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| Raymond "Dutch" Bartram |
I'm one of those strange people who loves traipsing through cemeteries. I love to pay respects to my own ancestors, but I'm really happy just to go exploring any old cemetery, admiring the beautiful gravestones and wondering about the lives of the people who now reside in these permanent homes.
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| Dutch and his sister, Grace Bartram |
One of my favorite family graves, though, is that of my Great Uncle Dutch (aka Raymond Bartram), who was born September 1, 1907, in Harveyville, Kansas. Dutch was my
Grandpa John's older brother and rodeo partner-in-crime. He and Grandpa John were the first of our Bartram pioneers in California. Having caught a freight train out here to start their cowboy lives, they eventually went back to Kansas, and then came back to the Golden State with their parents and several other siblings.
Tragically, Uncle Dutch's life was cut short on January 12, 1954, when he was walking across San Pablo Avenue and was hit by a bus. His wife, Helen, had this wonderful gravestone made as a tribute to his full, yet too short, life.
Dutch was buried at Lone Tree Cemetery in Hayward, Alameda County, California. The tribute reads:
I have hung up my spurs and saddle
Put my horse in the old Corral
Bid Goodbye to my pals in the bunkhouse
And the range that I loved so well.
What a cool gravestone! I love reading about your rodeo/cowboy heritage. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jen! I'm such a city girl now, but I really do embrace my cowboy heritage. Those guys were just so cool!
ReplyDeleteWendy, thanks for recording the Bartram family history here, especially this one about Dutch and your grandpa John. Dutch was gone before either of us were born but Uncle John was a sweet man in his later years when I knew him, not the rail hopping, rodeoing cowboy they were as young men. What a life they led! Hopefully you’re getting the stories passed down by your aunts and uncles to share with all interested in real cowboys. Include your uncle Clay’s stories as well. Very proud of you and the Bartram family.
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