Weekly Photo Challenge: Wildlife

Deer in Mount Olivet Cemetery

In March 2008, I visited Salt Lake City for the World Horror Convention.  The con committee was so amazingly helpful that when I asked about visiting cemeteries, they assigned a driver to help me reach Mount Olivet Cemetery, out near the Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the 2002 Olympic Flame still burns.  We had a great afternoon poking around in the graveyard.

In the 1870s, non-Mormons wanted a graveyard where they could be buried separately from Mormons.  President Ulysses S. Grant signed an order in 1874 granting 20 acres of the Fort Douglas military post to be used as a non-denominational, non-profit cemetery.  Opened in 1877, it is the second oldest public burial ground in Salt Lake City.

The cemetery is the final home to many congressmen, senators, mayors of Salt Lake City, Civil War generals, a Utah governor, and many Mormons as well.  It’s also home to a large herd of white-tailed deer.

Mount Olivet links:

Map of the area

Friends of Mount Olivet tour

The Salt Lake Architecture blog

A Flickr set