Auburn is a former mining town and was the seat of Baker County from 1862 to 1868. It is reached by taking State Highway No. 7 out of Baker for seven miles to its junction with a dirt road south of Baker. Turn right on this road along Blue Canyon Creek about three miles. Auburn is to the right and the cemetery is one mile beyond on a hill overlooking the town. High ground was chosen for the cemetery so it would not be mined out later, the canyon bed being of very rich ground. This is one of the earliest cemeteries in the county.
Originally there were three cemeteries in this vicinity, one for whites and two for Chinese. One Chinese cemetery was just over the hill from the Auburn Cemetery, the other was a later cemetery north of Auburn. Most bodies from these Chinese cemeteries have been shipped back to China and buried in their homeland.
There are over 100 burials in the Auburn Cemetery by many of the graves are now unmarked and cannot be identified. Only about five are visible today. Names of the first five men to be buried here are not known as none of them died of natural causes and stone markers were not erected. There are no known records maintained for this cemetery. Grounds are neglected but not much care is needed. Known burials furnished us in 1965 are as follows:
Brown, Alma d. 1894; man from Akron, Ohio; shot by Joe Searcy in Auburn; grave marked by plain board, now gone.
Desmond, J. b. 1825 in Fall River, Mass.; killed 18 Nov 1862 by Spanish Tom.
French, Pete d. Nov. 1862; alleged murderer who was hanged.
Gozine, John b. 1860; d. 28 Oct. 1862; son of S. & M.; aged 2 yrs 4 days. (Neme also spelled as Cosine)
Grant, Dr. Charles d. 1 Aug 1866; gr.father of Maud Alexander of Hermiston.
Griffin, Henry H. d. 3 Jan 1883; discoverer of gold in Eastern Oregon. (One source gives age as 59 yrs., another gives date of birth as 1834.
Griffin, Mrs. d. 5 Jul 1876; wife of Henry H.
Griffin, ? d. 4 May 1876; son of Henry H.
Jones, John J. b. 11 Sep 1822 in Warren Co., Ky. d. 6 Dec. 1877 at Auburn, Ore.
Labaree, H. M. b. 1832; killed 18 Nov 1862 by Spanish Tom; from Ind.
Parkinson, Eliza Elizabeth d. 14 Oct. 1865; three-year-old daughter of Mrs. David Littlefield, then Mrs. Grant.
Spanish, Tom d. Nov 1862; alleged murderer who was hanged.
Our thanks to the Baker Family History Center for allowing us to use their copies of these cemetery records.