A cemetery on campus

The Eugene Pioneer Cemetery has become incorporated into the campus life at the University of Oregon.

By Heather Wuest

The sun is gleaming brightly on the headstones at the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery as Sydney Smeed looks down at the place where her distant relatives are buried. Tree roots have jostled the ground, and many weeds have sprouted in this small square plot located along the 18th Street side of the cemetery. The old headstones are slightly rundown from being exposed to the weather for nearly 100 years, but they still manage to look captivating in their ornate beauty.

The Smeed family plot is similar to others in the cemetery in offering a glimpse of history to those who wander on the premises. As Sydney pays her respects, one can hear the bustling of people jogging laps around the graveyard's gravel trails, while others use the paths to walk to class. Approximately 3,800 people are buried here, according to a study assembled by the Oregon Genealogical Society in 2000, but this cemetery is significantly different from most. Instead of being a place of somber stillness, the Pioneer Cemetery is engulfed in the center of University of Oregon campus life.

Many heavily traveled paths dissect the graveyard, leading students to places such as Knight Library, McArthur Court, the Rec Center, and 18th Street, making the cemetery the ultimate shortcut. On sunny days, it is not unusual to see people picnicking in the open areas of grass or walking their dogs through the cemetery. Occasionally students set up disc golf courses through the forested areas to create a scenic element to their sporting adventures.

The Pioneer Cemetery was established by Spencer's Butte Lodge No. 9 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1873, but it is now run by the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery Association. For many years the University of Oregon attempted to condemn the property to make way for the university's expansion. However, after the last legal arguments in 1962, the UO embraced the historical importance of the place where many of Eugene's early pioneers are buried. Today, the cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which qualifies it for federal assistance for historic preservation.

Smeed, a UO student who will graduate this term, says she isn't bothered by the commotion in and around the graveyard. "It doesn't bother me at all that students use the graveyard recreationally," she says. "I love that the area is getting some use instead of being abandoned." In Smeed's four years at the UO she has used the cemetery's trails and has even ran on the paths with her track team. Her relatives have been living in Eugene for five generations, and many of them have been buried in this cemetery. They opened many businesses such as the Smeed hotel in downtown Eugene and Smeed Communications, both of which exist today.

"It is unfortunate that some people misuse the cemetery and are not respectful to the deceased," Smeed says, "The other day I saw that someone had pushed over a gravestone, and occasionally I see empty beer bottles littered on the ground." Vandalism is occasionally a problem, but it has decreased in the last few years. Ruth Lakeholms, whom is the secretary of the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery Association, says, "Vandalism levels have been very low since George Dull was hired to live in a small house in the middle of the cemetery and periodically checks the grounds." In the past students were warned not to use the cemetery as a shortcut at night for safety reasons, but the UO Department of Public Safety says that crimes around the cemetery also have dropped dramatically since the hiring of the groundskeeper years ago.

Today the UO welcomes the graveyard to its campus, and it will continue to incorporate the campus life around the cemetery. Lakeholmes says, "It's not disrespectful to leisurely use the cemetery. It's a wonderful green open space that people think of more as a park." As the students walk to basketball games through the paths with their green and yellow school spirit on display, they laugh and shout. They seem to hardly notice that they are walking through a graveyard.

Click the photo below for a slideshow:

This slideshow will provide you with an assortment of photographs from the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery accompanied by a short music track.