UWEC Researchers Join Efforts to Identify Unknown Graves in Menomonie
local org, UW-Eau Claire continue identification efforts at Dunn County Potter’s Field
One mile east of Menomonie’s small-town hustle and bustle, settled amongst a sparse community surrounding the Municipal Airport, sits the Dunn County Potter’s Field, a historical site with more than 100 unmarked graves.
Potter’s Field – historically a burial site for the unclaimed, unknown, or indigent – was established around 1890 (known burials date between 1892 and 1952) and primarily was used to bury residents of the Dunn County Asylum and the Dunn County Poor Farm. While the county did place small metal markers at the time of burial, most of these and any identifying information has been lost to history. About 12 years ago the Friends of Potter’s Field was formed by Co-Chairs Sofi Doane and Dave Williams.
It's important to all of us that we show respect for these former residents of the County, who through misfortune, poverty, bad luck, or other reasons, ended up buried in Potter's Field. –Dave Williams
“Those of us involved in the Friends of Potter's Field do so because we believe the people buried there deserve a decent burial site, and deserve the respect we accord other cemeteries,” Williams said.
The group recently began on-site collaborative identification efforts with Dr. Harry Jol, a UW-Eau Claire professor of geography and anthropology, and his students. While the group has been in contact with Jol for several years, this year, he was able to formally incorporate the endeavor into coursework. Undergraduate student Tristan Wirkus took a special interest in the Dunn County project for his Blugold Fellowship. Notably, the team completed a scan of roughly one quarter of Potter’s Field on Nov. 11.
“We’re imaging into the earth,” Jol said, who compared the technology behind the project, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), to the technology used in MRIs. “They’re all using the same techniques, but at different frequencies. … If you turn on your radio, that’s the frequency we’re using.”
In addition to GPR, Jol and his students have used drones, experimenting with different lenses to spot irregularities in the ground’s sub-surface. So far, the team has mapped what appears to be several additional burial sites. However, covering the entire field with such efforts will take several weeks, and the pro bono research is set to continue into the new year.
With challenges such as weather (it is Wisconsin, after all), permits (including drone operator permits), and finding additional time with those involved during the academic year, it is clear the project’s “why” far outweighs the obstacles.
“These are the marginalized, underrepresented populations that, even here in Eau Claire, we put a parking lot over (the) top of,” Jol said. “We’re just trying to make people aware of this and realize that every county in this country has one of these.”
Through prior research by The Friends of Potter's Field, Doane was able to identify at least 110 burials in the field. The Friends hope the latest collaborative project will pinpoint burial locations as well as provide an accurate count of the total number of burials. There is hope that these efforts may help locate footstones – markers at the foot of a grave – too, one of which the Friends previously discovered by sheer luck.
While the new project efforts continue to progress, an incredible amount of work in honoring those at Potter’s Field has already been made by the Friends. “When we began our work the cemetery was badly overgrown, seldom mowed, and hardly respectful. We now have it well mown, have established flower beds along the edges, and have erected two signs, one with a listing of the known burials and the other a memorial to the six veterans we know are buried there (three Civil War, three World War I),” Williams said. “It's important to all of us that we show respect for these former residents of the county, who through misfortune, poverty, bad luck, or other reasons, ended up buried in Potter's Field.”
To pay your respects, directions to the field and further info can be found on the Dunn County Potter’s Field website. Additionally, follow the Friends of Potters Field on Facebook to keep up with their progress.
