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Here you see the huge statue that dominates the cemetery, depicting a grieving Mormon couple as they stand over the grave of their child. The statue is very moving; even as a child I cried when I saw it. Nearly all the 600 graves in this cemetery are unmarked, and most are the graves of children, who were not hardy enough to live through the rough conditions, so strictly speaking there isn’t a lot to see in the cemetery itself.

 

According to a 1970 North Omaha Sun article by Mr. Gail Holmes, only 67 of the 5,000 people living at the Florence Winter Quarters in the winter of 1846-1847 are buried here. Most of the burials came from settlers living in the Florence area after the Mormons moved west. There have been virtually no burials in it since the early 1900’s. The last person buried there, in 1953, was given special permission by the Mormon Church, so that she could be buried with her family.