Cemeteries

John Wilkinson, a Mormon convert from England, was a monument maker and
many of his beautiful monuments grace the Silver Reef cemeteries.

The Chinese were there quite strong, with restaurants, laundries, stores, etc.
some 250 Chinamen occupied, or resided in the Chinese sector. Quite a number
died and were buried in the Chinaman's Grave yard, and those burials were
interesting affairs to the local people and the Indians. The Indians really
profitted by them, because they slipped up, under cover of darkness and carried
away the foods placed on the graves to feed the dead one's spirit on its way to
its spiritual habitation.

After the decline of Silver Reef a Chinaman, Sam Gee, came from San
Francisco, dug up all Chinese dead, and shipped their remains to the land of
their ancestors, to insure their future with those ancestors' spirits. He brought
chests of tea to ship these remains in. The young fry were much interested in
his queue hanging down his back.

There was not an organized Mormon ward in Silver Reef, but Mormon men
from Leeds or St. George were often there to officiate at funerals, and also held
church services often, ceasing to do it when they were no longer attended.