Tombstone Tuesday ~ Bears at Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire

These tombstones were photographed at Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire.  This little cemetery is located right in front of the train station, by the front entrance to the amusement park. 

Clark's Trading Post opened as a roadside attraction on U.S. Route 3 in Lincoln, New Hampshire in 1928.  To draw people to their store, the Clark family opened up a viewing area for the public to see their sled dogs. Florence and Ed Clark were avid sled dog racers, and Florence was the first woman do drive a dogsled to the top of Mount Washington.  They first displayed a black bear here in 1931.   

In 1949 the sons of Ed and Florence Clark began to train the bears to do tricks.  Around the same time they began to collect old steam locomotives on the property.  Over the years this visitor attaction has grown into a small family run amusement park which includes the bear show, a train ride, several museums, and other family amusements. 

The bears at Clark's are orphaned bears that cannot be returned to the wild.  The family rehabilitates bears, and only a few have the "personality" for performing for the public.  The rest live in luxury on the property for more than 25 years.  Bears in the wild live only an average of 5 to 6 years.  One of their bears lived over 35 years.  The Clark family considers these bears members of their family, and have respectfully buried them in this little cemetery.

Twin Sisters

Saphire                 Pearl

Jan. 10, 1971       Jan. 10, 1971

Mar. 31, 2000       Nov. 30, 1993

HERE LIES

"RUFUS"

N. H. BLACK BEAR

OLDEST ON RECORD

JAN. 1953 - AUG. 1991

38 YRS - 7 MOS.

TWINS

SISTER AND BROTHER

URSULA                ONYX

JAN. 21, 1987       JAN. 21, 1987

MAY 28, 2014      JUNE 1, 2002

HERE LIE

EBONY AND MIDNIGHT

1949 - 1973        1949 - 1967

SHOW BEARS

HERE LIES

MY FRIEND

JASPER

SHOW BEAR

SANS EGAL

1961 - 1988

                  W.M. CLARK

We also noticed two planters with names on them in this little cemetery.  Perhaps they are also in memory of some of the famous trained bears?  The red planter reads "Abenaki and Spooky" and the blue planter reads "Moxie".

For the truly curious:

Clark's Trading Post website:   http://www.clarkstradingpost.com/

From Yankee Magazine, an article about the Clark family and the trained bears:
https://newengland.com/yankee-magazine/travel/new-hampshire/white-mountains/clarks-trading-post/

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~  Bears at Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 11, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/tombstone-tuesday-bears-at-clarks.html: accessed [access date]).