Memorial collection · Vidal, California

Holly Cemetery

Names and lives remembered in the remote desert cemetery of Vidal. These six stories belong to the historical record—not to a separate era, but to the people who lived through many of them.

The simple entrance to Holly Cemetery in Vidal.

A place shaped by the desert

A small cemetery, a wide frontier

Holly Cemetery sits in the ghost town of Vidal, in San Bernardino County, just across the railroad tracks from the historic Wyatt Earp cottage. Vidal grew during the 1930s as miners, ranchers, and crews worked in the Colorado River basin and built the Los Angeles Aqueduct. When the Depression and the end of construction drained the boom, much of the population left.

The cemetery remains stark and rustic, edged with old railroad ties and barbed wire. Find a Grave records track roughly two dozen memorials, while visitors have also noted unmarked graves—quiet traces of people whose names may not have survived in the record.

The people remembered here

Six lives in the record

Grave markers, service, family, and work connect these lives to Vidal and the larger history of the desert.

1861–1938

John Harger

Born August 29, 1861 · Died April 20, 1938

John Harger was a merchant and early public figure in Vidal. During the 1920s and 1930s, he operated a general merchandise and mining-supply store, serving the miners and residents of the Colorado River basin.

His store brought him into contact with Wyatt Earp, who bought mining supplies there while working claims in the nearby Whipple Mountains. Harger also served as Vidal's Deputy Coroner in the early 1930s, a role that placed him close to the lives and deaths of a hard-living boomtown. He died in Indio at 76 and was buried in Holly Cemetery.

John Harger's memorial plaque set into a desert stone — Harger's name, preserved on a plaque at the cemetery.

Further reading: Wild West, October 2013

1908–1977

Karl Thurman Davis, Sr.

Born April 16, 1908 · Died July 1, 1977

Known in the ring as “Killer” Karl Davis and “Crippler” Karl, Davis was a professional wrestler whose career stretched from the late 1920s into the 1950s. He played football at Ohio University, won the Texas Heavyweight Championship, and held the Southern Heavyweight Championship three times. He also wrestled alongside his brother, “Wee” Willie Davis.

Davis later brought his imposing presence to Hollywood, appearing in films and television from the late 1940s through the 1960s. His credits included Mighty Joe Young, Demetrius and the Gladiators, Creature with the Atom Brain, and The Case of the Stuttering Bishop on Perry Mason. He died in 1977 and was laid to rest at Holly Cemetery.

Karl Davis in the wrestling ring

Archival footage of Davis wrestling.

Karl Davis on screen

A film appearance featuring Davis.

1906–1988

Virgil T. Lone

Born February 6, 1906 · Died April 3, 1988

Thomas Virgil T. Lone was born in Missouri to William Harrison Lone and Fannie J. McCoy, one of several siblings in a large family. His marker identifies him as a U.S. Navy veteran and commemorates service during World War II and the Korean War.

Lone lived to 82 and died in Riverside County in 1988. His marker is among the enduring records of those who made a home in, or passed through, this remote desert community.

1909–1997

Charles E. Rustin, Sr.

Born November 24, 1909 · Died December 1, 1997

Charles E. Rustin, Sr. served in the United States Army during World War II. Born in 1909, he was part of the generation mobilized for the global conflict.

He died at 88 on December 1, 1997, and was buried at Holly Cemetery. His bronze marker records both his military service and his place in the small community of Vidal's remembered residents.

1908–1949

Leonard G. Reynolds

Born July 14, 1908 · Died August 25, 1949

Leonard G. Reynolds was born in 1908 and died in 1949, aged 40 or 41. His marker identifies his service as a United States Navy Reserve veteran of World War II.

His grave is one of the documented memorials at Holly Cemetery, a lasting record of a life that ended during the cemetery's mid-century history.

Peter Adrain Hulsman's grave marker, set into a concrete slab in the desert — Pioneer resident

1880–1960

Peter Adrain “Pete” Hulsman

Born January 23, 1880 · Died 1960

Peter Adrain “Pete” Hulsman was born in 1880 and died in 1960, aged 79 or 80. The marker bearing his name is among the handful of permanent grave markers that document Holly Cemetery's pioneer history.

In a landscape where visitors have noted unmarked graves, that small plaque preserves a name and a place in Vidal's story.