Old Bones Cemetery

Marmes Rd, Lyons Ferry State Park, WA, 99371

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GPS Coordinates: 46.604010, -118.215229
Location: Franklin County, Washington State
Record count: 1

Ownership: Lyons Ferry State Park

Directions: This cemetery can be reached from Highway 261 taking the Ranger Station road (Marmes Rd) to the west just past the Lyons Ferry State Park. There is parking below the ranger station at the trail head where there is about 1/4 mile hike up to the top.

Background: Chief Old Bones was a Cayuse-born Indian and the last of the Palouse Indian tribal chiefs. When he died in 1916, his body was laid to rest just above the Snake River in the Indian cemetery near the village. His grave was the only grave marked with a stone. In 1969, the Lower Monumental Dam was completed. Before the water level was raised, the Indian remains were exhumed and relocated to a single large grave north of Lyons Ferry inside the present-day state park.

Burial Records

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Tombstone of Chief Old Bones, at Lyons Ferry State Park, WA.
"Beneath this marker are located the remains of 135 individuals, recovered from the desecrated Intian Cemetery at the mouth of the Tucannon River."
This plaque commemorates the last resting place of the Palouse Indians, the original inhabitants of the area.