I admit it. I have an outdoor bucket list. And it included visiting the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know my family has a thing about graveyards. As my aunt once said, “Your family, it’s got a thing about visiting graveyards. Kinda morbid, Barb.”
I’m not going to launch into all the reasons I will never turn down visiting a cemetery, but I am going to lay out the reasons I will not go back to this one unless I hear it has been cleaned up.
The story goes that Alabama coon hunter Key Underwood established this cemetery for coon dogs in 1937 when he buried his trusty hunting companion of 15 years, Troop – a mix of half redbone and half birdsong. He chose that location deep in the forest because it held a special meaning for old Troop. It’s where Underwood, his coon-hunting buddies met to strategize, socialize and brag about their dogs.
Interviewed in 1985 by Rheta Grimsley Johnson, Underwood responded to her question about why only coon dogs were buried here. He said, “You must not know much about coon hunters and their dogs, if you think we would contaminate this burial place with poodles and lap dogs.”
We visited the cemetery a few weeks ago on a trip to Alabama. We’d often passed by the sign for it, near Tuscumbia and I’d read about the place in Outdoor Life.
We followed signs, got lost, found another sign and finally found the resting place for somewhere in the neighborhood of 185 or maybe even more than 200 coon dogs. I’ve heard both numbers. I didn’t count the headstones. That would be difficult, because they range from elaborate in marble to folk art in funky to dirt.
Words cannot describe the horror upon opening the door. Photo by Barbara Baird.
The cemetery needs attention. Overfilled trashcans, broken down picnic tables and a restroom, aka privy, that only a photo like this one on the right can describe. Poison ivy from nearby woods threatens to creep across and strangle out all the crosses on the ground.
Obviously, vandals have been at work on some of the more elaborate headstones and grave markers. There’s even concertina wire around one of the graves. My husband, who always floors me with his remarks, broke the depressing silence and said, “Imagine what this place would sound like if all these dogs came alive at the same time.”
That made me smile. And, the host of fake flowers scattered on every grave does not add to the ambience; in fact, it makes it seem quite cheap and tawdry.
So, go there and visit. Don’t use the toilet. In the meantime, I’m going to get in touch with the cemetery folks and see what happened to the caretaker. Surely, there’s a coon dog caretaker somewhere?
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Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
Well, go anyway and cross it off your list, Lady. It still is worth the trip. Didn’t I mention that? Oh no, I got off track because of the privy problem.
Oh dear.. this has always been on my list to visit as well and now.. I’m sad. That is NOT what I had envisioned in my minds eye when reading about the place.
Oh and Barb – I’ve just added to the list of places for you visit here; I’m a cemetery wandering fool and boy have I got some to show you!
My favorite has a head stone for “the consort of” smack dab in between the husband and wife’s respective stones. Guess the consort found a way stay in between them forever 😉
Oh dear, as sad as the deterioration is, this still made me laugh. My family has that same affinity for cemeteries-as-vacation-spots, but I can honestly say we’ve never visited one that held something other than humanoids. A new goal…