By Ken de la Bastide
Tribune enterprise editor
June 26, 2009 10:53 pm
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Fifteen years after Dave Moody fought to keep the Chief Kokomo monument in the Pioneer Cemetery on South Purdum Street, he will renew that fight to prevent the monument from being relocated to the Howard County courthouse square.
Back in 1994 there was an attempt to relocate the monument to Highland Park, to be more visible to the public. At that time Moody researched the history of the cemetery and monument.
A suggestion was recently made to move the Chief Kokomo monument to the courthouse square as part of a beautification effort being organized by the Kokomo Downtown Association and the Urban Enterprise Association (UEA).
“The city administration can move the monument if they wish to,” Jerry Santeen, president of the UEA, told beautification committee members last week. “We believe there is no grave under the monument.”
Cost of moving the monument is approximately $2,800, he said.
“We have looked at the alternative of erecting a new monument on the square,” Santeen said.
He acknowledged that there may be remains of original Kokomo pioneers at the site. Santeen said Purdue University has agreed to take sonar readings to determine if the ground under the monument has been disturbed.
There are inscriptions on all four sides of the monument.
“This stone marks the burial place of Kokomo, war chief of the Miami Indians, the former owners of the land along this river and from whom the city derives its name”, the front reads. The west faces honors the “memory of the deceased Union soldiers from Indiana of the great war of 1861-1865, buried in this cemetery”.
Moody has lived on South Purdum Street his entire life, and through research learned pioneer and Civil War soldiers were buried on the parcel of land.
“The stone is in a cemetery,” he said of the monument to the chief of the Miami Indians. “It marks the place where people were buried.”
Moody said to move the stone would take it out of context and it might as well be placed in a museum.
“I’m surprised that people don’t know the history of the city,” he said. “They claim all the remains have been removed. But in 1896 and 1897 it was still being used as a burial ground.”
Moody said moving the monument is ludicrous if anyone takes the time to read it.
“They want to move it to make it more visible,” he said. “Why not put a sign that reads ‘Pioneer Cemetery’ and how to find it?”
Kelly Karickhoff, executive director of the Howard County Historical Society, said relocating the monument would not be a good move and the Historical Society board has not discussed the proposal.
“It would be like moving your history,” she said. “There is going to be a history walk along the Walk of Excellence with signage to the monument. It will add a lot to the Walk of Excellence.
“We shouldn’t change that history,” Karickhoff continued. “People put that marker there for a reason.”
Moody said if the monument and grave markers are removed, it will just become another lot that will be eventually developed.
“The history will be forgotten,” he said. “From an historical context, if you move the stone, it is no longer relevant to what the monument says.”
Moody said he will continue to fight to keep the Chief Kokomo monument on its original site.
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