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2 www.DesertMessenger.com September 16, 2015 Got an event? List it FREE at Check out the NEW Free online Community Calendar! sponsored by Desert Messenger News Hi Jolly Cemetery gets new entrance and upgrades OPEN YEAR-ROUND! LARGE LOTS! ~ FREE WiFi ~ Laundromat ~ RO Water ~ Thrift Shop ~ Delights Gifts & Antiques 455 E. Main St. Quartzsite - PROPANE SALES - Open 365 Days/Year for Your Convenience! Pets & Children Welcome! - PROPANE SALES - - PROPANE SALES - Pattie's RV Park 928-927-4223 Close to Everything! By Dinice Ross, Hi Jolly Cemetery There is a new entrance sign for the Hi Jolly Cemetery off of Kofa Ave. A portion of this was made possible with some of your donations to the Cemetery. The Parks Department deserves a lot of credit for putting this together. The Cemetery has also been upgraded with the addition of approximately 200 more burial sites, thanks to the Public Works De- partment. They have cut back, graded and packed the upper north-west corner of the Cemetery. The Cemetery Board is working hard to put rules and regulations into place to keep this newest section presentable for the next 100 years and more. The Hi Jolly Cemetery is operated and maintained by the Town of Quartzsite for the purposes of providing a cemetery, historic site and park. The Hi Jolly monument is in the pioneer section of the cemetery ����� | S������ RAIN B���C�� where Quartzsite's pioneer families were and are laid to rest. There is a new section to the cemetery also for those who chose to be interred in Quartzsite. The cemetery sits at the west end of Town and has a wonderful desert vista in every di- rection. There are mountain ranges and foothills to be seen from every viewpoint. The Town is committed to beautifying the cemetery and preserving this historic site. Hi Jolly Monument History Hi Jolly wasn't his name. The famed camel driver was born Philip Tedro, a Greek born in Syria. He converted to Islam and made a pilgrimage to Mecca, hence his fi rst name, Hadji Ali. The American version of that became Hi Jolly. It was also a better name for a camel driver, which is what he was when he fi rst came to this country as part of a U.S. Cavalry experiment in the 1850′s. He is by far the most colorful of the camel drivers be- cause he remained in the desert southwest and became a prospec- tor, scout and was a courier for what was called the Jackass Mail. He was a packer, hauling freight in the area also. Hi Jolly died in December of 1902, in what in now known as Quartzsite, Arizona. In his day the town was called Tyson's Well, but the history does not stop there. In 1934 the Arizona Depart- ment of Transportation erected a monument over his grave. His grave became the beginning of the pioneer cemetery. The monument is a favorite of visitors to Arizona.

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