There are many places where history's voice rests. No voice speaks with more strength than the historical narrative of whispering from
the Payson Pioneer Cemetery. It chronicles Payson's past under the Mogollon Rim. The cemetery is at the west end of Main Street past the Payson Golf Course is a project of the Payson's Womans Club which owns the property.

In early burials, the deceased were placed under the shade of any tree, criss-crossed, angled, without a systematized arrangement.
JerryTipton brought order out of chaos. With help, she made a map which is placed inside the cemetery gate, designating each burial
site with names.

The first interment was John Meadows, killed by Apache Indians. In July 1882, Indians from the Cibicue Reservation in Eastern Arizona left their
confinement and went on a foray, stealing and killing. They passed by Pleasant Valley, skirting Payson proper, and sixteen miles northeast of
Payson at the Hendershot place (now the Whispering Pines subdivision), they halted. John Meadows heard a noise during the night. Thinking a
bear was after his livestock, he went outside. Indian bullets killed him instantly. At daylight, his family ventured outside and buried him under the
floor. Later, his body was moved to Payson. The hostiles continued to the top of the Rim and were feasting on Meadows cattle when pursuing
soldiers from Fort McDowell and San Carlos engaged them in an annihilating encounter. Known as the Battle of Big Dry Wash, this was the last
major skirmish of the Army with the Apaches on July 17, 1882.

Other voices added to the town's history. A century ago, horse racing was the big event, always the top priority when celebrating a holiday.
JohnGrey's tombstone states his death as July 4, 1892. This Fourth proved fatal for him. On that day, a matched horse race was underway, full
speed ahead down Main Street. John Grey, under the influence of an excess of whisky, left the local saloon and staggered into the way of
pounding hoofs that caused his death.

One small grave, marked "Camp Ground Baby", tells the history of a couple heading for the golden land of California. After the newborn's
death in Payson, the family traveled westward to their intended destination, leaving the unnamed babe in the cemetery and another page in
the cemetery's history.

Ol' Man Pranty added his bit to the text. He was a prospector camped in the hinterland of the community, entering the settlement with his
burros only to get needed supplies. Time elapsed and Fred Pranty's absence was noticed. An investigation of his camp revealed an open
tent flap and a coffee pot on the charred campfire, but no clue to his whereabouts. Many months later his remains were found, showing the
devastation of time, weather, animals - and a bullet in the skull! Did thieves believe he had a cache of gold? The mystery was never solved.
His bones were carried in a burlap sack and deposited in the office of the justice of the peace, later buried in the cemetery to add another bit
to history.