THE TOMBSTONE TOURIST VISITS: BELLEFONTAINE CEMETERY

I first visited St. Louis in March of 2010 hen I was on the way to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Oklahoma City. In 2013 my NCAA Tournament Vacation took me to Kansas City and I once again stopped in St. Louis.  When I first started researching things to see and do in St. Louis, the first thing that I wanted to do was visit the famous Gateway Arch, and many of the downtown attractions. But also high on my list was a visit to some of the area's historic cemeteries, including St. Peter's, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Calvary and Bellefontaine.

During my 2010 visit I spent the better part of an entire day visiting Bellefontaine and Calvary Cemeteries. These two cemeteries are located on Florissant Avenue, north of downtown St. Louis.shortly after  The surrounding area is not the best and I was a little apprehensive as I got closer to the the cemetery.

Bellefontaine Cemetery is a very large cemetery consisting of more than 300-acres and is the final resting place of close to 100,000 people. The cemetery was founded in 1849 and some of the first burials were a result of the area's worst cholera epidemic. In the years that followed some of our nations most notable citizens were buried here.

I arrived at Bellefontaine Cemetery shortly after 9 a.m. and stopped at the office where I picked up a driving tour map and a small booklet that details the history of many of the historic figures that are buried here.

BUSCH MAUSOLEUM: As a young man Adolphus Busch  delivered supplies to local breweries and met and married the daughter of Eberhardt Anheuser. After the Civil War Adolphus joined his father-in-law in the brewery business.  Together the two grew their locally brewery into Anheuser-Busch, which is today the world's largest brewery company, featuring 12-brewery's in the United States and is also one of the worlds largest theme park operators.

SAMUEL HAWKEN: In the early 1800's, brothers Jacob and Samuel Hawken opened a gun shop in St. Louis. Their Hawken Rifle quickly became a favorite of the the mountain men, replacing the Kentucky Long Rifle. Jacob died in 1849 and Samuel continued the business until the late 1850's when he sold his business to J. P. Gemmer who continued the tradition until 1915 when the shop finally closed.  Samuel Hawken died on May 9, 2884 at the age of 92.

GENERAL STERLING PRICE: General Price was a veteran of the Mexican War and governor of Missouri from 1853 to 1857. He originally tried to keep Missouri in the Union but later joined the Confederacy and rose to the rank of Major General. When it became apparent that the South would lose the war, Price and a few of his loyal followers fled to Mexico to serve in the army of Emperor Maximilian.  He returned to St. Louis late in life and died here on September 29, 1867.  Evidently the actor John Wayne was fond of General Price as Rock Hudson's Character in the Movie "The Undefeated" was loosely based on the Civil War life of General Price.  Finally Rooster Cogburn's Cat in the the John Wayne Movie "True Grit" was named - General Sterling Price.

GENERAL WILLIAM CLARK: General Clark along with Meriwether Lewis led the expedition that explored the upper Louisiana Territory all the way to the Pacific ocean.  Lewis and Clark, lead the Corp of Discovery on the expedition that departed St. Louis in 1804 and returned in 1806. Following their return, Lewis was either murdered or committed suicide while traveling on the Natchez Trace south of Columbia, Tennessee. General Clark Married Julia Hancock in 1808. In addition to caring for his own family General Clark cared for the children of Sacagawea after she died in 1812. He also later served as Governor of the Missouri  Territory for 7-years, and when Missouri became a state, he ran for Governor of the State but lost the election. After loosing the election Clark continued his work in Indian Affairs and was respected for his ethical and fair treatment of Native Americans. William Clark remained in St. Louis and died here on September 1, 1838.  General Clark

THOMAS HART BENTON: When Missouri became a state in 1821, Benton became it's first United States Senator. He was a defender of the Union and lobbied for Missouri to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Benton was also a staunch supporter of expansion and was responsible for the eastern portions of the Missouri Pacific Railroad starting in St. Louis, resulting in the City becoming the  industrial and business center of the Midwest. Benton also was featured in a notorious part of local history when he and lawyer Charles Lucas fought a duel on Bloody Island in the Mississippi River. Lucas was wounded but survived the first duel, but was mortally wounded during the second one.  Senator Thomas Hart Benton died on April 10, 1858, in Washington, D. C.






I spent more than 4-hours touring Bellefontaine during my 2010 Visit and returned in 2013 and spend another 3-hours here. Once again, Bellefontaine is a very large and historic cemetery and the management embraces their history. Throughout the cemetery, visitors will see different colored line painted down the center of the road. These colors of the lines represent the different tours available, one tour highlights a Civil War Tours that takes you to notable graves of Civil War figures. Another tour is basically the historical tour which is the longest tour and highlights many of the historical figures that are buried here.

Whether you are pushed for time or have all day to spend in the Cemetery, I encourage you to stop at the office and pickup a driving tour map. It will help and enlighten as you make you way around Historic Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Here is a short Video highlighting my two visits to Bellefontaine Cemetery.