Grave decoration by the settlers in the Big Piney valley in the 19th century was different than today's customs. Before artificial flowers and pine grave blankets, the decorations consisted of mussel shells and broken pieces of pottery. This is an upland south tradition. Many of the early families were of southern heritage, coming from North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. We have carefully inspected the gravesites and surrounding area for any sign of shell or pottery fragments. We have noted which graves show signs of such decoration.

We decided to restore Christina Davis' grave in this early tradition first. We had worked hard on cleaning her headstone. It had become the logo for this project. The footstone, six inches above the ground, was at an oblique angle. It had probably been stepped on by a cow.