Just a few feet from the Utah-Wyoming border, on the North Slope of the Uinta Mountains, lies Suicide Park. Within it sits a small, eerie burial ground — Suicide Park Cemetery. The name is unsettling, but this may be the only cemetery of its kind in the U.S.
Life in the Tie Hack Camps: Building the Railroads One Log at a Time
Suicide Park Cemetery is part of what remains of a tie hack camp that was located in this area from approximately 1916 until the 1930’s. Tie hacks provided railroad companies with the timber for railroad ties. The work was grueling, often in harsh conditions. Laying just one mile of track required around 3,000 railroad ties. They worked 10-hour days for what would now be about $140 per day.1http://www.sweetwaternow.com/history-of-union-pacific-tie-hacks
They moved from camp to camp, building small cabins, which they often dismantled and took to the next site. There are a couple of cabins remaining in the Suicide Park Cemetery area.
Tragedy in the Woods: The Lives Lost at Suicide Park
The First Grave: Ole Olsen’s Final Days
The first recorded death that occurred at camp was that of Ole Olsen (one newspaper lists his name as Olaf Nelsen). Ole or Olaf was 75 years old and the only man buried here that I could not locate a death certificate for. Some say he was offered a chance to return to town and die in comfort, but he refused. Days later, they found him dead in his bed. His tombstone lists May 14, 1928, but a newspaper article from June 1 gives May 26 as the date of death.
Jack Rose: Suicide or Something More?
Jack Rose died on June 1, 1928. His death certificate estimates his age at 60 and lists his cause of death as “unknown.” Little is known about him, except that people believed he was born in Colorado. Searchers found a gun near his body, leading many to assume he died by suicide. However, some suspected foul play. Officials simply recorded his cause of death as unknown. They buried Jack on June 8, 1928, alongside others in what would become Suicide Park Cemetery.
Charlie Mattsen: The Death That Gave Suicide Park Its Name
On October 14, 1930, a fellow tie hack discovered Charles Mattsen’s body in the forest. It was his death which would give this location its macabre name. They found Charlie’s body with his throat slashed and a razor blade nearby. Like with Jack Rose, the marker gives more information behind Charlie’s death. Charlie drank heavily, and his friends worried about his mental state. Shortly before his death, his friends hid his guns. Charlie Mattsen was buried on October 21st, 1930.
Although records are scarce, logging camps operated in this area through the mid to late 1930s. Suicide Park Cemetery stands as one of the few remaining traces of the tie hack era. While other deaths occurred during this time, families or officials buried most in Mountain View, Wyoming. The reason for burying these men at camp remains unknown.