JOSEPH — A Wallowa County man says he’s been asking since 2021 for a fence to be repaired at the Hurricane Creek Pioneer Cemetery, but to little avail.

For Evan Bryan, a self-employed public policy consultant, the issue is personal. He said his grandparents were involved in helping preserve the cemetery. He has ancestors buried in the cemetery, which he visits regularly, and his grandparents were involved in efforts to preserve it.

“In the 1990s, a group of people came together to ensure the cemetery was recognized and not harmed as the airport expanded,” Bryan said. “My grandparents were a part of it, and they fenced it off with a pretty heavy-duty fence and tried to preserve the grounds. A group of volunteers, and Hurricane Creek Grange, led the effort on that. My grandparents contributed, along with several others who are either very elderly or have passed by now.”

Charles Phillips, chair of the board that oversees the cemetery, said part of the fence was removed in 2021, during the Wallowa County Fly-In, to help ensure the safety of participants in the annual air show. He said the fence was restored after this year’s Fly-In, but that a portion of it will come down every year for the event. He said there are no plans to restore the fence to its original state.

Bryan said he was told the Joseph Cemetery Maintenance District originally gave permission for the Fly-In to cut the fence down so the planes could have more space to land safely, as well as to perform aerobatic tricks, though the fence did not interfere with normal day-to-day airport operations.

The fence is property of the cemetery, and since the Joseph Cemetery Maintenance District allegedly gave permission to Fly-In officials to cut the fence, neither the Fly-In nor airport will pay to repair the fence, Bryan said.

Costly repairs

With posts set in concrete, proper repairs will be costly, Bryan said. The original cost to build the fence back in the 1990s was in the thousands, and roughly 100 feet of fence was cut down.

Bryan feels he has been civil in asking for the fence to be repaired, but he also feels he is being ignored. He has given those responsible for the fence and cemetery until Nov. 30 to take action on repairing the fence. Bryan chose this date because it allows for the district to coordinate with a contractor before winter sets in.

“I hope they will do the right thing and put it back up, but if they don’t, we will have to seek a court order, and I am prepared to do that,” Bryan said. “I hope we can avoid that, but I do think the law has been broken. I know about the hard work the volunteers and the Grange put into fundraising for this fence. It was a community effort to fundraise for it.”

Bryan believes that the district, as well as Fly-In organizers, have broken a state law that prohibits abuse to a memorial of the dead.

“As the legal caretakers of the cemetery, the cemetery district leadership should be using their positions to improve and maintain cemetery property,” Bryan said. “Since they allowed their Fly-In friends to damage cemetery property, and no improvements were made to the cemetery by their actions, I think they could be in violation of the statute.”

However, Phillips said he does not believe any laws have been broken by the Joseph Cemetery Maintenance District.

A historic cemetery

Since Hurricane Creek Pioneer Cemetery has been labeled a historic cemetery, it is also eligible for grants and funding through the state for the cost of repairs to the fence, Bryan said, though Phillips said the district has not looked into this option.

The cemetery dates back to the 1800s, predating when the Wright brothers took to the sky for the first time in 1903. The cemetery is a burial ground for both cavalry and World War I veterans, Bryan said.

“I find it incredibly disrespectful” that the fence was cut, Bryan said. “It shows a crisis in values. I am just really surprised to see that kind of behavior in this county. I have been in this community my whole life. Hopefully they will take it seriously, but I think they are just hoping I will go away and that I was just spouting off or something. I am not. The cemetery needs someone to speak for it, and I am happy to do so.”

Safety precaution

With permission from the Joseph Cemetery Maintenance District, the Fly-In did take the fence down during demonstrations in 2021, Phillips confirmed.

Planes come in very close contact with the fence that surrounds the perimeter of the cemetery, and he said it was dangerous to keep it in place.

“He (Evan Bryan) has nothing to do with the cemetery, and the fence will be put back up. There was no malicious intent on anyone’s part, it was merely a safety precaution to ensure a plane doesn’t clip the fence,” Phillips said.

Philips also wanted to be clear that no one from the Fly-In or airport messes with the cemetery or goes into it and causes any damage to the cemetery grounds, and that the fence was put back up in 2021 after the Fly-In.

“Cemeteries are public property. If kids were going in there and having parties or something, the neighbors would let us know,” Phillips said.

Phillips said that the fence was put back up in August, but that it will continue to be taken down each year due to safety concerns during the Fly-In and that it will not be repaired back to its original state.

Phillips also said that some power lines near the area are in the process of being moved because of safety concerns for planes during the Fly-In.

Phillips disputed the charge that the district does not give the same level of attention to the Pioneer Cemetery as it does to its active cemetery at Prairie Creek.

“We have someone come in and weed the whole thing each year. In our active cemetery, we have it maintained and mowed, but at the Pioneer Cemetery, you can’t really put a mower in there (because of the unmarked graves). It has be done more carefully and has to be done by hand.”

Phillips also said that the airport has maintained the side yard around the outside of the cemetery for years.