The final day of the motorcycle adventure had me trying catch a view of the local cemetery, said to be one of the most photographed cemeteries in Texas. Terlingua was an old mining town back in the early 1900's. What did they mine? Mercury. Thus the highly populated cemetery. Each year, during the Dawn of the Dead Festival, in true Mexican style, the cemetery is transformed into a colorful array of florals, candles, and paper streamers. I hope to be able to recreate this photo during that festival some day.
@redy4et Oh, yeah, many died from mercury poisoning. I was reading how some also lost teeth from sniffing the smelting fumes too. In addition there was a bad bout of the flu over a two year period that many died from. It's a highly populated cemetery!
@pcoulson You're one of the few that I know that know of the mercury derivation, quicksilver, Peter. Congrats! Yes, I think it's probably still wise to avoid planting a garden in the area. Thanks as always for your comments.
@summerfield When I was a kid I remember having a mercury maze puzzle. I loved that thing! Dropped it one day and the mercury blob split into what looked like 500 pieces. Never did catch one of them.
Wow! Loved reading about this as well as all the comments! Amazing history! I remember, as kids, everyone I knew thought he'd hit the jackpot if a thermometer broke and you could save and play with the mercury! And we'd coat a quarter with it to make it bright and shiny! We shudder at "what people didn't know" back in the past, but sometimes "the past" is our own! youch!
