Mr. Meigs, whose initials are now "forgotten" said a prominent Alpine man yesterday, "was the first man buried in the graveyard which is still used as a place of interment by the people of Alpine". The circumstances of his death and burial explain why the graveyard was located on the side of a rocky mountain.
This Meigs was a nephew of Henry Meigs, who absconded from California and afterwards built the first railroad across the Andes in South America under a concession granted him by the Peruvian government. At that time Billy Bashaw was running a beer saloon for Dan Murphy in the house now occupied by the family of W. C. Nations, which was one of the first houses built in Alpine. Bashaw is, or was, county clerk of Gillespie County. At the time of which I am speaking he was the most prominent citizen of Murphyville and looked out for the living and the dead. The dying request of Meigs was that he might be buried on top of the mountain just south of the town, and Billy promised that the request should be granted.
The funeral cortege carried the corpse around to the eastern slope, the ascent from that side being less precipitous than on the north; but just as the steep part of the ascent was reached the supply of beer gave out and the burden became too heavy to carry further, so a grave was dug and the obsequies were finished on the spot. This was the first funeral in Murphyville, and explains why the cemetary is located on the slope of that rocky mountian.