinser Duncan 25 Oct 1983.
O'Neals Meadow. "The other grave was George LaToush's.
He had a cabin in the timber by Miami Lodge, above Miami Road. The
Madera Sugar Pine Company owned all timber except this little place he
had--ten or fifteen acres. Timber was being cut around his house.
The loggers told him to get out because they were going to fall the timber
and if he didn't leave, they might fall a tree through his house.
He owned the land and didn't think they had a right, so he didn't leave.
The loggers cut a great tree which did fall through the cabin and killed
him. Those are the two people who are buried in the little cemetery
alongside the road. My grandmother told this story."
More information was added by
the Sierra Star in Oakhurst at
https://sierranewsonline.com/walking-up-a-dirt-road-westfall-picnic-area-up-miami-mountain-road-2/.
John Eldridge "Jack"
LaTouche (1847-1893) was born in Massachusetts. On his Civil War
pension card he is also known as John E. Phalen. He married Phoebe
Ellen Turner on 27 Nov 1884 in Mariposa Superior Court. They had
children Isaac, William, Jeanie, and Henry.
Obituary - Mariposa Gazette, May 20, 1893:
DIED. LaTouche – At Twin Springs, Mariposa county,
May 16th 1893, John E. LaTouche, aged 48 years, a native
of Massachusetts.
The deceased was a pioneer to the mountains of
this county, and had many friends among the settlers in this
neighborhood. He was an open hearted man, generous to a fault. He
served as a private soldier during the Civil War, and his record in
the army was clear and honorable. A widow and four young children
are left to face the world without him.
* * * * *
John Ruffin "Rough" O'Neal (1836-1891) was born in
Tennessee, son of John O'Neal and Hannah O'Dell. He did not marry or
have children.
Obituary -
The Daily Morning Republican (Fresno), Sept. 25, 1891:
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